#244 – Benjamin Todd on how we’re updating our career advice for the strangest time in history
About this episode
Benjamin Todd discusses the implications of rapid AI advancements on career planning and the importance of strategic decision-making in uncertain times.
The average career is 80,000 hours long. With AI advancing so rapidly, the hours you have left in your career matter more than ever. Some leading AI researchers think there’s a 10% chance that AI systems begin automating AI research itself this year — and a 60% chance by the end of 2028. This could introduce aggressive feedback loops that completely reshape every industry, institution, and career. If these predictions are right, the window for influencing the direction of the future could be closing fast. As 80,000 Hours cofounder Benjamin Todd argues in his new book , that makes thinking carefully about your career more important than ever. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to use your career to make the AI transition go well. In today’s conversation with host Zershaaneh Qureshi, Ben lays out three scenarios — from AGI by 2029 to a decades-long plateau in AI progress — and explains why not everyone needs to bet on the shortest timeline. A fresh graduate and a senior government official have wildly different leverage, so timing your impact well means weighing where you are in your career against the urgency of the risks. Ben also addresses the obvious anxieties: Will AI come…
More episodes of 80,000 Hours Podcast
- How AI could create the world’s biggest problems (article by Zershaaneh Qureshi)
- #245 – Rohin Shah on what it's really like to run AGI safety at Google DeepMind (and where I disagree with 'doomers')
- What makes for a dream job? | Benjamin Todd
- Can AIs already start 'rogue deployments' inside AI companies? (Landmark new METR report)
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