From Peak Horse to Peak Human: How AI Could Replace Us (with Calum Chace)

On this episode, Calum Chace joins me to discuss the transformative impact of AI on employment, comparing the current wave of cognitive automation to historical technological revolutions. We talk about "universal generous income", fully-automated luxury capitalism, and redefining education with AI tutors. We end by examining verification of artificial agents and the ethics of attributing consciousness to machines.   Learn more about Calum's work here: https://calumchace.com   Timestamps:   00:00:00  Preview and intro  00:03:02  Past tech revolutions and AI-driven unemployment  00:05:43  Cognitive automation: from secretaries to every job  00:08:02  The “peak horse” analogy and avoiding human obsolescence  00:10:55  Infinite demand and lump of labor  00:18:30  Fully-automated luxury capitalism  00:23:31  Abundance economy and a potential employment cliff  00:29:37  Education reimagined with personalized AI tutors  00:36:22  Real-world uses of LLMs: memory, drafting, emotional insight  00:42:56  Meaning beyond jobs: aristocrats, retirees, and kids  00:49:51  Four futures of superintelligence  00:57:20  Conscious AI and empathy as a safety strategy  01:10:55  Verifying AI agents  01:25:20  Over-attributing vs under-attributing machine consciousness