Should we neuter the AI arms race? September 25, 2026

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

A LISTNER PRODUCTION Shares, the S&P, the ISX stocks.

SPEAKER_2 (0:07)

This is Motley Fool Money.

Scott Phillips (0:10)

Welcome to Motley Fool Money, the podcast that is really, really glad it's not Myer. I'm Scott Phillips from the Motley Fool. He is Andrew Page, not from Strawman, not of Strawman.

It's kind of one of those biblical things. You know, Andrew Page begets strawman.com, begets world domination, or at least that is the aim. He of course joins me, and we know him better, as Andrew Ram Page. Mr. Page, good afternoon.

Andrew Page (0:33)

Good afternoon, good morning, good evening. How are you?

Scott Phillips (0:36)

I'm very well, thank you. Who was that?

Who said that? Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night.

Andrew Page (0:41)

I don't know. Maybe, maybe.

Scott Phillips (0:43)

I'll look that up while you're talking later. How's your week been, mate?

SPEAKER_5 (0:47)

It's been good, man.

Andrew Page (0:48)

I just, as we were saying off air, it's just like, this is the time where months happen in weeks.

SPEAKER_6 (0:55)

And so I sort of like...

Scott Phillips (0:56)

And years happen in Fortnights, yeah.

Andrew Page (0:58)

It really, you know, everything's just a blur lately, but yeah, things are good.

SPEAKER_5 (1:04)

Things are good.

Andrew Page (1:06)

I'm uncharacteristically optimistic about things.

SPEAKER_6 (1:10)

So yeah, how about yourself?

Scott Phillips (1:12)

I am disappointed in you. Come for the Truman Show.

SPEAKER_6 (1:16)

Oh, of course it does.

Scott Phillips (1:17)

And you make such a devite of pop culture. Yeah, of course it does.

I just thought it was one of those things. You're normally pretty good on the Futurama, Simpson's, you know, Seinfeld. I thought you were great. I didn't know.

Andrew Page (1:29)

A rare slip up. A rare slip up.

Scott Phillips (1:31)

A rare slip up. Yeah, anyway.

Mate, yes, I mean, let's actually kick off. Because what I was going to say is pretty much what we planned to talk about in the first place. And that's AI. And I've said every week, and if you're sick of talking about AI, guys, strap in. Because it is just, to your point about, you know, once in weeks and years and months, it is just extraordinarily fast paced. And it's changing the world literally in front of us as we go.

Andrew Page (1:57)

And we're not trying to push a barrow here. It's kind of like the discussion is, like, should we?

SPEAKER_5 (2:01)

It's like, well, how can we not? Like, this has happened, and that has happened.

Scott Phillips (2:04)

It's a thing.

SPEAKER_5 (2:05)

I guess, you know?

Scott Phillips (2:06)

Yep. Mate, so, and let's, I mean, you're using it more, I'm using it more. We say that every week, and every week it's just more true, because it does more things, and it's just really, really cool.

And I'll say to you off air, I get frustrated by the things it can't yet do, and I know that that is completely unreasonable. It's like, it's a miracle in a box. And I'm like, yeah, it could be a better miracle. It's like, yeah, I'm very, very aware that I'm criticizing something that's just, you know, but also the pace of change. And you said, you know, I'll take words out of your mouth, but if you have a new model, it's like, oh, wow. Oh, that's impressive. And it's just gonna happen. And so even my criticism of my, oh, be nice if it did X, I wish it did Y. I mean, it's weeks away, it's months away, maybe. Like, you know, at some point we'll hit an arms rock, an AI plateau, we'll have to, because things will take a while to develop when you get to a certain point, but man, we are not there yet. And it's just really, really impressive. In that context, mate, in that context, there are political leaders in particular, and some people, social commentators and others, saying that AI is kind of accelerating too quickly. We need to somehow slow this thing down.

And I wanted to get your thoughts on that, mate, because at one level, if it is going to kill us, we will look back and go, yeah, probably should have switched it off at that point. So there is a non-zero chance that they're right. There's a very good chance they're right, and there's a very good chance they're wrong. So in one world, you know, the show isn't, the story isn't written yet, and the second half of the play could be, you know, wonderful or horrifying.

On the other hand, it just seems a little, I don't know what the word is, not even perverse, not conceited, a little silly to think that elected leaders can, well, but even, my big, I'll throw my thoughts out, because I've passed it up anyway. My thoughts are largely that, it's like, let me be really unpopular with some people right now. You know the great thing about the nuclear arms race, was that everyone had enough nukes that no one was ever going to fire one. Mutually assured destruction was seen at the time as being some horrible thing that we're all going to die. It was actually the greatest deterrent in the world. It's like the second Moscow fires one, Washington fires back of a gazillion of them. And so they just don't do it, right? And vice versa, the US fires one, Moscow fires a gazillion back, so they don't do it either. And yes, it's kind of a little dystopian, but it's kind of been the way of the world forever, right? Do I attack his castle? No, because his arches are pretty good. Okay, well, I won't do that then. That idea of deterrent of an equal or superior, I'll say technological force, and I mean technology in this case, I'm talking about the Middle Ages, literally as in military technology, bows and arrows, sharpened pikes, gunpowder, you've talked about it a million times.