Best of the Pod: How to Prepare for AGI According to Reid Hoffman

AGI is coming. Reid Hoffman just wrote the book on how to prepare.

According to Reid, every major tech breakthrough (the written word, the printing press, the telephone) triggered mass fear. But, contrary to our worries, new technology tends to enhance human agency—even more so, if you know how to use it well.

Reid is the cofounder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI; a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners; an early backer and board member of OpenAI; and an award-winning podcaster

We spent an hour talking about how to develop a compass for navigating AGI. Here are a few takeaways:

Our sense of human agency is not just about external control but an internal stance—how we approach uncertainty & new tech is crucial

In new technology waves, NO blueprint or plan will have the right answers. Instead, adapting to new technology requires broad access, an experimental mindset, and flexibility

In an AGI world most jobs will transform, not disappear—and how you can prepare with hands-on trial and error

How certain social norms and ethics should change as AGI changes the landscape—like individual access to personal data

Why now may be finally be the era where quantified self tools become valuable
…and more, including everything in his new book Superagency, out this week.

It was a pleasure to have him on the show for a second time. This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to help build a more human future with AI.

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Episode Start

00:01:29 — Introduction

00:02:50 — Patterns in how we've historically adopted technology

00:07:02 — Why humans have typically been fearful of new technologies

00:13:25 — How Reid developed his own sense of agency

00:20:08 — The way Reid thinks about making investment decisions

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00:29:40 — AI as a "techno-humanist" compass

00:35:30 — How to prepare yourself for the way AI will change knowledge work

00:41:39 — Why equitable access to AI is important

00:45:15 — Reid's take on why private commons will be beneficial for society

00:47:23 — How AI is making Silicon Valley's conception of the "quantified self" a reality

00:52:14 — The shift from symbolic to sub-symbolic AI mirrors how we understand intelligence

01:03:29 — Reid's new book, Superagency

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
Reid Hoffman: @reidhoffman
Superagency, Reid’s newest book: https://www.superagency.ai/