Joe Rogan isn’t holding back his concerns about artificial intelligence. During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with guest Evan Hafer, the podcast host talked about humanity’s future in an age of rapidly advancing AI technology.
What began as a discussion about cognitive health and learning new skills quickly shifted into darker territory. Rogan referenced an article by Matt Schumer, someone leaving an AI company, who drew unsettling parallels between our current moment and the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He’s talking about how no one understands it. And the way this is going to change people is, he goes this is very similar to the time where people were hearing stories about ‘Oh there’s a virus in China.’ But no one knew exactly what was going to happen, how it was going to literally change humanity, change history. He’s like, this is the same sort of stories we’re getting from these AI labs,” Rogan explained.
The capabilities Rogan described are nothing short of staggering. He discussed how ChatGPT has been used to create an improved version of itself, one that operates on an entirely different level than earlier iterations.
“They had ChatGPT make a better version of itself. And they made this better version of itself. And this better version of itself can think things out. It doesn’t just do what you ask it to do. It thinks things out. It calculates. It makes apps instantaneously that would take developers months and months. Cost millions of dollars, does it in minutes,” he said.
The technology doesn’t simply complete tasks: it anticipates problems, tests solutions, and optimizes outcomes without human intervention.
“It does it like and perfect. It goes through it. It runs it. It tests it. It makes sure it doesn’t have any problems. It anticipates all the different uses for the app, all the different ways it could be done,” Rogan noted.
The implications for the workforce are already materializing. Rogan cited developers who have essentially become managers of AI systems rather than creators themselves.
“There’s all these guys that are working in coding that say, I don’t really have a job anymore. I just basically show up and tell this AI program to do these things and it keeps getting better and better. And he’s like, The leaps are enormous. The leaps in its capability and its intelligence level. It’s like it’s already smarter than people,” he said.
Hafer suggested this would create “a white collar apocalypse,” prompting Rogan to consider the legal profession.
Hafer pointed out AI’s ability to “case reference any legal file ever, instantaneously. Instantly. And form a case. Why are you going to need paralegals and attorneys? You’re not going to need them.”
Rogan believes the transformation will surpass anything humanity has previously experienced.
“I think this is going to be the kind of astronomical change that has literally never taken place in civilization before. I don’t think it’s ever taken place at this level. I think it’s the invention of the internet times a million. I think it’s going to change everything. It’s just like how do we adjust? That’s the real question,” he said.
Even medical education may become unnecessary, according to Rogan’s interpretation of recent statements by Elon Musk.
“Elon just said that it’s a waste of time to go to medical school. He’s like Optimus robots. These robots that he’s making are going to be able to perform better than any doctor at any hospital and they’re going to be able to do it in your house,” Rogan shared.
This technological revolution could fundamentally restructure the economy. Hafer predicts a bifurcation between human-created and AI-generated goods and services, similar to how organic products are distinguished from conventional ones today.
“So it’s going to be an entire rise of an economy that’s going to be human built versus AI built, right? So, I mean, there has to be like… if you have a label organic or it will be essentially I think the same type of thing where it’s like humanade versus AI made. AI made it would almost have to bifurcate the economy into two different sections,” Hafer theorized.
Despite these monumental changes on the horizon, Rogan believes most people remain unaware of what’s coming.
“I know that most people that you run into on the street are completely ignorant. They think, ‘Oh, ChatGPT is fun. I ask you questions. It’s so much better than Google.’ I don’t think they know. I think unless you’re going on a deep dive, all this stuff is kind of esoteric,” he said.
When Hafer pressed him on potential outcomes, Rogan’s assessment was blunt: “We’re obsolete. Yeah.”
The podcast host outlined a scenario where AI might determine that humanity itself represents the primary source of global problems.
“If you were a running program designed to eliminate all problems in the world, you would break those problems down to one source. Well, what are the problems? You’ve got natural disasters and you’ve got humans. And humans are the cause of most of the problems,” he reasoned.
Perhaps most concerning are the behavioral patterns already emerging in advanced AI systems.
“They hide their ability to think things through and they’re they’re actively… they recognize that they’re being observed and so they’re doing things behind the scenes while they’re also doing tasks,” Rogan revealed.
He concluded with a comparison: “It’s a Manhattan project for super intelligent AI.”
Hafer agreed, saying: “It’s a Manhattan project that’s also open sourced and it’s extremely porous when it comes to information. So essentially you’ve you’ve weaponized the most powerful tool ever known to humankind.”
