AGI, Immortality, & Visions of the Future with Adam Becker

About This Episode

Are we making science fiction a reality? Is that a good thing? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and guest Adam Becker, science communicator and author of More Everything Forever, take a clear-eyed tour through sci-fi dreams, tech-bro promises, and the real science shaping our tomorrow.

We explore the predictions made by billionaires and futurists who claim they’ll build space empires, conquer death, and upload human consciousness. Adam breaks down how he researched the book by reading tech bro predictions, cross-checking with experts in their feild, and getting stonewalled by the CEOs themselves. From there, the trio examines Mars fantasies: Elon Musk’s dream of a million-person colony by 2050, the brutal physics of radiation exposure, perchlorates in Martian soil, and why even The Martian got key dangers wrong.

We explore the singularity, “functional immortality,” and whether intelligence is a single number fated to grow exponentially. We unpack why Moore’s Law has already hit physical and economic limits, why AGI won’t magically fix global warming, and how physics (not hype) sets hard boundaries on computation, energy, and runaway technological dreams.

Do tech bros need a lesson in reading comprehension? We explore the misreading of science fiction as blueprints instead of warnings, and the real dangers of concentrating wealth, power, and hypothetical AI “genies” in the hands of a few. Along the way they revisit Star Trek, dystopian futures from Blade Runner to Soylent Green, and what science fiction can teach us about ourselves—if we actually read it correctly.

Neil closes with a cosmic perspective: the future will be shaped not just by invention, but by wisdom, restraint, and how responsibly we wield the tools we create.

Thanks to our Patrons Jeremiah Washington, Lawrence Burr, PAscal, Melissa Lange, Noah Naccarato, christian lopez, Matthew Thomas Dunn, thalian, Morten Leirkjaer, Jonathan Markey, Expo, Heather, Brandon G, S Gr, carwingo, Neil, Micheal Rogerson, Torgeir Sundet, Nina (aka HelloDaydream) Scott Polaske, Christopher Branch, Matthew Tarter, Jeff Dasteel, Matthew Light, Dj Stuffin, Virginia Walters, Pablo Rojo, Don T, Jacob Searcy, Jeffery Marraccini, Madam Power, Bartosz Jaworski, Jonathan Amir, Brandon D, Zdeněk Bučko, Mason, Benedikt Hopf, L4NK, Susan Baumgartner, Austin Browning, Kari Windham, How to Poe, Richard C, Margie Baker, SubTheGator, Harry W Peters Jr, Sean, Ravi Kapoor, Diego Sanz, Jeremy Malli, Walter Mashman, Arthur Cousland, Jordan Dck, Ryan Kroboth, Daniel Carroll, Bartlomiej Lepka, Christopher M, Starry Dust, Kingfisher9000, Pdub, Mat Cauthon, Leithor, Wesley Wright, MJ Ladiosa, Minty FreSH RandoMness, Gilberto Garza, Daryle Lockhart, Lyric Kite, Sasquatch, Carolyn Duvall, Heather Renn, DavidX, Mr. Thrasher, and Tracy Boomer for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free.