#120 Untangling: Science in a Post-AI World w/ Aragorn Meulendijks
From Untangling Web3 by Jack Davies & Alec Burns
October 8, 2025 · 53 min · Season 1 · Episode 120
About this episode
Aragorn Meulendijks discusses the impact of AI and robotics on science and society, exploring themes of post-scarcity economics and technological innovation.
In this episode of Untangling Web3 , futurist and returning guest Aragorn Meulendijks explores how artificial intelligence and robotics are redefining science, labor, and the future of human society. With developments like humanoid robots entering mass production, the reversal of aging in primates, and AI-driven scientific discovery accelerating, this conversation focuses on the transformative—and potentially disruptive—technological shifts underway. Aragorn unpacks the exponential acceleration of innovation and its potential to trigger post-scarcity economics, reshaping the social contract as we know it. Key highlights: Robotics and Post-Scarcity Economics: Humanoid robots are advancing rapidly from prototype to consumer product, with companies like Figure and Tesla aiming for mass production within the next two years. Robots are already deployed in factories and are now entering homes to accelerate learning through real-world complexity. Aragorn projects a scenario where 1.5 billion humanoid robots could exist by 2035, disrupting manual labor across the economy. This raises fundamental questions about capitalism, productivity, and whether society must begin preparing for a…
People in this episode
Hosts: Jack Davies, Alec Burns
Guest: Aragorn Meulendijks
Topics covered
- artificial intelligence
- robotics
- scientific discovery
- post-scarcity economics
- future of labor
- technological shifts
Keywords
- humanoid robots
- AI-driven discovery
- biochemical research
- labor disruption
- innovation acceleration
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Figure, Tesla
Books & works: AlphaFold
More episodes of Untangling Web3
- # 133 Untangling: Hybrid Onchain Institutions w/ Andrej Benčić · June 9, 2026 · 37 min
- # 132 Untangling: The Future of Money w/ Sean Lee · June 2, 2026 · 50 min
- # 131 Untangling: How to Unlock Private Markets w/ Ultan Miller · May 27, 2026 · 34 min
- #130 Untangling: The Future of Finance w/ Pierre Person · May 13, 2026 · 49 min
- #129 Untangling: Permissionless Commerce w/ Siddharth Menon · May 6, 2026 · 39 min
- #128 Untangling: Verifiable Compute w/ Leo Fan · April 22, 2026 · 45 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Untangling Web3 podcast page.