Brian Cox: “We don’t know how powerful AI will become – it’s exciting and potentially problematic” | Brian Cox

What is the inspiration behind your latest live show, Emergence?

It came from a book I’ve loved for years: The Six-Cornered Snowflake by Johannes Kepler. Kepler is best known for his laws of planetary motion in and around 1610, but he wrote this little book about New Year’s Eve in 1609, when he was walking across the Charles Bridge in Prague in the middle of a snowstorm. He was going to his benefactor’s house and did not buy him a gift. So he writes this beautiful little book about looking at the snowflakes landing on his arm and thinking about their symmetry and wondering, why are they six-sided?

This is a really modern question. It’s a great 20th and 21st century way of looking at the world as a world – what is the origin of the symmetry that you see? He had no way of knowing that it was water molecules and atoms. But one of the most important things in the book is that he says, “I don’t know.” This is really radical.

So the show is about the things we know, which are cool; The things we don’t know; And things that may not be known, but which are also important.

This leads neatly to the next question – if you can have an answer to any scientific question that we don’t have You have an answer to, what would it be?

There are quantities. I would like to know if there is life outside Earth, in the solar system or elsewhere. We may have a chance to answer that. We now have two spacecraft on their way to Jupiter’s moons. Even the James Webb Space Telescope can now see the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. There is a small chance that we will discover a signature of life. I’d like to know how far you have to go to see another living thing.

Twenty minutes ago I spoke with Damian Lewis and he had a question: Is music a science or an art?

Oh! But you can say, is science also science or art. The honest answer is that I don’t really like these divisions between disciplines. My answer would be, music is both. Science is ultimately a response to the beauty of the world, and so is music. All human endeavors are a response to the beauty and mystery of the world.

What area of ​​science do you think will see the most exciting developments in the next decade?

We clearly don’t know where AI is going and how powerful it will become – which is both exciting and potentially problematic at the same time. But quantum computing is interesting. I’m not an expert in this field but you ask them: “When will we reach the power of quantum mechanics?” Some of them say: Not in my lifetime, and some of them say: In five years. It shows you that these technologies that we’re developing are very revolutionary but we don’t quite know where they’re going, which is both a challenge and an opportunity.

What is the matter or belief about which you unexpectedly changed your mind?

I’m constantly changing my mind about social media and whether it’s a good or bad thing. It’s so noisy and full of misinformation and fake information that it’s not helpful. But I was one of those people in the early days who had a utopian feeling about it. It was great because everyone could talk to everyone and get to all different viewpoints and different opinions, and it was kind of healthy.

I think it’s clear that social media has become a negative influence on politics. But I’m constantly changing my mind about whether or not it’s good for the world.

What is your best advice? receive?

Do what you enjoy most. My parents encouraged me in this regard. They thought I would go to university, but I didn’t, so they were very keen for me to go. And I didn’t want that, I wanted to be in a band! But they supported it because it was the thing I was interested in. If you have children, the important thing is that they find something they love to do. I did that, and I worked in music for five years – and then I thought, no, I want to study astronomy. So I went and studied astronomy, which wasn’t necessarily thought to be a great career path at the time. It’s a great career but where I come from, in North Manchester, there aren’t many people who become astronomers!

What do you think is the most controversial thing in popular culture?

That’s a good question, isn’t it? I struggle because I’ve kind of lost touch with popular culture, so I don’t know what’s controversial and what’s not. What would be the controversial opinion?

Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon told us she’s not a fan of Taylor Swift.

I think this is somewhat understandable, personally. Perhaps my most controversial opinion is that I know nothing about popular culture. In fact, I would say that the level of innovation in music has slowed somewhat. If you look at the evolution of music from the 1950s to the 1980s, you go from early Elvis and Frank Sinatra to Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd – it’s a huge evolution. But if you played me something from 2000, 2010 or 2020, I don’t think there would be huge differences in style. I don’t see the development.

What is your most memorable interaction with a fan?

I’ll tell you a story with volatile names. I was at an ELO party and someone came up to me and said, “I loved your documentary. I have a question about Saturn’s moon Enceladus and its ice fountains. I’m really sorry, I always do this – I go up to people I’ve seen on TV and think I’ve met, but I’ve never met you before. Sorry! I’m Paul McCartney.”

That was the first time I met Paul McCartney. I’ve met him several times since then. He’s always great. But the first time I met him, because I’m a huge Beatles fan, I was completely blown away. I loved that he introduced himself to me.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I’m good friends with Eric Idle, and he always jokes that “Always look on the bright side of life” became a funeral song. So I have to avoid that because it’s become cliche now. What will I choose? Maybe something really silly and happy. Like, twist and scream. I want something that is completely inappropriate while everyone is crying.

Do you have a favorite fact?

The number of galaxies in the visible universe, which is the part we can see, is about 2 trillion galaxies. This is a wonderful fact, because it is absolutely impossible to imagine. We were still debating whether there were galaxies outside our own in the early 1920s. In 100 years, we’ve gone from arguing about whether there is only one galaxy, to discovering that the universe is bigger than what we can see – and there are 2 trillion galaxies in just the part we can see! We also measured the age of the universe, which is amazing. It is not the fact that the universe is 13.8 billion years old, but the fact that we have already measured its age!