Who's Afraid of Superintelligence?

We've got a full panel! In this episode, Kris, Matt, Steve, and Ian have a deep dive into superintelligence, AGI, and why the fear around them might say more about us than about AI. Steve draws a line from colonialism anxiety to alien invasion movies to superintelligence panic. Kris argues that a truly rational superintelligence would see that oppression consistently fails and cooperation wins. The conversation moves through whether AI is already oppressive, what it means for AI to be a subtle overlord, and why the real threats are mundane failures of leadership, not robot uprisings.

We've got supporter content, of course! This week that includes a philosophical tangent on whether referencing external knowledge counts as knowing, a heated debate about whether humans are hierarchical by nature, Matt's island thought experiment about hierarchy inevitably emerging, and Ian's argument that not everyone needs to be a builder. Not a supporter yet? Fix that today by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

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No episode of Break this week. We'll have more aftershow episodes soon! In the meantime, catch up on previous episodes at https://break.show.

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

Prologue (00:00:00)
Chapter 1: Meet the Panel (00:00:54)
Chapter 2: Defining AGI and Superintelligence (00:03:00)
Chapter 3: The Spicy Takes: Has AGI Already Arrived? (00:11:38)
Chapter 4: What Does It Mean to Know? Memory vs. Intelligence [Extended] (00:17:56)
Chapter 5: A Black Perspective on Power and Intelligence (00:18:55)
Chapter 6: Did They Actually Win? Dominance Hierarchies and Revolution (00:26:18)
Chapter 7: AI Is Already Oppressive: Why Aren't We Worried About That? (00:33:53)
Chapter 10: AI as the Subtle Overlord (00:48:55)
Chapter 12: What We Should Actually Be Worried About (00:58:47)
Chapter 13: Intelligence, Eugenics, and What the Word Even Means (01:08:06)
Chapter 14: Naming the Machines: AI Identity and Claude's Constitution (01:22:32)
Chapter 15: We vs. Me: Language, Identity, and Collective Pronouns (01:25:14)
Epilogue (01:31:10)

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(00:00) - Prologue
(00:54) - Chapter 1: Meet the Panel
(03:00) - Chapter 2: Defining AGI and Superintelligence
(11:38) - Chapter 3: The Spicy Takes: Has AGI Already Arrived?
(17:56) - Chapter 4: What Does It Mean to Know? Memory vs. Intelligence [Extended]
(18:55) - Chapter 5: A Black Perspective on Power and Intelligence
(26:18) - Chapter 6: Did They Actually Win? Dominance Hierarchies and Revolution
(33:53) - Chapter 7: AI Is Already Oppressive: Why Aren't We Worried About That?
(48:55) - Chapter 10: AI as the Subtle Overlord
(58:47) - Chapter 12: What We Should Actually Be Worried About
(01:08:06) - Chapter 13: Intelligence, Eugenics, and What the Word Even Means
(01:22:32) - Chapter 14: Naming the Machines: AI Identity and Claude's Constitution
(01:25:14) - Chapter 15: We vs. Me: Language, Identity, and Collective Pronouns
(01:31:10) - Epilogue

Who's Afraid of Superintelligence?

About this Episode

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