EP 2: The Signal

The Last Invention

Longview

Documentary, Society & Culture, Technology

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1951, Alan Turing predicted machines might one day surpass human intelligence and 'take control.' He created a test to alert us when we were getting close. But seventy years of science fiction later, the real threat feels like just another movie plot. THIS EPISODE FEATURES: Connor Leahy, Max Tegmark, Robin Hanson, Karen Hao, Nick Bostrom, Sam Harris, and Justin Murphy LINKS: Karen Hao’s book “Empire of AI” Nick Bostrom's book "Superintelligence" CREDITS: This episode of The Last Invention was reported and produced by Andy Mills, Gregory Warner, Andrew Parsons, Megan Phelps-Roper, Matthew Boll, Seth Temple Andrews, and Ethan Mannello. It is hosted by Gregory Warner Music for this episode was composed by ⁠Scott Devendorf⁠, ⁠Ben Lanz⁠, ⁠Cobey Bienert⁠, and Matthew Boll The Last Invention artwork by ⁠Jacob Boll⁠ To become a Longview subscriber you can visit us ⁠here⁠ Thank you to our sponsors Ground News and FIRE ⁠GROUND NEWS⁠ : Go to ⁠groundnews.com/invent⁠ to get 40% off unlimited access to global coverage of the stories shaping our world. ⁠FIRE⁠ This is a paid sponsorship link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, listeners, this is Matt, co-founder here at Longview. And before we get to the show,
0:08.1	I just wanted to share something you may already know, but may not fully appreciate.
0:12.6	Our whole project only exists because of subscribers.
0:17.4	Advertising, of course, helps, but it isn't enough. Because the reporting that defines this work, the kind that takes time and patience and independence, is funded by people who choose to subscribe.
0:28.9	Your support is what allows us to investigate the stories that we're working on right now, reporting on why the economy feels broken and incomprehensible to many of us, reporting on health and longevity,
0:40.3	reporting on the resurgence of anarchy on the left and what far right actually means in this political moment.
0:46.1	And of course, reporting on AI. It's easy to underestimate the value of your small monthly subscription,
0:52.2	but taken together, your subscriptions are the foundation
0:55.0	of everything we do. So if you're already a subscriber, thank you. You are helping make this work real.
1:02.4	If you'd like to become one of the people who sustain this project, you can visit us at longviewinvestigations.com.
1:09.3	And thanks again. Okay, on to the show.
1:11.6	I'm Gregory Warner, and this is the last invention.
1:23.6	On November 30th, 22, the world, as we know know it changed forever with the introduction of chat GPT.
1:29.8	The robots are taking over.
1:31.4	The internet's going crazy over new artificial intelligence called chat GPT.
1:37.0	So much of this moment that we're in, in the AI revolution, so much of this debate that we're having about what we should do next was triggered by the arrival of chat GPT.
1:48.0	The next generation of artificial intelligence is here.
1:51.0	It took Netflix more than three years to reach one million users,
1:55.0	but it took ChatGPT just five days.
1:58.0	The program can write really complex essays, books, news articles, and even computer
2:03.9	code. And whether you're a chatchip-dee fan or not, that single AI chatbot and the models
2:10.4	that followed, they supercharged an industry, shifted our relationship to AI, and fueled this debate about our future with intelligent machines.
	...

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