Humans in the Loop

Scott Aaronson is a Computer Scientist, Complexity Theorist and leading authority on Quantum Computing.As he says himself, he's spent twenty years trying to dispel some of the commonly held myths about it.As a non-scientist, I've spent some time trying to wrap my head around quantum mechanics and it still blows my mind everytime I try to think about it. This conversation was as close as I've ever been to properly understanding it.Key topicsQuantum mechanics and probabilityQuantum superposition and interferenceBuilding reliable quantum hardwareQuantum algorithms like Shor's and Grover'sCryptography and post-quantum securityQuantum error correction and scalabilityImplications for AI and societal risksWhere you can watch/listenYoutube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPodApple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e⁠Or wherever you get your podcasts!Get in touchInstagram⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/⁠Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com

Sir Dieter Helm is the UK's leading energy economist and Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. He is also the first Knight of the Realm on Humans in the Loop.As a proud Brit and European, I care deeply about British and European prosperity. Technology is not the only driver of that, but it is an important one. And given the geopolitical state of the world, there is going to be more and more importance placed on sovereignty i.e. our ability to stand on our own two feet.I often run into this argument that one of the major blockers to sovereign British technology is the high cost of British energy, so I brought Dieter on to talk about British energy and what a more sovereign technological future might look like. Dieter's book - Climate Realism: Facing the Facts about Energy is out on October 8th: https://dieterhelm.co.uk/books/climate-realism/Key topicsUK deindustrialization and its impact on emissionsIntermittent renewable energy and system costsCost structure of industrial energy in the UKGlobal competitiveness and energy pricesThe role of nuclear and firm powerSovereignty and energy independence post-BrexitGlobal energy resources and geopolitical risksTechnological innovation in energy and AIWhere you can watch/listenYoutube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPodApple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e⁠Or wherever you get your podcasts!Get in touchInstagram⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/⁠Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.comWhere to find Sir DieterLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dieter-helm-3077b214b/Website: https://dieterhelm.co.uk/

Claire Stapleton spent 12 years at Google from 2007 - 2019. She joined as a fresh grad at a time of peak optimism and idealism in Silicon Valley, and soon became somewhat of a 'Bard' - responsible for shaping the story and sharing the folklore around Google with employees and later the outside world.In 2018, feeling increasingly disillusioned with what Google had become, Claire was one of the organizers of a 20k employee walkout in protest against the company's handling of sexual harassment allegations against certain senior executives - one of whom, Andy Rubin, had allegations against him deemed credible by an internal investigation - yet walked away with a warm handshake and $90m exit package.Claire and the other women who organised faced a backlash from Google with their roles and responsibilities being diminished in the aftermath.Claire eventually left in 2019, and her memoir, 'Don't Be Evil' has recently been released and is available at any good bookshop near you: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/books/review/dont-be-evil-claire-stapleton.htmlClaire's own journey maps to a time in which internal and public sentiment towards big tech in general has shifted so we sat down to talk not just about her own experience at Google, but also the wider vibe shift in the industry as a whole.Key topicsThe early idealistic days of GoogleClaire's role as 'The Bard' - telling the internal folklore of Google to its employees and the outside worldGoogle's Me Too moment - her role as organizer of 20k employee walkoutThe backlash that she and other women at Google faced as a consequenceThe vibe shift from idealism to corporate ruthlessnessWhen she stopped believing the story she was tellingHer experiences of parenting and grief and how that shaped how she felt about her workWhere you can watch/listenYoutube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPodApple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e⁠Or wherever you get your podcasts!Get in touchInstagram⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/⁠Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.comWhere to find ClaireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-stapleton-868a935/Substack: ⁠https://techsupport.substack.com/X: https://x.com/clairewaves?s=20Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairewaves

Benedict Evans is a tech analyst and former partner at A16z.His newsletter with rational takes on tech goes out to over 175k people.In amongst the noise around AI and the tech industry more broadly, Benedict has built a reputation for high quality, level headed analysis.I sat down with Benedict to discuss topics such as:The current state of technology and ongoing platform shiftsWhether this time is truly different or notHistorical comparisons of technological revolutionsChallenges in predicting AI's future trajectorySilicon Valley’s naivety about the worldThe cultural and philosophical aspects of AI and artThe importance of understanding complex systems and marketsWhere else you can listenYoutube⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod⁠⁠Apple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114Spotify⁠⁠ - https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3eOr wherever you get your podcasts!Chapters00:00 Introduction and Benedict Evans' perspective on tech noise03:33 E-commerce growth and retail media expansion07:05 Historical scale of technological change and exponential growth10:33 The unpredictability of technological evolution14:08 The difference between automating tasks and jobs17:24 The limitations of AI in creating authentic art18:13 The organizational and deployment challenges of AI20:39 The emergence of new pathways and the unpredictability of AI evolution22:20 Historical perspectives on internet and mobile adoption23:37 The importance of questions and uncertainty in analysis25:01 The impact of the internet on industries and productivity26:29 The exponential nature of technological progress28:23 Organizational inertia and the difficulty of change30:04 The complexity of automating jobs versus tasks32:38 The role of models in understanding human work and creativity36:26 The potential of AI as a pattern matcher and logic system39:23 The philosophical limits of AI and human judgment41:24 Cultural perceptions of art, authenticity, and AI44:52 The enduring human element and cultural value in art45:46 The future of AI and human creativity48:47 The broader implications of AI as a platform for a new economy50:15 Historical context of technological revolutions and their long timelines52:24 Philosophical debates on existence, value, and AI54:07 Benedict Evans' perspective on Silicon Valley and tech optimism55:35 The influence of politics and regulation on AI development56:49 The mindset needed for startup innovation and large-scale change57:20 Benedict Evans' optimism about the future and long-term progress58:47 Reflections on historical hardships and the progress of humanity01:00:51 The long arc of human history and technological progressGet in touchInstagram⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.comWhere to find BenedictLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedictevans/Newsletter: https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletterWebsite: https://www.ben-evans.com

Few people understand language quite like today's guest. Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Computational Linguistics at the University of Washington. She's also the person who coined the term 'Stochastic Parrots' in the now infamous paper that saw Google fire its Ethical AI lead; and the co-author of The AI Con, a book which is unflinching in its criticism of both AI boosterism and doomerism (in fact she objects to the term AI).I sat down with Emily to discuss topics such as:How language really worksWhat LLMs are actually doingWhat Stochastic Parrots really meansWhy doomers and boosters are two sides of the same, misleading coinWhere else you can listen⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod⁠Apple podcasts⁠⁠⁠ - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114⁠Spotify⁠ - https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3eOr wherever you get your podcasts!Chapters00:00 Introduction to AI and Linguistics02:54 Understanding Computational Linguistics05:47 The Stochastic Parrots Paper08:32 The Implications of AI Terminology10:57 Skepticism Towards AI Claims12:58 The Illusion of Intelligence in AI15:55 The Dangers of AI in Professional Settings18:33 Democratization and Distrust in AI Development28:02 Doomers vs. Boosters: The AI Narrative32:57 Skepticism in AI: A Personal Journey36:30 The Rapid Evolution of AI: Are We Outdated?40:13 The Role of Software Engineering in AI48:14 Automation vs. Human Expertise: A Balancing Act53:02 Geopolitical Narratives: The AI Arms Race56:33 The Future of AI: Regulation and Ethical Use57:44 Pride in Expertise: Understanding Our ValueGet in touch⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com