Stephen Dubner

It's a cumulative thing, which is really wonderful.

Like the reason that we don't have to learn calculus to build a microphone is because generations of people did it.

Now we buy it for like $200.

How nuts is that?

So what does that free us up to do?

That's the same question we're asking now about AI.

Right?

Yeah, exactly.

It's like there's the old argument.

I thought I made it up.

It turns out I didn't make it up at all.

But I argued years ago in some episode that when the AIs come for all of our jobs, then if we can turn into essentially pets the way dogs have been turned into pets because dogs used to be work animals.

All these dogs were bred for different kinds of really hard work.

We didn't need that work anymore.

And we kept a whole bunch of dogs around.

Now we love our dogs more and we love our people.

Yeah.

Exactly.

There was a Seinfeld line from years ago.

He's like, if a Martian came down, sees a species, and the guy walking around picking up the poop from the dog, who's in charge here?