Jane Goodall on Hope, AI, and the Natural World

What would it look like to keep all living creatures in the loop on the development of new technology?

Reid sat down for a wide-ranging solo discussion with Jane Goodall on that very subject – and more. They talked about how to maintain hope and focus on local impact in today’s often chaotic world, how technology – and AI in particular – might be helpful for conservation, and Jane’s global youth program, Roots & Shoots. Plus, the Jane Goodall institute shared audio from a cutting edge acoustic array that helped them discover a brand new species in Gombe National Park in Tanzania! Jane reflected on her legacy and shared stories about bridging unlikely divides, defying the scientific community early in her career, young people opening their eyes to the natural world for the first time, and so much more.

Thank you to the incredible team at the Jane Goodall Institute and WildMon (L. Pintea, B. Wallauer, K. Harmon, M. Campos, Gabriel Leite, Tomaz Melo, Guilherme Melo, D. A. Collins, D. C. Mjungu) that, with funding from Google, utilized an acoustic array to discover brand new species in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, including Thomas’s Dwarf Galago (Galagoides thomasi).

For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit possible.fm/podcast

Topics:

03:38 - Hellos and intros

03:45 - “Name that baby” game

05:34 - How Jane has used technology in her work

09:13 - Discovering a new species with an acoustic array

11:57 - How AI can help conservation

16:55 - AI as an animal translator

19:58 - Essential lesson for research

22:30 - Similarities between humans and chimpanzees

26:42 - Bridging divides between unlikely groups

30:32 - “We must either redefine man, redefine tool, or…”

32:20 - Government funding cut from Jane Goodall Institute

36:26 - Youth program Roots and Shoots

39:57 - How to maintain hope

42:53 - What we can learn from kids

44:33 - Global impact of the Roots and Shoots program

46:18 - Jane’s ideal AI tool

48:22 - Jane asks Reid: Can AI become sentient?

51:27 - AI’s impact on the brain

54:55 - Rapid-fire Questions

Select mentions:

APOPO’s “Amazing Rats” (facebook.com/herorat/videos/throwback-thursday…) | How It Works (youtube.com/watch?v=SQyKvVODSdM&t=1s)

Regeneration by Paul Hawken (regeneration.org/the-book)

TACARE Program (storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/4bb4a82e722f4…)

Roots & Shoots (rootsandshoots.org)

Possible is an award-winning podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Tune in for grounded and speculative takes on how technology—and, in particular, AI—is inspiring change and transforming the future. Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with an ambitious builder or deep thinker on a topic, from art to geopolitics and from healthcare to education. Each episode seeks to enhance and advance our discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.