AI Gods, Space Empires, and the Stories Tech Uses to Justify Power with Adam Becker 8|3
About this episode
The episode discusses the myths surrounding AI and technology, featuring insights from science journalist Adam Becker.
What if the loudest stories about the future—AI gods, Mars colonies, digital immortality—aren’t science at all, but science fiction masquerading as inevitability? In this episode of The Radical Candor Podcast, Kim Scott and Amy Sandler are joined by science journalist and astrophysicist Adam Becker (PhD in computational cosmology), author of More Everything Forever. Adam breaks down the “big three” myths that dominate Silicon Valley’s imagination: space colonization, superintelligent god-like AI, and the singularity. He explains why both the utopian and apocalyptic versions of AI stories often share the same assumption—unimaginable AI power—and why that assumption doesn’t match reality. They also explore the deeper pattern underneath these myths: the belief that every problem can be solved with technology (usually computer technology), even when the barriers are political and social—collective action, persuasion, solidarity, and power. Along the way, Adam shares how he stayed sane while writing about “seriously disturbing ideas,” and why reconnecting with the natural world (and real human relationships) is a necessary antidote to screen-mediated life. If you’ve ever felt…
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