Annie Jacobsen joins the podcast to lay out a second by second timeline for how nuclear war could happen. We also discuss time pressure, submarines, interceptor missiles, cyberattacks, and concentration of power. You can find more on Annie's work at https://anniejacobsen.com Timestamps: 00:00 A scenario of nuclear war 06:56 Who would launch an attack? 13:50 Detecting nuclear attacks 19:37 The first critical seconds 29:42 Decisions under time pressure 34:27 Lessons from insiders 44:18 Submarines 51:06 How did we end up like this? 59:40 Interceptor missiles 1:11:25 Nuclear weapons and cyberattacks 1:17:35 Concentration of power
Inria researcher Carina Prunkl discusses why AI evaluation struggles to keep pace with general-purpose systems, including jagged capabilities, missed real-world behavior, misuse risks, de-skilling, red teaming, and layered safeguards.
Li-Lian Ang from Blue Dot Impact discusses how to build a workforce to defend against AI-driven risks, including engineered pandemics, cyber attacks, job disempowerment, and concentrated power, using a defense-in-depth framework for uncertain AI progress.
Researcher Zak Stein discusses how anthropomorphic AI can exploit human attachment systems, its psychological risks for children and adults, and ways to redesign education and cognitive security tools to protect relationships and human agency.
