Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-ben-buchanan.html

Ezra Klein and Ben Buchanan (former special advisor for artificial intelligence in the Biden White House).

Both agree we as humans and governments (the thing we need to protect us if all goes belly up), are not prepared for what changes may (probably) come. Governments are too big and bureaucratic to manage this really well. I agree with this wholeheartedly.

On the value of personal agency in this new world:

...intelligence will become a little bit more commoditized, what will stand out more in that world is agency and the capacity to do things.

And on the link between work and a sense of purpose:

I believe, [...], there’s a kind of dignity that work brings. And it doesn’t have to be paid work, but there needs to be something that people do each day that gives them meaning.

There is also discussions around DOGE preparing the government to be able to move more quickly as this AI-wave comes to fruition, which I do actually believe is part of the motivation. However Ben raises a counter for this being the sole motivation:

It feels orthogonal to what I’ve observed from DOGE. I think Musk is someone who does understand what A.I. can do, but I don’t know how starting with the United States Agency for International Development, for example, prepares the U.S. government to make better A.I. policy.

A counter to that counter is DOGE would start with a "quick win"[1] to demonstrate viability and effectiveness before moving on to more challenging departments to achieve this goal.

Interestingly, Ezra Klein believes what Simon Willison believes, which is that programmers may become more valuable given how AI & software will infiltrate other industries.

And Ezra echos what I am starting to feel more and more with the quotes below on policy:

If it’s so [expletive] big, but nobody can quite explain what it is we need to do or talk about — except for maybe export chip controls — are we just not thinking creatively enough? Is it just not time?

and on labour disruptions:

[...] we have seen this coming for a while. But as I look around, I do not see a lot of useful thinking here. And I grant that we don’t know the shape of it. But, at the very least, I would like to see some ideas on the shelf for what we should do if the disruptions are severe.

This whole topic also makes me feel extra strange and uneasy being a Canadian today (4th March 2025, when tariffs against us are put into effect), that this hostile government will be in charge as as this transformation takes place.

Footnotes

1. As seen by a non-insignificant portion of the American population