"We Are Summoning the Demon." Is Elon Right About AI?

"We Are Summoning the Demon." Is Elon Right About AI?

From Dad Saves America by John Papola

May 30, 2026 · 1h 10m

About this episode

The episode discusses the growing concerns around artificial intelligence and its implications for society, reflecting on public sentiment and political reactions.

Elon Musk called artificial intelligence the biggest existential threat in human history. That was 2014. Now it's 2026, the models are writing their own code, data centers are triggering bitter political fights, and Pope Leo just made AI the focus of his first encyclical. Public sentiment on AI has cratered faster than any technology in memory. College graduates are booing commencement speakers who mention it. Google's I/O ‘26 keynote, focused on its ongoing AI projects, pulled over 8 million views on YouTube but less than 30,000 likes. Meanwhile, a recent Edelman poll found that China is highly enthusiastic about AI adoption, polling at 44% net approval compared to America’s 32% net disapproval. Job loss, dehumanization, and plain old AI addiction are all crucial issues for Americans to grapple with, but is the revolt against AI pointed in the right direction? _____________________________________ Check my sources over on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/dadsavesamerica/p/we-are-summoning-the-demon-is-elon?r=24ayxm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true _____________________________________ Make the switch to real oral care. Go to…

People in this episode

Host: John Papola

Topics covered

  • artificial intelligence
  • existential threat
  • public sentiment
  • job loss
  • political issues
  • AI addiction

Keywords

  • AI
  • Elon Musk
  • public opinion
  • job loss
  • politics
  • technology

Sponsors

Van Man, Cozy Earth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Google, Edelman, Substack

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