The AI Race: Are We Asking the Wrong Question?

In September 2026, AI's builders started publicly warning that the technology could destroy us - while building faster than ever. Dean and Graeme think everyone is asking the wrong question. When a senior Anthropic researcher resigned warning of AI Armageddon, and the company's CEO called for "pacing the frontier," the world fixated on one question: how fast should we run the AI race? ⁠Dean van Leeuwen⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠Graeme Codrington think that's the wrong question entirely. The right one is: where exactly are we racing to? This host-only episode cuts through the hype to ask what nobody in the mainstream AI debate seems to be asking. Graeme unpacks what large language models actually are - and why the real danger isn't autonomous AI, but humans removing guardrails and then claiming they couldn't stop it. Dean revisits the Waymo standoff that went viral to make the case for humans in the lead, not just in the loop. And together they argue that AI should stand not for Artificial Intelligence but for Advancing Intelligence - and that the industry desperately needs its President Kennedy moment: a clear end game for what all of this should make humanity capable of. You’ll take away: • Define your AI end game before you choose your tools • Humans in the lead means responsibility, not just oversight • AI stands for Advancing Intelligence - machines and humans together, not machines instead of humans This episode explores: Intelligent Advances - one of the seven grey elephants we track at TomorrowToday Global. • The seven grey elephants framework → ⁠tomorrowtoday.consulting/greyelephantsintroduction