Poets & Thinkers AI as Normal Technology: On superintelligence delusion, bogus claims and a humanistic AI future with Prof. Arvind Narayanan
What if the race toward “superintelligence” is misguided and what does a more humanistic vision for AI adoption actually look like? In this episode of Poets & Thinkers, we dive deep into the intersection of artificial intelligence, culture, and human agency with Prof. Arvind Narayanan, a computer science professor at Princeton University whose work has fundamentally challenged how we think about AI’s role in society. Named on TIME’s inaugural list of 100 most influential people in AI, Arvind brings decades of research experience studying the gap between tech industry promises and real-world impacts.
Arvind takes us beyond the hype and fear that dominates AI discourse, as we dive into his book “AI Snake Oil” (co-authored with Sayash Kapoor) and their latest essay titled “AI as Normal Technology” that draws powerful parallels to past general-purpose technologies like electricity and automobiles.
He reveals why the term “artificial intelligence” itself creates dangerous confusion, masking critical differences between predictive AI systems that are already affecting the lives of millions of people – determining who gets bail, healthcare coverage, and job opportunities – and generative AI tools like ChatGPT that capture public attention.
Through rigorous analysis of adoption patterns, organizational barriers, and historical societal precedent, Arvind demonstrates why superintelligence predictions fundamentally misunderstand both the nature of human intelligence and the complex realities of technological diffusion.
In our conversation, Arvind challenges leaders to move beyond automation fantasies toward human-AI augmentation, explains why current AI benchmarks fail catastrophically at predicting real-world performance, and makes the case for why flexible, bottom-up innovation will determine which organizations thrive in the AI era. His perspective bridges computer science rigor with deep humanistic values, showing how thoughtful design and governance frameworks can help us navigate this transformation while keeping human agency at the center.
This episode is a provocation to think more precisely about AI’s actual impacts, move beyond techno-optimism and techno-pessimism toward nuanced understanding, and focus on the practical frameworks needed to ensure this technology serves human flourishing.
Resources Mentioned
“AI Snake Oil” book by by Prof. Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor
“AI is Normal Technology” essay by Prof. Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor
Air Canada chatbot legal case as reported by The Guardian
Everett Rogers’ work on technology adoption
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