Top Economist Sees AI Doom Coming — Dr. Peter Berezin, BCA Research
Podcast:Doom Debates Published On: Wed Apr 09 2025 Description: Dr. Peter Berezin is the Chief Global Strategist and Director of Research at BCA Research, the largest Canadian investment research firm. He’s known for his macroeconomics research reports and his frequent appearances on Bloomberg and CNBC.Notably, Peter is one of the only macroeconomists in the world who’s forecasting AI doom! He recently published a research report estimating a “ more than 50/50 chance AI will wipe out all of humanity by the middle of the century”.00:00 Introducing Peter Berezin01:59 Peter’s Economic Predictions and Track Record05:50 Investment Strategies and Beating the Market17:47 The Future of Human Employment26:40 Existential Risks and the Doomsday Argument34:13 What’s Your P(Doom)™39:18 Probability of non-AI Doom44:19 Solving Population Decline50:53 Constraining AI Development53:40 The Multiverse and Its Implications01:01:11 Are Other Economists Crazy?01:09:19 Mathematical Universe and Multiverse Theories01:19:43 Epistemic vs. Physical Probability01:33:19 Reality Fluid01:39:11 AI and Moral Realism01:54:18 The Simulation Hypothesis and God02:10:06 Liron’s Post-ShowShow NotesPeter’s Twitter: https://x.com/PeterBerezinBCAPeter’s old blog — https://stockcoach.blogspot.comPeter’s 2021 BCA Research Report: “Life, Death and Finance in the Cosmic Multiverse” — https://www.bcaresearch.com/public/content/GIS_SR_2021_12_21.pdfM.C. Escher’s “Circle Limit IV” — https://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/escher-today/circle-limit-iv-heaven-and-hell/Zvi Mowshowitz’s Blog (Liron’s recommendation for best AI news & analysis) — https://thezvi.substack.comMy Doom Debates episode about why nuclear proliferation is bad — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueB9iRQsvQ8Robin Hanson’s “Mangled Worlds” paper — https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/mangledworlds.htmlUncontrollable by Darren McKee (Liron’s recommended AI x-risk book) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNNYKVH1Watch the Lethal Intelligence Guide, the ultimate introduction to AI x-risk! https://www.youtube.com/@lethal-intelligencePauseAI, the volunteer organization I’m part of: https://pauseai.infoJoin the PauseAI Discord — https://discord.gg/2XXWXvErfA — and say hi to me in the #doom-debates-podcast channel!Doom Debates’ Mission is to raise mainstream awareness of imminent extinction from AGI and build the social infrastructure for high-quality debate.Support the mission by subscribing to my Substack at https://doomdebates.com and to https://youtube.com/@DoomDebates Get full access to Doom Debates at lironshapira.substack.com/subscribe