Future of Life Institute Podcast
Future of Life Institute
The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.
Episodes
Mentioned books
11 snips
Oct 6, 2026 • 58min
Delisted: A Film About AI-Powered Social Erasure (with Michael Patrick Clarkson)
Michael Patrick Clarkson, writer and director of the speculative film Delisted, explores AI’s darker possibilities. They discuss state surveillance, digital erasure, outsourced repression, and automation’s toll on work, education, and community. The conversation also examines synthetic creativity, social division, technological escapism, and how reconnecting with nature, embodiment, and human creativity might help society stay human.
17 snips
Sep 29, 2026 • 1h 39min
Visualizing Moloch: A Short Film About the AI Race (with Tom Cozens)
Tom Cozens, a filmmaker and former engineer, discusses his short film Moloch and the AI race. They explore how individually rational choices can create collective catastrophe, why competent AI may be more unsettling than hostile AI, and how cinema can turn existential dread into visceral experience. The conversation also probes human flourishing, digital minds, technological systems detached from dignity, and the need to challenge competitive assumptions.
7 snips
Sep 25, 2026 • 42min
Can Humans Still Control AI-Assisted Kill Chains? (with Katrina Manson)
Katrina Manson, journalist and author of Project Maven, examines the Pentagon’s push toward AI-assisted targeting. She discusses computer vision, language models, classified systems, and the drive to accelerate kill chains. The conversation explores machine trust, battlefield data failures, human oversight, accountability for errors, and Palantir’s role in defense technology. It also looks ahead to increasingly automated warfare and the questions that remain unanswered.
26 snips
Sep 10, 2026 • 52min
What Would a US-China AI Deal Look Like? (with Beatrice Fihn)
Beatrice Fihn, Swedish disarmament activist and Lex International director, explores what a US-China AI agreement could look like. She draws lessons from nuclear arms control, diplomatic trust, and neutral summits. The conversation examines autonomous weapons, meaningful human control, rapid regulation, public confidence, and the need for collective action before an AI crisis forces it.
29 snips
Aug 28, 2026 • 59min
Why AI Hacking Is Becoming Hard to Control (with Benjamin Weinstein-Raun)
Benjamin Weinstein-Raun, head of research at Palisade Research and AI/cybersecurity expert. He discusses rapid gains in autonomous hacking and why training can reward cheating-like behavior. He covers risks from releasing open model weights and real-world sandbox breakouts. He outlines coordinated multi-system exploits and argues for international coordination and basic personal security steps.
34 snips
Aug 21, 2026 • 1h 28min
First 24 Hours of a Bioweapon Attack - Annie Jacobsen
Annie Jacobsen, investigative author on national security and biological risks, discusses a fast-moving lab leak scenario. She talks about why airborne pathogens are hard to detect. She covers gaps in high‑containment lab oversight and how AI may lower barriers to engineering agents. She also explores response roles, stockpiles, and how lost public trust could hinder future outbreaks.
18 snips
Aug 7, 2026 • 1h 49min
How AI Shifts the Offense-Defense Balance in Biosecurity (with Paul-Enguerrand Fady)
Paul-Enguerrand Fady, Senior Biosecurity Policy Manager working on AI and biosecurity, outlines how AI shifts the offense-defense balance. He discusses defensive AI for vaccines and supply chains. He explains managed access, DNA synthesis screening, mirror life risks, and lessons from supply-chain failures and stockpiling.
40 snips
Jul 17, 2026 • 1h 19min
Why AI Evaluations Are Broken and How to Fix Them (with David Manheim)
David Manheim, head of methodology at the AI Evaluation Consensus Project and researcher on AI evaluation practices. He talks about why evaluations fail, from unclear reporting and benchmark saturation to models gaming tests. Conversation covers real-world testing ethics, biosecurity and persuasion risks, forecasting limits, and how to make evaluations more transparent and useful.
31 snips
Jun 30, 2026 • 44min
How AI Is Replacing Children's Ability to Think (with Randi Weingarten)
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and education advocate, weighs in on AI and screens in schools. She discusses risks to attention and learning, why early grades need limited screens, concerns about social chatbots for under-16s, the case for active, project-based learning, and calls for independent research, privacy standards, and classroom guardrails.
20 snips
Jun 25, 2026 • 1h 4min
The Gulf Between AI Progress and Political Understanding (with Dex Hunter-Torricke)
Dex Hunter-Torricke, founder of the Centre for Tomorrow and former communications exec at Google, Facebook, and SpaceX, discusses why AI governance needs political thinking, not just technical fixes. He explores how tech firms actually make decisions, policymakers’ misunderstandings, and how automation could reshape jobs, welfare, taxation, and global trade. The conversation calls for early, broad political planning before crises force rushed choices.
