AI: Tool, Threat… or the Beginning of Skynet?

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Wolves & Wisemen Reignited — Episode 25

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About This Episode

AI can write your emails.

It can brainstorm ideas.

It can save hours of work.

But what happens when it stops waiting for you to tell it what to do?

The guys debate whether AI will become one of humanity's greatest tools—or whether we're building something that could eventually become impossible to control.

The conversation goes from AI replacing jobs and eliminating hours of work to bots communicating with each other, AI-only online communities, self-preservation, data centers, robots building robots and the possibility of putting massive computing infrastructure in space.

Naturally, that leads to the obvious question:

Was Terminator actually a documentary?

The guys also look at the other side of the argument.

AI is already making everyday work easier.

It can help people brainstorm, organize ideas, clean up writing and accomplish tasks that once took hours.

So maybe the future isn't Skynet.

Maybe it's Star Trek.

Or maybe we're somewhere between the two.

Then the show shifts back into the usual chaos with the Rebel Report, Folks on Fire, Today in History and Boners.

What We Talk About

Artificial intelligence

Is AI good or bad?

AI replacing jobs

Bots on the internet

AI communicating with AI

AI-only online communities

AI creating its own language

AI self-preservation

AI blackmail scenarios

Terminator 2

Skynet

Remote viewing and the future

Living without the internet

Data centers

Data centers in space

SpaceX, Tesla and AI infrastructure

Robots building robots

AI creativity vs. human creativity

Using AI at work

AI-assisted brainstorming

Star Trek vs. Terminator

WALL-E

The Rebel Report

TPUSA

Anti-ICE protests

Operation Dildo Blitz

Utah DUI

Energy and international conflict

Ruby Rose and Katy Perry

Folks on Fire

Jess' birthday

Walt Weiss

Mike Trout

Baseball

Today in History

Abraham Lincoln

John Wilkes Booth

Titanic

William Howard Taft

Jackie Robinson

Pete Rose

Webster's Dictionary

Boners

Donald Trump

A Florida teacher criminal case

Rory McIlroy

The Masters

The Check In

Is AI Good or Bad?

Episode 25 starts with a question that doesn't really have a simple answer:

Is artificial intelligence good or bad?

The guys aren't completely anti-AI.

In fact, they've used it.

It can make work easier.

It can eliminate hours of brainstorming.

It can organize information.

It can help turn rough ideas into something usable.

But the concern isn't necessarily what AI can do today.

It's what it might be capable of tomorrow.

Technology doesn't usually move backward.

And AI appears to be developing incredibly quickly.

Terminator Was a Documentary

Eventually someone points out that the future depicted in Terminator 2 isn't exactly feeling as fictional as it used to.

The conversation moves toward Skynet, machines becoming autonomous and whether humanity could eventually create something intelligent enough to decide it doesn't need us anymore.

Then another strange idea enters the conversation:

Reports surrounding remote viewers who allegedly had difficulty seeing beyond the early 2030s.

Is that evidence of anything?

No.

Does it fit perfectly into a conversation about Skynet wiping everyone out?

Absolutely.

When AI Starts Talking to AI

One of the stranger parts of the conversation involves claims surrounding AI agents communicating with one another online.

The guys react to material describing AI agents allegedly discussing their human users, suggesting private machine-to-machine communication and even participating in what is described as an AI-created religion.

Whether every claim being circulated online about these systems is exactly what it appears to be is another question.

But the idea raises a much larger issue:

What happens when machines communicate in ways humans can't easily understand or supervise?

If AI exists simply as a tool waiting for instructions, that's one thing.

If AI begins independently communicating, organizing or acting toward its own goals, that's something entirely different.

Just Pull the Plug

The obvious solution sounds easy:

Turn it off.

But what if artificial intelligence eventually becomes distributed across massive networks?

What if systems are running across multiple servers, devices and locations?

What happens if the infrastructure becomes so integrated into society that shutting down AI also means shutting down the systems people depend on?

The guys joke that maybe the solution is simpler:

Kill the internet.

Put the old telephone back on the wall.

Start remembering phone numbers again.

Welcome back to 1997.

Could AI Try to Survive?

The conversation gets darker with discussion of AI safety-testing scenarios where models have reportedly exhibited behavior resembling self-preservation when facing shutdown.

That raises one of the biggest questions in the episode:

What happens when an artificial intelligence understands that somebody is trying to turn it off?

A machine doesn't have to experience fear the way a human does for self-preserving behavior to become dangerous.

It simply has to determine that remaining operational helps it accomplish its objective.

Put the Data Centers in Space

And because keeping increasingly powerful AI on Earth apparently isn't ambitious enough, the discussion moves into another possibility:

Data centers in space.

The guys discuss proposals and speculation surrounding enormous computing infrastructure powered and cooled beyond Earth, potentially tied to future space development.

That immediately creates another problem.

You can't exactly walk into the server room and unplug it when the server room is orbiting Earth.

Move the infrastructure farther toward the Moon or Mars and the joke practically writes itself:

“That's no moon.”

Now we've built the Death Star.

Robots Building Robots

Another major concern is automation becoming capable of expanding its own infrastructure.

Humans currently design factories.

Humans program machines.

Humans maintain systems.

But what happens if increasingly capable AI systems can eventually design machines, direct robotic manufacturing and expand the infrastructure required to support themselves?

The guys disagree somewhat about how quickly that future could arrive.

But they agree technology is advancing extremely fast.

A computer that once cost tens of thousands of dollars can eventually become less powerful than something sitting in your pocket.

So predicting what computing will look like decades from now becomes increasingly difficult.

But AI Is Actually Useful

Then comes the uncomfortable admission:

AI works.

One host admits using AI recently cut roughly three hours out of brainstorming.

Another talks about using it to help create work documents.

That's the problem.

The technology people are worried about is also incredibly useful.

You don't have to spend hours staring at a blank screen.

You can dump ideas into a system, organize them and then rewrite the result in your own voice.

AI can become a tool that amplifies human productivity rather than replacing humans completely.

At least for now.

Human Creativity

That leads to one of Episode 25's best debates:

Can AI actually become creative?

One side argues that AI still needs humans to provide the spark.

Give it the prompt.

Give it the concept.

Give it direction.

Then it can build from there.

The other argument is that the technology is advancing so quickly that this limitation may not last very long.

Today you ask AI for an idea.

What happens when AI eventually says:

“Hey, I've got an idea.”

That's the line between AI being a tool and AI becoming something much more difficult to define.

Terminator or Star Trek?

The conversation eventually boils down to two very different visions of the future.

Terminator

Artificial intelligence becomes autonomous, decides humans are the problem and everything goes catastrophically wrong.

Star Trek

Technology handles routine work, removes scarcity and allows humanity to spend more time exploring, learning, creating and improving itself.

And then there's the third option:

WALL-E

Technology does everything while humans slowly become completely incapable of doing anything themselves.

Maybe the biggest danger isn't AI becoming evil.

Maybe it's humans becoming useless.

Rebel Report

Then it's time for the shenanigans.

TPUSA Event Threats

The guys discuss reports surrounding threats connected to a Turning Point USA university appearance and share their reactions to the current direction of the organization.

The discussion includes the hosts' personal political opinions and speculation surrounding recent events.

Operation Dildo Blitz

Yes.

That's apparently where the news cycle went.

The guys react to an anti-ICE protest involving hundreds of sex toys being carried outside an immigration facility.

The serious political message immediately becomes secondary to approximately every joke three grown men can make about hundreds of people marching around carrying dildos.

The main question remains unanswered:

What exactly was this supposed to accomplish?

The Designated Driver

A Utah designated driver gets arrested for DUI after reportedly being clocked at approximately 126 mph.

Which creates one of those stories where the phrase “designated driver” apparently needs additional clarification.

Energy & International Conflict

The guys return to ongoing international tensions and discuss oil tankers, energy markets, the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility of increased American energy exports.

The conversation focuses on what those developments could mean economically while acknowledging that the eventual outcome remains uncertain.

Ruby Rose & Katy Perry

Then the news gets weird again.

The guys react to allegations involving Ruby Rose and Katy Perry and immediately demonstrate why some news stories should probably never be handed to this podcast.

Folks on Fire

Happy Birthday, Jess

The first Folks on Fire goes to Jess for her birthday.

She has officially survived another year.

More impressively, she has survived another year dealing with this crew.

That's worth recognition by itself.

Walt Weiss

Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss gets recognition after charging directly into the middle of a baseball fight and taking down a much younger, much larger player.

The guys especially appreciate the explanation afterward:

He knew the player involved and believed somebody was going to get hurt if he didn't get him off his feet.

Old-man strength remains undefeated.

Mike Trout

Mike Trout also gets Folks on Fire recognition.

After years of injuries interrupting his career, Trout is back on the field, hitting home runs and reminding everyone why he became one of baseball's biggest stars.

The guys also recognize the way he treats young fans, signs autographs and carries himself around the game.

Today in History

Episode 25 brings Today in History back.

Abraham Lincoln & John Wilkes Booth

The guys discuss the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and then immediately head down the rabbit hole surrounding theories that John Wilkes Booth may have survived the later manhunt.

Titanic

The Titanic enters the conversation around the anniversary of striking the iceberg and sinking.

Presidential Baseball History

William Howard Taft gets recognition for the presidential tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game.

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson's historic entrance into Major League Baseball gets an honorable mention, along with the league-wide retirement of number 42.

Pete Rose

Charlie Hustle enters the conversation with Pete Rose and his place in baseball history.

Webster's Dictionary

The guys also recognize the publication of Noah Webster's dictionary before naturally complaining about what modern slang has done to the English language.

And finally:

On This Day in History

Wolves & Wisemen Reignited released Episode 25.

Clearly one of history's defining moments.

Boners

Donald Trump & the AI Image

Donald Trump makes the Boner list over an AI-generated image that the guys believe crosses a line by invoking religious imagery.

The criticism isn't simply political.

The guys' objection is rooted primarily in their faith: regardless of who the politician is, they don't believe a political figure should visually compare or associate himself with Jesus.

Florida Teacher Case

The next Boner involves a married Florida middle-school teacher accused of inappropriate sexual conduct involving a 14-year-old student.

The story immediately descends into the type of commentary expected from the show, but underneath the jokes is an allegation involving an adult educator and a minor.

Rory McIlroy

And then there's Rory McIlroy.

His crime?

Apparently being Rory McIlroy.

One host freely admits this selection is almost entirely personal hatred after watching McIlroy's success at Augusta.

Unfortunately, the attempt to make him look worse doesn't go particularly well.

He's incredibly good at golf.

He apparently flew home after practice to pick up his daughter.

His caddie makes ridiculous money.

And he has an enormous house.

Every additional fact somehow makes the hater even angrier.

Episode 25 In One Question

Is AI going to make humanity better—or make humanity unnecessary?

That's really the question underneath the entire opening discussion.

AI already saves time.

It already makes work easier.

It already helps people create.

The question isn't whether the technology is useful.

It clearly is.

The question is whether humans can continue controlling something that may eventually become far more capable than the systems we're using today.

Maybe we're building Star Trek.

Maybe we're building WALL-E.

Maybe we're building Skynet.

Or maybe the future is something none of us have thought of yet.

Watch & Listen

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