AI 2027 got 90th percentile readership outcome
AI 2027 vastly exceeded Kokotajlo's own pre-publication readership forecasts, reaching what he estimates as a 90th percentile outcome in views.
Snapshot · 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
Where this was said
How People Find Purpose After AI Replaces Jobs
At 1:34:05 · 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.
Daniel told wife: no more children due to AI
Kokotajlo told his wife he wanted to stop having children because the future under AI was too uncertain for children to have a normal life including joining a workforce.
Would You Press the Button to Shut Down AI Forever?
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.
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