Kevin Roose on AI, His New Book, and Leaving The New York Times for Machine Gods Media
Kevin Roose, a technology journalist and former columnist at The New York Times, released a book named The AGI Chronicles, which explores the recent developments in generative AI through the narratives of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. He interviewed more than 150 individuals within the AI sector. In late September, Roose, alongside Casey Newton, unveiled their new media venture, Machine Gods Media, and secured a podcast distribution agreement with NPR for their program, Machine Gods. Roose is focused on promoting AI realism and highlights the importance of adaptability in traditional media. While he is hopeful about AI's role in journalism, he does not see it as a solution for article writing. The book, published by FSG, is entirely authored by humans, reflecting Roose's aspirations for responsible AI advancement.
Key facts
- Kevin Roose published a new book titled The AGI Chronicles.
- The book focuses on OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
- Roose conducted over 150 interviews with AI insiders.
- Roose and Casey Newton launched Machine Gods Media in late September.
- They signed a podcast distribution deal with NPR.
- The podcast is called Machine Gods.
- Roose previously cohosted the Hard Fork podcast at The New York Times.
- Roose used AI tools like NotebookLM and a Council of Claudes for research and feedback, but the book is fully human-written.
- The book is published by FSG.
- Roose had a researcher, Jasmine Sun, and human editors.
- Roose ran the book through Pangram, which confirmed it was human-written.
- Roose feels more hopeful about AI safety being inside the Overton window.
- He cited DeepMind’s protein-folding AI that won a Nobel Prize as a hopeful example.
- He mentioned Amanda Askell, a virtue ethicist at Anthropic, as a positive influence on AI ethics.
Entities
Artists
- Kevin Roose
- Casey Newton
- Katie Drummond
- Elon Musk
- Sam Altman
- Dario Amodei
- Amanda Askell
- Jasmine Sun
- Greg Brockman
- Nadine Zylstra
Institutions
- The New York Times
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- DeepMind
- NPR
- Machine Gods Media
- Hard Fork
- FSG
- Pangram
- NotebookLM
- WIRED
- Bloomberg
- Spotify
- Overcast
- Pocket Casts
- Podcasts
Locations
- San Francisco
- United States
- Bay Area
- California
- Bay Bridge
- Los Alamos
- New Mexico
- Berkeley