Tokenless

Ai progress

Is AI Slowing Down? Nathan Labenz Says We're Asking the Wrong Question

Is AI Slowing Down? Nathan Labenz Says We're Asking the Wrong Question

Nathan Labenz joins Erik Torenberg to challenge the narrative that AI progress is slowing down. He argues that despite perceptions around GPT-5, capabilities in reasoning and frontier science are advancing exponentially. They discuss the future of AI agents, the prospect of recursive self-improvement, the impact on jobs, and progress beyond language models into robotics and biology. The conversation culminates in a call for a more imaginative, positive vision to guide AI's trajectory.

Is AI Slowing Down? Nathan Labenz Says We're Asking the Wrong Question

Is AI Slowing Down? Nathan Labenz Says We're Asking the Wrong Question

Nathan Labenz argues that AI progress is not slowing down but is instead manifesting in less obvious but more powerful ways, such as advanced reasoning and multimodal capabilities. He deconstructs the debate around GPT-5's perceived impact, highlights the revolutionary potential of AI agents in science and engineering, and discusses the tangible effects on job automation. The conversation also explores the rise of robotics, the challenges of emergent AI behaviors like reward hacking, and concludes with a call for a collective, positive vision to steer this transformative technology.