I Challenged DON’T LOOK UP’s Screenwriter to Look Up At AGI

About this episode

Liron Shapira interviews David Sirota about the parallels between AI threats and the themes in 'Don’t Look Up'.

David Sirota helped create “Don’t Look Up” sometimes feels like we’re living inside his movie. Does he share my belief that the looming planetary threat is rogue AI? Sirota is an award-winning investigative journalist, bestselling author, and former speechwriter for Bernie Sanders. He was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the story of Don’t Look Up. Find our more about David’s work at The Lever: https://www.levernews.com/ Timestamps 00:00:00 — Cold Open 00:01:20 — Introducing David Sirota 00:04:34 — Why David Fights Against Power and the Concentration of Power 00:13:46 — From NAFTA to AI: The Warnings We Ignored 00:22:05 — How Big Will the AI “Jobpocalypse” Be? 00:25:28 — Superintelligence & the Parallel to Don’t Look Up 00:28:37 — What’s Your P(Doom)™? 00:31:44 — The Speed of the AI Threat 00:36:26 — Society Is Losing a Collective Capacity to Focus 00:38:34 — Is Climate Change David’s Biggest Existential Concern? 00:45:01 — David Reacts to Bernie Sanders’ Data Center Moratorium Proposal 00:49:11 — Can We Build The “Off Button”? 00:52:08 — “Don’t Look Up” x AGI Mashup 00:54:35 — Why There’s Still Hope 00:58:14 — Living in “Don’t Look Up” 00:59:46 — Wrap-Up: Where to Follow…

People in this episode

Host: Liron Shapira

Guest: David Sirota

Topics covered

• AI
• existential threats
• journalism
• climate change
• power dynamics
• job displacement

Keywords

• AGI
• jobpocalypse
• superintelligence
• climate change
• investigative journalism
• power concentration
• existential risks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Lever, Netflix

Books & works: Don’t Look Up

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