Welcome to Exponential View, the show where I explore how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping our future. I've been studying AI and exponential technologies at the frontier for over ten years.

Each week, I share some of my analysis or speak with an expert guest to make light of a particular topic.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or to my newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
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This is the first episode of AI Vistas, a new series where I bring together people I trust and respect to tackle a major question collectively. 

Today’s question: are we in charge of our AI tools, or are they in charge of us? 

Joining me are Nita Farahany, distinguished professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and a leading thinker on cognitive liberty and mental privacy; Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and one of the world's most cited medical researchers; and Rohit Krishnan, engineer, former hedge fund manager, and AI builder. Moderating the conversation is Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic.

We covered:

(01:33) Introducing AI Vistas

(03:51) The AI agent that made a financial decision mid-drive

(05:48) What does it mean to act autonomously anymore?

(08:42) Why AI harms are rarer than you'd expect

(10:24) When AI outperforms doctors – and why that's complicated

(15:20) Constituent competence: the skill you must never offload

(18:50) De-skilling is already happening 

(31:20) What can schools do better?

(42:50) AI slop and "hollow-ware"

(46:40) What is lost when AI does the creating?

(49:18) When a tool gets good enough, we hand it off

(50:11) Deliberate intent: keeping AI as a tool

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Where to find me:

• Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
• Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar/
• Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Where to find Nick, Nita, Eric and Rohit:

• Thinking Freely with Nita Farahany: https://nitafarahany.substack.com/
• Ground Truths with Eric Topol: https://erictopol.substack.com/
• Strange Loop Canon with Rohit Krishnan: https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/
• The Most Interesting Reads with Nick Thompson: https://nxthompson.substack.com/

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