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Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)Author: Chirag Shah, Sunay Shah
Tired of accepting things at face value? Join Chirag Shah & Sunay Shah in "Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)". We delve into life's big questions (free will, meaning, etc.) with humor & lively debate. Prepare to have your mind gently nudged (or blown!). New episodes every week! #philosophy #podcasts Language: en Genres: Philosophy, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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?E! #28 - Reel Philosophy: The Thinking Game — Who Do You Trust to Build the Future?
Episode 28
Thursday, 26 February, 2026
Who do you trust to build the future, and does their character actually matter?Chirag and Sunay unpack "The Thinking Game," a documentary following Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis from chess prodigy to Nobel Prize winner. The film raises a question it doesn't fully answer: when the people building the most powerful technology in history are also deciding how it gets used, what safeguards actually work? The conversation covers ethics officers, regulation vs. innovation, and why social media already disproved the "let the public self-correct" theory.Key Takeaways:The character of AI's builders matters, but character alone has never been enough to protect society from powerful technologySocial media already proved that public transparency doesn't automatically lead to self-correctionRegulation and innovation aren't the zero-sum trade-off the industry claims — healthcare manages bothEthics officers exist in Canadian banks since 2008 but are largely absent from American tech companiesDemis Hassabis solved protein folding and open-sourced it, showing what happens when purpose drives the builderChapters:0:00 Intro: The Thinking Game2:24 The Leaders Behind Our AI Tools4:35 Can Public Scrutiny Keep AI Safe?7:16 Why Self-Regulation Isn't Enough9:29 The Case for Ethics Officers (and Resident Philosophers)13:21 Does Regulation Kill Innovation?18:14 What AI Can Learn from Healthcare22:31 Can Government Keep Up?24:36 Demis Hassabis: A Life Built on Purpose27:20 "Solve All of Them" — Then Give It Away30:17 From AlphaGo to AlphaZero: Learning from Scratch34:16 The Gap Between Using AI and Understanding It36:17 When No One Knows How the Machines Work39:57 Energy, Compute, and the Rate Limiter42:25 Humanity Is Getting Worse at Coordination46:23 Manhattan Project Parallels48:59 Does the Builder Matter?Resources & Links:The Thinking Game (documentary) — directed by Greg KohsGoogle DeepMindAlphaFold — the protein structure prediction tool discussed in the episodeSuperagency by Reid Hoffman — the book Chirag references on AI optimismAmanda Askell, Anthropic's Resident Philosopher — the philosopher role discussed in the episodeDwarkesh Podcast: Elon Musk Interview — the interview Chirag references on data centers in spaceListen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
