What Do Existential AI Risks Look Like?

A few months ago, two of the most prolific podcasters of all time reached out to me with a simple message: We have an incredible story, and we think your audience at Tangle should hear it.

The podcasters, Andy Mills and Matthew Boll, are sharp journalists with an eye for important investigations. Mills is the co-creator of The Daily at The New York Times, the most listened-to news podcast in the world, and he produced the successful limited series Rabbit Hole (on internet algorithms). Boll helped build the podcasting company Gimlet and worked on award-winning podcasts like Crimetown. Together, they created two of my favorite podcasts of the last few years, The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling and the documentary-style podcast Reflector. So when these two guys told me they had a story I’d have to hear to truly understand, my ears perked up. 

The story is about a debate — the debate of all debates, according to some of our country’s smartest people — whose outcome could literally determine the future of the human race: 

How serious is the threat from artificial intelligence? 

It turns out the answer to this question is not nearly as straightforward as one might hope. The debate is now setting some of the smartest, wealthiest, and most influential people in the world against each other, with no clear traditional political dividing lines and even less clarity on whose argument might win the day.

Since March, Mills and Boll have been investigating this debate along with a team of journalists from their investigative reporting outlet, Longview, including former NPR correspondent and podcast host Gregory Warner. They decided to share their notes, rough cuts, and behind-the-scenes discussions exclusively with our team. It is precisely the kind of balanced, curious reporting we strive to do here at Tangle — peeling back the layers of the biggest stories of our time. 

Today, we’re introducing that story to you, in written form, and in partnership with Longview. We also encourage you to go listen and subscribe to their podcast series, The Last Invention, which is the most riveting deep dive on artificial intelligence that I’ve come across. 

Listen to The Last Invention here:

Apple⁠ 

Spotify

To learn more about Longview and become a subscriber visit our ⁠website⁠.

Best,

Isaac

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