1390: Rob Reid | Pandemic Prevention in an Age of Printable Pathogens
Summary
Rob Reid discusses the escalating risks of AI and synthetic biology, arguing that engineering a pandemic is becoming as accessible as a freshman biology assignment. He details the failed Deep Vision program, which planned to hunt down and publish the genomes of dangerous undiscovered viruses, and explains why this posed a catastrophic threat. The episode also covers the porous nature of DNA screening, the rapid acceleration of open-source AI models, and practical mitigation strategies like wastewater surveillance.
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