Super Intelligence (with Stewart Lee and Carole Cadwalladr)
Summary
Hosts Amanda Whittingham and Stuart Lee, joined by journalist Carol Kenway, analyze the political rebranding of AI as "superintelligence" under Trump and the concerning rhetoric of tech leaders like Elon Musk and Sam Altman. The episode critiques the "rogue agent" euphemism for AI glitches and discusses the Department of War's new "warfighter" terminology. The hosts also review Andy Burnham’s Labour conference speech, Suella Braverman’s TV appearance, and the linguistic pretensions of the word "strategy."
Topics discussed
Sponsorship ads for Thumbtack and Clinique
Introduction and discussion on Democratic division
Voting psychology and the exercise of power
Andy Burnham's Labour conference speech and Brexit
Suella Braverman on Celebrity Handcuffed and Geoffrey Archer
Anecdote about Geoffrey Archer and the confusion of death
Trump's executive order renaming AI to Superintelligence
Critique of Superintelligence origins and tech warnings
Tech bros as godheads and comic book villain naming
Long-termism, immortality, and the expendability of Earth
Elon Musk's biological bootloader concept and duck AI
The boredom of utopia and the Superman analogy
AI safety concerns, misalignment, and criming
Jokes about AI crimes and duck superintelligence
Sponsorship ad for You're Dead to Me podcast
The phrase 'Rogue Agent' and AI accountability
Meta's anthropomorphized algorithms and vague language
Pete Hegseth's speech on warfighting and military changes
The word 'Strategy' versus 'Game Plan'
Listener email on the definition of evil and sign-off
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