Greg Beato on superagency, AI, and the cognitive industrial revolution

30 snips

Jan 29, 2025

Greg Beato is a seasoned journalist and co-author of 'Superagency'. He discusses the complexities of AI's rise and its parallels to social media. Greg introduces the concepts of AI Doomers, Gloomers, Zoomers, and Bloomers, highlighting how each group perceives AI's impact. The conversation also explores the idea of superagency, emphasizing how AI can enhance human autonomy. Additionally, they debate the coexistence of innovation and safety in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. Humor blends with thought-provoking insights throughout the dialogue.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Co-author Choice

Reid Hoffman chose Greg Beato as co-author for their shared history and complementary skills.
Beato's wit and experience working with Hoffman for over a decade made him the ideal collaborator.

INSIGHT

Beato's Motivation

Greg Beato's excitement for the book stemmed from his Silicon Valley upbringing and early internet experience.
The rise of AI felt like the dawn of the web, sparking his interest in its potential impact.

INSIGHT

Focus on Agency

Reid Hoffman chose to write about AI's impact on human agency due to the prevalent negativity surrounding it.
He believes AI empowers humans, like past general-purpose technologies, despite initial fears.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In an age of increasingly ubiquitous AI, how do we maintain control of our lives and successfully plot our own destinies? In this episode, Reid is in the hotseat alongside writer Greg Beato, discussing this and more in the context of their new book, Superagency. Greg is a seasoned journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Wired, The Washington Post, Reason, Spin, and Slate, to name a few. He and Reid delve into what could possibly go right with our AI future; the cognitive industrial revolution; and the difference between AI Doomers, Gloomers, Zoomers, and Bloomers. Plus, Reid’s AI avatar makes a cameo to join for a few rounds of the game “Overrated/Underrated.”

For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/

For more on Superagency, check out superagency.ai.

Topics:

2:04 - Overrated/Underrated Round I

5:02 - Why Reid chose Greg as his co-author

6:01 - Why Greg wanted to write this book

8:19 - Why Reid chose this book topic at this particular time

11:21 - How the rise of AI is similar to the rise of social media

16:36 - Agency, superagency, and AI

19:59 - Overrated/Underrated Round II

23:28 - Defining AI Doomers, Gloomers, Zoomers, and Bloomers

28:46 - How AI amplifies agency

32:16 - How ChatGPT shifted people’s relationship with AI

37:21 - Choosing AI vs. AI being baked into technologies

39:28 - Speed and scale in the current AI moment

44:37 - How innovation and safety can coexist

48:49 - Rapid-fire Questions

Possible is an award-winning podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Tune in for grounded and speculative takes on how technology—and, in particular, AI—is inspiring change and transforming the future. Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with an ambitious builder or deep thinker on a topic, from art to geopolitics and from healthcare to education. These conversations also showcase another kind of guest: AI. Whether it's Inflection’s Pi, OpenAI’s ChatGPT or other AI tools, each episode will use AI to enhance and advance our discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.