Artificial intelligence is ever more important in our lives. I have done a podcast about it. That is, I have recorded a Q&A with David Zuluaga: here. David is a partner at the Boston Consulting Group, working on AI research at its think tank, the BCG Henderson Institute. He is a brilliant mind and a wonderful spirit. (You’ll see.)

David is from Colombia. His training is in philosophy (B.A. from Harvard, Ph.D. from Princeton). As I say in my introduction, he can talk about virtually anything — but in our podcast, we concentrate on AI (which brings up various philosophical questions).

Over the years, I have had some philosophers, and professors of philosophy, on Q&A. I ask them to give their pantheon — their pantheon of philosophers — if they have one. Near the end of our podcast, I ask the same of David. He obliges readily.

First, he gives his modern pantheon — philosophers either living or recently so. In no particular order: Bernard Williams, Harry Frankfurt, and Christine Korsgaard. Of this last, he says:

“I had the great honor of working with her, as an undergrad. She was my thesis adviser. On top of being an incredibly brilliant philosopher, she’s an incredibly gracious person. Somehow she put up with my writing a chapter in which there was some criticism of her views. Of course, my criticisms were horribly wrong. And she offered some sound objections. I accepted some, rejected others. She let me carry on.”

As for Harry Frankfurt — you may be acquainted with his most famous book: On Bullshit. (Hard to beat the title.)

Well, how about David Zuluaga’s pantheon historically? He names Kant, Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Rousseau (and comments on them and their worth).

I will tell you something funny — something I have told David and also National Review’s Jason Steorts (another student of philosophy). My rap goes something like this:

“I have wasted my life on music and politics. [This is mainly tongue-in-cheek.] I don’t know anything about Ludwig Wittgenstein, but I know about Paul Wittgenstein. I don’t know anything about Bernard Williams, but I know about Shirley Williams.”

Paul Wittgenstein — an older brother of the philosopher — was a pianist who lost his right arm in the First World War. He went on to commission a great deal of music for the left hand alone. Shirley Williams was married to Bernard Williams (and, after their divorce, to Richard Neustadt, the Harvard political scientist). She was a prominent politician in the U.K., co-founding the Social Democratic Party and later a leader of the Lib Dems. Also, she was the daughter of Vera Brittain, who wrote Testament of Youth.

In our Q&A, David Zuluaga and I get on the subject of Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentinian master — the writer of short stories, essays, and other things. Bill Buckley was a great admirer of him. Borges was a guest on Bill’s Firing Line in 1977.

I have scribbled enough. Again, to listen to David — a pleasure and an education — go here.