Let’s face it: in the long run, there’s either going to be safe AI or no AI. There is no future with powerful unsafe AI and human beings. In this episode of For Humanity, John Sherman speaks with Professor Stuart Russell — one of the world’s foremost AI pioneers and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach — about the terrifying honesty of today’s AI leaders. Russell reveals that the CEO of a major AI company told him his best hope for a good future is a “Chernobyl-scale AI disaster.” Yes — one of the people building advanced AI believes only a catastrophic warning shot could wake up the world in time. John and Stuart dive deep into the psychology, politics, and incentives driving this suicidal race toward AGI. They discuss:
- Why even AI insiders are losing faith in control
- What a “Chernobyl moment” could actually look like
- Why regulation isn’t anti-innovation — it’s survival
- The myth that America is “allergic” to AI rules
- How liability, accountability, and provable safety could still save us
- Whether we can ever truly coexist with a superintelligence
This is one of the most urgent conversations ever hosted on For Humanity. If you care about your kids’ future — or humanity’s — don’t miss this one.
00:00 – Intro: John Sherman on why AI must be safe or nothing
01:00 – Who is Stuart Russell? Pioneer, AI godfather turned whistleblower
02:00 – The shocking confession: An AI lab CEO’s “Chernobyl-scale disaster” hope
03:00 – Talking to family about extinction risk
05:30 – Why the public still doesn’t get it
07:30 – Hollywood myths and false optimism
10:00 – How AI could actually kill us – from words to world-changing actions
13:00 – Human imitation and deceptive goals in LLMs
17:00 – Consciousness doesn’t matter for survival
20:00 – P(doom) and why Russell rejects fatalism
22:30 – The real doomers are the builders – tech incentives and tribalism
25:00 – The Ground News sponsor segment
29:45 – Global governance and the China question
33:00 – How cooperation is still possible
36:00 – The AI CEO who wants catastrophe
38:30 – Why unsafe AI kills industries, not just people
41:00 – America is not allergic to regulation
46:00 – Liability, accountability, and slowing down AI
52:00 – The limits of liability for extinction risk
56:00 – Warning shots: what an AI Chernobyl might look like
59:00 – Financial crashes, cyber attacks, engineered pandemics
1:03:00 – What happens after a global blackout?
1:06:00 – What provably safe AI regulation should look like
1:10:00 – Why we can’t just “switch it off”
1:17:00 – The ‘giant bird’ metaphor for current AI development
1:20:00 – Job loss and extinction — connected fights
1:23:00 – Could we coexist with superintelligence?
1:25:00 – Stuart Russell’s hope: global collaboration through safety ethics
1:29:00 – The pendulum is swinging back — public awareness is rising
1:31:00 – Outro: Why slowing down AI is not anti-innovation