AI learned to be a villain from Hollywood. Here's how we retrain it. | Peter Diamandis

Science fiction has always shaped the technologies we build, from the submarine to the smartphone. But almost every story we've ever told about AI is dystopian. And now we're training AI on those stories.

In this episode, we spoke with Peter Diamandis, entrepreneur and founder of the XPRIZE Foundation, which runs large-scale incentive competitions to crack some of the world's hardest problems, from private spaceflight to carbon removal. He recently launched the Future Vision XPRIZE, a $3.5 million competition to generate a new wave of optimistic science fiction.
We cover:

• The historical pattern of science fiction shaping the technologies we build, and why Peter thinks this makes the stories we tell about AI especially high stakes right now
• How Claude’s blackmailing behavior showed the connection between dystopian training data and AI behavior
• How the Future Vision XPRIZE will generate a new wave of optimistic science fiction to train AI on
• Why public optimism about technology has dropped significantly in the US and Europe, what Peter thinks is driving it, and why he believes the data tells a different story
• How the cost of starting a company has fallen dramatically and how this can empower you to build your vision
• Why Peter thinks traditional education is no longer preparing young people for the future, and what he sees replacing it

If you would like to get in touch with Foresight’s community of scientists to get help for your XPRIZE submission, please reach out to existentialhope@foresight.org.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open
1:25 Why Peter Diamandis created the Future Vision XPRIZE
5:57 Is it harder to recruit for a culture prize than a science one?
11:38 How do you design a great XPRIZE?
14:19 What would you measure in 10 years to know this worked?
19:34 Why scientists should team up with filmmakers on the Future Vision XPRIZE
22:16 Beyond film: the case for rebooting games, journalism, and education
27:29 Why sci-fi turned so dark: the evolutionary reason we focus on doom
31:12 Peter's favorite positive sci-fi examples (besides Star Trek)
31:56 Real-world inventions that started as sci-fi
32:46 How AI has democratized the ability to build the future
33:50 How to counter the anti-tech narrative
38:04 Peter's advice for anyone thinking of submitting to the Future Vision XPRIZE
39:11 What does Peter Diamandis's ideal future actually look like?
40:13 The technology Peter most wants to exist
40:39 What's underhyped and what's overhyped right now?
42:05 The best piece of advice Peter has ever received

On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann (foresight.org/our-team/allison-duettmann-presi…) and Beatrice Erkers (existentialhope.com/team/beatrice-erkers) from the Foresight Institute (foresight.org) invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures.

Full transcript, listed resources, and more: existentialhope.com/podcasts

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