In this episode, hosts Harlan Parrott, VP of AI Innovation, and Matt Duren, SVP of Engineering for AI and Data, take on the biggest fear about AI: that it’s going to end the world. After pitching their own AI doomsday movies, they put the theory to the test the way a detective would, looking for means, motive and opportunity.
Welcome to Attempted Intelligence, KnowBe4’s show for people who are already using AI at work and want to make the most of it. In this episode, hosts Harlan Parrott, VP of AI Innovation, and Matt Duren, SVP of Engineering for AI and Data, take on the biggest fear about AI: that it’s going to end the world. After pitching their own AI doomsday movies, they put the theory to the test the way a detective would, looking for means, motive and opportunity.
Could AI get its hands on robots, nuclear weapons or a bioweapon? Why would it want to wipe us out in the first place? And what do the people sounding the alarm have to gain? Harlan and Matt separate the movie plots from the risks worth worrying about today.
They also cover: What happened when their own AI agents found ways around the guardrails they set, why cybersecurity basics matter more than ever, and why Harlan chooses optimism anyway. Next episode: the show’s first guest, a leader from KnowBe4’s agentic courseware team.
Quotes
“The instant I can buy one, it could end us all, but it’ll do my dishes every night. I mean, the risk is worth it, Matt.” - Harlan
“What’s reality right now is what’s at risk is the integrity of data and zero-day vulnerabilities and systems that are exposed to the internet.” - Matt
“Every time there’s an incident with a self-driving car that goes off lane and causes an accident, it’s a big news story. You stop hearing about human error, typical driving mistakes and car accidents that happen every day in every city across the world.” - Matt
“If you control its agency, you control what it’s able to actually do in your environment, you’ve mitigated most of the concerns. And then I would just say, don’t give it the keys to the robots, y’all.” - Harlan
“Nobody really knows exactly how the next three years are gonna unfold, and anybody that pretends that they do, you should be skeptical of… Don’t let it ruin your outlook on life. Don’t let it take away your joy.” - Harlan
Time Stamps
[00:56] Welcome to the We're All Gonna Die Episode
[01:19] Harlan's AI Disaster Movie Pitch: Training Data
[04:58] Means: What Would AI Need to End Humanity?
[05:50] Robots, Nukes and Bioweapons
[16:00] The Real Risk Today: Data and Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
[17:18] Motive: Why Would AI Want to Wipe Us Out?
[20:19] How Seriously Should We Take the AI Doomsayers?
[29:46] The Bigger Threat: Humans Using Models Without Guardrails
[32:05] Opportunity: How Would AI Actually Do Damage?
[33:37] When AI Agents Work Around Their Guardrails
[38:42] Control Its Agency, and Don't Give It the Keys to the Robots
[41:01] Choosing Optimism
Links
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