Why a techno-optimist started taking AI risk seriously (with Rufus Griscom)

Rufus Griscom is a writer, podcaster, and longtime techno-optimist who has spent years interviewing the people building the future — from Bill Gates to Reid Hoffman to the founders of Anthropic. For most of his career Rufus believed technology would overwhelmingly improve the human condition. But after dozens of conversations with the people closest to frontier AI, his view has shifted. He still believes AI could bring astonishing progress - from eradicating disease to ending repetitive labour - but now assigns a serious probability to catastrophic or authoritarian outcomes in our lifetimes. We explore what changed his mind, why the AI “race dynamic” terrifies insiders more than outsiders realise, and how to stay sane when the stakes range from utopia to extinction. Want more Rufus or his work? 🎙 Listen to The Next Big Idea podcast — interviews with the thinkers shaping the future https://www.nextbigideaclub.com/podcast 📚 Explore The Next Big Idea Club — curated book picks by Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain & Daniel Pink https://www.nextbigideaclub.com About the hosts Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found ⁠⁠FarmKind⁠⁠ , a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming, regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change. Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at [email protected]