Henry Shevlin (@dioscuri) / X

Henry Shevlin

16.6K posts

Henry Shevlin

@dioscuri

Philosopher & AI Ethicist @GoogleDeepMind · @LeverhulmeCFI @Cambridge_Uni | Consciousness, Machine Minds, AGI, Human-AI Relationships | All views my own

Cambridge, England

Joined November 2008

Pinned
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Apr 10
After years of bumping against Twitter's character limit, I've finally started a blog, called Polytropolis (a Homeric pun). As my first post, I'm sharing my Berggruen-shortlisted essay on why the public will decide AI is conscious before scientists do.
Behaviourism’s Revenge
From polytropolis.com
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Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Mar 5, 2025
Interstellar’s plot makes zero sense and the film is full of questionable creative choices but the aesthetics and vibes are just so unbelievably good that it’s still a masterpiece.
cinesthetic.
@TheCinesthetic
Mar 5, 2025
In Interstellar, on the water planet, the ticking sound in the soundtrack occurs every 1.25 seconds, symbolizing a day passing on Earth.
robert pattinson's lice
00:00
robert pattinson's lice
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Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Nov 24, 2024
I asked a high school teacher friend about the biggest change in teens over the past decade. His answer was interesting. He said whereas the 'default state' of teenage psychology used to be boredom, now it was anxiety.
2.6M
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
May 13, 2025
The more I learn about the semiconductor supply chain, the more implausible it all seems. There’s a small island vulnerable to invasion where all the chips are made? And the machines to make them all come from one firm in the Netherlands? Using lenses made by one firm in Germany?
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Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Mar 12, 2025
Teaching ethics to undergrads in 2025 is bizarre, because: (1) They insist morality is entirely relative and culturally constructed... (2) ...while simultaneously holding unshakeable ethical convictions and viewing disagreement as moral monstrosity.
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Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Dec 12, 2024
I keep coming back to this insight.
531K
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
May 28, 2024
I’m also interested in the reverse of this phenomenon: which inventions arrived far later than you might expect? For example, why did it take us until the mid 90s for wheels on luggage to become commonplace?
Wessie du Toit
@wessiedutoit
May 27, 2024
Looking back at history, you occasionally see an artefact that seems to have arrived decades early. One of my favourites: this teapot was designed in the 1870s. Other examples of this phenomenon?
3.7M
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Feb 16, 2025
Can we please stop making fun of this woman for being curious about something <1% of the US adult population could explain?
𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆🫧💚
@beyoncegarden
Feb 15, 2025
this is why we need the department of education😭
00:00
2M
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
May 13, 2025
Replying to @dioscuri
Oh, and the quartz to make the crucibles for making the required silicon wafers all comes from one cave system in North Carolina? Dude, this is just lazy worldbuilding, the market would never sustain monopolies like this.
180K
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Apr 28, 2025
average 4o experience rn
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Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
May 2, 2023
Putting in long hard hours at the bamboo factory.
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Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Jul 25, 2025
It’s weird how birds and mammals both have these really vivid and personal affectionate social relationships, and despite their most recent common ancestor being early reptiles you don’t see anything remotely similar in reptiles today. Convergent evolution of LOVE.
Wholesome Side of 𝕏
@itsme_urstruly
Jul 24, 2025
This made my day 😂
00:00
214K
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
Jun 4, 2025
Me two months ago: “gosh, AI is changing so fast, I don’t know if I have any relevant advice for young people on careers.” Family we met at airport: “Our daughter is applying to study Spanish at university to become a translator!” Me: 😬
Mark Beall
@MarkBeall
Jun 4, 2025
Will it be this bad? What do I tell my sixteen year old?
565K
Henry Shevlin
@dioscuri
May 15, 2025
Fun question: without Googling, can you explain *why* people often have red eyes in old photos? NB, “because of the flash” is not an explanation by itself.
Retro Toys and Cartoons
@toys_retro
May 14, 2025
250K