The Causal Gap: Truly Responsible AI Needs to Understand the Consequences | Zhijing Jin S2E7

Description

*The Causal Gap: Truly Responsible AI Needs to Understand the Consequences* Why do LLMs systematically drive themselves to extinction, and what does it have to do with evolution, moral reasoning, and causality? In this brand-new episode of Causal Bandits, we meet Zhijing Jin (Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Toronto) to answer these questions and look into the future of automated causal reasoning. In this episode, we discuss: - Zhijing's new work on the "causal scientist" - What's missing in responsible AI - Why ethics matter for agentic systems - Is causality a necessary element of moral reasoning? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Audio version available on the best podcast platforms: https://causalbanditspodcast.buzzsprout.com Recorded on Aug 18, 2025 in Tübingen, Germany. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *About The Guest* Zhiijing Jin is a researcher scientist at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Her work is focused on causality, natural language, and ethics, in particular in the context of large language models and multi-agent systems. Her work received multiple awards, including NeurIPS best paper award, and has been featured in CHIP Magazine, WIRED, and MIT News. She grew up in Shanghai. Currently she prepares to open her new research lab at the University of Toronto. Connect with Zhiijing: - Zhiijing on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/zhijing-jin/ - Zhiijing on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/zhijingjin.bsky.social - Zhiijing 's web page: http://zhijing-jin.com/ *About The Host* Aleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent machine learning researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality (https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4 ). Connect with Alex: - Alex on the Internet: https://bit.ly/aleksander-molak *Links* Repo - Zhijing Jin's GitHub github.com/zhijing-jin Papers - CLadder paper (NeurIPS 2023): http://arxiv.org/abs/2312.04350 - Causal AI Scientist Paper: https://zhijing-jin.com/files/papers/CAIS_2025.pdf - GovSim paper for moral reasoning in multi-agent LLMs (NeurIPS 2024): https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.16698 - Multi-agent reasoning paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.22960 Books - Russell, B. (1967) - "The History of Western Philosophy" (https://amzn.to/3JvXuBk) - Isaacson, W. (2017) - "Leonardo da Vinci" (https://amzn.to/4qp9Hsp) Videos - NeurIPS 2024 Causal LLMs Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j1fS_kNIBc *Perks & resources* 🚀 Join FREE Causal Python Weekly Newsletter: https://causalpython.io 📽️ FREE Online Course on Causality: https://causalsecrets.com/ 📕 My Book on Causality: https://amzn.to/3SKRXIw 🔥 Causal Bandits Community Beta Wait List: https://causalbandits.com/ 🎙️ Get notifications about new episodes: https://causalbanditspodcast.com *Let's connect!* 👉🏼 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/ 👉🏼 Bluesky: https://alxndrmlk.bsky.social 👉🏼 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alex.molak *Business* 👉🏼 Consulting and Causal AI Training For Your Team: hello@causalpython.io *Podcast Playlist* https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhKKv6iMja4p5FbJIgzTOE67E1M6c8lnB *Causal Bandits Team* Project Coordinator: Taiba Malik (https://www.instagram.com/taibasplay/) Video and Audio Editing: Navneet Sharma #machinelearning #causalai #causalinference #causality