• A Conversation with the Gamesman: The Haifa Lab's Segev Wasserkrug

  • Feb 3 2023
  • Length: 24 mins
  • Podcast
A Conversation with the Gamesman: The Haifa Lab's Segev Wasserkrug By cover art

A Conversation with the Gamesman: The Haifa Lab's Segev Wasserkrug

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  • Summary

  • Segev was born in Israel, in the capital city of Jerusalem, but then moved around a lot, spending three of his early years on a kibbutz in northern Israel and then six years in South Africa. He became hooked on computer science after watching the 1983 film WarGames, in which an AI system almost starts a nuclear war. Matthew Broderick, the computer nerd star of the movie, convinces the AI that sometimes not winning leads to a better outcome than winning, and nuclear war is averted.

    In this episode of "On Not Knowing" we listen to Segev as he tells us how the theme of the movie has become a persistent theme in his own research. Along the way, we learn about some of the key concepts in so-called non zero-sum games, in other words games where one party's win does not necessarily mean another party's loss, and vice versa.

    Some recommendations from Segev:

    Robert Aumann's lecture upon receiving the Nobel prize for his work on game theory

    Ender's game by Orson Scott Card

    The 1983 film WarGames, starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy
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