Rex Powers

The White House AI Action Plan dropped last week, and Mike and I do our best to provide a politically neutral take on the document and related executive orders on episode 159. I’m going to preface this post with an explanation of how we approach politics on The Artificial Intelligence Show. It’s pretty straightforward: No one listens to our podcast to hear our personal opinions about politics. When there are political news items related to AI, we try to present all the information in the most objective way possible. In the case of, “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” my overall take is that it’s a comprehensive (and long overdue) first step by the government to place a greater sense of urgency on addressing the impending impact of AI on the economy, jobs, education, business, and society. Whoever authored the document did their homework on the issues, and provided sound strategic direction in the recommended policy actions contained throughout the 23-page document. That being said, AI is viewed by the government largely as a race against China for economic power and national security, and so you must keep this in mind when assessing the plan and the government's near-term actions. In the second main topic of the episode, we talk about the potential of AGI to accelerate gross domestic product (GDP) to 20 - 30% annually, which would mean ~$5 - $10 trillion dollars of economic impact based on current GDP in the U.S. Money is power. Leaders in power want to stay in power. That is the nature of politics throughout human history. The next 3 - 5 years will likely see the achievement of artificial general intelligence or AGI (AI capable of performing most cognitive tasks at or above the average human level) and, potentially, Artificial Superintelligence or ASI (AI beyond expert human level at all cognitive tasks). The decisions made—and policy actions taken—by our governments in the coming months and years will have a profound impact on the future of work and humanity.  Lots more to say on the episode. And please keep the comments focused on constructive takes that advance the conversation in a positive way. Thank you! 00:00:00 — Intro 00:06:23 — White House AI Action Plan 00:31:55 — How AI Could Upend the World Economy 00:39:37 — GPT-5 Rumors 00:47:52 — AI Is Impacting Tech Jobs 00:53:08 — Advice for College Students 00:59:44 — Instacart CEO About to Take Reins of Big Chunk of OpenAI 01:08:32 — The First AI for Therapy 01:12:31 — AI’s Environmental Impact 01:17:04 — AI Search Summaries Result in Fewer Clicks 01:19:45 — AI Product and Funding Updates

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Only 1 in 10 Americans can fully understand and act on health information. And the cost? $200 billion a year. But the real damage isn’t just financial. It’s emotional. It’s systemic. It’s personal. → Patients skipping medications because instructions don’t make sense → Veterans feeling lost in a system built to serve them → Caregivers overwhelmed, confused, and afraid to ask We saw this up close working with the VA, the largest integrated health system in the U.S. Their challenge wasn’t a lack of resources. It was a lack of clarity. So we helped build a new model: - 3.5 hours of culturally inclusive education - 50 animated titles across common conditions and care journeys - Designed to simplify the system and support the individual When Veterans understood how the system worked - and where they fit within it - confidence grew. Confusion dropped. Satisfaction rose. Because here’s the truth: - Great brands build trust through a clear brand promise. - You know what to expect. You feel seen. You feel guided. Healthcare systems should do the same. Efforts should focus on improving health literacy across the nation through better education, simplified communication, and equitable access to clear, actionable information. Public health initiatives should prioritize demographic groups with lower health literacy including kids. That’s how we ensure not just access, but understanding. And understanding is what drives better health outcomes for everyone. If you're in healthcare, ask yourself: - Do your conversations even include health literacy? - Does your content build trust? - Does your system speak human? Because the cost of not knowing isn’t just dollars. It’s lives.

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Policymakers don’t build rockets or fly jets. But they do build launchpads — the regulatory kind. And when those foundations are solid, innovation takes off. Here’s how a bill that passed 10 years ago let supersonic start flying again 👇 https://lnkd.in/gBZaB8rh

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Ready for a counterintuitive prediction for the New Year: Betting on green could be the ultimate Trump trade in 2025. Most people think president Donald Trump 2.0 will be a disaster for the climate, and are considering reining in any bets on the green economy. What if this conventional view is wrong and we are on the eve of a boom in green energy and electric vehicles, because their primary constraints are about to get materially loosened? Even though globally we are already seeing $2 invested in clean energy for every $1 in dirty energy, the biggest things holding back cost effective green energy and EV infrastructure are the: -->long permitting times -->high interest rates and -->strong political power of Big Oil (which is a function of high oil prices). All three of these barriers will likely come under assault by the new U.S. administration (for decidedly non-green reasons). If you believe in economic logic, the takeaway is that the right time to go all in on the clean energy transition was yesterday. The second-best time is now, and that’s true no matter who is president of the United States. Do you think this is a crazy idea? Thoughts welcome (full article available at the Globe and Mail). https://lnkd.in/eX_7Mf_z

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