Soenke Ziesche - IkigAI & AI, Ikigai Risk (IRisk)

What happens to human meaning when AI takes over not just our jobs - but our joy, our purpose, even our sense of self? In this conversation, I speak with Soenke Ziesche, co-author of Considerations on the AI Endgame, about Ikigai - the Japanese concept of life purpose - and how it may be at risk in a world increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence. Together we explore: - The psychological illusion of meaning in modern life - The looming threat of Ikigai Risk - when AI automates away the things we live for, not just on - How this connects to Nick Bostrom’s vision of Deep Utopia - What happens when AI systems become more engaging than our friends, more competent than us in every skill, and indifferent to our well-being Along the way, we raise difficult questions: - Will humans still find purpose when AI can outperform us in love, labour, and laughter? - If superintelligent AI lacks ikigai-kan - a felt sense of meaning - would it care whether we are flourishing? - Could human values become obsolete in the eyes of indifferent optimisation? This is a discussion at the crossroads of ethics, technology, and existential reflection. If you're interested in AI safety, post-work futures, or how to retain meaning in a machine-accelerated world - this is for you. 🔗 Subscribe for more interviews on AI, ethics, and the future of meaning: youtube.com/@scfu Get the book "Considerations on the AI Endgame": https://www.routledge.com/Considerations-on-the-AI-Endgame-Ethics-Risks-and-Computational-Frameworks/Ziesche-Yampolskiy/p/book/9781032933832 Many thanks for tuning in! Please support SciFuture by subscribing and sharing! Buy me a coffee? https://buymeacoffee.com/tech101z Have any ideas about people to interview? Want to be notified about future events? Any comments about the STF series? Please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mr9PIfq2ZYlQsXRIn5BcLH2onbiSI7g79mOH_AFCdIk/ Kind regards, Adam Ford - Science, Technology & the Future - #SciFuture - http://scifuture.org