Podcaster Joe Rogan startled guest Sam Tallent on The Joe Rogan Experience by predicting that digital intelligence could eventually have "ultimate domain" over humanity. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have fueled debate over how powerful the technology could become and what greater autonomy might mean for humans. Rogan said that people should stop being "at each other’s throats" as society prepares for potentially transformative advances in non-human intelligence.
Newsweek reached out to Rogan and Tallent's representatives via email for comment on Wednesday and is awaiting responses. Rogan’s comments carry an unusually large megaphone because The Joe Rogan Experience attracts millions of listeners, making it one of the most-forceful media platforms in the U.S. He has 21.2 million subscribers on YouTube, 19.4 million on Instagram and 15.6 million on X.
His warning also taps into a much-wider public debate over where increasingly sophisticated AI could ultimately lead. Rogan offered his stark outlook while discussing the future with Tallent, a comedian and author, predicting a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. "I think what we're going to be dealing with in the next five or 10 years is we're going to be dealing with humans versus nonhumans," Rogan said on Tuesday's episode.
He predicted that "non-human, non-biological intelligence" could eventually be "running the show," before stating that the possibility should encourage people to recognize a common challenge rather than remain divided. "I think it's imperative that we not be at each other's throats and recognize that this is coming," Rogan said. Tallent responded: "Oh yeah, it'll be the ultimate class war." Rogan embraced that description but took it further.
"It's the ultimate class war because it's going to be—we're not going to be the apex predator anymore," he said. "There's going to be a thing that has ultimate domain over us." That prediction appeared to catch Tallent off guard. "What do you mean, bro?" Tallent responded.
What are you talking about? Ultimate domain?" Rogan then explained that he does not view the kind of advanced intelligence he was describing simply as another piece of technology. "I don't think it's a technology," Rogan said.
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