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The Existential Hope Podcast

Foresight Institute

The Existential Hope Podcast features in-depth conversations with scientists, technologists, and thinkers about the ideas that could shape a better future.

In contrast to both doom and hype narratives, we focus on what positive futures are possible through scientific and technological progress, and the decisions we make about it.

Existential Hope is an initiative of the Foresight Institute, an independent nonprofit that has been advancing technology for the benefit of life since 1986.

→ Show notes, transcripts and resources: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

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Wednesday · 49 min
What happens when you let an AI run a science lab
There are AIs running labs with little human intervention right now. And they’re doing experiments that human experts would never try. Is this changing what and how science gets done? In this episode, we speak with Antony “Ant” Rowstron, who has worked with ARIA (the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency) on their biggest bet to date. We cover: How ARIA funded twelve teams to build AI scientists that can run an entire research process: generating hypotheses, designing experiments, and carrying them out without continuous human intervention. What AI scientists are actually achieving now, from personalized cancer vaccines to molecules that stimulate our own immune response to new viruses in 48 hours. How we could train AIs on the tacit, hands-on knowledge only human scientists have. How AI hallucinations might actually be useful for scientific discovery. How labs and the role of human scientists will change as AI automates more and more parts of the research process. Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 1:14 What is an AI scientist? (the three-layer stack behind it) 3:48 What AI scientists can do in practice: quantum dots, cancer vaccines, and AI-designed antigens 8:17 Inside ARIA's AI scientist grant: 245 applications, 12 teams, 9 months 11:36 What can an AI scientist actually achieve in nine months? 16:33 How will the role of the human scientist change in the future? 18:42 Can AI scientists work outside a computer, in the physical world? 21:20 What will the lab of the future look like? 25:34 How to capture the tacit knowledge only scientists in the room have 29:32 Do AI scientists trained on the same data lose their creativity? 31:17 Why AI hallucinations might actually help scientific discovery 39:56 Career advice for young people who want to work on AI for science 45:21 Ant Rowstron's existential hope vision for AI in science 46:10 What Ant would do if not at ARIA 46:38 The best piece of advice Ant ever received On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
July 28 · 41 min
The only 12 proven self-help tools for a meaningful life and improving the world
There's an overwhelming amount of self-help advice out there, which makes it really hard to know what will work for you. But it turns out that over 450 self-help techniques from 100 books and 20 types of therapy actually boil down to just 12 tools. In this episode, we talk with Spencer Greenberg, a mathematician and founder of the psychology research nonprofit Clearer Thinking. He recently co-authored the book The 12 Levers with clinical psychologist Jeremy Stevenson, to cut through the noise of self-help and provide people with the smallest number of concrete tools they can leverage in different situations. We cover: How nearly 500 self-help techniques got narrowed down into 12 core psychological strategies, and how to use them. Why most people live by values they absorbed from their parents or environment rather than ones they actually chose, and how to figure out what your own values are. The real formula for productivity, which takes into account how important the work actually is. Why hopelessness is often less about the state of the world than about feeling unable to act, plus the single most evidence-backed exercise for building genuine optimism. The exposure therapy techniques he used to overcome severe social anxiety. Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 0:52 How 459 self-help techniques boil down to just 12 levers 2:36 Does self-help need to be evidence-based? 4:40 Why understanding yourself can change the world 5:42 Are you living on your values or someone else’s values? 7:11 How to figure out what you actually value 8:03 Pleasurable life vs meaningful life: what actually makes you fulfilled? 9:39 Redefining productivity: on the importance of the work vs hours and efficiency 11:46 Optimism vs hope, and training yourself to be more optimistic 15:21 Why Spencer wrote The 12 Levers, and how he beat his own social anxiety 18:14 Which levers are hardest to maintain and self development as an ongoing journey 20:01 Overwhelmed by 12 levers? Where to start 22:26 How to create meaning in your life through your values 26:26 Advice for young people who feel hopeless about the future 28:15 Designing an AI assistant that pushes you toward your values 31:39 What would it look like if everyone used the 12 levers? 32:56 When to accept things vs when to fight for change 36:55 Why your self-help knowledge might have blind spots 38:13 Spencer's existential hope vision for AI 38:48 The technology Spencer wants to see built 39:14 What Spencer would do instead of his current work 39:58 The best piece of advice Spencer ever received On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
July 16 · 43 min
How tech can earn public trust and why 21st century science needs 21st century funding | Dorothy Chou
What does it take to fund a Nobel Prize-winning idea? Apparently, not a Nobel Prize. AlphaFold solved the shape of 200 million proteins in one shot, a problem that used to take a PhD four years per protein, and biotech investment still fell. Funding isn’t the only problem tech is facing: it has also never been good at talking to the people it builds for. Is that a coincidence? In this episode, we speak with Dorothy Chou, who ran Google DeepMind's Public Engagement Lab for nine years. She now advises DeepMind and chairs UCLPartners, an organization connecting new technology to the UK's National Health Service. We cover: What made AlphaFold possible in the first place and how we can replicate its success in other domains Why neither venture capital nor governments can fund biology on biology's actual timeline, and Dorothy’s proposed solution Why AI could help redirect money the ideas that will actually help people the most, not just the ones that are easiest to fundraise for How AI companies are about to repeat the public engagement mistake the biotech industry already made once Her advice for young people who feel like they're not the expert in the room Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 1:00 Why Dorothy Chou is leaving Google DeepMind after nine years 4:26 How do we actually use AI for good? 6:12 What is DeepMind's public engagement lab? 9:53 The AlphaFold breakthrough, explained 12:37 Why funding science is stuck in the 20th century 15:30 How governments and investors should fund AI for science 19:21 Other AI for science projects worth watching 22:11 What is blended finance for science? 24:44 Is funding for AI-driven science finally picking up? 26:05 What could an AlphaFold moment look like in 10 years? 28:33 Why venture capital and biotech investors don't understand each other 30:08 How AI could level the playing field for science funding 31:43 The fusion project Dorothy wishes more people knew about 33:04 Why public imagination matters as much as public policy 36:06 How do we build more public imagination? 39:11 Advice for people who want to work at this intersection of AI and science 41:11 The best advice Dorothy's ever received On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
June 18 · 43 min
AI learned to be a villain from Hollywood. Here's how we retrain it. | Peter Diamandis
Science fiction has always shaped the technologies we build, from the submarine to the smartphone. But almost every story we've ever told about AI is dystopian. And now we're training AI on those stories. In this episode, we spoke with Peter Diamandis, entrepreneur and founder of the XPRIZE Foundation, which runs large-scale incentive competitions to crack some of the world's hardest problems, from private spaceflight to carbon removal. He recently launched the Future Vision XPRIZE, a $3.5 million competition to generate a new wave of optimistic science fiction. We cover: The historical pattern of science fiction shaping the technologies we build, and why Peter thinks this makes the stories we tell about AI especially high stakes right now How Claude’s blackmailing behavior showed the connection between dystopian training data and AI behavior How the Future Vision XPRIZE will generate a new wave of optimistic science fiction to train AI on Why public optimism about technology has dropped significantly in the US and Europe, what Peter thinks is driving it, and why he believes the data tells a different story How the cost of starting a company has fallen dramatically and how this can empower you to build your vision Why Peter thinks traditional education is no longer preparing young people for the future, and what he sees replacing it If you would like to get in touch with Foresight’s community of scientists to get help for your XPRIZE submission, please reach out to existentialhope@foresight.org. Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 1:25 Why Peter Diamandis created the Future Vision XPRIZE 5:57 Is it harder to recruit for a culture prize than a science one? 11:38 How do you design a great XPRIZE? 14:19 What would you measure in 10 years to know this worked? 19:34 Why scientists should team up with filmmakers on the Future Vision XPRIZE 22:16 Beyond film: the case for rebooting games, journalism, and education 27:29 Why sci-fi turned so dark: the evolutionary reason we focus on doom 31:12 Peter's favorite positive sci-fi examples (besides Star Trek) 31:56 Real-world inventions that started as sci-fi 32:46 How AI has democratized the ability to build the future 33:50 How to counter the anti-tech narrative 38:04 Peter's advice for anyone thinking of submitting to the Future Vision XPRIZE 39:11 What does Peter Diamandis's ideal future actually look like? 40:13 The technology Peter most wants to exist 40:39 What's underhyped and what's overhyped right now? 42:05 The best piece of advice Peter has ever received On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 27 · 33 min
Why people agree on the future more than the present, and what it means for governance
Political polarization might have a surprisingly simple fix: ask people what they want for their communities in 50 years instead of today, and their answers start to look remarkably similar. But almost no political system is built to plan that long-term. In this episode we talk to Taylor Dee Hawkins, founder of Foundations for Tomorrow, a nonprofit pushing for long-term governance reform in Australia and internationally. We cover topics like: Why the problem with political leadership isn't individual leaders, but the incentive structures and systems designed to reward short-term decisions at the expense of long-term ones Why naming political procrastination is the first step to solving it How Foundations of Tomorrow secured cross-party support in a polarized parliament by making the economic case for long-term policy rather than the moral one Why planning for the future doesn’t have to come at the expense of present generations Taylor’s advice for a young person who wants to get started in long-term policy, and what she has learned from years of being the youngest person in the room Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 0:56 From climate advocacy to long-term governance: founding Foundations for Tomorrow 3:07 What made Taylor quit her job during COVID and start an organization 4:18 Why bad leadership isn't the problem, but broken incentive structures are 5:53 Policrastination: naming political procrastination so we can tackle it 6:59 What can actually be done about political short-termism 9:08 Governments leading the way on long-term thinking: Finland, Wales, Singapore, Kenya 13:17 The biggest misconception about long-term governance 14:29 How long-term thinking earns cross-party support in a polarized parliament 16:06 What the world looks like if every country takes future generations seriously 18:14 When long-term thinking goes wrong 19:25 Why one-solution thinking is the most overhyped idea in governance reform 20:44 The sharpest critiques of Taylor's work and what they've taught her 22:42 How governance can keep pace with fast-moving technology 24:12 Being the youngest person in the room: what Taylor does about it 25:58 How to break into long-term governance work 29:29 How to stay anchored to the long term when everything pulls you short-term 30:26 Taylor's existential hope vision for the future 31:13 The technology Taylor wishes existed 31:39 What Taylor would be doing if not this 31:57 The best piece of advice Taylor has ever received On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 13 · 51 min
The AI future where humans get paid to be creative
Most AI futures give us two options: mass unemployment, or a government handout to soften the blow. But what if there's a third option, one centered on completely new categories of creative work that don't yet exist, where people get paid for contributing to AI rather than replaced by it? In this episode, we talk with Jaron Lanier, pioneer of virtual reality and scientist at Microsoft Research. He proposes a radically different way of thinking about AI, and unpacks its consequences from AI safety to the future of the economy. We touch on: The case for thinking of AI not as an alien intelligence, but rather as a collaboration of human data How this reframe helps you understand the failures of current AI systems, and why so many of the industry's most powerful figures seem to be losing their grip on reality A practical approach to AI safety inspired by multi-factor authentication in cybersecurity Why universal basic income is unstable, and why a creativity economy (where people earn from their contributions to AI) could be a better way of distributing the benefits of AI How to be an optimist about technological progress while acknowledging the risks and being critical of certain developments Why history gives us the most rational grounds for optimism about our future with AI Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 0:50 40 years in Silicon Valley: how tech became a pseudo world government 4:19 Self-driving cars, Tesla, and the moral paradox of tech progress 7:13 Why "artificial intelligence" is a marketing term, and how you should think about it instead 15:16 AI as human collaboration: what it makes possible and how it makes you a better user 21:37 From the Turing test to the truth crisis: how science shifted from seeking truth to performing it 25:36 Data dignity: going back to the people to solve AI's biggest safety failures 32:55 The alternate future worth building, and challenging the AI orthodoxy 38:41 Why UBI won't work and why a creativity-based economy is more stable 45:20 How to be an optimist about technological progress while acknowledging the risks On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 28 · 49 min
Teaching AI empathy using brain signals
AIs could get much better at understanding what we truly value if we gave them access to our brain signals. And doing that is becoming easier than ever before. In this episode, we talk with Thorsten Zander, professor at Brandenburg University of Technology and co-founder of Zander Labs. He coined the concept of passive brain-computer interfaces: devices that read brain signals to decode a user's mental state, non-invasively and without any effort on their part. We cover: What non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can actually pick up from brain signals, and why that's very different from reading your thoughts or internal monologue The hardware and software breakthroughs that are finally making passive BCIs wearable and affordable How continuous neural feedback could dramatically improve AI training compared to current methods based on human ratings Why Thorsten believes passive BCIs may offer the most concrete path to solving the AI alignment problem The risk of social networks exploiting unconscious brain reactions to manipulate people, and why regulation alone is unlikely to be enough 0:00 Cold open 0:56 What are passive brain-computer interfaces, and how are they different from Neuralink? 3:23 What are the applications of passive brain-computer interfaces? 4:33 What people get wrong about BCIs: reading thoughts vs. mental states 6:14 How passive BCIs could transform AI training and help AI understand you better 11:40 The misuse risk: how social networks could exploit unconscious brain reactions to manipulate political opinions 16:00 How close is mass adoption? The hardware and software breakthroughs making BCIs wearable 20:08 Why Germany's cybersecurity agency invested €30M in passive BCI research 24:22 Invasive vs non-invasive: how Europe and the US are taking different approaches to brain-computer interfaces 28:52 Should AI act on your first instinct? 32:56 How passive BCIs could solve the AI alignment problem (and why previous approaches have fallen short) 35:26 From professor to startup founder: what Thorsten learned making the leap 41:27 Best case scenario: what the world looks like when AI truly understands human values 46:03 How to get started in neuroadaptive AI and passive BCIs 48:18 The best advice Thorsten ever received On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 15 · 57 min
How to build a career that actually changes the world
More and more people want to make a real-world difference with their career. Very few of them do. Why are careers in consultancy or finance still so much more mainstream than careers tackling the world's biggest problems? In this episode, we talk with Jan-Willem van Putten, co-founder of the School for Moral Ambition, an organization that is building clear pathways for people who want to do work that actually changes the world. We discuss: The three main bottlenecks stopping talented people from doing high-impact work How to find important yet neglected causes to work on, and the School for Moral Ambition top picks Why movements that want to change the world often fail, and what effective advocates do differently How to figure out which problems your specific background and skills are best placed to solve The real struggles of leaving a prestigious career behind, from lifestyle creep to peer support, and what makes people say it was worth it Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 2:12 From thesis on talent waste to joining consultancy: Jan-Willem's journey 4:29 Why did you step away from management consulting? 6:35 Focusing on impact vs. status: can you persuade people? 8:40 What is the School for Moral Ambition? 11:58 Is there now a real field for impact-driven careers? 12:58 Cause areas: food transition and tobacco control 17:10 How to prioritize problems to work on: the Triple-S framework 21:11 Next cause areas: tax fairness and democracy 23:00 What does the fellowship journey look like? 25:06 The profile of an ambitious idealist: startup drive meets activist values 27:43 Noble losers: why social movements fail 30:56 Is moral ambition only for the privileged? 36:04 How to cultivate a higher level of ambition in society 40:31 Feeling hopeless about big problems? New tools change the game 42:19 What holds people back from making the leap to meaningful work 46:12 What do fellows find most rewarding? 47:32 What does success look like in 10 years? 51:25 Where to start if you want to shift to a career that makes a difference 55:28 Best advice ever received: the case for taking action On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 2 · 52 min
How AI could improve the lives of trillions of animals
We think a lot about how AI will affect humanity, and for good reason. But AI could have an enormous impact on the trillions of animals that share our world (for better or worse), and almost nobody is talking about it. In this episode, we talk with Constance Li, founder of Sentient Futures, an organization working to make sure AI and other emerging technologies improve the lives of animals rather than harm them. We touch on: The enormous scale of animal suffering today, and why AI could either worsen or improve it depending on the decisions we make. Using computer vision and sensors to monitor animals and optimize for their welfare rather than just productivity. The research that’s being done to use AI to communicate with animals and what it’s already telling us about their well-being. Other sentient beings that could be impacted by emerging technologies, like artificial minds and biocomputing. Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 1:57 Why AI and animals is an overlooked combination 4:46 The staggering scale of factory farming 8:26 How a physician became an animal welfare advocate 10:19 What Sentient Futures does day-to-day 11:38 What "AI for animals" actually means 14:23 Why the organization was renamed Sentient Futures, and the question of AI moral patients 18:08 The biggest misconceptions about AI for animals 20:26 What is precision livestock farming? 24:46 Best and worst-case scenarios for AI in farms 27:46 Communication across species: promise and limitations 35:56 Genetic welfare and using genetics in farms 43:34 What a best-case scenario for AI and animals looks like in the next 5–10 years 47:11 The biggest hurdles: funding and attention 48:39 How to get involved with Sentient Futures 50:44 What gives Constance hope On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 19 · 50 min
How dating an AI could improve your real love life | David Eagleman
Having an AI boyfriend or girlfriend might seem creepy, but what if it helped you get better at human relationships? In this episode, we talk with David Eagleman, a professor of neuroscience at Stanford, bestselling author, and science communicator. We discuss how AI and other technologies can help us become better humans – wiser, kinder and more empathetic, not just more productive. We get a neuroscientist’s take on how human and artificial intelligence interact, including: How to use AI to better understand other people and improve our relationships. Using debate AIs in schools to make younger generations better at critical thinking and grasping both sides of an argument. Is AI making our lives too easy by removing the friction we need to learn? Technologies that could expand what’s possible with our brain, from mind uploading to brain-to-brain communication. Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 1:38 How David Eagleman became a neuroscientist 4:46 How malleable is the brain? 6:29 Can AI make us better humans? The Reddit debate bot experiment 11:00 AI relationships and becoming better at dating real people 14:24 Using AI to hear his late father's voice again 18:26 Mind uploading and digital immortality 23:27 What technology could make us more kind and empathetic 24:04 How AI could revolutionize debate education and critical thinking 28:30 Why AI needs a "tough love" mode to help us grow 30:17 Does AI making life easier rob us of useful friction for learning? 34:21 Why brain-to-brain communication probably won't help us understand each other 37:29 Could neurotechnology let us experience the world as another species? 41:58 The current state of neuroscience and where it's heading 48:05 How to get started if you're inspired by this conversation On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
February 27 · 1 hr 9 min
How the whole world can exceed Swiss living standards by 2100 (backed by data)
What would the world look like if the poorest country was as rich as Switzerland is today? It turns out we could actually see it happen by 2100, and with an economic growth that is similar to the one we have been experiencing for the past 20 years. In this episode, we talk with Marc Canal, Senior Fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, and co-author of the book A Century of Plenty. We unpack what a hundred years of data tells us about human progress, and map out the steps to an ambitious scenario we can build by the end of the century. We discuss: How much the world has actually changed since 1925: from one in five children dying before age five in Spain, to life expectancy growing by 40 years globally. What it would take to make today’s Swiss living standards the world’s floor by 2100 (while richer countries grow far beyond it), from energy efficiency to birth rates and geopolitics. How data shows economic growth is actually good for the climate and for human happiness. Why achieving a prosperous world currently depends more on our collective belief that progress is possible than on resource constraints. How you can thrive in an AI world, where 57% of work hours can be automated, by leaning into the “messy” jobs. Timestamps: 0:00 - Cold open 1:54 - Why the McKinsey Global Institute wrote “A Century of Plenty” 5:20 - What was the world like in 1925? 10:04 - The most surprising stats from 100 years of progress 16:03 - Defining the “empowerment line” vs. the poverty line 19:30 - Projecting 2100: can we make Switzerland the global "floor"? 22:26 - The 5 conditions for achieving a world of plenty 26:14 - Can we grow the economy without sacrificing the environment? 28:23 - Economic growth vs. climate change: mitigation and adaptation 34:05 - What are the biggest challenges to the “progress machine”? 36:30 - The demographic crisis, and solving falling fertility rates 45:20 - Will AI speed up human innovation? 48:21 - Geopolitics: is the world really de-globalizing? 52:30 - The crisis of hope: why are we so pessimistic? 56:26 - How different nations reach the frontier of progress 58:49 - Building a new culture of growth 1:01:09 - Does economic progress actually make us happier? 1:05:39 - How you can help make a century of plenty probable On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
February 19 · 1 hr 25 min
How your personal moral compass helps you build a better world | SJ Beard
To make the future go well, we might not need a perfect model for its end state, or an abstract philosophical theory to guide us. Can your own sense of “the right thing to do” actually help make the world better? In this episode we talk with SJ Beard, researcher at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, and author of the book “Existential Hope”. Some of the topics we discuss: How to shift our focus from "preventing the end of the world" to actively building a future worth living. Why aiming for a “happy ever after” state of the world might be dangerous, and why improving the world one generation at a time is less likely to backfire. Relying on our own sense of “the right thing to do” as a practical guide to make the world better. Why decisions about AI and global risk need input from a broad mix of people and their real-world experiences, not just experts at the top. Why building AI with compassion and curiosity about human values may be safer than giving it a rigid list of rules to follow. Timestamps: [01:31] SJ’s background in philosophy and existential risk [02:02] Why write a book on existential hope? [04:43] Defining existential hope, and its relationship with existential risks and existential anxiety [11:09] Human agency without the guilt [13:59] Why there are no truly "natural" disasters [16:49] Why we shouldn’t try to build a perfect utopia [19:05] Protopia: is iterative improvement enough? [22:19] Defining progress: what does it mean to "get better"? [26:13] Protopia vs. viatopia: setting goals and achieving a great future [29:48] Existential safety as a collective project [35:06] Using participatory tools to make global decisions [36:32] Making existential hope reasonably demanding [40:06] Can we achieve systemic change in a tech-focused world? [46:00] Concrete socio-technical projects for AI safety [49:02] Aligning AI by building its character [51:45] The importance of history in building a good future [54:24] Key 17th-century ideas that are shaping modern society [58:20] Cultivating "humanity as a virtue" [01:04:37] Lessons from nuclear near-misses: the example of Petrov [01:09:20] The trade-offs of a humanistic, bottom-up approach to decision-making [01:12:16] Literacy vs. orality: how ideas become simplified [01:16:45] Meme culture and the transmission of deep context [01:18:48] How writing the book changed SJ’s mind [01:21:38] SJ Beard’s vision for existential hope On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
February 4 · 48 min
Raising science ambition: how to identify the highest-impact research for an AI world | Anastasia Gamick
Most scientists do “safe” research to secure their next grant. But what if more of them worked on the most important problems instead? In this episode, we talk with Anastasia Gamick, co-founder of Convergent Research, about how to raise our level of ambition for what science can actually achieve. Convergence Research incubates Focused Research Organizations: small, startup-style teams that build critical “public good” tech, which both academia and for-profits ignore. We discuss: What makes a research project truly high-impact in view of an AI world Concrete examples of these projects: maps of brain synapses, software that’s provably safe, drug screening, good data for AI-powered scientific research, and more How to prioritize defensive technology, such as biosafety tools, instead of just pushing every frontier as fast as possible How young scientists can find the work that matters most for the future [00:00] Cold open [01:52] Introducing Anastasia Gamick and the mission of Convergent Research [02:44] Defining Focused Research Organizations (FROs) and their unique characteristics [09:46] Backcasting from 2075: what research to prioritize now to prepare for the intelligence age [19:08] The four types of projects Convergent decides not to fund [25:35] Biological and ecological dark matter: why we need better datasets for AI science [28:28] Why academia and industry aren’t incentivized to build tech capabilities for the public good [29:32] Defining “moonshot projects”: how boring drug screening creates massive downstream impact [32:56] The future of neuroscience: capturing videos of synapses firing [35:46] How the FRO model is catching on internationally [36:25] Steering vs. accelerating: selecting defense-dominant technology [41:22] Increasing human agency and how scientists can choose high-impact research areas [46:51] The evolution of scientific funding and the role of new philanthropy [48:05] Finding existential hope in the community of future-builders On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
January 21 · 1 hr
Jason Crawford on how technology expands human choice and control
Being pessimistic about progress will make you sound smart. You'll look rational by not assuming any breakthroughs, just extrapolating current trends until every technology plateaus. You'll probably also be wrong, for exactly the same reason: throughout history, people keep delivering solutions that almost no one anticipated. Jason Crawford, founder of the Roots of Progress Institute, joins the podcast to discuss The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, his book on his philosophy of progress for the 21st century. We dive into the core arguments of the manifesto: How we are more in control of our lives than ever before in human history Why the goal of "stopping climate change" should be reframed as "achieving climate control" Being optimistic about technological progress while acknowledging risks, but also proactively looking for solutions to problems Why two common fears around the slowing of progress – that we could run out of natural resources or new ideas – are actually unfounded Whether AI represents a transformation as big as the Industrial Revolution or the invention of agriculture How to rebuild a culture of progress and celebrate human achievement in the 21st century Timestamps 00:00 Cold open 00:59 Who is Jason Crawford? The Techno-Humanist Manifesto introduced 03:39 What human progress actually means, and its relationship to agency 05:45 How to live a more meaningful life through the lens of agency 09:36 Climate change solutions and climate control: why we need a thermostat for the Earth 12:55 Is nature more important than humans? The case for anthropocentrism 19:10 Why we should celebrate human achievement 20:22 How to be optimistic about the future without ignoring risks 25:55 Why pessimism sounds smart but keeps being wrong 30:58 Are we running out of natural resources? 33:56 Are good ideas running out? Why innovation keeps accelerating 38:32 The Intelligence Age: is AI as transformative as the Industrial Revolution? 40:48 How to preserve human agency in an AI-driven world 42:38 How to use AI without losing your ability to think 45:57 Why did we stop believing in the future? The culture of progress 49:39 How to build a global progress movement 53:23 Getting progress into schools and mainstream culture 57:02 High-leverage regulations for progress: from nuclear to supersonic flight 58:26 Jason Crawford's vision for a better future On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
January 14 · 1 hr 9 min
Elle Griffin on researching the ideal society, from utopian books to real-world examples
While dystopian fiction dominates our screens and bookshelves, Elle Griffin is busy researching how things might actually go right. She wanted to write a utopian novel and realized she needed a better understanding of what an ideal society could look like. In our conversation, we discuss how her favorite utopian literature influenced her views on a well-designed society. But we also explore practical ideas on how we could improve our systems: Tax autonomy: Why giving states and cities the power to collect their own taxes would allow them to fund the specific services their citizens actually want. A la carte federations: A model where cities and states choose to join specific agreements, like a "fishing EU" or a "healthcare EU," instead of being forced into one large, centralized government that manages every aspect of life. The Mondragon model: What we can learn from a massive network of worker-owned cooperatives in Spain that provides its own unemployment insurance and university. Who should control AI: Why giving voting authority to the employees who write the code (rather than investors or nonprofit boards) might be the best way to prevent unethical shortcuts. Singapore’s land model: How the government acts as a landlord to fund public services, allowing for lower income taxes while still providing universal social support. Fixing the Internet: How to use personal data and AI to make us wiser, rather than letting algorithms push us toward fast fashion and political radicalization. Chapters: Cold open (00:00:00) Introducing Elle Griffin (00:01:27) How writing a novel turned into a research project (00:02:27) Elle’s current work: From print pamphlets to "We Should Own the Economy" (00:04:21) The setup of Elle’s upcoming utopian novel (00:05:06) From gothic literature to utopian literature (00:06:30) Three classic utopian novels and their recurring lessons (00:15:42) Building a "future Asia" through mythology and technology (00:22:02) What if US States had the same autonomy as EU countries? (00:23:49) "A la carte" federalism: moving toward a modular government (00:28:11) The Mondragon model: a blueprint for worker-owned economies (00:32:54) Why the smallest government is the best government (00:36:18) The global monoculture and the rise of micro-cultures (00:44:29) Who should control AI? The case for employee-led governance (00:53:02) Fixing the Internet and using AI to make us wise, not just efficient (01:01:06) Why Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables" is the ultimate masterpiece (01:06:14) An existential hope vision for the future (01:08:09) On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 11, 2025 · 1 hr 3 min
Andrew Critch on what AGI might look like in practice
When people think about AGI, most of them ask “When is it going to arrive?” or “What kind of AGI will we get?”. Andrew Critch, AI safety researcher and mathematician, argues that the most important question is actually “What will we do with it?” In our conversation, we explore the importance of our choices in the quest to make AGI a force for good. Andrew explains what AGI might look like in practical terms, and the consequences of it being trained on our culture. He also claims that finding the “best” values AI should have is a philosophical trap, and that we should instead focus on finding a basic agreement about “good” vs. “bad” behaviors. The episode also covers concrete takes on the transition to AGI, including: Why an advanced intelligence would likely find killing humans “mean.” How automated computer security checks could be one of the best uses of powerful AI. Why the best preparation for AGI is simply to build helpful products today. On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 3, 2025 · 44 min
Anna Gát on creating communities that connect, even when people disagree
Anna Gát, founder of the Interintellect community, joins us to explore the essential role of hopeful action and diverse communities in shaping the future. Anna shares why she started Interintellect as a space for intellectual inquiry free from political polarization and traditional gatekeeping, driven by the hope that constructive social collaboration is possible. She details the specific rules of gathering and hosting that can make online and offline groups successful, fostering deep, non-toxic, and life-changing conversations across polarizing topics. We also dive into the genesis of Anna's own podcast, The Hope Axis, and her frustration with the prevalent "complaint culture" and regressive narratives in wealthy societies. The conversation also touches on these questions: Why should communities be given a clear "job" to increase their longevity? How can we achieve diversity of thought in tight-knit groups? Why is constantly networking (with a finite-game approach) detrimental to human well-being? What does it mean to be a "realistic optimist"? How can we architecturally ensure that future AI serves groups and supports humans as social creatures, rather than further enabling solitary, hyper-addictive entertainment? On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 19, 2025 · 53 min
Isabelle Boemeke on what everyone gets wrong about nuclear energy
You’d need 200 Chernobyls a year to kill as many people as fossil fuels. And yet most of us are far more scared of nuclear than of any other energy source, despite the overwhelming data telling a different story. Where does this fear come from? We find out with Isabelle Boemeke, the world’s first nuclear energy influencer, and author of Rad Future, a book that makes the case for nuclear in language anyone can follow. We cover: How nuclear's reputation was built not on its safety record but on its origins: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Cold War drills, and a near-meltdown movie What the actual death toll data looks like across energy source, from nuclear to renewable sources to fossil fuels, including the deadliest energy accident in history almost no one knows about Why nuclear waste may be the most responsibly managed industrial waste humans produce What growing up without reliable energy in rural southern Brazil taught Isabelle about energy abundance, and why she thinks "degrowth" is not a credible answer to the climate problem How Isabelle went from over a decade as a model to becoming one of nuclear energy's most visible advocates, and why she decided the communication gap was the problem worth solving This special episode was recorded at the 2025 Progress Conference. Enormous thanks to Roots of Progress for organizing the event, and to Lighthaven for providing the podcast studio. On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 12, 2025 · 1 hr 23 min
Sam Bowman on what’s holding back progress (and how to fix it)
Young people across the Western world are struggling to start their lives. In most cases, it's not for lack of ambition, but because they can't find a place to live. The consequences show up anywhere from sluggish economies to low birth rates. But there's a way to fix it. In this episode, we talk with Sam Bowman, editor of Works in Progress, a magazine focused on high-leverage ideas to improve the world. We discuss why housing is the master key to some of the biggest challenges that Western societies are facing today. We discuss: Why the biggest bottleneck to economic growth in rich countries isn't technology, but where people are allowed to live Where laws on housing come from and why we should change them Models that have actually worked: from Israel's resident-led densification to Madrid’s low-cost metro expansion Why aesthetics matter more than economists think when it comes to getting people to accept new housing What it would take for Western cities to grow the way Tokyo or the Pearl River Delta did, and what that could mean for growth, families and optimism This special episode was recorded live at the 2025 Progress Conference, hosted by our friends at Roots of Progress. We’re grateful to them for bringing together so many thinkers reimagining how humanity can keep moving forward—and for making conversations like this one possible! Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 0:38 Intro: Sam Bowman and Works in Progress 4:14 Why a magazine format instead of a think tank or Substack 10:13 When technology isn't the bottleneck to progress: housing, transport and energy 17:56 Why San Francisco thrives despite its dysfunction 24:19 Why industries develop in suboptimal places: the TSMC example 27:06 Why it's so hard to build: the history of zoning laws 36:12 Updates to regulation and policy: local decision-making models 43:56 Housing as a western-world problem that drives everything else 48:06 The role of aesthetics in getting people to accept new buildings 55:48 Works in Progress and the journey to appreciating aesthetics 58:55 Building movements to shift expectations about the future 1:05:44 What a successful future looks like 1:09:16 Italy, Spain and the birth rate crisis 1:11:37 Housing and tech growth aren't in competition 1:12:51 What DOGE got wrong about reforming government 1:20:29 Other hopeful examples: the Madrid Metro project On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 5, 2025 · 48 min
Jacques Carolan on the future of brain health
What if we could treat depression, anxiety, or chronic pain by tuning the brain, just as precisely as a pacemaker regulates the heart? Jacques Carolan, Program Director at the UK’s ARIA (Advanced Research and Invention Agency), joins us to talk about the next wave of precision neurotechnology; new tools that let us see and influence brain activity with far greater accuracy. We explore how ultrasound might gently stimulate mood circuits without surgery, how gene therapies could switch off seizures before they start, and how “living electrodes” could one day repair damaged brain tissue. Jacques also explains ARIA’s bold approach to funding high-risk science, what he’s learned from patient engagement, and why he believes the next decade will transform how we understand and care for the brain. On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures. Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts Follow on X. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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