From Peak Horse to Peak Human: How AI Could Replace Us (with Calum Chace)

On this episode, Calum Chace joins me to discuss the transformative impact of AI on employment, comparing the current wave of cognitive automation to historical technological revolutions. We talk about "universal generous income", fully-automated luxury capitalism, and redefining education with AI tutors. We end by examining verification of artificial agents and the ethics of attributing consciousness to machines.
Learn more about Calum's work here: calumchace.com
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Preview and intro
00:03:02 Past tech revolutions and AI-driven unemployment
00:05:43 Cognitive automation: from secretaries to every job
00:08:02 The “peak horse” analogy and avoiding human obsolescence
00:10:55 Infinite demand and lump of labor
00:18:30 Fully-automated luxury capitalism
00:23:31 Abundance economy and a potential employment cliff
00:29:37 Education reimagined with personalized AI tutors
00:36:22 Real-world uses of LLMs: memory, drafting, emotional insight
00:42:56 Meaning beyond jobs: aristocrats, retirees, and kids
00:49:51 Four futures of superintelligence
00:57:20 Conscious AI and empathy as a safety strategy
01:10:55 Verifying AI agents
01:25:20 Over-attributing vs under-attributing machine consciousness