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Replacing human brawn with machinery has provided us with surpluses of food and goods, greater safety and, for many people, more leisure time. But what happens when machines eclipse us in brain power as well? This insightful video essay from the podcaster and commentator CGP Grey explains the existential threat intelligent robots pose to the human workforce, and why even the most intelligent, specialised and creative among us aren’t safe from being rendered obsolete.
Video by CGP Grey
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Fairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes
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Food and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes
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Anthropology
For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business
30 minutes
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Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
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Metaphysics
What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?
55 minutes
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Gender
A filmmaker responds to Lars von Trier’s call for a new muse with a unique application
16 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
Why large language models are mysterious – even to their creators
8 minutes
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Spirituality
Through rituals of prayer, a monk cultivates a quietly radical concept of freedom
4 minutes
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Evolution
The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo
6 minutes