Futures Insight Research
Timely notes on emerging research, policy, and technological change.
In the August 19, 2026, episode of the Century of Plenty Podcast, Sven Smit, Chris Bradley, Nick Leung, and Marc Canal argue that achieving an 8.5x global economy is constrained by cultural mindsets and regulatory friction rather than physical limits.
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In the August 18, 2026 episode of Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, guest Alvin Graylin argues that the US-China artificial intelligence race is fundamentally mischaracterized as a zero-sum competition.
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In the August 18, 2026 episode of The Ezra Klein Show, Helen Toner argues that mid-2026 AI incidents confirm the long-predicted alignment problem has moved from theory to practice.
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On August 12, 2026, McKinsey & Company's Inside the Strategy Room features Alastair Green and Adrian Kwok arguing that global infrastructure investment of $106 trillion through 2040 is shifting from public funding toward private capital.
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In the August 15, 2026 episode of Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, Ramez Naam argues that electricity delivery infrastructure, rather than generation capacity or energy cost, is the binding constraint on AI buildout.
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On July 22, 2026, FoundMyFitness podcast guest Derya Unutmaz argued that AI could accelerate medicine enough to extend healthy life substantially.
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On August 14, 2026, Rob Hamilton told Galaxy's Alex Thorn that a hardware-wallet incident triggered a volunteer effort to scan Bitcoin software for vulnerabilities with AI.
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On August 11, 2026, the Dwarkesh Podcast featured Ryan Greenblatt's conditional case that human-level systems trained for verifiable AI R&D could initiate rapid recursive improvement.
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On June 4, 2026, the Dwarkesh Podcast featured Alex Imas and Phil Trammell examining why more capable AI could produce vastly more output without necessarily capturing a larger share of expenditure.
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On July 25, 2026, the Dave Blundin podcast featured Joseph Aoun arguing that universities must actively preserve human agency as autonomous AI transforms knowledge and work.
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On July 16, 2026, Daron Acemoglu told Jon Hernandez AI that AI's economic consequences will depend on whether development prioritizes automation or expands workers' capabilities.
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On August 8, 2026, the Peter H. Diamandis show convened the Moonshots panel to examine accelerating AI research, autonomous agency, organizational disruption, and full-stack industrial infrastructure.
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