Simon Sinek: You're Being Lied To About AI's Real Purpose And We're Teaching Our Kids To Not Be Human!

Simon Sinek (0:00)

Let's say you have a fight with your girlfriend. You want to do the right thing. So you get a chat GBT, and you be like, this is exactly what happened, tell me what to do. And you go, babe, I just want you to know I want to take full accountability, and I care about this relationship. And she says, did you get this answer from chat GBT? And you go, I did. How's that gonna go? Now, you did everything right, but what makes people beautiful is not that we get everything right, it's that we get many things wrong. And I think in the modern world we live in, we forget that.

Steven Bartlett (0:24)

Simon Sinek is back.

SPEAKER_3 (0:26)

He's the visionary thinker inspiring millions to cultivate human connection, find their purpose, and overcome any modern day challenges.

Steven Bartlett (0:34)

So with AI, do you think it really is causal, concerning deeper thought?

Simon Sinek (0:37)

So I'm not in the AI business, but I am in the humanity business. And here's the problem that we never talk about. People keep telling us, life is not about the destination, life is about the journey. But when we think about AI, we only think about the destination. And it's remarkable ability to write the book, paint the painting, solve the problem, but we forget the importance of doing the work yourself. And I think in our modern day and age, we have underrepresented the value of struggle. I am smarter, better at problem-solving, more resourceful, not because a book exists with my ideas in it, but because I wrote it. That excruciating journey is what made me grow. But it's the same for love, friendships, conflict. And I think that we forget that we give up certain skills or abilities because of technology. But it's like saying AI will provide boats for everyone, except for the time there's a storm and you don't know how to swim. And unless we take personal accountability to teach and learn human skills, they will disappear. Sure, you can have an AI friend and trained, like the best psychologist to affirm you, the best listening skills that exist. But my ability to know what to do when my friend is struggling, my ability to function in the world or my ability to cope with stress. These very, very human skills are suffering.

Steven Bartlett (1:42)

So what are the other skills we need to equip ourselves with based on the way that the world is heading?

Simon Sinek (1:47)

Two things. One is...

Steven Bartlett (1:50)

Quick one, just give me 30 seconds of your time. Two things I wanted to say. The first thing is a huge thank you for listening and tuning into the show. Week after week means the world to all of us and this really is a dream that we absolutely never had and couldn't have imagined getting to this place. But secondly, it's a dream where we feel like we're only just getting started. And if you enjoy what we do here, please join the 24% of people that listen to this podcast regularly and follow us on this app. Here's a promise I'm going to make to you. I'm going to do everything in my power to make this show as good as I can now and into the future. We're going to deliver the guests that you want me to speak to and we're going to continue to keep doing all of the things you love about this show. Thank you.

Good to see you again. What are you laughing at?

Simon Sinek (2:39)

It's just familiar.

Steven Bartlett (2:41)

Familiar. It's so interesting because when I sit down to talk to you, you're one of the very few people that I don't come with a preconception as to what we're going to talk about. But I come with a feeling. And the feeling that I bring forth is the feeling of change and transition. I have lived for 32 years, but I don't think I can ever think of a time where the future has felt unclear, uncertain, scary, exciting, and I guess unknown. And I don't just mean with technology, but technology is one protagonist in the story. And there's many other social stories playing out from politics, to relationships, to all of these things. So my first question to you, Simon, is what are those things? What are the biggest forces of changes that you see happening at the moment in all of our lives that you think we should probably talk about today?

Simon Sinek (3:37)

That is a big question. And I think one of the mistakes we make, and this is in general, is we like things to be very neatly organized. We like them to be black and white, yes or no, right or wrong. And as you know, the world is messier than that. It is more nuanced than that. And nothing operates in a vacuum. Everything is connected to everything. Especially in a world that's filled with this rising technology called the internet and this burgeoning technology called the social media. And desires and feeling like belonging become more and more important. We're struggling to find them. Loneliness epidemic, stress epidemic, suicide epidemics. These are all feelings of disconnection, lack of control and loneliness.