Skip to content
The Sigmoids Won't Save You episode artwork

Jun 13, 2026 10 min

The Sigmoids Won't Save You

from Astral Codex Ten Podcast

"All exponentials eventually become sigmoids" is an annoying AI talking point. If someone presents a graph like this… ….and points out that it seems like AI capabilities could soon reach the level marked "High", then the height of intelligent debate is to point out that actually, the trend could go like this: …and then it would never reach the level marked "High"! In slogan form, this is "all exponentials eventually become sigmoids" (a sigmoid is the s-shape of the second graph, which starts exponential but gradually flattens out). It's technically true. No process can keep growing forever; eventually it hits physical or practical limits. For example, total cases during an epidemic is classically sigmoid:

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The Sigmoids Won't Save You

0:00 10:37

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Astral Codex Ten Podcast?

This episode is 10 minutes long.

When was this Astral Codex Ten Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on June 13, 2026.

Can I download this Astral Codex Ten Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.