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    <fireside:genDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:01:58 -0500</fireside:genDate>
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    <title>Increments - Episodes Tagged with “Trends”</title>
    <link>https://www.incrementspodcast.com/tags/trends</link>
    <pubDate>Sun, 17 Aug 2025 18:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
    <description>Vaden Masrani, a senior research scientist in machine learning, and Ben Chugg, a PhD student in statistics, get into trouble arguing about everything except machine learning and statistics. Coherence is somewhere on the horizon. Bribes, suggestions, love-mail and hate-mail all welcome at incrementspodcast@gmail.com.</description>
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    <itunes:type>episodic</itunes:type>
    <itunes:subtitle>Science, Philosophy, Epistemology, Mayhem</itunes:subtitle>
    <itunes:author>Ben Chugg and Vaden Masrani</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary>Vaden Masrani, a senior research scientist in machine learning, and Ben Chugg, a PhD student in statistics, get into trouble arguing about everything except machine learning and statistics. Coherence is somewhere on the horizon. Bribes, suggestions, love-mail and hate-mail all welcome at incrementspodcast@gmail.com.</itunes:summary>
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    <itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
    <itunes:keywords>Philosophy,Science,Ethics,Progress,Knowledge,Computer Science,Conversation,Error-Correction</itunes:keywords>
    <itunes:owner>
      <itunes:name>Ben Chugg and Vaden Masrani</itunes:name>
      <itunes:email>incrementspodcast@gmail.com</itunes:email>
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<itunes:category text="Society &amp; Culture">
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  <title>#90 (Reaction) - Disbelieving AI 2027: Responding to "Why We're Not Ready For Superintelligence"</title>
  <link>https://www.incrementspodcast.com/90</link>
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  <pubDate>Sun, 17 Aug 2025 18:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
  <author>Ben Chugg and Vaden Masrani</author>
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  <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
  <itunes:author>Ben Chugg and Vaden Masrani</itunes:author>
  <itunes:subtitle>The boys are hooked on reaction videos. This time: 80,000 hours' "Why we're not ready for superintelligence." </itunes:subtitle>
  <itunes:duration>1:35:32</itunes:duration>
  <itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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  <description>&lt;p&gt;Always the uncool kids at the table, Ben and Vaden push back against the AGI hype domininating every second episode of every second podcast. We react to &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVDDfAkRgc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;"We're not ready for superintelligence"&lt;/a&gt; by 80,000 Hours - a bleak portrayal of the pre and post AGI world. Can Ben keep Vaden's sass in check? Can the 80,000 hours team find enough cubes for AGI? Is Agent-5 listening to you RIGHT NOW?&lt;/p&gt;

Listener Note:

&lt;p&gt;We strongly recommend watching the video for this one, available both on youtube and spotify:&lt;br&gt;
    - &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@incrementspod" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;https://www.youtube.com/@incrementspod&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;
    - &lt;a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1gKKSP5HKT4Nk3i0y4UseB" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;https://open.spotify.com/show/1gKKSP5HKT4Nk3i0y4UseB&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;

We discuss

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The incentives of superforecasters &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Arguments by authority&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Whether superintelligence is right around the corner &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The difference between model size and data &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Are we running out of high quality data?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Does training on synthetic data work? &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The assumptions behind the AGI claims &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The pitfalls of reasoning from trends&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

References

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/%7Ejordan/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;Michael I Jordan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Lawrence" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;Neil Lawrence&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[Important technical paper from Jordan pushing back on Doomerism](A Collectivist, Economic Perspective on AI) &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/11/09/how-to-use-ai-for-discovery-without-leading-science-astray/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;Jordan article talking about dangers of using AlphaFold data&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07566-y" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;Nature paper showing you can't use synthetic data to train bigger models &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04325v2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;Paper estimating of when training data will run out&lt;/a&gt; (Coincidentally enough, sometime between 2027-2028)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

Socials

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Follow us on Twitter at @IncrementsPod, @BennyChugg, @VadenMasrani&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Come join our discord server! DM us on twitter or send us an email to get a supersecret link&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Become a patreon subscriber&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.patreon.com/Increments" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Or give us one-time cash donations to help cover our lack of cash donations&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://ko-fi.com/increments" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Click dem like buttons on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4wZzQyoW4s4ZuE4FY9DQQ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;youtube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But how many cubes until we get to AGI though? Send a few of your cubes over to &lt;a href="mailto:incrementspodcast@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;incrementspodcast@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Episode header image from &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;amp;v=0Jsrux_XY8Y&amp;amp;ab_channel=TheAlgorithmicVoice" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
</description>
  <itunes:keywords>AI, AGI, superintelligence, trends, doomerism, technology, progress</itunes:keywords>
  <content:encoded>
    <![CDATA[<p>Always the uncool kids at the table, Ben and Vaden push back against the AGI hype domininating every second episode of every second podcast. We react to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVDDfAkRgc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">"We're not ready for superintelligence"</a> by 80,000 Hours - a bleak portrayal of the pre and post AGI world. Can Ben keep Vaden's sass in check? Can the 80,000 hours team find enough cubes for AGI? Is Agent-5 listening to you RIGHT NOW?</p>

Listener Note:

<p>We strongly recommend watching the video for this one, available both on youtube and spotify:<br>
    - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@incrementspod" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/@incrementspod</a><br>
    - <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1gKKSP5HKT4Nk3i0y4UseB" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://open.spotify.com/show/1gKKSP5HKT4Nk3i0y4UseB</a> </p>

We discuss

<ul>
<li>The incentives of superforecasters </li>
<li>Arguments by authority</li>
<li>Whether superintelligence is right around the corner </li>
<li>The difference between model size and data </li>
<li>Are we running out of high quality data?</li>
<li>Does training on synthetic data work? </li>
<li>The assumptions behind the AGI claims </li>
<li>The pitfalls of reasoning from trends</li>
</ul>

References

<ul>
<li><a href="https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/%7Ejordan/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Michael I Jordan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Lawrence" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Neil Lawrence</a><br></li>
<li>[Important technical paper from Jordan pushing back on Doomerism](A Collectivist, Economic Perspective on AI) </li>
<li><a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/11/09/how-to-use-ai-for-discovery-without-leading-science-astray/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Jordan article talking about dangers of using AlphaFold data</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07566-y" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Nature paper showing you can't use synthetic data to train bigger models </a></li>
<li><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04325v2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Paper estimating of when training data will run out</a> (Coincidentally enough, sometime between 2027-2028)</li>
</ul>

Socials

<ul>
<li>Follow us on Twitter at @IncrementsPod, @BennyChugg, @VadenMasrani</li>
<li>Come join our discord server! DM us on twitter or send us an email to get a supersecret link</li>
<li>Become a patreon subscriber&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/Increments" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>. Or give us one-time cash donations to help cover our lack of cash donations&nbsp;<a href="https://ko-fi.com/increments" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>.</li>
<li>Click dem like buttons on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4wZzQyoW4s4ZuE4FY9DQQ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube</a></li>
</ul>

<p>But how many cubes until we get to AGI though? Send a few of your cubes over to <a href="mailto:incrementspodcast@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">incrementspodcast@gmail.com</a></p>

<p>Episode header image from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=0Jsrux_XY8Y&amp;ab_channel=TheAlgorithmicVoice" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>. </p><p><a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/Increments">Support Increments</a></p>]]>
  </content:encoded>
  <itunes:summary>
    <![CDATA[<p>Always the uncool kids at the table, Ben and Vaden push back against the AGI hype domininating every second episode of every second podcast. We react to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVDDfAkRgc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">"We're not ready for superintelligence"</a> by 80,000 Hours - a bleak portrayal of the pre and post AGI world. Can Ben keep Vaden's sass in check? Can the 80,000 hours team find enough cubes for AGI? Is Agent-5 listening to you RIGHT NOW?</p>

Listener Note:

<p>We strongly recommend watching the video for this one, available both on youtube and spotify:<br>
    - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@incrementspod" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/@incrementspod</a><br>
    - <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1gKKSP5HKT4Nk3i0y4UseB" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://open.spotify.com/show/1gKKSP5HKT4Nk3i0y4UseB</a> </p>

We discuss

<ul>
<li>The incentives of superforecasters </li>
<li>Arguments by authority</li>
<li>Whether superintelligence is right around the corner </li>
<li>The difference between model size and data </li>
<li>Are we running out of high quality data?</li>
<li>Does training on synthetic data work? </li>
<li>The assumptions behind the AGI claims </li>
<li>The pitfalls of reasoning from trends</li>
</ul>

References

<ul>
<li><a href="https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/%7Ejordan/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Michael I Jordan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Lawrence" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Neil Lawrence</a><br></li>
<li>[Important technical paper from Jordan pushing back on Doomerism](A Collectivist, Economic Perspective on AI) </li>
<li><a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/11/09/how-to-use-ai-for-discovery-without-leading-science-astray/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Jordan article talking about dangers of using AlphaFold data</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07566-y" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Nature paper showing you can't use synthetic data to train bigger models </a></li>
<li><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04325v2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Paper estimating of when training data will run out</a> (Coincidentally enough, sometime between 2027-2028)</li>
</ul>

Socials

<ul>
<li>Follow us on Twitter at @IncrementsPod, @BennyChugg, @VadenMasrani</li>
<li>Come join our discord server! DM us on twitter or send us an email to get a supersecret link</li>
<li>Become a patreon subscriber&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/Increments" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>. Or give us one-time cash donations to help cover our lack of cash donations&nbsp;<a href="https://ko-fi.com/increments" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>.</li>
<li>Click dem like buttons on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4wZzQyoW4s4ZuE4FY9DQQ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube</a></li>
</ul>

<p>But how many cubes until we get to AGI though? Send a few of your cubes over to <a href="mailto:incrementspodcast@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">incrementspodcast@gmail.com</a></p>

<p>Episode header image from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=0Jsrux_XY8Y&amp;ab_channel=TheAlgorithmicVoice" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>. </p><p><a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/Increments">Support Increments</a></p>]]>
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