David Deutsch | AGI, the origins of quantum computing, and the future of humanity

David Deutsch is the founding father of quantum computing. In this episode of Strange Loop, David joins Sana’s founder and CEO Joel Hellermark and Spotify’s Co-President Gustav Söderström to unpack his lifelong quest to explore the furthest reachings of human understanding.

Together, they explore how knowledge creation makes humans unique in the cosmos, why current AI systems fundamentally differ from genuine intelligence, and what quantum mechanics reveals about the nature of explanation itself.

What's in this episode

• How human creativity evolved for cultural knowledge transmission, not innovation

• Why large language models and AGI operate on fundamentally different principles

• The relationship between quantum computing and the computational nature of reality

• Why having billions of AGI copies wouldn't accelerate progress as expected

• How knowledge creation violates the basic physical rule that "might makes right"

• The distinction between tools that enhance human intelligence and systems that replace it

• Why humans are cosmically significant despite appearing small and fragile

• What questions Deutsch most wants answered about consciousness and artificial general intelligence

• The future of humanity across cosmic timescales and what makes progress sustainable

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Transcript: https://sanalabs.com/strange-loop/david-deutsch

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About Strange Loop

Strange Loop is a podcast about how artificial intelligence is reshaping the systems we live and work in. Each episode features deep, unscripted conversations with thinkers and builders reimagining intelligence, leadership, and the architectures of progress. The goal is not just to follow AI’s trajectory, but to question the assumptions guiding it.

Subscribe for more conversations at the edge of AI and human knowledge.

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Timestamps

(00:00) Why uniqueness creates value: The law of comparative advantage

(04:15) How creativity evolved for cultural transmission, not innovation

(09:39) AI vs AGI: Why accelerating knowledge discovery isn't straightforward

(13:40) AGI as persons: Rights, property, and the economics of artificial minds

(20:05) What AI actually does vs human creativity: Beyond the Turing test

(25:15) Quantum computing: What problems really need quantum solutions

(29:25) Quantum cryptography and the future of data security

(33:06) Is the universe computational? Cellular automata and reality

(42:37) The biggest questions Deutsch wants answered about AGI and physics

(51:32) Greatest moments of joy in research: The fun criterion

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Where to find David

• Website: daviddeutsch.org.uk

• X: https://x.com/daviddeutschoxf

Where to find Gustav

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavsoderstrom/

• X: https://x.com/gustavs

Where to find Joel

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-hellermark/

• X: https://x.com/joelhellermark