AI humility, artisanal intellectuals, and Reid Hoffman's Superagency
Some of the highlights in this week's episode of Modem Futura
If you read my recent posts here on The Future of Being Human Substack you’ll know that I’ve been playing with how far I can push OpenAI’s new model Deep Research.
My co-host Sean Leahy and I talk about this in the latest episode of the Modem Futura podcast, which we recorded just as I was beginning my latest experiment on trying to get Deep Research to write a complete PhD dissertation — at the time I wasn’t even sure this was possible.
Listen to the complete conversation below (or watch the video) — we touch on a wide range of cutting edge AI topics, including whether AI will give rise to “artisanal intellectuals,” Reid Hoffman’s new book Superagency, the connections between Martin Heidegger’s 1954 work “The Question Concerning Technology” and AI, and much more:
Just some places you might want to dip into the conversation, but there are plenty of others:
10:15: The value of OpenAI’s $200 a month plan
17:00: OpenAI’s Deep Research as an on-demand research analyst
29:00 The artisanal intellectual as someone who thinks without using AI
34:00 Heidegger and AI (this is infused through the conversation
43:30: Reid Hoffman’s book Superagency
44:15: The Quantum Mechanics Theory of Super Agency
48:00: Humility and AI
52:00: What do we stand to loose with advanced AI?
55:45: What is the value pf a PhD?
You can also watch us recording the show on YouTube:
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It's wild how you break down tech, society and… what it means to be human today. You rip into both the excitement and worries around AI, and even connect with philosophers — which is super important. Keep up the great convos!