Jaron Lanier, one of the founding figures of virtual reality and one of the most original critics of Silicon Valley, argues that artificial intelligence is not just a technology — it has become an ideology. In this conversation, Lanier explains why the way we talk about AI may be more dangerous than the software itself. He discusses the religious character of AI culture, OpenAI’s vision of a future where money could become irrelevant, the transformation of capitalism into direct behavioral modification, and why social media became a machine for manipulation rather than freedom.
We also talk about digital immortality, data dignity, the future of human agency, and why Lanier believes Meta’s approach to virtual reality was a disaster. This is a conversation about AI, capitalism, Silicon Valley, freedom, and the future being built around us.
Chapters:
00:00 – AI as ideology, religion, and Silicon Valley’s new worldview
01:10 – Why the danger is not software, but the philosophy around AI
03:48 – Data, AI models, and a future where people get paid for their contribution
05:41 – Why AI culture has the qualities of a religion
09:26 – Social media, surveillance capitalism, and algorithmic manipulation
11:06 – OpenAI, Elon Musk, and the idea that money may become irrelevant
15:51 – Should Big Tech be controlled, nationalized, or broken into experiments?
20:38 – Digital immortality, VR, Meta’s failure, and the future of virtual reality
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