The AI Resistance is Forming. (Should You Join?)

After a week spent debating AI’s impact on humanity, Cal wants to turn his attention back to AI’s impact on humans. To support this shift, he brings on the writer Brad Stulberg who recently decided that he was “done” with AI. They explore whether this is a resistance movement in the making… Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia More from Cal Download Cal’s FREE guide to cultivating a deeper life: calnewport.com/ideas Learn more about Cal’s books: calnewport.com/books Listen to Cal’s podcast: thedeeplife.com/listen Chapters (0:00) A new paper calls LLMs a "cognitive virus" (4:03) Brad gave AI a real shot — then quit (8:13) Why everything online now sounds the same (13:22) Plank 1: Effort, struggle, and the click-of-a-button economy (20:11) You can take a gondola to the summit, but you didn't climb it (28:30) Plank 2: AI is an average maker (33:39) AI swirl: pseudo-productivity turned up to 11 (49:40) Treat AI like ultra-processed food (55:08) Getting it off your phone, and the lesson of sports analytics (1:00:13) Team Human and the humanist resistance Sponsors: https://www.horizon3.com/deep https://www.calderalab.com/deep https://www.notion.com/cal https://www.factormeals.com/deep50off (Use code "deep50off") Credits: Podcast Production: Jesse Miller Newsletter/Research: Nate Mechler Theme Music: Jay Kerstens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices