When Will AI Empty Your Dishwasher? (with Nicholas Thompson)

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Science, Social Sciences, Society & Culture, Education

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and host of "The Most Interesting Thing in AI," joins Rufus and Caleb to explain why the machines may master our minds long before they master our muscles — and what that gap tells us about where AI is headed. Along the way: why human podcasters still beat AI ones, how Nick learned to stop worrying and love open source, and where he'd point an infinite AI budget. 🎧 Check out Nick’s previous appearance on the show here. 📦 Join the Next Big Idea Club and we’ll send you a copy of David Epstein’s new book, Inside the Box, and an invitation to a members-only Q&A with David on May 26. Learn more at nextbigideaclub.com/ 🔗 SPONSORED BY: Granola ➡️ If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free for three months. Just head to ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠ Incogni ➡️ Protect your personal information online and get an exclusive 60% off an annual plan at ⁠incogni.com/nbi⁠ Quince ➡️ Refresh your spring wardrobe and get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/nbi⁠ Shopify ➡️ Launch your business for just $1/month. Start selling today at ⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is my opinion?
0:00.7	I'd say 25%.
0:01.6	What's yours, Nick?
0:02.7	I won.
0:03.5	I don't know.
0:04.5	Yay.
0:05.5	Rufus, that was the most unconvincing yay anyone has ever delivered.
0:11.7	I'm Rufus Griscom.
0:13.0	And I'm Caleb Bissinger.
0:14.1	And this is the next big idea.
0:16.3	Today, Nick Thompson on the future of AI, journalism, and robots that can empty your dishwasher.
0:44.0	The way Nick Thompson sees it, there are two races happening in AI right now.
0:46.2	The vertical and the horizontal.
0:48.4	And the vertical race is the race to infinity.
1:01.1	A handful of companies, Google, Open AI, Anthropic, you know the ones, are spending hundreds of billions of dollars in a breakneck race to build super intelligence, whether we like it or not.
1:02.5	And then there's a horizontal race.
1:08.6	Open source builders, academics, civil service organizations. In other words, the good guys.
1:15.6	Nick's hope is that the horizontal race goes as fast as the vertical one, because if that happens,
1:18.4	then you summon the Buddha into this all-powerful AI.
1:24.3	Nick is the CEO of the Atlantic and hosts the podcast The Most Interesting Thing in AI,
1:25.8	which just launched a new season.
1:27.9	On the show, he's interviewed everyone from Sam Altman to Nick Bostrum to many others who are trying to steer our collective exciting
	...

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