Debating College Students About AI Extinction
Debating College Students About AI Extinction  
Podcast: Doom Debates!
Published On: Tue Jul 21 2026
Description: College students are so angry about AI that they booed its very mention at 2026 commencement ceremonies. So why aren’t they rallying behind PauseAI? I went back to my alma mater, UC Berkeley, to find out.I spoke with students studying philosophy, economics, and physics, as well as everyday folks visiting campus.My interviewees were aware of AI’s rapidly growing capabilities. When pressed, some would even agree with me on the conceptual benefits of an AI pause. But the sense of urgency was missing.Timestamps00:00:00 — Cold Open00:00:31 — Why I Returned to UC Berkeley00:02:08 — Jack: Chinese Room Argument00:03:23 — Richard: “Who Would Build That?”00:03:54 — Karthik: An Economist’s Lens00:05:20 — Jack: The Politics Are Unclear00:06:10 — Yvonne: Why Powerful AI is Risky00:07:06 — Robin: Doom Is the Wrong Priority00:10:36 — Dexter: Sam Altman’s Motive00:10:57 — Christine: AI Is Just a Tool00:12:32 — What’s Your P(Doom)™00:13:19 — Jackson: Supporting a PauseAI Treaty00:14:19 — Why Cal Students Don’t Take AI X-Risk Seriously00:15:19 — Rachel: Humans Are Irreplaceable00:16:14 — Two Hours Later00:16:35 — Wrap-UpLinksJoin the Doom Debates Discord — https://discord.gg/j4zQ8UaQw2PauseAI — https://pauseai.info/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 DoomDebates.com and to youtube.com/@DoomDebates, or to really take things to the next level: Donate 🙏 Get full access to Doom Debates at lironshapira.substack.com/subscribe