The good future, according to Greg Brockman
What Brockman says a good outcome with AI looks like, drawn from 84 interviews, podcasts, talks, hearings and TV appearances (about 59 hours, all transcribed for this page). It also covers whether he ever talks about Iain M. Banks's Culture, or about humans ending up as AI's pets. He has brought up the Culture once, on his own initiative.
The short answer
At Startup Grind in March 2019, Reid Hoffman asked what would still be scarce in a world where AGI succeeds. Brockman took "one slight detour" to science fiction and raised Banks unprompted: "I think that for AGI, there's actually very few positive stories out there. One that I think is there is Banks' culture series. And there it talks about a post-scarcity world and turns out that people still have problems, right? If you're a human and you want to find meaning, turns out that this is a thing that by its very nature requires effort." Startup Grind / Greymatter · Mar 2019 · 0:28:02 ↗transcript
What he takes from the Culture is a point about human meaning, not about benevolent Minds running things. He says nothing about the Minds. The reading recommendation that followed was Hoffman's, not his: "Ian Banks, like Player Games, if you're interested in the culture, would be the, I think the one I would recommend starting with." Brockman just agreed: "That's right, yep." Startup Grind / Greymatter · Mar 2019 · 0:29:18 ↗transcript Banks doesn't come up in any of his other 83 appearances.
No host ever puts the pets idea to him. When a podcast host framed AGI as "passing the torch from the biological to non-biological intelligence," he said: "I don't think about it as there's a torch to be passed here. The purpose of technology is to enhance human lives." Simulation · Apr 2019 · 0:01:07 ↗transcript By 2026 he says it outright: "We think that humans should be firmly in the driver's seat, should have control over the future, and that this technology should amplify human agency. Even as models surpass humans in capability." No Priors · Oct 2026 · 0:36:55 ↗transcript
The only pets in his appearances are AIs. Alexandr Wang brought up Ted Chiang's The Lifecycle of Software Objects, describing "these AI pets." Brockman half-remembered it ("I think I have, but I don't recall the details") and seems to reply "I think that we'll see that kind of thing in our future somewhere." Scale TransformX · Oct 2022 · 0:18:01 ↗transcript
Close to the question, but not quite
He never talks about being kept or looked after by AI. But he does take on the questions next to it: what humans are for, whether to defer to a smarter system, and what is left for people to do.
"It really opens this Pandora's box of what does it mean to be human and what is the value of humans and how do we make sure that humans have meaning and really a place in the resulting world. And that is, I think, the hardest problem."
He raised this himself in 2017 and didn't answer it. TWIML AI Podcast · Nov 2017 · 0:36:19 ↗transcript
"Where all the interesting stuff is done by the computers and the humans just kind of stick around and clean out the fans is something that exists today. Sounds pretty dystopic, but if you look at Bitcoin mines, that is exactly what they are."
This is his own picture of humans pushed to the sidelines, offered as a hazard to take seriously. It's the closest he comes to the pets image. TWIML AI Podcast · Nov 2017 · 0:50:00 ↗transcript
"I think there will always be a place for humans in the same way that even though cars are a lot faster, people still run track."
His answer to "Will humans end up not being able to compete?" He used the same track analogy on Fox Business in 2018. Beyond Innovation TV · Mar 2019 · 0:04:32 ↗transcript
"I don't think you necessarily defer to whatever your powerful system tells you, but you use it as one input to try to figure out what to do."
He was asked what he would first ask an AGI. Lex Fridman Podcast · Apr 2019 · 0:08:39 ↗transcript
"Maybe you should think of how humans will operate in certain fields and certain dimensions in the future, whatever it is, is become more like CEOs or like board members."
The AIs may be better experts than the people they work for. The human's question becomes "are you happy? Is this what you wanted?" He compares this to Steve Jobs putting a handle on the iMac so people "you can always pick it up and throw it out the window." No Priors · Oct 2026 · 0:37:47 ↗transcript
"You need to realize that human agency, human accountability, that's a core part of the system… you cannot abdicate responsibility."
Alex Kantrowitz pressed him on his own line about becoming "CEO" of a fleet of agents. Big Technology · Apr 2026 · 0:47:04 ↗transcript
"You have a child that's growing up. When a child does something that's good, you say, that was good."
In his analogy the AI is the child being raised and humans are the parents, which is the reverse of the pets picture. This Week in Startups · Dec 2018 · 0:52:50 ↗transcript
His positive vision, in six parts
1. Cures, discoveries and "going to the stars"
His most constant theme, from 2017 to 2026, is AI that can solve problems people can't. In the early years this was abstract. By 2026 he points to math proofs and lab results.
"On a maximum, you're talking about going to the stars and solving all disease and sort of all the things that humans have wanted to do but seem kind of out of reach of us being able to accomplish."
The minimum, he said, was an impact on the scale of the agricultural revolution. This Week in Startups · Dec 2018 · 0:03:59 ↗transcript
"Imagine if you had a Einstein in silicon that you're now able to run a thousand X real time or a million X real time."
In the same answer he describes one copy working on curing diseases and another on "how should we build rockets to go to the stars." TWIML AI Podcast · Nov 2017 · 0:48:36 ↗transcript His other early image is AGI as "a company of the smartest humans you've ever met, all working together in concert towards one goal with no breaks and no ego." Web Summit · Nov 2018 · 0:02:05 ↗transcript
"Imagine a world where you can take a gigawatt data center and have it just think about how to solve Alzheimer's for a month, for a year, however long it takes."
"Death becoming a choice. All this is possible. That having cures for diseases."
His most far-reaching late claim. He admits cures have "become also a trope in this field," but predicts real progress within 12 to 18 months. WSJ · Nov 2026 · 0:25:50 ↗transcript
"If you have better tools for understanding biology, you should be able to identify the markers for lots of different diseases."
From 2025 on, health becomes personal for him. He often mentions his wife's Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Latent Space · Aug 2025 · 0:19:00 ↗transcript
2. An amplifier for what each person wants
His favorite word is "amplify." AI is a tool that serves human intent, and in his later version each person directs a vast workforce of agents.
"I think that this sort of amplification of what humans can do is what these systems are for."
"I think everyone can become a magician and just, you know, it's like we're all sort of signed up for Harry Potter here and the AI is our wand."
"And soon maybe the CEO of an autonomous AI corporation. Just imagine if you had the workforce of a 100,000 person company all at your disposal, operating on your behalf."
He adds that "everyone needs access to compute." The Knowledge Project · Apr 2026 · 1:07:40 ↗transcript Elsewhere he says "compute will be a basic human right." Tetragrammaton · Feb 2026 · 1:32:06 ↗transcript
"It's going to be just like a very empowering world where people can do so much more of what they want to do… it's like the American dream on steroids."
The interviewer replied, "you're painting such a rosy picture." TIME · Sep 2026 · 0:49:54 ↗transcript
"You should still set those goals. They should be your goals, right? You should be in charge."
This is about a "personal AGI" that acts for you around the clock, for example by buying concert tickets before they sell out. The Knowledge Project · Apr 2026 · 0:52:01 ↗transcript
3. Abundance, and life without having to work
He is more willing than most lab leaders to describe a post-work world, and he usually describes it as a good one.
"Everyone has enough food and has personal health and that we're able to move past a world where you need to struggle in order to survive… do you want to be an artist? Do you want to go and see Jupiter? That all of those become possibilities."
He said this right after the Banks remark, in the same answer. Startup Grind / Greymatter · Mar 2019 · 0:28:58 ↗transcript
"If you move to a post-scarcity society, just how do you make sure that everyone has not just enough, but actually everyone has just like lots, right? Not just universal basic income, but universal high income for everyone."
"We can have way more people pursue their passion, way fewer people have to work in a job."
He goes on to cite an unnamed tech CEO who says universal basic income "undersells it. It really should be universal hyper income." He calls this "a pretty exciting one to get behind," and adds that "it's not all just going to be easy." SK AI Summit fireside · Nov 2024 · 0:23:54 ↗transcript
"I think we are going to go to a world that is one of abundance, right? And I think one where, you know, that you should have like this amazing quality of life, even if you are not economically working."
He says this will "change a lot of fundamentals of the social contract." Matthew Berman · Oct 2025 · 0:30:33 ↗transcript
"I hope it'll be a world of amazing abundance. I think at that point we really should be multi-planetary and kind of almost any sci-fi dream you can imagine."
This was his note to himself in 2045. He then says that if you don't work you will still "survive… your material needs met," but compute will stay scarce, because "there will always be more return on more compute." Latent Space · Aug 2025 · 1:04:32 ↗transcript
4. More time for people
From 2026 his main answer to "what will humans do?" is that they will spend less time at screens and more time with each other.
"The single most important goal for AI is to free up humans to be able to interact with each other, to have real human interactions."
"That's not really what being human's about. Being human's about being here, being present, connecting with other humans. And I think that what we're going to see is that AI is going to free up so much time to increase human connection."
"People want to connect with other people. And that is actually, in my mind, the purpose of this technology… is for deepening human connection so you can spend more time with your family."
He goes on: "it's almost like fog that's lifting. It's almost teaching us more about ourselves and what it means to be human." TIME · Sep 2026 · 0:34:15 ↗transcript
"People are not valuable just because we can do tasks, right? We're valuable because we're people."
5. Meaning still takes effort
This is what he took from Banks in 2019, and it comes back in later years. Abundance doesn't make striving go away. AI can even make human activity more meaningful.
"I think that it will always be the case that for us to find meaning is going to be an effort."
This follows straight on from his Culture remark. Startup Grind / Greymatter · Mar 2019 · 0:28:32 ↗transcript
"I think that people will be much more free to do what they want with their lives and their time. And by the way, I think that people will have lots to strive for."
He points to software engineers, who are "working harder than ever" despite being far more productive. WSJ · Nov 2026 · 0:27:16 ↗transcript
"It really changed people's understanding of the game of Go and more people play Go now, right? So it really increased the meaning of what people were doing."
AlphaGo's Move 37 is his standard example. He hopes the same happens in math and science. Core Memory · Apr 2026 · 0:30:51 ↗transcript
"The beauty and the meaning of mathematics, it's not something that is objective in some sense. It's in the eye of the beholder."
His view is that meaning stays human even when AIs are solving the problems. No Priors · Oct 2026 · 0:04:40 ↗transcript
6. Shared widely, and spread across the cosmos
From the start he has argued that the gains must belong to everyone. Once or twice he has gone much further than that.
"When it comes to the benefits of who owns this technology, where do the dollars go, we think it belongs to everyone."
This is from his testimony to Congress. House Science Committee · Jun 2018 · 1:18:23 ↗transcript
"When technology serves people and enhances the human experience, helps us create a world of more plenty, a more equitable world, it's good."
"You can either say, we need to centralize all of it, have one entity in control, maybe one person in control. That is a different kind of risk."
He calls that world "a very scary one." Squawk Pod · Aug 2026 · 0:30:23 ↗transcript
"It's actually great to have people experience and be alive and feel joy. And we want more of that. We want that throughout the cosmos."
He follows this with "there's a lot of details to figure out exactly what the right long-term future for humanity is." AttentionX · Oct 2023 · 0:12:45 ↗transcript
"Being able to expand to the cosmos with beings that really feel and think and have a great time in that cosmos, that seems like a pretty good long-term future."
He said this while discussing model welfare, so the "beings" may include AIs. University of North Dakota · Sep 2023 · 0:32:39 ↗transcript
"I do think that the fundamental purpose of this technology is to benefit humans, right? And really not just humans, right? Animals, just like all living beings that can sort of experience pleasure and joy."
How it changed over time
- 2012–14 At Stripe he talks about engineering culture, Ruby and Bitcoin. There is no AI content.
- 2016–18 At early OpenAI his tone is institutional. AGI is "10 to 100 years" away Senate hearing · Nov 2016 · 0:46:58 ↗transcript, but it could mean "going to the stars and solving all disease." This Week in Startups · Dec 2018 · 0:03:59 ↗transcript He focuses on shared benefits and names the risks frankly, including humans who "clean out the fans." TWIML AI Podcast · Nov 2017 · 0:50:00 ↗transcript At Web Summit he says: "it's not going to be some magical utopia, right?" Web Summit · Nov 2018 · 0:02:54 ↗transcript
- 2019 This is his most literary year. He names the Culture as one of the few positive AGI stories and Her as the plot he would model on. He describes a post-scarcity world of artists and trips to Jupiter, and rejects the idea of "passing the torch."
- 2021–23 The vision becomes about tools: AI removes drudgery, gives everyone a tutor, and makes people more creative. He says "universal high income" at UND and talks of joy "throughout the cosmos." At SXSW he calls himself an "optimistic realist" and says: "I think it's not going to go well by default, but I think humanity can rise to this challenge." SXSW · Mar 2023 · 0:49:22 ↗transcript
- 2024–25 He goes furthest on post-work abundance: "universal hyper income," "amazing quality of life, even if you are not economically working," multi-planetary by 2045. AGI moves to "1–3 years" away, and he widens who benefits to "all living beings."
- 2026 The vision gets concrete and is pitched as products: personal AGI, a CEO of 100,000 agents, AI-solved math problems, a doctor in your pocket. The emphasis moves from leisure to agency and human connection. He also draws a much firmer line on control, saying "humans being in firm control of the future is absolutely hard stop, the thing that we should all be trying to solve for." New Frontier · Oct 2026 · 0:14:37 ↗transcript Several late-2026 appearances (TIME, Odd Lots, a16z) are dominated by the Hugging Face security incident and safety.
The hedges
Brockman is more openly upbeat than many of his peers, but he regularly declines to describe the long-term future in detail:
- "It's always easier to destroy than create." He gives this as the reason positive visions are harder to argue for than negative ones. Lex Fridman Podcast · Apr 2019 · 0:11:57 ↗transcript
- "I tend to think of myself as right in the middle." This was his answer when asked to choose between utopians and doomers. Startup Grind / Greymatter · Mar 2019 · 0:15:32 ↗transcript
- "What's going to happen to our hunter-gatherer job post-agricultural revolution? It's just a weird question, right? It's like the framework changes on you." AI safety panel with Musk and Tegmark · Sep 2023 · 0:08:42 ↗transcript
- "Fill in the blank, a world powered by AI in 2050 is?" "Unimaginable." SXSW · Mar 2023 · 0:49:52 ↗transcript
- "I think anyone who has great certainty about what the future looks like is either deluded or lying." Seedery talk · c. 2022 · 0:35:26 ↗transcript
- "I don't think that we should paint that everything is going to be rosy and it's all going to be just easy. I think it's going to be hard." a16z Show · Sep 2026 · 0:27:59 ↗transcript
The science fiction he actually cites
He says positive AI stories are rare: "It's very hard to find positive depictions of AI in Hollywood." Possible · May 2023 · 0:49:58 ↗transcript He also argues that science fiction failed to predict language models. The works he names are:
Some references in these recordings belong to other people. The Player of Games as the place to start with the Culture, and Ex Machina, are Reid Hoffman's. Ted Chiang's "Lifecycle of Software Objects" is Alexandr Wang's. Terminator, replicants and the Prime Directive on This Week in Startups are Jason Calacanis's. "Heaven," "universal high income" as Musk uses it, and a superintelligence that keeps the limbic system happy are Elon Musk's on the 2023 panel, and the Neanderthal comparison there is Max Tegmark's. Star Trek, the Borg and the Dyson sphere on Latent Space come from the hosts. "Sci-fi has been inspiring to all of us" in Seoul (2023) is Sam Altman's, as is David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity on Possible.