What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Future of AI with Nick Foster

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

Society & Culture

4.2 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Futures designer Nick Foster spent decades helping tech companies create products many of us didn’t even know we wanted. As the head of design at Google X — a.k.a. Alphabet’s “Moonshot Factory,” which is now known simply as “X” — he led teams working on brain-controlled computer interfaces, intelligent robotics, and even neighborhood-level nuclear fusion. He also designed emerging technologies for Apple, Sony, Nokia and Dyson. But in his debut book, “Could, Should, Might, Don’t: How We Think About the Future,” Foster argues for a more measured approach to thinking about big disruptive technology, like A.I. Kara and Nick talk about the pitfalls of the current AI hype cycle, why executives need to think critically about how everyday people are using AI, and how companies can more thoughtfully adopt the technology. They also talk about Foster’s argument that all of us need to take a more “mundane” approach to thinking about AI and the future. This episode was recorded live at Smartsheet ENGAGE 2025 in Seattle. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I love your pants. That's very sweet of you. Yeah, I'm loving soft pants these days.
0:04.7	Yeah, me too'm Kara Swisher.
0:23.6	Today I'm talking to futures designer, Nick Foster. He spent decades of his career designing for huge tech companies like Apple, Sony, Nokia, and Dyson.
0:32.6	Most recently, Foster was the head of design at Google X, Alphabet's R&D company, known as the Moonshot Factory.
0:41.2	He led teams working on brain-controlled computer interfaces, intelligent robotics, even neighborhood-level nuclear fusion.
0:48.6	Foster recently wrote his first book. It's called Could, Should, Might Don't, and despite his big tech background or maybe because
0:55.2	of it, he argues for a more mundane approach to thinking about the future and how to design
1:00.1	products for it. He wants all of us to treat transformative technology like AI as something
1:05.6	will incorporate into our everyday lives rather than something that will radically change
1:10.2	the way we live.
1:11.5	I think Nick is right because it's really important that we stop thinking about AI as this hype
1:16.3	machine or about the end of the earth and start to think about what it can do for us and what
1:21.5	guardrails we need to put in place. All right, let's get into my interview with Nick Foster.
1:26.5	Our expert question comes from
1:28.0	Ethan Mollick, a professor at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of
1:33.2	the book, Co-intelligence, Living and Working with AI. Today's episode is brought to you by Smart
1:39.0	Sheet and my conversation with Nick was recorded in front of a live audience at SmartSheets
1:43.8	Engage conference in Seattle last week.
1:54.3	Support for this episode comes from SmartSheet, the Intelligent Work Management platform.
1:59.3	Today's episode was recorded live at Engage an annual conference for change makers hosted by
2:04.6	SmartChete.
2:05.5	I was joined by Nick Foster to take a philosophical dive into how AI is set to transform
	...

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