Panic or progress? AI futurist David Shapiro and Paul map the middle path: Vesperance (our in-between), time sovereignty as real wealth, AI as a health learning partner, the analog comeback (third spaces, neighbors), and robots as the true labor reset. Plus: incentives > ideology in policy, and why “neuro-spicy” brains thrive in crisis. Practical, hopeful, and human.
AI futurist and author David Shapiro joins Paul to map the path between panic and progress. We dig into why he invests his “limited cognitive cycles” in building rather than despair, the liminal now he calls Vesperance (and why the fever will “break” in public debates), and how to use AI as a learning partner in real health journeys—labs, history, differentials, and better doctor conversations. We challenge the attention economy, reframe wealth as time sovereignty, and explore why the future gets more analog—third spaces, neighbors, social skill rehab—right as robots become the next big shock to labor. We close on the only thing that really moves policy: incentives.
You’ll learn: agency in a post-AGI world, how to brief your doctor with AI, why “neuro-spicy” processing is an edge, and where David is placing his chips next. He’s writing The Great Decoupling, building courses (with Julia McCoy), and consulting across business, academia, and policy—hubbed via his Linktree.
Chapters
David Shapiro Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daveshap