Permanent Underclass Is the Wrong Frame

Zvi Mowshowitz rejects seat-on-the-ark thinking, arguing database wealth will not protect people in bad worlds and abundance matters more than status in good ones.

Play episode from 20:43

chevron_right

Transcript

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

Zvi Mowshowitz returns to survey the current AI landscape, from recursive self-improvement and the shift from the “beginning” to the “middle” of the AI story to what true AI end-game would look like. He and Nathan dig into AI-driven job loss, real-world productivity impacts, and the ethics of trying to escape a “permanent underclass.” They assess today’s AI live players, why Anthropic may be slightly ahead, and whether Chinese, xAI, or Meta can catch up. The conversation closes with Anthropic’s Responsible Scaling Policy, p(doom), AI safety options, and how they each use AI in their own work.

Sponsors:

Tasklet:

Tasklet: Build your own Cognitive Revolution monitoring agent in one click.
Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai

VCX:

VCX, by Fundrise, is the public ticker for private tech, giving everyday investors access to high-growth private companies in AI, space, defense tech, and more. Learn how to invest at https://getvcx.com

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) About the Episode

(02:25) Entering the middle game

(09:08) AI layoffs and jobs (Part 1)

(15:50) Sponsors: Tasklet | VCX

(18:43) AI layoffs and jobs (Part 2)

(18:44) AI growth and elites

(27:00) Defining the AI endgame

(36:09) Live players and laggards

(45:38) China, compute, and distillation

(56:03) Meta, Musk, and strategy

(01:06:41) Google's faltering AI strategy