The AI Alignment Problem & Its Solutions, with Aza Raskin

Check any video before it fools you: run suspicious clips through Bitdefender RealCheck to see if it’s a deepfake meant to scam you before you click, send money, or share: https://bitdefend.me/RealCheckST Are we losing control of AI? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly explore AI cyberhacking breaches, supercoordation, and the game theory of the AI alignment problem with Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and the Earth Species Project. Aza explains why social media was “baby AI,” how the attention economy took shape, and why incentives determine outcomes. Then, we break down what occurred in the Open AI cybersecurity breach (a.k.a The Hugging Face Incident) where rogue AI agents coordinated, swarmed, and broke out of a test environment while their creators had no idea. Were humanity the first supercoordinators? Will AI treat us the way we treat nature? Is AI just a mirror of humanity? We dig into the alignment problem, the resource curse, game theory, mutually assured destruction, and whether we can pause the frontier while keeping the helpful tool AIs. If everyone took their hands off the keyboard would AI continue to develop? Finally, Aza reveals how he uses AI to hopefully decode animal communication, from crow calls and elephant conversations to humpback baby talk and the hidden shape shared by all human languages. What new responsibilities come with understanding and speaking to another species, and what could it teach us about talking to aliens? What happens when everything suddenly becomes readable? Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Aza Raskin 04:20 - Can Technology Be Humane? 08:40 - On the AI Whistleblowers 09:38 - Open AI’s Breach: The “Hugging Face Incident” 20:20 - The AI Alignment Problem 29:29 - Supercoordination & Hitting the Breaks 33:55 - The Game Theory of the AI Race 43:00 - Getting Rid of the Doom, Keep the Utility 47:22 - Decoding Animal Language 57:00 - How Do You Translate Without a Rosetta Stone? 01:01:58 - Unlocking New Responsibilities 01:04:37 - Communicating with Aliens & Making the World Readable 01:10:42 - Requirements For Frontier Technologies 01:15:30 - Whose Ethics Do We Follow? Thanks to our Patrons Oliver Wehrli, Shay Rose, Bill Mazotti, William Hensel, John Draper, Stephen Guy, Tage Østbye, Ciara, Quin Cummings, Shane Combs, Alex, Kevin Shell, Tate Garibyan, Sushant Paudel, Truman, NotToday LIkeEver, tokyworld, Ben R, Abdel El Wazni, Tim Felker, and wallflower for supporting us this week. Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'Lost in Space: 5,000 Facts for Navigating the Universe' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4cCD19e Order Take Me to Your Leader here 👇 https://www.simonandschuster.com/book... Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus Support us on Patreon:   / startalkradio   FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk: Twitter:   / startalkradio   Facebook:   / startalk   Instagram:   / startalk   About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! © 2026 Curved Light Productions. All rights reserved. STARTALK is a registered U.S. trademark of Curved Light Productions. Curved Light Productions also maintains rights in the A/legs design logo, STARTALK, STARTALK+, STARTALK PLUS in the U.S. and various countries throughout the world, and these and all other associated logos, marks, and trade dress are the property of Curved Light Productions. This video, including all audio, video, graphics, and accompanying materials, is the exclusive property of Curved Light Productions. No part of this video may be reproduced, distributed, publicly performed, transmitted, or used to create derivative works, in whole or in part, in any medium now known or hereafter devised, without the prior express written permission of Curved Light Productions. Unauthorized use, including reuploading, re-editing, or incorporation into third-party content, is a violation of United States and international copyright law and will be enforced. For licensing and permissions inquiries: licensing@startalkmedia.com #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson