In this episode, Erik Torenberg is joined in the studio by Dwarkesh Patel and Noah Smith to explore one of the biggest questions in tech: what exactly is artificial general intelligence (AGI), and how close are we to achieving it?
They break down:
Along the way, they tackle failed predictions, surprising AI limitations, and the philosophical and economic consequences of building machines that think, and perhaps one day, act, like us.
Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
0:33 Defining AGI and General Intelligence
2:38 Human and AI Capabilities Compared
7:00 AI Replacing Jobs and Shifting Employment
15:00 Economic Growth Trajectories After AGI
17:15 Consumer Demand in an AI-Driven Economy
31:00 Redistribution, UBI, and the Future of Income
31:58 Human Roles and the Evolving Meaning of Work
41:21 Technology, Society, and the Human Future
45:43 AGI Timelines and Forecasting Horizons
54:04 The Challenge of Predicting AI's Path
57:37 Nationalization, Geopolitics, and the Global AI Race
1:07:10 Brand and Network Effects in AI Dominance
1:09:31 Final Thoughts
Resources:
Find Dwarkesh on X: https://x.com/dwarkesh_sp
Find Dwarkesh on YT: https://www.youtube.com/c/DwarkeshPatel
Subscribe to Dwarkesh’s Substack: https://www.dwarkesh.com/
Find Noah on X: https://x.com/noahpinion
Subscribe to Noah’s Substack: https://www.noahpinion.blog/
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