No One Knows What Happens Next
Reflections on Theo Von’s wide-ranging conversation with Sam Altman
I recently listened to Theo Von’s interview with Sam Altman. It’s one of the best interviews I’ve listened to in a long time in relation to Business @ the speed of AI.
Their 90-minute wide ranging dialogue touches on some really thoughtful, timely topics that many of us are contemplating … as well as several many of us are not (Ever heard of “Universal Extreme Wealth”). It’s a hard dose of honesty with a touch of optimism about the decade ahead.
Von may be known for stand-up, but here he proves himself a sharp interviewer. He asks insightful questions … then goes on to share his own reflections and considerations about what the future of AI will bring … No One Knows What Happens Next.
Favorite Questions:
- How would you recommend a parent right now to prepare their children for an AI future?
- AI feels like a fast forward button on technology and on possibility. How will society, societal members be able to financially survive? Will there still be money?
- What is the AI race for?
- Would most people today vote for or against AI going forward?
- We have laws in the human world. Does AI need a legal framework to protect user’s privacy? Similar to Doctor Patient Confidentiality, like a GPT User Confidentiality?
Stand-Out Quotes
- I’m not worried about the kids. I am more worried about the parents. – Altman
- One of the big fears is purpose … the loss of purpose that comes from work. -Von
- Creativity and intelligence cuts so deeply at who we are (as humans). -Altman
- I don’t know the negative consequences yet. -Altman (with such honesty)
- We’re deeply wired to care about the other person. -Altman
- You grow up with it, kinda like kneecaps. – Von
- Story of the next decade: intelligence and energy. -Altman
My favorite Von reflection … describing Altman.
It’s kind of bizarre because there’s a part of me that’s like,
this guy’s out of his mind. This guy is a wild wizard.
You know, but then there’s also this part of me that’s like,
this guy is this hopeful guy…
Who’s, like, involved in this crazy space, and
he kind of has this whimsical energy about the future,
which is, in a crazy way, is a nice energy to have
about the future generally, it’s that something could happen
or that things are possible.
Had Me Laughing
Sit down and eat now. And it [the Waymo] uses a t-shirt cannon
to shoot a burrito at you.
And then the GLP car goes by, and it shoots you
with three GLP1 darts in the neck.”
-Von (52:00 Describing a dream he has of the future – too funny.)
Why You Should Listen
It’s grounding, it’s entertaining … and just the right medicine for all generations of us at work right now. AI’s impact is only beginning to register. To be truly felt in our everyday lives is still to come. Yet even Altman describes the last few months as furiously fast.
We must remember that nobody knows what happens next. “There are no parents in the room.”
So it comes down to how we choose to experience AI’s impact.
Will it be a beautiful expression of human creation like every other period we studied growing up?
I believe it most certainly will. The question I’ve been pondering is about the people living during the past periods of rapid technological advancement.
Did Renaissance citizens know they were living through history—and were they as scared and excited as we are now? As everything around them they knew to be true and right was changing right before their eyes. Kinda like how I am feeling right now.
For me, listening to this podcast, was a great reminder of while nobody knows what happens next, with each passing day, it’s human ingenuity in the “tech trenches” making this conversation possible.
I’m excited and uneasy at the same time …
it seems a state of mind that comes with living
during periods of rapid technological advancement.
Properly human, not at all artificial.
About Jeremy
Jeremy Victor is a father, coach, and senior executive in the digital health industry. He writes about leadership, emotional intelligence, and the modernization of work in the AI-first, always-on economy. His mission: help people—and the systems they work in—Become More. Join Jeremy online at his Substack: Business at the Speed of AI, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, OneMORE Minute.