Ronny Chieng Investigates the Promises of AI, the Most Expensive Circle Jerk Ever | The Daily Show

America is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure. Wait,

why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure? Ah, damn it, I'm gonna have to talk to some nerd about this, aren't I? Like Peter Wilderford of the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy. I've used AI. Did I ejaculate?

Yes. Was it the best sex thing ever? Not really. So what's the big deal about it? The big deal is what AI might be able to do in the

about it? The big deal is what AI might be able to do in the future. The level of investment is actually now even exceeding the Manhattan Project. That's right,

future. The level of investment is actually now even exceeding the Manhattan Project. That's right,

the Manhattan Project, the four -year program where the U .S. spent the equivalent of 37 billion in today's dollars to build a working nuclear bomb, all in an attempt to finally defeat Barbie once and for all. So why is the AI infrastructure build -out costing 10 times that? It is essentially a big bet that AI will

generate a lot of profit in the future and that we will get AGI before the money runs out. Obviously, I know what AGI is, but for dumbasses like Michael Costa who might be watching this, could you please explain it to them? AGI stands

for Artificial General Intelligence. It's a hypothetical future form of AI that can do anything a human can do. Current AI systems have narrow intelligence, which means they're great at simple tasks, but when it comes to complex actions in the real world, they, holy shit, it's f***ing head fell off. But

these AI companies are betting billions that their systems will improve to be as capable as a human at most tasks, also known as AGI. My character,

Megan, was that killed by AI or was that AGI? Megan was, I think, probably a form of AGI. I thought it was a great movie, kind of showing what could happen with an AGI system that they didn't know how to control. Yeah, I'm

glad you like my movie. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Wait, you, you said you watched it.

You didn't see me in it? No. How did you miss f***ing one third of the movie? I was the main villain. I kind of thought Megan was the villain.

the movie? I was the main villain. I kind of thought Megan was the villain.

Yeah, but I was the secondary antagonist. Were you looking at your phone? I was

on the airplane. Well, that's not the optimal experience. But as billions pour into AI, some pundits are starting to use the B word. We are in a bubble. We're

in a bubble of some sort that will pop at some time. Or are we in an AI bubble? Of course. That prepubescent old man is wrong. It's not a bubble. All that's happening is the three biggest players in the AI world have created

bubble. All that's happening is the three biggest players in the AI world have created a circular flow of deals worth billions. NVIDIA invests in OpenAI, who turns around and invests in cloud computing from Oracle, who then reaches around to NVIDIA to buy chips. These contracts jack up their stock prices and... Oh, wait, now I

see. So this is the most expensive circle joke of all time.

see. So this is the most expensive circle joke of all time.

Yes. 25 % of the stock market is a bet on AI. If

these deals don't work out, there could be a stock market crash and the public would be the ones left holding the bag. All right. Well, I mean, I guess that sucks for the public. Well, you're part... Wait, am I part of the public?

I think we're all part of the public. It would affect basically the entire stock market and the entire economy. You could potentially even get a recession. I can't be poor. But Peter says if AI actually delivers on its promises, things could

poor. But Peter says if AI actually delivers on its promises, things could get even worse. If the bet pays off, AGI could potentially take all our jobs and we would have mass unemployment. Okay, okay. I don't care about any of this.

All right. Capitalism is killing us. I mean, I don't think that it's necessarily capitalism killing us. The CEOs of the companies themselves are saying there's a one in five

killing us. The CEOs of the companies themselves are saying there's a one in five chance their own technology might wipe out all of humanity. Would you fly in a plane that had a one in five chance of crashing? Well, are you on the plane watching my movie and not remembering I was in it? Because then, I... Yes,

I would like that plane to crash. There could be immense concentration of power or we could even fight, like, World War III over this technology. So we'll all die.

But at least we'll be rich. Yes, until the death part. Right. That's fine. I

can live with that. Man, you scared me for a second. Whether it crashes the markets, takes our jobs, or starts World War III, AI is changing the world. Just like the Manhattan Project. As a visionary genius once said... There

the world. Just like the Manhattan Project. As a visionary genius once said... There

shouldn't be any ambiguity over what a historic occasion this is. Just one of many great lines from my unforgettable character in Megan. Hint, Hint, Hint, Peter.