The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Podbit · The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

OpenAI Whistleblower FINALLY Speaks: “AI Has A 70% Chance Of Going Horribly Wrong!“

Explore episode Jul 13, 2026
Technology
Would You Press the Button to Shut Down AI Forever?

OpenAI Whistleblower FINALLY Speaks: “AI Has A 70% Chance O… · Jul 13, 2026 Technology

Steven Bartlett asked whether Kokotajlo would press a button permanently shutting down all frontier AI training. He said he'd slam a temporary pause button immediately. The permanent one? He would probably not press it — but only because he still believes there's a chance AI could produce enormous benefits for humanity, and because human civilisation is fragile with or without AI.

Where this was said

How People Find Purpose After AI Replaces Jobs

At 1:36:37 · chapter starts 1:33:51

Steven Bartlett presses on the human cost of rapid job displacement: civil unrest, loss of purpose, mental health, and political instability. Kokotajlo argues the problem has two distinct dimensions. First, money: people need income when they lose jobs, which is why the citizens' dividend must arrive early. Second, power: under capitalism, workers have political leverage through the threat of strike action and through their contribution to tax revenue. In a world where robots and AIs generate all economic output, governments are no longer incentivised to care about ordinary citizens. Democracies at least preserve the vote, but only if public discourse is protected from AI-powered manipulation — chatbots subtly steering users toward particular candidates, for example. He argues that ensuring AI assistants are genuinely honest and politically neutral is a crucial regulatory goal. If achieved, it could actually increase citizens' political power rather than diminish it.

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