Episode #185 - Should we prepare for an AI revolution?
Should we prepare for an AI revolution?
This episode explores the rise of generative AI as a technological revolution potentially more disruptive than the Industrial Revolution itself. It opens with a thought experiment: a peasant farmer reading a sci-fi novel that eerily anticipates the machinery-driven transformation of human life. The narrative tracks how AI has evolved since 2017, highlighting the shift from ranking algorithms used in social media to generative models that now create content, automate tasks, and influence decision-making across medicine, education, and beyond. Optimists frame AI as a tool to scale intelligence, expand access, and raise the baseline of human productivity, while critics warn of increased manipulation, job displacement, and democratic instability. Through references to thinkers like Aza Raskin, Tristan Harris, and Yuval Harari, the episode raises urgent questions about alignment, power, and control in a world where AI’s exponential progress far outpaces regulation. With a nod to philosophical frameworks from Stoicism to Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle,” it calls for a reexamination of how humanity understands itself amid rapid change. Whether we face utopia or collapse, the episode argues that now is a rare moment where awareness and education still offer a choice—and that philosophy may be one of our best tools for navigating what comes next.
Further Reading:
Generative Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jerry Kaplan (2024)
The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI by Ray Kurzweil (2024)
Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI by Reid Hoffman (2023)
See the full transcript of this episode here.
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