The Polycrisis

Why would we need a treaty on AI weapons? Anna Hehir is head of military AI governance at the Future of Life Institute and she’s been observing multilateral efforts to regulate automated weapon systems, before it's too late. It’s not so much the killer robots – but rather, humans relinquishing control over targeting for lethal attacks. When you fire at 1000 targets a day and then you hit a school, you can just point your finger at the algorithm. AI allows human responsibility to fade away, sh...

Henry Farrell on the political economy of AI: the industry’s social potential, and the menace it creates. Farrell identifies two questions to address when thinking about AI industry actors: What is their project? And what is the likely outcome of it? Henry Farrell is a professor working on democracy and international affairs at Johns Hopkins University. He’s published a number of books, most recently Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy. Hosted by energy and climate...

AI is materially changing financial markets, the economy, energy systems and emissions, and geopolitics including China-US tensions. The second season of The Polycrisis - Silicon World Order - starts with the question of how to make sense of AI, and if we can make it work better for us. There are striking similarities and contrasts between how society has been dealing with climate and how it’s been dealing with AI so far. In this first episode we focus on that comparison and look ...

The AI boom is not the investment boom we wanted. Can we make it work for us better? The issues raised by AI are daunting, and are a potentially dangerous distraction from other challenges facing humanity. We’ll look at AI as a site of geopolitical rivalry, as a source of new military systems and as a climate threat. Will AI be good for development? Will it be an engine for economic prosperity or a dangerous financial bubble? Episodes released weekly from Wednesday, October 28. Hosted b...

In this final bonus season episode, Kate and Tim reflect on the morality of focusing on the "co-benefits" of war, and whether they are techno-optimists or techno-pessimists. Hosted by energy and climate finance expert Kate Mackenzie, and Tim Sahay from the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University. They co-author The Polycrisis newsletter, which explores connections between energy, geopolitics, climate change, finance and industry. Produced by Sarah AllelyOriginal...