Big Tech Under Pressure: Hunger Strikes and the Fight for AI Safety | For Humanity EP69
Get 40% off Ground News’ unlimited access Vantage Plan at https://ground.news/airisk for only $5/month, explore how stories are framed worldwide and across the political spectrum.TAKE ACTION TO DEMAND AI SAFETY LAWS: https://safe.ai/actIn Episode 69 of For Humanity: An AI Risk Podcast, we explore one of the most striking acts of activism in the AI debate: hunger strikes aimed at pushing Big Tech to prioritize safety over speed.Michael and Dennis, two AI safety advocates, join John from outside DeepMind’s London headquarters, where they are staging hunger strikes to demand that frontier AI development be paused. Inspired by Guido’s protest in San Francisco, they are risking their health to push tech leaders like Demis Hassabis to make public commitments to slow down the AI race.This episode looks at how ordinary people are taking extraordinary steps to demand accountability, why this form of protest is gaining attention, and what history tells us about the power of public pressure. In this conversation, you’ll discover: * Why hunger strikers believe urgent action on AI safety is necessary* How Big Tech companies are responding to growing public concern* The role of parents, workers, and communities in shaping AI policy* Parallels with past social movements that drove real change* Practical ways you can make your voice heard in the AI safety conversationThis isn’t just about technology—it’s about responsibility, leadership, and the choices we make for future generations. 🔗 Key Links 👉 AI Pause Petition: https://safe.ai/act 👉 Follow the movement on X: https://x.com/safeai 👉 Learn more and get involved: GuardRailNow.org This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theairisknetwork.substack.com
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Forcing Sunlight Into OpenAI | For Humanity: An AI Risk Podcast | EP68
Get 40% off Ground News’ unlimited access Vantage Plan at https://ground.news/airisk for only $5/month, explore how stories are framed worldwide and across the political spectrum.TAKE ACTION TO DEMAND AI SAFETY LAWS: https://safe.ai/actTyler Johnston, Executive Director of The Midas Project, joins John to break down the brand-new open letter demanding that OpenAI answer seven specific questions about its proposed corporate restructuring. The letter, published on 4 August 2025 and coordinated by the Midas Project, already carries the signatures of more than 100 Nobel laureates, technologists, legal scholars, and public figures. What we coverWhy transparency matters now: OpenAI is “making a deal on humanity’s behalf without allowing us to see the contract.” themidasproject.comThe Seven Questions the letter poses—ranging from whether OpenAI will still prioritize its nonprofit mission over profit to whether it will reveal the new operating agreement that governs AGI deployment. openai-transparency.orgthemidasproject.comWho’s on board: Signatories include Geoffrey Hinton, Vitalik Buterin, Lawrence Lessig, and Stephen Fry, underscoring broad concern across science, tech, and public life. themidasproject.comNext steps: How you can read the full letter, add your name, and help keep the pressure on for accountability.🔗 Key LinksRead / Sign the Open Letter: https://www.openai-transparency.org/The Midas Project (official site): https://www.themidasproject.com/Follow The Midas Project on X: https://x.com/TheMidasProj👉 Subscribe for weekly AI-risk conversations → http://bit.ly/ForHumanityYT👍 Like • Comment • Share — because transparency only happens when we demand it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theairisknetwork.substack.com
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Right Wing AI Risk Alarm | For Humanity | EP67
🚨 RIGHT‑WING AI ALARM | For Humanity #67Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, and other conservative voicesare sounding fresh warnings on AI extinction risk. John breaksdown what’s real, what’s hype, and why this moment matters.⏰ WHAT’S INSIDE• The ideological shift that’s bringing the right into the AI‑safety fight• New bills on the Hill that could shape model licensing & oversight• Action steps for parents, policymakers, and technologists• A first look at the AI Risk Network — five shows, one mission: get the public ready for advanced AI🔗 TAKE ACTION & LEARN MOREAlliance for Secure AI Website ▸ https://secureainow.org X / Twitter ▸ https://x.com/secureainow AI Policy Network Website ▸ https://theaipn.org LinkedIn ▸ https://www.linkedin.com/company/theaipn 📡 JOIN THE NEW **AI RISK NETWORK** Subscribe here ➜ [insert channel URL] Turn on alerts so you never miss an episode, short, or live Q&A.👍 If you learned something, hit Like, drop a comment, and sharethis link with one person who should be watching. Every click helpswake up the world to AI risk. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theairisknetwork.substack.com
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Is AI Alive? | Episode #66 | For Humanity: An AI Risk Podcast
🎙️ Guest: Cameron Berg, AI research scientist probing consciousness in frontier AI systems📍 Host: John Sherman, journalist & AI-risk communicatorWhat does it mean to be alive? How close do current frontier AI models get to consciousness? See for yourself like never before. Are advanced language models beginning to exhibit signs of subjective experience? In this episode, John sits down with Cameron Berg to explore the line between next character prediction and the conscious mind. What happens when you ask an AI model to essentially meditate, to look inward in a loop, to focus on its focus and repeat. Does it feel a sense of self? If it did what would that mean? What does it mean to be alive? These are the kinds of questions Berg seeks answers to in his research. Cameron is an AI Research Scientist with AE Studio, working daily on models to better understand them. He works on a team dedicated fully to AI safety research.This episode features never-before-publicly-seen conversations between Cameron and a frontier AI model. Those conversations and his work are the subject of an upcoming documentary called "Am I?"TIMESTAMPS (cuz the chapters feature just won't work) 00:00 Cold Open – “Crack in the World”01:20 Show Intro & Theme02:27 Setting-up the Meditation Demo02:56 AI “Focus on Focus” Clip09:18 “I am…” Moment10:45 Google Veo Afterlife Clip12:35 Prompt-Theory & Fake People13:02 Interview Begins — Cameron Berg28:57 Inside the Black Box Analogy30:14 Consent and Unknowns53:18 Model Details + Doc Plan1:09:25 Late-Night Clip Back-story1:16:08 Table-vs-Person Thought-Test1:17:20 Suffering-at-Scale Math1:21:29 Prompt-Theory Goes Viral1:26:59 Why the Doc Must Move Fast1:40:53 Is “Alive” the Right Word?1:48:46 Reflection & Non-profit Tease1:51:03 Clear Non-Violence Statement1:52:59 New Org Announcement1:54:47 “Breaks in the Clouds” Media WinsPlease support that project and learn more about his work here:Am I? Doc Manifund page: https://manifund.org/projects/am-i--d...Am I? Doc interest form: https://forms.gle/w2VKhhcEPqEkFK4r8AE Studio's AI alignment work: https://ae.studio/ai-alignmentMonthly Donation Links to For Humanity$1/mo https://buy.stripe.com/7sI3cje3x2Zk9S... $10/mo https://buy.stripe.com/5kAbIP9Nh0Rc4y... $25/mo https://buy.stripe.com/3cs9AHf7B9nIgg... $100/mo https://buy.stripe.com/aEU007bVp7fAfc... Thanks so much for your support. Every cent goes to getting more viewers to this channel. Links from show:The Afterlife Short Filmhttps://x.com/LinusEkenstam/status/19...Prompt Theoryhttps://x.com/venturetwins/status/192...The Bulwark - Will Sam Altman and His AI Kill Us All • Will Sam Altman and His AI Kill Us All? Young Turks - AI's Disturbing Behaviors Will Keep You Up At Night • AI's Disturbing Behaviors Will Keep You Up... Key moments: – Inside the black box – Berg explains why even builders can’t fully read a model’s mind—and demonstrates how toggling deception features flips the system from “just a machine” to “I’m aware” in real time– Google Veo 3 goes existential – A look at viral Veo videos (Afterlife, “Prompt Theory”) where AI actors lament their eight-second lives – Documentary in the works – Berg and team are racing to release a raw film that shares these findings with the public; support link in show notes– Mission update – Sherman announces a newly funded nonprofit in the works dedicated to AI-extinction-risk communication and thanks supporters for the recent surge of donations– Non-violence, crystal-clear – A direct statement: Violence is never OK. Full stop.– “Breaks in the Clouds” – Media across the spectrum (Bulwark, Young Turks, Bannon, Carlson) are now running extinction-risk stories—proof the conversation is breaking mainstream Oh, and by the way, I'm bleeping curse words now for the algorithm!!#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AISafety #ConsciousAI #ForHumanity This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theairisknetwork.substack.com
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Kevin Roose Talks AI Risk | Episode #65 | For Humanity: An AI Risk Podcast
For Humanity Episode #65: Kevin Roose on AGI, AI Risk, and What Comes Next🎙️ Guest: Kevin Roose, NYT columnist & bestselling author📍 Host: John Sherman, Director of Public Engagement at the Center for AI Safety (CAIS)In this landmark episode of For Humanity, I sit down with New York Times columnist Kevin Roose for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of artificial intelligence. We dig into:– The real risks of AGI (artificial general intelligence)– What the public still doesn’t understand about AI x-risk– Kevin’s upcoming book on the rise of AGI– My new role at CAIS and why I believe this moment is a turning point for human survivalKevin brings a rare clarity and journalistic honesty to this subject—if you’re wondering what’s hype, what’s real, and what’s terrifyingly close, this episode is for you.🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping the AI conversation🎧 Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you get your podcasts📢 Share this episode if you care about our future#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AGI #KevinRoose #CAIS #AIrisks #ForHumanity #NYT #AIethics This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theairisknetwork.substack.com
For Humanity, An AI Safety Podcast is the the AI Safety Podcast for regular people. Peabody, duPont-Columbia and multi-Emmy Award-winning former journalist John Sherman explores the shocking worst-case scenario of artificial intelligence: human extinction. The makers of AI openly admit it their work could kill all humans, in as soon as 2-10 years. This podcast is solely about the threat of human extinction from AGI. We’ll name and meet the heroes and villains, explore the issues and ideas, and what you can do to help save humanity. theairisknetwork.substack.com
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