Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Aisha Down, global technology reporter for the Guardian; her latest article is "Your AI doomsday questions answered: ‘What, if anything, can people like me do about it?’"

The conversation examined AI’s societal, political, economic, and democratic risks. Here are a few key points from the conversation:
- Down argued that extinction narratives often rely on speculative scenarios and fail to account for practical constraints, while acknowledging risks from agentic systems, cyberattacks, biosecurity, and attacks on banks or universities.
- The discussion challenged anthropomorphic views of AI and questioned whether intelligence measured by high IQ translates into real-world agency or goals.
- Industry leaders may amplify claims about AI’s power to support valuations, delay IPOs, shape regulation, and encourage regulatory capture.
- Data centers and chip financing could represent a speculative bubble, with delays, interlocking companies, and debt creating unresolved financial risks. 
- AI is also accelerating surveillance, misinformation, and internet fragmentation, while health technologies and tools for treating cancer, paralysis, and other conditions offer significant benefits.

Catch “It’s the Democracy, Stupid” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/edwin).   

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