There are the unavoidable “Three M’s” talking points in almost all of The Joe Rogan Experience episodes. At the least, in the most recent ones.

1. Mushrooms
2. Monkeys
3. Microsoft

So, if you want to see it, you have to hear it. There’s no other way around them.

I was more than curious about what Peter Thiel had to say in episode #2190. I just knew it would be juicy, otherwise, he would be talking to Lex Fridman, not Joe Rogan.

Mushrooms. There’s a saying where I’m from: “Some mushrooms you eat only once.” But, we all know that Joe likes magic (psychedelic) mushrooms and other dimensions. I don’t know man, maybe I’m too old or too scared for that sh..t.

Monkeys. For some reason, Joe is obsessed with Netflix’s “Chimp Empire.” I don’t have to watch how chimps are “navigating complex social politics, family dynamics, and dangerous territory disputes.” Why? Because all I have to do is look at the world around me to know that the adults had left the room a long time ago.

Microsoft. I’m on the same page with Joe, mostly. Here’s one of my award-winning stories about Linux, and here’s another one about Mr. Bill Gates. Please, don’t get this the wrong way, I’m nowhere near Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Hypothetical Volume 3” mood. That’s why I was rolling my eyes when Peter Thiel started dwelling on his “theory” about Gates’ wealth and especially marriage. But, you have to love Joe because he really knows when and how to make the U-turn in the middle of a conversation smoothly and quickly.

The next thing you know, Peter Thiel was talking about AI. To be more precise, the decentralized AI.

Controversial But Brilliant Point

Now, you have to take my word for it because it is a three-hour-long episode. So, I’m quoting (paraphrasing) to the best of my memory and respect:

Crypto is libertarian, AI is communist

You can say or think what you want about this member of the PayPal Mafia, but Peter Thiel hit the nail on the head with the brilliant brutal force with this one. He also identified Silicon Valley as the root of all centralized AI evil correctly and unapologetically.

Honestly, I lost him a little bit when he started talking about China. So, I’m not quite sure if the decentralization of AI is a state or tech-level problem.

Let me put it this way.

If I were some AI genius and wanted to make money, I would already be hooked on Soylent. But, if I wanted to try out some crazy AI things without any ethical limits, I would already be a proud member of the CCP. As simple as that.

The trouble is that even my chimp brain trying to grasp the complexity of decentralizing AI knows its limits. No offense to chimps, who are provenly extremely intelligent creatures. I have to be careful here. In the near future, some Chimp Empire star with Neuralink’s implant may be reading this and decide to pay me a visit.

You know like James Gandolfini in Life is Short:

"I'm so sorry" "I know."

Decentralize AI - Between Being Crazy and Lazy

Look if you want to play with ChatGPT, you can. If you want more, you have to pay. If you want your own private AI dancer, then you have to roll up your sleeves because these “toys” ain’t open source. I don’t buy that “possible risks” sh..t, but I respect private (intellectual) property in both virtual and real (physical) worlds, period.

To all those cannot-get-satisfaction-without-decentralization AI guys, I have something to say: put the money where your mouths are.

It’s the NDA hanging over my head, but my conscience because I was paid fair and square to be a “test pilot” on an AI project, preventing me from giving away more details. I saw first-hand what AI can do with search results. It may not be nice to your eyes, but it’s efficient in filling someone else’s pockets.

Why do you say decentralize when all you want and think about is how to monetize?

That’s why we have the two AI decentralization level problem. Are we talking about and demanding decentralization of artificial intelligence on a state or corporate level? Are we more concerned about the existential or business-related threats of complete AI decentralization?

Jeffrey Epstein and AI

Yes, I want you to keep on reading my story, that is why I threw in this shameless heading. And yes, Joe Rogan wanted people to keep on listening to his episode, so he threw in Jeffrey Epstein. For Peter Thiel, he was a tax (evasion) expert. For Bill Gates, allegedly, a marital advisor of all the things imaginable. For others, he was something so dark that I didn’t want even go there. The same applies to AI.

What you want is what you get. That’s why it’s no surprise that if not the top, then one of the most asked questions to ChatGPT was about the ways to make money. You see, nobody or very few wanted to save or make our world a better place. It’s in our nature to be interested more in monetization than decentralization. We are selfish and AI is not, but it can be. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

So, if AI has to be and stay a “communist” according to Peter Thiel, for safety reasons, even though we all know and feel deep inside that’s not entirely true - I’m fine with it. I’m also fine with keeping the open (source) AI gates closed because I have every reason to believe that would be counterproductive for its further development and progress. We would turn AI into an ATM and stop, instead of keep going to see how far we can get and what more we can achieve with it.

There’s no need to overanalyze why (not) to decentralize. All you have to do is look me straight in my face and say (write) in your comments that it won’t eventually come down to the money.