In this special crossover episode from Beatrice Erkers' Existential Hope podcast, The Cognitive Revolution's host explores the crucial, often-neglected question of building a positive vision for the future in the AI era. The discussion delves into what a new social contract and daily life could look like, covering transformative applications from self-driving cars and personalized tutoring to democratizing access to expertise and radically improving health. Listeners will gain insights into fostering higher societal expectations for progress, understanding Eric Drexler's "comprehensive AI services," and the profound impact of fiction in shaping AI's future. LINKS: Generative deep learning antibiotic design Why Tool AIs become Agent AIs Existential Hope Podcast Sponsors: Google AI Studio: Google AI Studio features a revamped coding experience to turn your ideas into reality faster than ever. Describe your app and Gemini will automatically wire up the right models and APIs for you at https://ai.studio/build Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) Sponsor: Google AI Studio (00:31) About the Episode (02:43) Introducing Nathan Labenz (03:50) A Positive AI Future (Part 1) (12:23) Sponsors: Shopify | Tasklet (15:31) A Positive AI Future (Part 2) (15:31) Excitement for Self-Driving (19:25) Visions for 100 Years (24:58) Near-Term Transformative AI (31:08) AI's Impact on Sectors (41:16) Comprehensive AI Services (52:16) Balancing Hope and Risk (56:51) Raising Societal Ambitions (01:01:30) Branching Sci-Fi Narratives (01:06:00) Lessons From Podcasting (01:09:52) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk