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Endgame: Can we live with Artificial General Intelligence?

Endgame: Can we live with Artificial General Intelligence?

The Observer 3 episodes Latest Jun 3, 2026

A podcast investigating the potential arrival of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a machine that could outperform humans at every mental task. Host Jamie Bartlett explores how worried we should be, when AGI might arrive, and whether anything can be done to prevent it from being a catastrophic gamble. The series is supported by the Future of Life Institute.

Episodes

The People vs AI Jun 10, 2026 32:58 If the risks are so great, why are the AI firms continuing their race toward AGI? Geoffrey Hinton says the answer is simple: profit. The Observer’s Jamie Bartlett explores the dynamics of the race, and solutions such as Max Tegmark’s call for independent safety testing of AI firms. Technical solutions are being developed by pioneers like Yoshua Bengio, but experts warn time is limited. Ultimately,
The world’s biggest problem Jun 3, 2026 35:55 The frontier labs are racing ahead to build super-intelligent systems, yet few are willing to explain how they plan to control them. Jamie speaks to safety expert Marius Hobbhahn, who reveals how AI models are becoming deceptive, with one strategically lying to its human handler in testing. AI pioneer Stuart Russell explains why models exhibit "undesirable behaviours" like self-preservation and re
A nation of geniuses May 27, 2026 39:58 The world’s richest companies are racing to build Artificial General Intelligence, advanced AI capable of outperforming humans at nearly every cognitive task. Journalist Jamie Bartlett tries to work out how worried he should be about reports that AGI’s arrival could prove immensely disruptive - even catastrophic. Why are even those building this technology predicting potential disaster, and when c
Endgame: Can we live with Artificial General Intelligence? May 20, 2026 3:22 Imagine a machine that could do every mental task any human could do, except faster and better. That machine is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and a consensus is building in Silicon Valley that it is almost upon us. The Observer’s Jamie Bartlett investigates how worried we should really be, when AGI will arrive, and if there is anything we can do to stop this from being the "biggest coin t

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