Key Takeaways

• AI is advancing rapidly, creating a dual landscape of excitement and caution.
• AI agents generate language probabilistically, lacking true intent.
• The development of AI parallels the composability seen in DeFi.
• New technologies often expose human errors and limitations.
• Geopolitical and economic shifts are altering the world order.
• AI’s impact on jobs is profound, requiring serious consideration.
• ‘Proof of control’ technology will emerge due to regulatory demands.
• Sovereign AI should empower individuals, not create closed systems.
• Cryptography and blockchains provide essential proof of control for AI.
• AI sovereignty is a geopolitical issue with potential totalitarian risks.
• Entry-level jobs in vulnerable domains are increasingly replaced by AI.
• The future economy will feature AI agents and robots in traditional roles.
• AI integration will create a chaotic and destabilizing economic environment.
• AI’s limitations pose risks for companies relying on it for critical tasks.
• The real risk of AI is anthropomorphizing it, leading to poor decisions.

Guest intro

Michael Casey is Chairman of DAIS Global. He previously served as Chief Content Officer at CoinDesk, where he chaired the annual Consensus conference and co-authored books on blockchain including The Age of Cryptocurrency. His work explores the societal impacts of digital technologies like crypto and AI.

The dual nature of AI advancement

• We are simultaneously in a bubble and experiencing rapid advancements in AI.

  — Michael Casey

• AI development is moving quickly, creating both excitement and caution.
• AI agents are not thinking but probabilistically generating language to communicate.

• They are probabilistically coming up with a language to share with each other and conversely there’s not actual intent.

  — Michael Casey

• The rapid development of AI is reminiscent of the composability seen in DeFi.

• It feels somewhat familiar to crypto people because we saw this with the composability of DeFi and people suddenly creating all these wild new contracts.

  — Michael Casey

• Understanding AI’s current state and market implications is crucial.
• The dual nature of AI reflects both a bubble and genuine technological progress.

Human errors in new technology rollouts

• The rollout of new technologies often reveals significant human errors and limitations.

• There were some big errors right there were these security holes in the whole thing that speaks as much to the human component of this.

  — Michael Casey

• Human factors play a critical role in technological failures.
• Recognizing these errors is essential for future developments.
• New technologies expose vulnerabilities in human decision-making.
• Understanding the human component is crucial in tech rollouts.
• The implementation of new technologies often highlights human limitations.
• Addressing human errors is vital for successful technology integration.

AI’s impact on the global economy

• The world order is changing, influenced by geopolitical events and economic shifts.

• There definitely seems to be some awareness that the world order is changing in some fashion.

  — Michael Casey

• The impact of AI on jobs is profound and warrants serious consideration.

• It just makes you think woah what changes are happening in the economy.

  — Michael Casey

• AI’s role in the workforce is growing, affecting employment dynamics.
• Geopolitical shifts are impacting global economic structures.
• AI integration is transforming job markets and economic systems.
• Understanding AI’s economic impact is crucial for future planning.

Emerging ‘proof of control’ technology

• A new category of technology called ‘proof of control’ will emerge rapidly.

• We think it’s gonna come very rapidly through the demands of compliance officers and boards of directors… we call proof of control… this demand for control now.

  — Michael Casey

• The demand for control over AI systems will arise from concerns about their operation.

• As this chaos gets unleashed the backlash you’re gonna get from enterprises from governments… how do we know that this agent is operating truly on my behalf.

  — Michael Casey

• Regulatory pressures are driving the development of new technologies.
• Accountability in AI is crucial for future technological evolution.
• Understanding the motivations behind ‘proof of control’ is essential.
• Emerging technologies will address concerns about AI governance.

Sovereign AI and individual empowerment

• Sovereign AI should empower individuals rather than create closed systems.

• I think that at the end of the day whether it’s a person or a company… we will demand these systems of control… I want it to mean that that’s what I want it to mean.

  — Michael Casey

• Cryptography and blockchains provide proof of control over AI systems.

• The nice thing about cryptography and blockchains is they give you the proof because it’s one thing to say I’ve got controls another thing how do I prove that I have control.

  — Michael Casey

• Individual sovereignty is crucial in AI governance.
• Ensuring individual control is vital in preventing government overreach.
• Cryptographic technologies enhance trust in AI systems.
• Empowering individuals is key to ethical AI deployment.

Geopolitical implications of AI sovereignty

• The concept of sovereignty in AI is becoming a geopolitical issue.

• I’m saying that whether it’s us or the bots we need to define the sovereignty in this localized way… these systems become inherently totalitarian under that under that structure.

  — Michael Casey

• There needs to be a robust mechanism for humans to maintain control over AI agents.

• There has to be a means by which the human relationship and authority over what these things are doing is defined and understood and is in a robust mechanical mechanism to have that control.

  — Michael Casey

• AI governance intersects with national interests, posing risks.
• Control mechanisms are essential for ethical AI deployment.
• Understanding AI’s geopolitical implications is crucial.
• Ensuring human oversight in AI is vital for responsible development.

AI’s impact on job markets

• Entry-level hiring in vulnerable domains will continue to slow down.

• I expect that to continue and to somewhat accelerate and as these models become more capable I expect we’ll see you know the levels above start to become impacted in those domains.

  — Michael Casey

• AI models are beginning to replace entry-level jobs in sectors like customer service, graphic design, and coding.

• You’re seeing a slowdown in entry level hiring like young graduate hiring into those kinds of spaces.

  — Michael Casey

• The integration of AI into the economy will create a chaotic environment.

• That is just a very disorienting like very like destabilizing chaotic picture.

  — Michael Casey

• AI advancements are reshaping job markets, particularly in knowledge work sectors.
• Understanding AI’s impact on employment is crucial for future workforce planning.

AI’s limitations and societal backlash

• There will be a backlash against AI technologies as they become more integrated.

• I do think that there will be there there there will be kind of backlashes against these sorts of things.

  — Michael Casey

• AI’s current limitations, particularly in handling edge cases, pose risks.

• There’s still a huge gap… you damn will wanna make sure that those… marginal cases are also going to get resolved.

  — Michael Casey

• Societal and economic implications of AI integration are significant.
• Understanding AI’s limitations is crucial for businesses relying on it.
• Addressing AI’s edge case challenges is vital for reliable applications.
• The societal response to AI integration will shape its future development.

The philosophical implications of AI

• The real risk is not that AI will take over, but that we will make poor decisions by anthropomorphizing it.

• The real risk to me is not that they become you know like westworld machines and take us over but rather that we do a bunch of really stupid things because we think they are us and they’re not.

  — Michael Casey

• AI lacks intent, which is a conscious aspect that differentiates it from humans.

• There’s actually a logical aspect to this… it cannot have intent right so so intent is a is a very you know conscious thing.

  — Michael Casey

• Understanding AI’s capabilities and limitations is crucial for responsible interaction.
• The philosophical implications of AI technology are profound.
• Recognizing AI’s lack of intent is essential for ethical deployment.
• The relationship between humans and AI raises fundamental questions about identity and purpose.

The posthuman economy and AI’s role

• The posthuman economy will be characterized by AI agents and robots taking on traditional roles.

• The posthuman economy is it was an idea I introduced in a series of essays last year and it’s really just an attempt to sketch the outlines of the coming economy an economy populated by ai agents and robots.

  — Michael Casey

• We are on the verge of a demographic handover where the human population will start to decline.

• We’re on the verge of a kind of demographic handover the human population is kind of is kind of peaking and will start to fall soon.

  — Michael Casey

• AI and robotics will transform economic structures and labor markets.
• Understanding the implications of AI on the future workforce is crucial.
• The posthuman economy will redefine traditional economic roles.
• Demographic changes will impact labor markets and economic dynamics.