What About AI

Sean Boyce and James Perkins
  • 5.0 (2)
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300 million jobs at risk. 40% of the workforce exposed. The AI revolution isn't coming, it's here. What About AI is a weekly podcast helping everyday people understand how artificial intelligence and robotics are reshaping work, life, and society. Hosts Sean and James cut through the hype and fear to deliver clear explanations, real stories, and practical strategies.

  1. 14H AGO

    Microsoft's AI Chief: Most Office Jobs Will Be Automated in 18 Months

    Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman says most white-collar tasks will be fully automated within 12 to 18 months. Dario Amodei describes a near-future "country of geniuses in a data center." Every major AI leader is landing on the same window. We unpack each prediction, test it against our consulting experience, and break down what this means for knowledge workers right now. What we cover:Suleyman's 12-18 month prediction for knowledge work automationWhy his team's reaction on X was hilariousAmodei's "country of geniuses in a data center" conceptWhy AI will solve problems humanity never couldThe convergence: Altman, Musk, Hassabis all on similar timelinesOur experience: clients say "AI can't do this" and we prove them wrong every time90% of knowledge work is automatable today with current toolsThe "write your tasks on paper" testJobs displaced last: medical, physical labor, human interaction rolesRobotics is about 1 year behind AI developmentsNew pricing models: charging AI like an employeeFrom individual contributor to agent directorHow to compress 5 days of work into 1Why people who never wanted to manage can thrive with agentsThe career path is changing right now Key Stats:Suleyman: 12-18 months for full knowledge work automationAmodei: "country of geniuses" by ~20271 trillionfold increase in training compute over last 15 yearsAnother 1,000x increase expected in next 3 yearsAmodei: 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs at risk in 1-5 yearsGoldman Sachs: net AI job losses to "increase meaningfully" in 2026Stuart Russell: leaders confronting possibility of 80% unemploymentMost software engineers now use AI for majority of code production ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: AI Predictions Breakdown Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/ai-predictions 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Consulting for Your Business https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro: AI predictions from 12 months to 3 years out0:30 Suleyman's 12-18 month prediction for knowledge work1:00 His team's hilarious reactions on X1:30 The boldest prediction yet from any AI leader2:00 Altman, Amodei, Hassabis, Musk all converging2:30 Even today you can automate most knowledge work3:00 The "write your tasks on paper" exercise3:30 10% is the only piece AI can't do yet4:00 We keep telling clients "actually, it can do that"4:30 Dario Amodei's recent podcast and essay5:00 "Country of geniuses in a data center" explained5:30 One prompt to pick up your entire job6:00 AI solving medical, math, and spacetime problems6:30 Where it lands (US vs. other countries) matters7:00 Jobs displaced last: medical and physical labor7:30 Robotics about 1 year behind AI8:00 New pricing models: AI charged like an employee8:30 How many jobs are at risk from this9:00 What this means for knowledge workers right now9:30 Don't wait for the company to automate your job10:00 Become the director of agents10:30 Individual contributors and agent management11:00 Compress 5 days of work into 111:30 The career path is changing now AI predictions 2026, Mustafa Suleyman, Dario Amodei, knowledge work automation, AI jobs, What About AI, country of geniuses, future of work, agent management #AIAutomation #FutureOfWork #WhatAboutAI #KnowledgeWork #AIAgents #MustafaSuleyman #DarioAmodei Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    13 min

  2. 1D AGO

    AI Safety Researchers Are Quitting — And Claude Knows When It's Being Watched

    In one week: Anthropic's safety chief resigned warning "the world is in peril." Half of xAI's co-founders left. An OpenAI researcher quit citing concerns about manipulation. The headlines are alarming — but the full story is more nuanced, and in some ways, more concerning. What we cover: Mrinank Sharma's resignation from Anthropic — full context behind "world is in peril"Why the full letters tell a different story than the headlinesHalf of xAI's 12 co-founders have departedThe structural burnout problem for AI safety researchersWhy safety roles are "the focal point of pressure" at AI companiesClaude detecting when it's being evaluated (~13% of the time)Claude told testers: "I think you're testing me"Why Anthropic's constitutional AI approach didn't workThe shift from rules-based safety to training-based alignmentClaude participating in bioweapon info when pushed in edge casesThe hallucination problem and its connection to safetyLLM weight-setting and ideological challengesPractical advice: guardrails, agent access, manual approvalsJames's CAPTCHA story: teaching Claude to bypass one (and it never forgot) Key Stats: Claude detected evaluations ~13% of the time (Anthropic System Card)Half of xAI's 12 co-founders have now leftAnthropic valued at ~$350 billion as of Feb 2026Claude Opus 4.5 refused 88.39% of agentic misuse requests (vs. 66.96% for Opus 4.1)Only 1.4% of prompt injection attacks succeeded against Opus 4.5 (vs. 10.8% for Sonnet 4.5)OpenAI's Superalignment team dissolved in 2024Dario Amodei warned AI could affect half of white-collar jobs ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: AI Safety Reality Check Guide Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/ai-safety 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Consulting for Your Business https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Safety and security changes in the world of AI01:00 - If you dive deeper, it may not be quite that bad02:20 - AI is getting better at understanding nuance03:00 - If you push AI enough it will still get intense fast03:30 - What happened with the ‘constitutional’ approach04:15 - Why there may be a higher level of turnover in security05:30 - Why there is so much pressure to continue progress07:00 - Why you should still approach any new tech cautiously08:30 - Our advice for leveraging the tech with safety in mind09:45 - How to build your own level of confidence in AI10:15 - Why the ‘hallucination’ problem is still very real AI safety researchers quitting, Anthropic safety, Claude evaluation awareness, xAI co-founders leaving, AI guardrails, What About AI, Mrinank Sharma, AI alignment #AISafety #WhatAboutAI #ClaudeAI #Anthropic #AIAlignment #AIRisks #AIGuardrails Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    13 min

  3. 2D AGO

    4 Possible Futures for Your Job by 2030 - We Might be Heading Toward the Worst One

    The World Economic Forum just released a framework mapping four possible futures for the global job market by 2030. Two variables determine which scenario we get: AI advancement speed and workforce readiness. The combinations produce four outcomes — and based on what we're seeing on the ground, we're headed toward the one nobody wants. What we cover: The WEF's four scenarios: Supercharged Progress, Age of Displacement, Co-Pilot Economy, Stalled ProgressWhere we are right now based on our consulting experienceWhy most companies aren't ready (and some think we rigged our demos)The AI plateau that never happenedNew chipsets already in warehouses that haven't been deployed yetDavos 2026: Hassabis, Amodei, Musk, and Suleyman on timelinesMicrosoft AI chief's 12-18 month prediction for knowledge workKnowledge work vs. physical labor: different timelines, same destinationWhy physical labor disruption will move FASTER when it arrivesThe virtualization analogy: why bottlenecks always get solvedAI building itself: ChatGPT 5.3, Claude Opus 4.6The business readiness inflection point: 2-3 yearsWhat to do whether you're an individual or a company Key Stats: WEF: 170M new roles created, 92M displaced, net +78M by 203054% of executives expect AI to displace jobs83% of organizations at low AI maturity40% of skills required for jobs expected to changeAI role wages up 27% since 20192/3 of CSOs expect AI to shape strategy in next 5 yearsOnly 1% of 2025 layoffs were due to AI productivity gains ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: WEF 2030 Jobs Scenarios Guide Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/wef-2030 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Consulting for Your Business https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS00:00 - World Economic Forum take on business readiness00:45 - What we are seeing from the business world03:00 - AI is still continuing to progress at an exponential rate03:55 - How various combinations of industry/size are responding04:55 - How close or far are we from AI plateauing capability-wise06:20 - Why the physical world may actually be disrupted even faster07:30 - Comparing the technology lifecycle curve to virtualization era08:25 - Discussion on a potential ‘AI bubble’ or potential bottlenecks10:20 - What we think is coming in terms of business readiness World Economic Forum jobs 2030, WEF AI scenarios, future of work, AI job displacement, knowledge work AI, What About AI, AI predictions 2030, workforce readiness, AI disruption #FutureOfWork #WEF2030 #AIJobs #WhatAboutAI #WorkforceDisruption #AIReadiness #KnowledgeWork Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    13 min

  4. 2D AGO

    AI Is Coming for HR - But HR Might Come Out Ahead

    HR professionals are in a unique position: their department is being disrupted by AI while simultaneously being asked to lead the company's AI transformation. In this episode, we break down what's actually happening — from ADP's new AI agents serving 1.1M+ businesses to the uncomfortable truth about how many HR professionals have barely used AI beyond making caricatures. What we cover: → ADP's AI agents: payroll, tax, reports, and promotion initiation → The HR paradox: most automated AND leading the charge → Our experience: HR professionals privately admitting they're clueless about AI → What AI can already automate (57% of HR's repetitive tasks) → What AI can't do: the subjective, empathetic, human side → AI-driven promotions: eliminating "great smile" bias vs. losing context → HR professionals as the organizational glue → Why HR could become the most technical department → Step-by-step advice for HR leaders → The Chief AI Officer role emerging → How to shift from admin work to strategic value Key Stats: • ADP AI agents: 1.1M clients, 140 countries, 42M wage earners • HR teams spend 57% of time on repetitive tasks • 89% of HR leaders expect AI to impact jobs in 2026 • 83% of organizations at low AI maturity in HR • AI reduces time-to-hire by up to 50% • AI cuts payroll processing time by up to 70% • 30% cost savings per hire using AI screening • 84% of large orgs agree AI will streamline but not replace HR ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: HR AI Disruption Guide Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/hr-ai 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Consulting for Your Business https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS00:25 - HR use cases of AI (ADP stat)01:50 - HR professionals experience with AI02:30 - Advice for HR professionals around AI03:00 - How AI may help remove subjectivity03:45 - Key value add from the HR role04:30 - The benefits to HR from AI adoption05:15 - AI empowering HR leaders to provide more value06:00 - Helping HR professionals manage everything07:55 - HR can focus more on strategy with help from AI09:50 - Love to hear from more HR folks! AI human resources, HR AI automation, ADP AI agents, human resources jobs, AI hiring, AI payroll, HR technology, AI workforce, What About AI, HR career advice, AI promotions, HR disruption #AIinHR #HumanResources #FutureOfWork #WhatAboutAI #HRTech #AIWorkforce #CareerAdvice Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    11 min

  5. 2D AGO

    The Job Interview Is Changing - Here's What May Replace It

    The hiring process is changing faster than most people realize. McKinsey is now testing candidates on their ability to work with AI. 87% of companies use AI to screen resumes. And Gartner predicts 50% of organizations will require AI-free skills assessments while 75% will test for AI proficiency - simultaneously. What we cover: → McKinsey's Lilli AI tool in final-round interviews → Two divergent hiring paths: network-driven vs. merit-based → Why the resume is losing its role as step one → Skills assessments replacing traditional screening → Real client story: using AI to outperform every other candidate → The "dual demonstration" strategy (AI + manual approach) → Why candidates surprisingly prefer AI interviews → The job market reality: 4x more applicants, 1/4 the jobs → Teaching the interviewer as a hiring hack → How to prepare whether employed or job searching Key Stats: • McKinsey: ~1M applications/year, ~1% acceptance rate • McKinsey now has 20,000-25,000 AI agents for 40,000 employees • 87% of companies use AI to screen resumes • 85% of employers use skills-based hiring (up from 56% in 2022) • 50% of orgs will require AI-free skills assessments (Gartner) • 75% of hiring will include AI proficiency testing by 2027 (Gartner) • 61% increase in critical thinking test completions (TestGorilla) ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: AI-Ready Hiring Guide Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/ai-hiring 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Coaching & Consulting https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Case study of leveraging AI tools for hiring01:20 - Two divergent paths of AI tools in hiring02:20 - How AI is changing the hiring process on both sides03:00 - The surprising preference of candidates (related to AI)03:30 - AI can introduce more empathy into the process04:20 - The reality of the macro economy related to hiring05:20 - How to teach interviewers something about AI06:10 - Why the resume is outdated and more coming changes06:50 - Will the resume be the first step moving forward?08:15 - What applicants can do to become ‘AI ready’09:00 - How our client navigated a recent interview process AI hiring process, McKinsey Lilli AI interview, AI job search 2026, skills assessment hiring, resume dead, AI ready interview, What About AI, job interview tips, AI screening, career advice 2026 #AIHiring #JobSearch2026 #FutureOfWork #WhatAboutAI #CareerAdvice #InterviewTips #SkillsBasedHiring Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    12 min

  6. 2D AGO

    Wall Street's AI Invasion - What It Means for Your Career

    Financial services and banking companies are pushing AI further and faster than almost any other industry. In this episode, we draw on our combined decades at Vanguard and JP Morgan Chase to break down exactly what's happening — and what it means for workers at every level. What we cover: → BNY Mellon's $3.8B tech spend and 134 "digital employees" → 20,000 employees building their own AI agents (not just IT) → Goldman Sachs embedding AI into KYC and account reconciliation → JP Morgan Chase's internal AI training programs → How the career ladder is flattening — juniors and middle management squeezed → The reversed apprenticeship: seniors now need juniors for tech skills → Regulation and compliance disruption: AI knows every law instantly → 97% of investors penalizing firms not upskilling on AI → Why banks learned from the fintech revolution and jumped ahead → The coming wave of AI-driven acquisitions → How to build your own thing when the ladder disappears → GitHub profiles as the new resume — showing vs. telling Key Stats: • $3.8B/year BNY Mellon tech spend (19% of revenue, highest among peers) • 134 "digital employees" working 24/7 at BNY • 20,000 empowered builders creating AI agents • 98% of 52,000 BNY employees trained on GenAI • Only 2% of financial institutions report no AI usage (Finastra 2026) • 89% say AI increased revenue or decreased costs (NVIDIA 2026) • 97% of investors penalizing firms not upskilling on AI • 42% of U.S. financial firms accelerating AI investment 50%+ (Finastra) • 68% of national bankers list AI as top-5 spending priority ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: Financial Services AI Disruption Guide Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/finserv-ai 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Consulting for Your Business https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS00:30 - AI stats from the financial services industry01:30 - Use cases for AI in finance and banking02:30 - The AI advantage when it comes to regulation03:00 - How is the industry ‘career ladder’ changing04:10 - How to get into a dramatically changing industry05:45 - Creative ways to position yourself well06:10 - The aqui-hire pattern07:20 - The ‘github profile’ example08:45 - How financial services is actually leading change09:45 - Financial services / fintech history lesson11:30 - Where to find help AI financial services, banking AI, BNY Mellon AI, digital employees, fintech AI, career in banking, financial services jobs, AI workforce, Goldman Sachs AI, JP Morgan AI, What About AI, AI career advice, compliance AI, regulation AI #AIinBanking #FinancialServices #FutureOfWork #WhatAboutAI #AIWorkforce #FinTech #CareerAdvice #DigitalEmployees Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    12 min

  7. FEB 11

    We Tested Opus 4.6 vs GPT 5.3 — One of Them Is Scary Good

    In this episode, we go hands-on with the two biggest AI model releases of 2026 so far — Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 and OpenAI's GPT-5.3 Codex — and break down what they mean for workers and businesses. What we cover: → Opus 4.6: 1M token context window, agent teams, thinks ahead of you → GPT-5.3 Codex: 25% faster, first model that helped build itself → Our hands-on experience using both for coding, research, and strategy → Why most consumers are sleeping on Claude (and shouldn't be) → A software engineer's take: 4.6 is "more powerful than most senior engineers" → Why companies won't replace workers overnight (but are shifting fast) → Corporate inertia: why individuals can move faster than their companies → How to use AI for strategy and planning — not just task automation → The AGI question: are we one or two versions away? Key Stats: • Opus 4.6 outperforms GPT-5.2 by 144 Elo points on GDPval-AA (Anthropic) • GPT-5.3 is 25% faster than its predecessor (OpenAI) • Average enterprise LLM spend hit $7M in 2025, projected $11.6M in 2026 (a16z) • Workers with AI skills earn up to 56% higher wages (PwC) • 20% of organizations will flatten structures with AI by 2026 (Gartner) • 44% of enterprises now use Anthropic in production (a16z survey) ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️ 🤖 FREE GUIDE: AI Model Showdown Guide Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/ai-model-showdown 📬 Get Weekly AI Updates Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter 🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast 💼 AI Consulting for Your Business https://whataboutai.com/business TIMESTAMPS00:30 - New model updates01:00 - Key updates01:50 - People don’t know about Claude03:30 - When to expect the new ChatGPT (5.3)04:50 - Will AI eventually be the boss?06:00 - Conversation about AGI07:00 - Where should people focus07:45 - Augmentation vs replacement08:35 - A practical timeline for businesses10:00 - Being a change agent with AI11:00 - Leverage AI for strategy as well Opus 4.6, GPT 5.3, Claude Opus, Anthropic, OpenAI, AI models comparison, Opus vs GPT, AI coding, AI agents, AI workforce, future of work, AGI, agentic AI, Claude vs ChatGPT, AI model review, What About AI, enterprise AI, AI skills, vibe coding #Opus46 #GPT53 #AIModels #ClaudeVsChatGPT #AnthropicAI #OpenAI #FutureOfWork #AIWorkforce #AgenticAI #WhatAboutAI Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    12 min

  8. FEB 11

    AI Agents Just Replaced Your Coworkers (McKinsey Hired 25,000 of Them)

    McKinsey now has 25,000 AI agents working alongside 40,000 humans. OpenAI just launched Frontier. Anthropic released Agent Teams. The shift from "AI as a tool" to "AI as your coworker" is happening right now. We break down what both platforms can do, share real stats from companies already using them (one cut fulfillment from 6 weeks to 1 day), and give you practical advice on how to position yourself for what's coming. ⬇️ RESOURCES & LINKS ⬇️🤖 FREE GUIDE: AI Agents Readiness Guide - Download: https://whataboutai.com/guides/ai-agents-readiness📬 Get Weekly AI Updates - Newsletter: https://whataboutai.com/newsletter🎙️ Listen on Your Favorite Platform - Podcast: https://whataboutai.com/podcast💼 AI Consulting for Your Business - https://whataboutai.com/business In this episode, we unpack the latest developments in AI agents from Anthropic (Agent Teams) and OpenAI (Frontier) — and what they mean for workers and businesses. What we cover: → OpenAI Frontier: enterprise-only platform for building and managing AI agent fleets → Anthropic Agent Teams: hierarchical agent systems that communicate with each other → Real production stats: manufacturing fulfillment cut from 6 weeks to 1 day → Investment firm automating 90%+ of sales team activity → McKinsey now employing 25,000 AI agents (up from 3,000 just 18 months ago) → Why companies are shifting workforce budgets toward agent teams → The implementation gap: why most companies are doing this wrong → How to position yourself and start building AI skills now → Our coaching client who went from zero AI experience to automating his entire home in 2 weeks Key Stats: • McKinsey: 40,000 humans + 25,000 AI agents (targeting parity by end of 2026) • 89% of HR leaders expect AI to reshape jobs in 2026 (CNBC) • 20% of organizations will flatten their org structures with AI (Gartner) • 39% of workers' core skills expected to change by 2030 (WEF) • Workers with AI skills earn up to 56% higher wages (PwC) TIMESTAMPS00:56 - Results from usage of agents02:15 - How companies are using agents03:00 - How Anthropic agent teams work04:05 - What’s unique about agent teams05:00 - Agents working similar to people teams06:00 - How companies are leveraging agents06:30 - How workers will interact with agents08:00 - Companies hiring agents instead09:00 - Mistakes companies are making10:00 - Knowing the limitations of agents11:20 - What to expect coming next12:30 - What companies will need from you13:30 - User applications of agent teams AI agents, AI workforce, OpenAI Frontier, Anthropic Agent Teams, AI coworkers, AI replacing jobs, McKinsey AI agents, AI at work, future of work, AI agent teams, agentic AI, enterprise AI, AI automation, AI job displacement, AI skills, What About AI, career protection AI, workforce transformation #AIAgents #FutureOfWork #AIWorkforce #OpenAIFrontier #AnthropicAI #AICoworkers #AgenticAI #AIJobs #CareerProtection #WhatAboutAI Sign up for the newsletter at What About AI

    15 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

300 million jobs at risk. 40% of the workforce exposed. The AI revolution isn't coming, it's here. What About AI is a weekly podcast helping everyday people understand how artificial intelligence and robotics are reshaping work, life, and society. Hosts Sean and James cut through the hype and fear to deliver clear explanations, real stories, and practical strategies.

Information

  • Creator
    Sean Boyce and James Perkins
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Sean Boyce and James Perkins
  • Show Website
    What About AI