The Beyond Tomorrow Podcast with Julian Issa

Could an AI actually run the country better than a person could?

This episode is brought to you by AgelessRx, where aging becomes a puzzle that can be solved. The mission is to help you live longer and healthier by adding more life to your years through science-backed solutions and personalized care. Learn more at http://agelessrx.com/beyond-tomorrow

David Eagleman doesn't shy away from the question. He lays out the case for an AI president, one that could crunch more data than any human cabinet, sidestep the ego and grudges that shape so many political decisions, and maybe even out-think our worst instincts.

Sounds great, until you ask the harder questions. Who writes the code that decides what "the greater good" means? Can a machine actually be moral, or just really good at faking it? And if an AI ever did hold real power, who's holding the leash?

We get into all of it: democracy, tribalism, consciousness, and how close we actually are to AGI. David doesn't pretend to have it all figured out but he makes a compelling case that the ground is shifting faster than most of us realize.

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford University and an internationally bestselling author. He is co-founder of several neurotech companies, including Jojo, BrainCheck, and Neosensory, and he also directs the Center for Science and Law, a national non-profit institute. He is best known for his work on sensory substitution, time perception, brain plasticity, synesthesia, and neurolaw.

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:05 Are We in the Middle of AGI?
03:26 AI’s Greatest Advantage
04:25 The Case for a Utilitarian AI President
07:16 Who Defines AI’s Parameters?
09:06 The Danger of Politically Biased AI
11:49 Behind the Scenes
12:33 Are We Ready for an AI President?
14:41 What Should an AI Government Optimize For?
18:31 How Soon Could We Have an AI President?
22:24 The Trolley Problem and AI Morality
27:54 What Happens When Humans Have Too Much Free Time?
29:07 The Neuroscience of Tribalism
30:13 The Neural Basis of Empathy
31:24 Why We’re Wired for Us vs. Them
32:43 Can AI Become Conscious?
33:51 Could AI Eradicate Humanity?
35:51 Artificial Wisdom and AI Guardrails
38:57 AGI Is Already Happening
41:22 An AI President in Our Lifetime
43:26 The Biggest Fear About AI

Connect with David: 
Website: https://eagleman.com/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/David.M.Eagleman 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davideagleman/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davideagleman 
X: https://x.com/davideagleman 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drdavideagleman
 
Connect with Julian
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeyondtomorrowpodcast/  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliankissa/  
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/julian-issa  
Website: www.beyondtomorrowpodcast.com 
Email: bookings@beyondtomorrowpodcast.com 

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What if immortality didn’t arrive as a single breakthrough but quietly, step by step?In this clip, George Church explains the idea of “longevity escape velocity”: the point where medical progress extends life faster than we age. If each generation of therapies buys us more time to develop the next, the path to dramatically longer lives or even practical immortality may already have begun.Watch the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0c2x5fNYLSzvvfIil3c7WK?si=854bb724225e4136

What if the Singularity isn’t coming but already here?

This episode is brought to you by AgelessRx, where aging becomes a puzzle that can be solved. The mission is to help you live longer and healthier by adding more life to your years through science-backed solutions and personalized care. Learn more at http://agelessrx.com/beyond-tomorrow

AI is accelerating breakthroughs across science, medicine, and technology at a pace once considered impossible. Peter Diamandis believes the next 5–10 years could redefine what humanity can achieve.

Yet AI’s promise is competing with fear, disruption, and dystopian narratives. The challenge is not only building the future, but shaping how people imagine it.

For Peter Diamandis, the answer is actionable optimism: identify the risks, believe they can be solved, and pursue the biggest moonshots. Longevity, education, and space could become the foundations of a radically different future.

Peter Diamandis is an entrepreneur, physician, and founder of XPRIZE and Singularity University. He is a leading advocate for moonshot thinking and breakthrough technologies.

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:10 The Blinding Speed of Change
02:06 A Future Where Anything Is Possible
04:06 Why Is the West Afraid of AI?
08:39 Why Fear AI?
10:23 AGI Is Already Here
11:37 Blind Optimism vs. Actionable Optimism
13:01 The Next Great Moonshot
14:01 The Rise of an Alien-Looking Economy
15:10 Who Will Win the XPRIZE?
15:46 If Tomorrow Was Your Last Day...

Connect with Peter: 
Website: https://www.diamandis.com/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeterDiamandis/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterdiamandis/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdiamandis
X: https://x.com/peterdiamandis
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterdiamandis 

Connect with Julian
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeyondtomorrowpodcast/  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliankissa/  
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/julian-issa  
Website: www.beyondtomorrowpodcast.com 
Email: bookings@beyondtomorrowpodcast.com 

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Are large language models like ChatGPT and Claude enough to create AGI?In this clip, Ben Goertzel explains why today’s LLMs are incredibly powerful, but still fundamentally different from true artificial general intelligence.He argues that simply building a bigger version of ChatGPT or Claude is unlikely to produce human-level AGI. Instead, reaching AGI will require new AI architectures that can go beyond their training, generalize to unfamiliar problems and make genuinely novel leaps in reasoning.Ben also explains why current models can already outperform humans in areas like coding, mathematics and knowledge retrieval, while still struggling with the kind of imagination and general intelligence humans use to push beyond existing knowledge.

Full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7wGN1x0vQQgdzoktHipqBK?si=454702357d55415e

How close are we to AGI?

This episode is brought to you by AgelessRx, where aging becomes a puzzle that can be solved. The mission is to help you live longer and healthier by adding more life to your years through science-backed solutions and personalized care. Learn more at http://agelessrx.com/beyond-tomorrow

The race toward AGI is entering a new phase. Ben Goertzel explores alternative paths to intelligence beyond simply building bigger models.

The conversation also examines the global AI race. The U.S. and China are competing for technological leadership. But the future of AI may not remain centralized.

Then comes the bigger question: what happens after superintelligence? Goertzel imagines AI that could protect humanity. It could even help overcome aging, disease, and other human limitations.

Ben Goertzel is an AI researcher, futurist, and CEO of SingularityNET and BGI Labs. Widely recognized as one of the pioneers of Artificial General Intelligence, he has spent more than two decades developing decentralized AI systems designed to benefit humanity.

What You’ll Learn
Why the AI revolution may be bigger than previous technological shifts

How AI could become an extension of human intelligence

Why agency may matter more than machine consciousness

How the brain creates a simulated model of reality

Whether consciousness could emerge on different substrates

Why AI alignment is also a problem of human alignment

How AI could help humanity become smarter and more coherent

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:07 What Happens in the Next 12 Months?
03:41 Why China Is Catching Up
07:36 Why China Wants AI Control
10:18 Can Governments Control AI?
13:02 Human-Level AGI vs Superintelligence
15:35 Will ASI be Chinese or American?
17:47 The Next Breakthrough to AGI
21:05 How AI Could Become More Intelligent
22:23 Why Language Powers AI
27:33 Can Decentralized AI Change Everything?
32:23 The Global Race vs Decentralized AI
36:22 Would Superintelligence Protect Humanity?
40:19 Can We Build Compassionate AGI?
46:27 Why AI Arms Races Are Dangerous
51:14 Why Governments Shouldn’t Control AI
53:17 Can the Government Keep Up With AI?
54:00 Will Open AI Challenge Big Tech?
55:12 The Future of Decentralized AI
56:27 Could 2045 Arrive by 2028?

Connect with Ben
Website: https://singularitynet.io/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengoertzel 
X: https://x.com/bengoertzel 

Connect with Julian
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeyondtomorrowpodcast/  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliankissa/  
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/julian-issa  
Website: www.beyondtomorrowpodcast.com 
Email: bookings@beyondtomorrowpodcast.com 

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube for more stories from the edge of what is possible.