673. The World’s Progress Has Stagnated & AI Might Not Change That with Carl Benedikt Frey

673. The World’s Progress Has Stagnated & AI Might Not Change That with Carl Benedikt Frey

From unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc by Greg La Blanc

August 5, 2026 · 53 min · Episode 673

About this episode

Carl Benedikt Frey discusses the stagnation of global progress despite advancements in AI and technology.

What does the history of human innovation tell us about the current moment we’re in? It tells us that, despite the computational and AI gains of the last few decades, the world’s progress is a bit flat. Why? Carl Benedikt Frey is an associate professor of AI & Work at the University of Oxford and directs the Future of Work Programme at Oxford. His latest book, How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations, examines the world’s start and stall relationship with progress over the last thousand years. In this episode, Carl and Greg dive into the history of how centralized and decentralized systems have impacted the world’s technological innovation. They contrast China’s earlier technological lead and bureaucratic state-building with Europe’s decentralized politics that enabled the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, Prussia’s critical role in advancing progress, and why despite the breakthroughs with AI, the world could be facing an era of less progress and more stagnation. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*

People in this episode

Host: Greg La Blanc

Guest: Carl Benedikt Frey

Topics covered

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Oxford

Books & works: How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations

Places: China, Europe, Prussia

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