#255

I don’t think you can come across a person with so much diversity as my guest today Nikki Mirghafori, or in Persian it would be Mir - gah - foor- ri. She has grown up in Iran and then immigrated to the US where she studied at Stanford and UCLA and became a visiting professor at UC Berkeley. There is a side of her that is interested in technology and AI, specifically the ethics of AI. But then there is the other side of her which is an empowered teacher who holds a lineage in Theravada Buddhism, she studied all different kinds of Buddism and felt connected to mediations and silent retreats. She brings together, perhaps a bit like I do but a lot more, an interesting perspective of east and west of science and spirituality that I believe is incredibly needed in the times of confusion we are about to embark on,
Nikki Mirghafori, PhD, is of Persian heritage and immigrated to the US in her teens. She was introduced to contemplative practices and yoga in the early 1980s, to meditation in 1991, and to Theravada Buddhism in 2003. Nikki has studied at Stanford's CCARE and UCLA's MARC and is a Stanford-certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor and UCLA-certified mindfulness MAPS facilitator. She spent four years as a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley's Psychology Department with the renowned psychologist, Professor Eleanor Rosch, the co-author of the seminal book The Embodied Mind . Her teaching includes lectures, classes, day longs, workshops, silent retreats on meditation and Buddhist contemplation in the San Francisco Bay Area and internationally. Concurrent with her dharma practice and teaching, Nikki has been an Artificial Intelligence scientist and academic at a research institute affiliated with UC Berkeley. She holds a Ph.D. in computer science from UC Berkeley. She has also served on the IEEE P7010 Standards Committee on Well-Being Metrics for Ethical AI.
Listen as we discuss:
- Science and spirituality
- The Islamic Revolution
- Change of scenery
- Falling in love
- Meeting mortality
- The Four Noble Truths
- Grief is the price we pay for love
- The tick that bit me
- Silent retreat
- The well of sadness
- The gift of space
- Human connections and awakening
- A question of singularity
- Weak AI Vs Strong AI
- The consciousness of trees
- Buddist cosmology
- Already here
- Is AI conscious?
- Where are the ethics?
- Snake Oil Phenomenon
- Spiritual AI
- Utopia Vs Dystopia
- How to break the rules ethically
- The practice of goodwill
- Greed, hatred and confusion
Connect with Nikki Twitter @NikkiMirghafori and LinkedIn. Find out more about her work here.
KZbin: @mogawdatofficial
Instagram: @mo_gawdat
LinkedIn: /in/mogawdat
Website: mogawdat.com
Don't forget to subscribe to Slo Mo for new episodes every Saturday. Only with your help can we reach One Billion Happy #onebillionhappy
0:00 Slo Mo Intro
1:00 Guest Intro
3:35 Episode
1:52:36 Outro

[@tajudeenbintijani]

Meditation/Reflection on the patterns of the source of everything that comes to us, and how we respond sincerely to it. The Truth rules everything around us, so we either align in harmony or remain in disharmony with it.

[@Cornelia2454]

A beautiful conversation. Nikki, I loved your voice, so gentle and soothing. You're a beautiful person. Cheers

[@ArtByHazel]

I’m so grateful I found you both and this discussion is so profound. Nikki’s voice is so calming and soothing. What a joy to be inspired to listen and being present in this beautiful moment. Infinite blessings everyone. ❤

[@uwaniperera5177]

Dearest Mo, I am from Colombo, Srilanka. Thank you so much and iam so greatful to you for all what you do. Really admire your great great work . Happiness is everything. May this universe give you blessings to spread happiness to everyone . You r an amazing human. Love your humble attitude. Such an inspiration Mo. ❤

[@Appleloucious]

Dear Mo and Nikki, many many thanks for sharing this! One Love! Always forward, never ever backward!! ☀️☀️☀️ 💚💛❤️ 🙏🏿🙏🙏🏼

[@mut8inG]

Thank you, both.🎶💥🌸

[@BardhAbazi]

Please, Mo,! Writing a book with formulas on feelings, like happiness or fear equations, could genuinely have a positive impact on the ethical development of AI. It would be such a fantastic resource for those who are building AI, fostering a deeper understanding of how it influences human emotions. I'd love to read it! 😊📚

[@AL-hr9tv]

Mo, you're so patient n tolerant to let the lady bring in Buddhism into the AI equation...Bless you! I can flow your mind, your concern and most of all your soul as a legacy to this world!

[@SmithBrookHollow]

So happy to find Nikki this summer, incredibly wise and soothing. That is because of all of her amazing teachers, Gil, Joseph, and most importantly the venerable Ajahn Sucitto! I don’t like thinking about AI, but live to listen to anything Nikki has to say. The issue I see here is who decides what is a good or bad use of AI? Who decides what is good and bad? For example, they both think Google is good. Really? They deplatform people based on their perceptions of what is misinformation. We all know that what was called misinformation in the past is now considered truth, like the concept of hand washing or the the earth 🌍 is round.

[@sheilajoseph9953]

Amazing interesting interview. Nikki is a beautiful soul. 💚

[@ouardausa2762]

Always great to listen and learn and connect !! I sent Mo a message long time ago and I was amazed that he answered like he said here !!

[@oceanahealer]

Amazing discussion, can relate to her on so many different layers , thank you to both of you 🙏🤍

[@Goncamia]

I love to every single word you were saying to 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@DinaOriza]

Wow, Nikki's voice already comforting me while listening to yours discussion. And Yes Mo, I agreed that we really need this slow down periode so we can enjoy the ride and gratitude arise automatically from within!!! For me, the disscussion and statement by both of you toward the enf of this podcast is the best summary!! Thank you very much Mo and Nikki for being here.!

[@user-no5my2so4g]

What a fabulous talk. Thankyou so much. I believe AI is simply a reflection of us all. Artificial intelligence is simply mind activity minus love. That's why it is artificial. In other words, the dark side of humanity. Bring love (awareness) into the equation and the mind activity transforms into consciousness and that's where true intelligence is born. x

[@leticiasimental4150]

I absolutely loved this discussion. It was so interesting and insightful. I just loved Nikki's calm voice. I hope you do another podcast with Nikki ❤❤

[@FrankLange-wz5bd]

Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, love 💚 , and peace all over the world 🌏. I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust so as time goes on it will bring something great for us in the future, hope you don't mind? I'm Mark Brown from Brooklyn New York, where are you from if I may ask?❤

[@usmanmohideen]

What a beautiful people .nikke specialy your laugh ❤

[@edenbarel6575]

Many thanks

[@amitaF7]

Lots of love 💚💚💚

[@ells80]

Thank you. ❤

[@myrian7679]

Nikki is a jewel, thank you Mo for bringing her on your program, wonderful interview

[@flashmo7]

Maybe it´s funny how sometimes watching this video I feel reminded of Krista Tippett´s On Being Podcast format which I also like a lot and sometimes I wonder why. Anyhow thoughts aside about us international migrants or people between cultures finding save mental spaces or frames of minds which enable us to find some peace inside a noisy dynamic intercultural space which provides lots of contradictions. There are strategies to get a point across that works. And if the price of love was grief, which one deserves more love weak or strong AI? Does AI in some ways relate to us migrants?

[@juliereddi2216]

❤

[@shantinaturechild3239]

If l had silence just at night, I would heal physically already 🙂

[@rigaleb]

Where is the boundary between ethics and censorship? How does the fine line between true ethics and fake care look? Where is the limit between liberalism and authoritarian woke politics? How do we teach ethics to AI but without creating a ministry of truth and a distopic society? How do get out of the extremist dual trap of ruthless profit-oriented capitalism and authoritarian censoring communism which in their extreme versions have more in common than not? How do we create another paradigm?

[@marilynerickson7954]

Wayne Shorter lives there/here

[@maleidi]

She didn't really explain why AI wouldn't behavior like us. She qualified Bo as a behaviourist a bunch of times to justify her disagreement but i didn't saw her point of view. And when Bo asks her about ethics, she responds with a behaviorist view of ethics:"why are we doing this, everything we do is ethical, bla,bla,bla" but what about the ethical nature of an AI????? Isn't the buddist primary rules based on a series of ethical BEHAVIOURS????

[@rhondaurb]

I wish there was a simple explanation for AI

[@eva9539]

there is no strong KI and weak KI. The only real I is the devine I, which we all part of. There is also no people outside, there is only the real I, who recognizes, that you are the outside Person. The person you see outside is your projection, conscious or unconscious. We all together are the body of Christconsciousness!!

[@kennycoffey3988]

what about the dangers of AI ?

[@ADRIANO19274]

Exelent podcast ❤

[@purelife8559]

Mo universe isn't conscious, the universe is inside consciousness

[@maleidi]

There is already an AI "robot'...t doesn't need to be a robot to spit informatiion, that's only a way of diminishing Bo question! And is she sure she isn't a human robot spiting buddist teachings?????

[@artandculture5262]

“My mother was perfect” makes this impossible to listen to.

[@EcomME]

Attention please!Your podcast with Ali was amazing untill! .. Finally, (as if you Mo were waiting for) You can be any gender you want! Is it real that you can? Or surgeries are, more or less, like wearing a silly makeup! Where you can not even wash it out later! A serious message and a gentle advice to Ali and Mohamed to delete this offensive part which is not acceptable by Allah in our Islam. I just came here to post this vital comment. May Allah guide us all.