AI, Phenomenology, and the Uncanny: A Conversation with Tao Ruspoli

Last month, I visited the uncanny little town of Bombay Beach, CA. As I reported in these pages at the time, while there, I gave a talk on philosophy at the Bombay Beach Institute. The ensuing conversations were of such quality and expansiveness that I'll be going back to give another variation of the talk next week.

While there in early March, my friend and fellow Hubert Dreyfus student, Tao Ruspoli, invited me for a conversation on his excellent podcast Being in the World. We explore topics such as phenomenology, AI, the uncanny, familiarity, music, and fond memories of Bert. Last week, Tao posted the interview. Please check it out! The YouTube link is below, and you can stream it on Spotify here.

Among other things, Tao is also the director of the movie, Being in the World, a documentary and philosophical essay film inspired by Hubert Dreyfus's interpretation of Heidegger. It is one of the best philosophical documentaries I have ever seen. You can watch it on YouTube. I strongly suggest that you do so.

Further highlights of my trip to Bombay Beach last month included:

• Visiting the awesome Mars College, a pop-up, DIY college in the desert
• Interacting with many thoughtful "Martians" and other denizens of Bombay Beach about AI, art, philosophy, and being human
• Learning about Vanessa Rosa's art project, Little Martians, that movingly merges ceramics, AI, and techno-philosophical speculation
• Learning about Scott Kildall's fascinating work. Scott "creates artwork that transforms hidden data from the natural environment, such as water quality, air quality and plant data into sculptural sound installations."
• Meeting and talking with neuroscientist Leo Christov-Moore about AI, embodiment, finitude, and care. If you subscribe to Tao's podcast or his YouTube channel, you will soon get to enjoy a conversion between him and Leo as well.
• Daily discoursing and hanging out with Marya Hornbacher, a superlatively inspiring writer and observer of life's multiplicities, who was a "writer in residence" at the Bombay Beach Institute. I strongly recommend subscribing to Marya's exquisitely written newsletter, Going Solo at the End of the World.

Let me know what you think of the conversation between me and Tao!

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