AI Is Already Cutting Jobs — What the Series Guests Said
One guest puts the odds of a US recession by end of 2026 at 95%. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley spend this episode running through six guests and their core claims: college debt trapping people geographically, ghost jobs flooding hiring platforms, identity tied to achievement as a psychological trap, and AI already cutting headcount in real companies. Pam Jordan argued the income gap is individually solvable and government won't fix it. Ryan and Sarah's message was direct: use AI daily — build with it before it builds around you. Justin said AI will build AI, and most industries haven't processed what that means. Institutions, Jerremy argues, keep operating with zero consequences — and that's the part nobody's addressing.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) Series done – what it took to finally finish this one
- (04:28) Spencer Conley – college debt as a geographic trap, AI already cutting jobs
- (05:11) 95% recession odds – James Klein's call for end of 2026
- (06:15) Identity as a trap – Cruise Gamboa on achievement and its cost
- (07:36) Ghost jobs – Catherine on fake listings, work not being your life
- (09:19) Pam Jordan – income gaps solvable individually, don't wait on government
- (11:09) Consequence-free institutions – Dave's rant on who faces zero accountability
- (13:46) Build with AI now – Ryan and Sarah's daily practice message
- (17:39) AI will build AI – Justin's warning, most industries aren't ready
- (21:25) No public philosophy – government unprepared, conversation hasn't started
Transcript
We did it.
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:Dave: I gonna say we did something so
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:Jerremy: We did something.
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:Dave: We we did something Look at us
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:Jerremy: We completed
and finished a series,
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:another one in the books.
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:Dave: right This was
one of our longest ones
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:And it felt easy for me.
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:It felt,
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:Dave: Yeah
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:Jerremy: felt nice, it felt
simple, probably for a few reasons.
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:Number one, we're getting better at this.
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:Number two.
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:doing a great job at everything
on the post and everything on the
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:edits, everything on the socials,
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:Dave: appreciate
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:Jerremy: hope.
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:A lot of our fans are out there
listening and watching and seeing us
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:everywhere on Instagram and Twitter.
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:Just getting posted on the reg and, I
mean, it's, it's work, so it's something
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:that we're both addicted to in a good way.
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:Dave: right
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:Jerremy: So.
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:Dave: and I and this wouldn't have
happened without you bringing in
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:such fabulous folks and bro I'll be
honest by the end of the series I felt
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:like the guests were trying to beat
the hope out of me and I wanna lead
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:with this I wanna lead with this I
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:losing hope yet I'm not losing it yet
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:Jerremy: Nope.
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:Nope.
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:He is soaring.
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:Our boy over there is soaring, doing
incredible it, incredible things.
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:No, I love it, man.
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:It's I, I love that it also took
us to a place like, man, we gotta
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:start talking about this UBI stuff.
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:Because I think it just, a lot of us felt
it or noticed it or saw it or like they're
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:like, yeah, here's where we started.
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:We both agreed that the government,
American dream that was written
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:in a contract deal to the Citizens
of America is broken and failed.
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:We, we kind of, we, we kind of started
there that that was the agreement, right?
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:Like you, located that the failure
was in absent institutions, and
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:I was talking about the answer.
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:Probably an individual financial
repositioning, but neither of
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:us, really noticed that we were
both kind of starting to pull in
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:opposite directions potentially.
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:Dave: Yeah Yeah
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:Jerremy: So yeah, it was,
it was fantastic, man.
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:I mean, I was over here like, all right,
it's the school, it's the degree, it's the
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:job, it's the family, it's the happy life.
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:That contract is broken and AI is
going to make that an accelerant.
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:It's gonna make it even worse.
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:And, You know, America getting into
:
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:and that we needed to write one.
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:Dave: Yes Yeah yeah yeah yeah I and
I I want to back up a little bit and
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:talk about our guests because for
for me I feel like Every guest who
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:told us to act individually first
told us about the structural failure
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:that broke them personally right
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:Jerremy: totally.
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:Dave: and the individuality believe is
The consequence it's not the cure and
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:I I think it's something that we might
have missed Like we sampled one America
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:and I thought it was super valuable but
also of entrepreneurs lots of operators
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:lots of folks who had already concluded
the system wasn't coming back for them We
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:didn't have tradespeople we didn't have
teachers Public sector I think we had the
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:right age range and we might have missed
the occupations a bit It felt like This
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:was a really tight network that we had
dropped into and on on the and the two
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:guests that we had Catherine and Spencer
who were in the machine you know that was
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:on my kitchen table right Like that was
you know so I felt like we kind of had we
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:kind of had a couple of camps here So I
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:I wanna acknowledge that coming in for
folks that are listening to us that we
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:definitely learned a lot and we we we
raised some disagreements between you
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:and I And I believe that also the through
line of that was more similar than not
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:but also that think to to to to sweep
that all together and say Hey this is
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:what America is feeling and these are the
solutions I think is incomplete I this is
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:this is this there is more to this work
thing than ever Particularly with ai What
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:how do you how do you feel about all that
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:I, I do agree that we had a lot of
different camps, but I mean, ultimately
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:most of them, most of them were, were
entrepreneurs and people that no longer
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:worked like you call as you stated.
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:so most of 'em are entrepreneurs
and that's perfectly reasonable.
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:A lot of business owners, a
lot of business creators, we.
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:We, we, started with
your boy Spencer Conley
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:Dave: Yeah
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:Jerremy: you know, I think he
had some really cool reframes
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:and some cool discussions.
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:extremely smart guy, So he
is a big four consultant.
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:Dave: Yep
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:Jerremy: Discuss how college debt
trapped people geographically.
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:I mean, that was kind of a nice.
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:A nice way to put it.
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:Dave: Mm-hmm
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:Jerremy: And definitely said AI is already
cutting headcount at large research firms,
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:Dave: Right
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:Jerremy: so that that's
already beginning to happen.
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:so when people are like, oh,
it's, it's, it's a ways off.
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:Nope.
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:It is.
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:It's happening at this
exact moment in time.
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:And then, then we had our,
we had our buddy James Klein.
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:Dave: Yep
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:Jerremy: Talk about the khap
economy, which was cool.
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:Dave: Mm-hmm
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:Jerremy: gave us a big scare.
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:Recession's, a 95% probability
by the end of:
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:That's this year, by the way.
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:Dave: I keep forgetting
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:Jerremy: yeah.
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:Yeah,
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:I
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:Dave: may.
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:Jerremy: I know.
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:So it's, something's gotta
be breaking pretty soon.
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:Dave: Yeah How do you feel about that
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:Jerremy: I.
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:I mean, I, I do agree with him and with
you that there is a recession coming.
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:There's a, some, there's something
big brewing, but it's not, but it's
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:still down the road a little bit.
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:Dave: Mm-hmm
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:Jerremy: Yeah, I think
it's still down the road.
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:I mean, obviously we'll have
market pullbacks, but that's
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:not a recession, right?
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:That's just what markets do.
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:Markets go up and markets go down.
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:But the big one, I do think
is less than six years away.
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:So I think whoever gets the
next presidency is gonna
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:have a big, big hot potato.
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:Dave: Yeah
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:cruise Cruise was
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:Jerremy: Oh,
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:Dave: interview Yeah
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:Jerremy: just loved
everyone in this panel.
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:I mean, this whole group of people.
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:And yes, this was one of our longer ones.
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:Dave: Yeah
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:Jerremy: simple, fun,
easy, quick, efficient.
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:But yeah, cruise gamboa.
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:Just, just an incredible
human being as well.
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:his identity was, tied to
achievement is the trap.
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:Dave: Mm-hmm
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:Jerremy: And, and that was like his ethos,
his statement, his, his thesis is if you
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:have your identity, who you are, what you
do, what you do for the world, if that
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:identity is tied to achievement, that is a
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:Dave: Mm-hmm
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:Jerremy: And, you know, essentially
a, a personality trait that will
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:break down, that will fail you, that
will bring you a lot of unhappiness.
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:And I think a lot of people
probably fail to forget that.
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:But yeah, that was beautiful for me.
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:Dave: Yeah it was
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:Jerremy: it was very, it
was very healing episode.
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:Very healing, a lot of introspection,
a lot of deep diving, a lot of
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:like, have escaped the machine.
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:Dave: right
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:Jerremy: And this is what
it has done for my soul.
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:This is what I'm doing because of it.
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:I really liked that.
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:I felt, I felt comfortable by it.
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:Dave: It's it was it was the it
was that essential loneliness
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:that that the successful CEOs
end up alone Right You know
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:and employees who don't don't know
who they are Like who who are you
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Dave: that's kind of an existential It's
like okay you got to the top of this
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:mountain but you're the only one there
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:Jerremy: Yep.
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:Yep.
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:I agree.
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:Dave: Then we had Catherine right Mm-hmm
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:Jerremy: Yes.
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:so sweet dude.
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:nice.
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:so kind, so thoughtful.
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:and she, she was one of the first
people to talk, talk about the
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:word ghost jobs, which was nice.
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:That was interesting.
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:Dave: Yeah I think we brought
it up more than she did It's
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:quite her world in hr It was
occurring to me afterwards It's like
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Dave: she's more on the benefit side She'd
heard about a lot of this and I think we
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:had later on who did we have in that world
who did a lot of because we asked it again
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:of one of our later guests and they were
like nah ghost ghost jobs aren't a thing
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:Jerremy: Yeah, yeah.
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:Well, I could see it happening though.
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:I mean, it makes sense
as like a lead magnet.
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:Dave: Yeah
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:exactly.
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:Right You know like
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:why not put it out there and figure out
what's going on in the in the universe
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:I what I think I think the the big piece
about Catherine which we also heard you
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:know throughout this series was that
there was a Not tying your profession
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:to who you are Right Like for her it was
like her work doesn't center around Her
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:life doesn't center around work at all In
fact she has this internal contradiction
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:of like okay career path versus like
hmm coffee shop on the beach right Like
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:it's it's like she had a she has a rich
full life around this this thing that
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:she she's doing And part of that is also
like I think somebody at the beginning
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:of their career being like you know what
you know this might not necessarily be my
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:gig and I'm gonna involve that You know
I'm gonna evolve that over time Right You
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:know as I figure out what my needs and
and wants are And I loved that you know
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:like the the rest of her life was pulling
her in those directions It wasn't you
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:know just all straight up in corporate
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:Agreed.
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:Agreed, agreed.
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:Oh, we, we had all kinds of people next,
but Pam, Pam, Jordan, the fractional CFO,
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:Dave: Mm
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:Jerremy: loved her energy.
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: You called her a bubble
of joy, I think maybe after
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:she was, after she got off.
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:and, and really she and me definitely
probably agree or agreed the most
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:on, maybe the, the exact solutions
that were showing up or that.
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:That are at least discussed.
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:'cause she's a very, the
government's not gonna do anything.
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:don't worry about them.
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:You know, they're, they're not
really gonna help you at all.
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:And the, the income gap is 100%
solvable individually, right?
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:Politicians can't solve business
problems and childhood money,
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:trauma sets income ceilings.
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:That was Pam Jordan slash.
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:Almost everything I agree with.
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:Now I get it that the government should
step in and should help, and they do
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:a great job sometimes mostly with.
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:Let's just call it certain fractional
aspects of helping individuals here in
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:the US institutions or creating things
that do and can help, let's call it the
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:police, let's call it the fire brigades,
let's call it Medicaid, Medicare.
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:there's definitely certain
aspects that aren't 100% broken,
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:like they actually do work.
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:Dave: And and That that's not that
was sort of like my argument you know
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:I was really pushing on folks to be
like Hey look you're you're saying
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:you don't trust anybody or anything
but you and I think this is sorry
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:I can really hear your keyboard
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:Jerremy: Okay.
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:Dave: the It's it it is about
responsibility I've heard you know
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:so many episodes about individual
responsibility individual responsibility
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:individual responsibility I'm like
yeah I hear you When a corporation
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:lays off 10,000 people and the stock
goes up that's not capitalism That's
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:consequence free version of it That's
just socializing the problem on you and
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:me when a university charges $80,000 a
year and ships off graduates that think
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:that they can you know their way out of
that kind of debt That is not education
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:That's a conseque con consequence
free version of it When a politician
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:runs on workforce policy and workforce
training authority drops from 3 billion
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:you know 4 billion to 3 billion and nobody
loses their seat that's not governance
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:That's a consequence free version of
it When AI is deployed and we lose all
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:of these people all of these trillion
dollar companies that are putting all of
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:this energy into AI are not $1 reserving
$1 for the person who loses their job
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:They are just all full bore on enriching
themselves not on the consequences of it
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:So the individual prescription that just
accepts that there's a consequence free
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:version of it and that the institutions
and the operating environment I just
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:I disagree I'm I'm not refusing the
prescription of the individual like
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:responsibility that is still there I'm
just refusing to call the operating
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:environment normal It's not normal
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:Jerremy: I feel that, bro, I feel
that, that that's a, it's a powerful
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:statement and I agree with you.
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:I do.
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:it's,
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:Dave: I won't accept that this is this
is me holding on hope because we are
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:made up of individuals in these in
these in these corporations in these
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:you know in the academic settings in
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:When you know like the part that makes my
heart hurt is like you know like the the
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:the the the communities around you are
are not even like returning your fucking
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:phone calls You know I'm like geez you
know like you You are like a a a a a
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:golden retriever in human form It's like
everybody wants to to to hang out with
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:you and your neighbors are like ma know
like like come on You know like we we it
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:is about the community and what we are
teaching our kids and ensuring that the
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:institutions around us are teaching you
know awesome awesome things and and you
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:know not what to think but how to think
and that our government is working for us
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:not against us that You know that we we
don't we don't we we we have to give every
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:person no excuse to not rise to be better
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:Jerremy: Dude, let's go.
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:We're clipping that.
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:We're clipping that.
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:Dave's fired up.
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:Yeah.
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:I love it.
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:I love, what'd you think
about Ryan and Sarah?
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:Dave: boy Interesting cats right I
married I I I did a pre-interview with
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:them and just just what a what you know
rock and roll like just it felt like
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:they were doused in in kerosene and and
tossed a match like they are just on fire
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:Jerremy: Yes.
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:Yes, exactly.
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:Dave: you know and then there's the
the The aspect that I mean I keep on
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:saying that I've said this to everybody
that will every everybody that'll
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:listen to me you know like I'll I'll
I'll go into the grocery store and
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:said Hey ai you know like they they
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:Jerremy: Who wants to talk about ai?
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:Hello?
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:Dave: It's that going to the gym And
I think they really raised it pretty
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:hard in in my mind it's like you have
to use the AI every single day You
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:have to go to the gym every single
day You're not gonna see the results
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:right now And having a flexibility of
you do because it's all gonna change
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:Jerremy: Mm-hmm.
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:Dave: like something that happened as
as we went on but I it really started
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:with me with with Ryan and Sarah it's
like Hey you gotta be using this ai You
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:gotta be doing it You gotta doing it
today Even if you don't know anything
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:about it you gotta be in it to win it
And if you're not doing anything then
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:you're just you are behind on it Not
that you can't catch up it's just that
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:get into the practice of it and think
about what you're doing now It's going
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:to fundamentally change pretty much for
anybody in any way So having a flexibility
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:in that in what you do is going to be
really important Like the developers of
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:today are fundamentally shifting away
from You know typing at their keyboards
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:day in and day out by themselves in a
in a in in their in their coding hole
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:to working with people working with ai
working with all of these agents in order
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:to to build bigger better stronger faster
in different ways And so The developer
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:is evolving their role They didn't go to
school for that at all Right And that's
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:what Ryan that's what I heard Ryan and
Sarah say is that your you know like
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:your work your stuff is changing out from
underneath you So get on board or you know
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:that's gonna lead to to more more that's
gonna be bigger hassle down the road
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:Jerremy: Yeah, and I liked their
get on, get on board because
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:they were, they were able to tell
us exactly how to get on board.
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:They're like, this is the train.
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:This is the train station.
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:This isn't where you need to board.
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:I mean, they gave us some exact really
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:processes, procedures, know, talked
about how to build often with ai,
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:Dave: Yeah
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:Jerremy: so build with it.
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:Don't just consume.
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:It was a cool quote from them.
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:And, and yes, it is.
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:It is happening, like
the shift is occurring.
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:Please get on board now.
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:Start now.
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:Just get in the reps now.
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:And I, I don't know, man.
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:I just think that,
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:Dave: Hey
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:Jerremy: the ulti, ahead.
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:Dave: So we're we are heading up heading
into the world of UBI next I've I've
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:to a couple of the a couple of podcasts
that I that we we are doing our pre-work
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:for and I think something that Ryan
and Sarah brought up something I also
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:heard I think Eric Weinstein talk about
is that you know what is the value of
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:of your work going forward right Like
what what is the the product good or
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:service that you're going to be able
to hang your hat on and say Hey this
334
:is my purpose and this is what I bring
to the world This is my cre this is
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:my creativity that other people find
valuable And I think they talked about
336
:and the creation of these these AI agents
and how you could profit from them And
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:I think they're doing that now right Is
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:did I miss that or is
that what was that right
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:Jerremy: yeah, yeah.
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:Dave: yeah yeah There's like Hey this
is a work product and it's like you
341
:know this is a part of my creativity
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:Jerremy: Mm-hmm.
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:Yeah, it's kinda like what they built out,
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: which is cool.
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:I mean, they're already doing it.
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:They're, they're already spending the
time to do the work, to create the, the
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:sauce that they've been referring to.
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:So that's nice.
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:Dave: then it was Justin and Jason
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:And
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:that
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:was, two, two, two panel
discussions, although the
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:first one was a married couple
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:Dave: Yeah
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:Jerremy: that was kind
of nice, back to back.
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:individuals were two people.
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:Dave: and Jason worked together I I
thought you know when I when I first were
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:talking to em I'm like oh they would go
great together And then as we got into it
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:I was like oh was this a good matchup an
okay matchup you know like what how did
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:it you know like I was sort of a question
mark as we got into it Like I felt like
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:we could have done them individually
or gone different directions do you how
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:do you think it went together with them
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:Jerremy: Yeah, I, I do think
that Justin, I don't know.
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:I feel like, I feel like we could
have done that podcast in six minutes.
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:Like he had a, he had a perfectly
concise answer for everything.
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:Dave: So sharp so
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:Jerremy: sharp, so quick, so fast.
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:This like, this is the answer.
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:This is the way it is.
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:And I do know Jason very well.
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:he loves to think, he loves
to have long conversations.
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:He loves to listen to the way words
are used, the way people say things,
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:the way people enunciate words.
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:'cause that's important to him.
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:'cause he is very, very in tuned
with what people are actually saying.
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:And
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:Dave: Oh
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:Jerremy: he wa and he, and he
wasn't able to do that very
381
:much with Justin because Justin,
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:Dave: Because he was on fire and
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:Jerremy: yes.
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:Dave: exactly Ja Jason and I had like
long conversations afterwards We've been
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:we were talking for days and it was yeah
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:But, I mean, overall, I think, yeah,
we probably could have done them
389
:individually, but Ju Justin's chat
would've been very, very quick.
390
:That's for sure.
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:It would've been a fast one, would've
been a fast one, and I, I do think
392
:that Justin had some very valid points,
one of them specifically being like.
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:The AI is gonna start building AI soon.
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:You know, like it's gonna create its own
workers, it's gonna create its own tasks.
395
:gonna be doing things for
itself before you even know it.
396
:And we need to get on board because
every industry is gonna be shifted,
397
:every industry is gonna be impacted.
398
:It's all going to happen.
399
:And even though he didn't say this
specifically, I kind of heard him say.
400
:That over 75% of the workforce will be
directly and individually negatively
401
:impacted in the next two years by AI
and what it can do to replace a job
402
:Dave: Which is telling me right now and
here's here's the role of government
403
:You know having your AI czar I'm sure
there's an AI czar in the current
404
:Jerremy: somewhere.
405
:For sure.
406
:Dave: right
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
408
:Yep.
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:Dave: there's there's no group of of
sociologists and philosophers and theo
410
:theologians like sitting around that
I know of saying Hey You know like how
411
:do we get ready for this You know like
this is a significant impact to what
412
:it means to be human And you know our
like I don't think we need to even talk
413
:about whether it's conscious or not
Might as well just say it is you know you
414
:it's like like how would we know anyways
It's like okay we've we've birthed
415
:this new thing and because it's new and
because it because we don't know how it's
416
:gonna disrupt and how it's gonna affect
people It's like we really gotta start
417
:having like public conversations to be
like okay This is coming You know it's
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:like I feel like we're I feel like we're
pregnant You know like when a couple's
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:pregnant it's like it's gonna be scary
until it's not Right You know like I was
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:talking to a friend of mine and and she
said Yeah you you you're pregnant and
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:then you have a child and then you walk
out with it and you can't believe that
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:they handed you a baby You know like
423
:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Dave: like what is this I can't believe
I went to like the free baby store Like
425
:where where am I Like I don't know what
I'm doing I and I feel like that there's
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:that that philosophical sociological to
be like Hey this is you know like we're
427
:giving birth to this and it's big and you
know like let's let's get used to this
428
:new new new being coming into existence
right And leaving that up to corporations
429
:I I hear y'all That's that's a terrible
idea Like we we need to get a full
430
:full community involvement in this one
431
:Jerremy: Well, that's the,
that's an interesting point.
432
:Like are corporations more
corrupt than the government,
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:Dave: Do you
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:Jerremy: know?
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:You know, I mean.
436
:Dave: and you put em together
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:Jerremy: Ooh, let's let them both
control the citizens and the communities.
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:Let's let 'em both tell us what to do.
439
:That's probably wonderful.
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:People that wanna make a bunch of
money, and then people that wanna make
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:a bunch of money from people who make
a bunch of money for them, which one
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:is which?
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:Alex: Dave maps the wreckage of
CONSEQUENCE-FREE institutions,
444
:corporations, governments,
universities—piling the
445
:damage onto everyone else.
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:But next, he stops diagnosing
and starts naming names.
447
:One generation has been running this
into the ground for forty years!
