Ep. 306: Defusing AI Panic

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

One of the simmering concerns surrounding the current AI revolution is the fear that we might accidentally create an “alien mind” smarter than we expected. In this episode, Cal puts on his Computer Scientist hat and directly addresses this potential by sketching his emerging concept of intentional artificial intelligence (or, iAI for short). He then answers tech-themed questions from listeners and reacts to an article that many, many different people sent to him last week.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

Deep Dive: Defusing AI Panic [5:23]

- Will A.I. agents spread misinformation on a large scale? [46:31]

- Is lack of good measurement and evaluation for A.I. systems a major problem? [51:16]

- Is the development of A.I. the biggest thing to happen in technology since the internet? [56:50]

- How do I balance a 30 day declutter with my overall technology use? [1:00:40]

- How do I convince my team that prioritizing quality over quantity will help them get promotions? [1:07:46]

- CALL: Distributed trust models and social media [1:13:12]

CASE STUDY: Using Deep Work and Slow Productivity to engineer a better work situation [1:22:55]

CAL REACTS: Employees fired for using “mouse jigglers” [1:32:03]

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow

Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/

Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?v=448bf8afad0740d18f6b109b4bd40d51

axios.com/2024/06/18/wells-fargo-mouse-jiggler-fired-employee-productivity

nytimes.com/2023/03/24/opinion/yuval-harari-ai-chatgpt.html

arxiv.org/pdf/2303.12712

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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for the slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

Chapters

1. Ep. 306: Defusing AI Panic (00:00:00)

2. Deep Dive: Defusing AI Panic (00:05:23)

3. Will A.I. agents spread misinformation on a large scale? (00:46:31)

4. Is lack of good measurement and evaluation for A.I. systems a major problem? (00:51:16)

5. Is the development of A.I. the biggest thing to happen in technology since the internet? (00:56:50)

6. How do I balance a 30 day declutter with my overall technology use? (01:00:40)

7. How do I convince my team that prioritizing quality over quantity will help them get promotions? (01:07:46)

8. CALL: Distributed trust models and social media (01:13:12)

9. CASE STUDY: Using Deep Work and Slow Productivity to engineer a better work situation (01:22:55)

10. CAL REACTS: Employees fired for using “mouse jigglers” (01:32:03)