Where AI will be in a year — and in a decade

Where AI will be in a year — and in a decade

From Reasonably Optimistic by The Washington Post

April 1, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the evolving landscape of AI governance and its implications for the future.

From AI-generated scams that cost Americans hundreds of dollars to voice cloning schemes, the line between real and fake is becoming harder to detect. At the same time, technology companies are setting their own limits on how these artificial intelligence tools can be used. This is raising new questions about who really controls this technology — and what that will mean for our future. Host Megan McArdle is joined by Dean Ball, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and former White House AI policy advisor, to unpack the rapidly shifting landscape of AI governance, what it will take to rein it in — and what comes next.  Subscribe to The Washington Post  here .

People in this episode

Host: Megan McArdle

Guest: Dean Ball

Topics covered

  • AI governance
  • technology control
  • scams
  • voice cloning
  • future of AI

Keywords

  • AI
  • scams
  • voice cloning
  • technology companies
  • AI tools
  • governance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Foundation for American Innovation, The Washington Post

Places: White House

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