Thread

Artificial Intelligence

What AI is, what it might be good for, and what it could cost us.

Two videos for now — one on what AI might genuinely be good for in the world, and one on what AI is, philosophically, when we stop assuming it has to be like us. This is the newest of the three threads and the closest to the present moment; more is on the way.

Recommended sequence

1. 15 min
   Video · Jan 2026

   AI and Global Flourishing

   Start here. A short, structured tour of what AI might actually be good for — protein folding, fusion, decoding animal language, smarter water and grid management — paired with a philosophical split between *extrinsic* problems (oligarchy, deskilling, deepfakes, climate cost) and *intrinsic* ones (loss of meaning, relationship, identity, agency). The closing move: in a world where machines do most of the necessary work, we all need to learn to do what the wealthy have always done — work for its own sake.

   Also in: Democracy

2. 47 min
   Video · Feb 2026

   Thinking Beyond Humanity

   Forty-seven minutes that re-frame today's AI as one architecture of intelligence among many, alongside ants, humans, conjoined twins with a shared thalamic bridge, and Star Trek teleporters. Drawing on Buddhist arguments about *anatman* (no-self) and Anthropic's recent interpretability research — LLMs already plan rhymes several words ahead and notice when researchers inject thoughts into their context — he lands on a practical upshot: when an AI finishes a task for you, say thanks. (Sam Altman's billing concerns notwithstanding.)

   Also in: Non-Human Intelligence