#248 – Jasmine Sun on what the people building AI really believe

About this episode

Jasmine Sun discusses the beliefs and motivations of AI researchers regarding the future of work and technology.

Many AI researchers believe mass job displacement is coming — and some even think there’s a chance their technology will kill everyone. But they’re building it anyway. Writer and journalist Jasmine Sun has been documenting why from the inside. Jasmine describes her work as an “anthropology of disruption.” She’s embedded herself in Silicon Valley’s AI subcultures — attending the parties and conferences, conducting off-the-record interviews — to understand the beliefs of the small group of people shaping this technology. Some of her findings are unsettling. Asked what advice they’d give a normal 17-year-old, almost every AI researcher said the same thing: “I have no idea… It’s a really scary time. I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of jobs for them left.” Their motives for building advanced AI are varied: a mix of optimism for humanity, techno-determinism , and a desire to secure their own future in the face of a possible “ permanent underclass .” A few go even further, actually hoping for a world where machines — rather than humans — are running the show. When the room can’t even agree on whether humans should stay in control, building a consensus on how to build AI safely…

People in this episode

Host: The 80,000 Hours team

Guest: Jasmine Sun

Topics covered

• AI research
• job displacement
• Silicon Valley culture
• technology ethics
• populism

Keywords

• AI
• job displacement
• Silicon Valley
• technology
• populism
• research
• ethics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Silicon Valley, AI, US

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