I've covered many subjects on this show.

Inflation, GLP-1s, politics, loneliness, aliens.

But the biggest divide in my audience and the biggest divide among the people I read and listen to and trust

is on the subject of artificial intelligence.

One way to characterize this divide, and maybe it's a simplistic way to characterize it,

is to say that on one side of this debate, you've got slobbering sycophants of the technology

who say everything is about to change, the lid is off on history, AI is years or months away

from automating every single human task,

about to transform every nook and cranny of human experience.

And on the other side, you've got hardened skeptics who think this is all complete nonsense

because the underlying technology is little more than a parlor trick

that Silicon Valley billionaires want to shove down your throats.

The news and discourse space, as I see it, is divided between these outrageous extremes.

This technology is a joke versus this technology is 12 months away from changing everything.

I think this is a false choice. And today, I want to suggest a better, more sophisticated way for this conversation to proceed.

First, there are some cultural differences, I think there are at play here.

When I'm in San Francisco, visiting with people who are building this technology,

I spend time with folks who've chosen to devote their work life to this invention,

even when they themselves are not entirely sure what they're summoning into existence.

When I'm in D.C. or New York City, visiting with people on the receiving end of the Bay Area's

exports, I'm spending time with folks who regard the last 20 years of Silicon Valley products

as being somewhat regretful additions to

...