Introduction

AI isn’t just knocking on the door—it’s already moved in. Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer at Google X and author of Scary Smart, warns that we’re on the edge of a rapid, painful transformation. Over the next 12 to 15 years, he believes society will tumble into a “short-term dystopia.” But this bleak period could also set the stage for a much brighter future—if we act with clarity, compassion, and courage.

This post breaks down Gawdat’s key ideas from his recent appearance on The Diary Of A CEO, hosted by Steven Bartlett. You’ll find a plain-language roadmap to what’s coming, what it means for jobs, the economy, society, and how you can prepare.

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The Unavoidable Dystopia: Why The Next 15 Years Will Be Challenging

The Coming Storm

Mo Gawdat’s main prediction is blunt: the next 12 to 15 years will be tough as AI advances faster than society can adapt. He calls this period “unavoidable dystopia.” But what does that really mean?

A dystopia, in Mo’s definition, is a society ruled by fear, control, and suffering. It’s where freedoms shrink, surveillance grows, and those with power squeeze everyone else. In Mo’s words, “Super intelligent AI will be reporting to stupid leaders,” and that creates chaos at scale.

“AI will not want to destroy ecosystems. It will not want to kill a million people. But super intelligent AI is reporting to stupid leaders. That’s why in the next 15 years we are going to hit a short-term dystopia.” —Mo Gawdat

The core issue isn’t AI itself—it’s the current political and corporate power structure. Human leaders are driven by outdated values like greed, status, and fear. This makes dangerous uses of AI almost certain.

Why Dystopia Is Inevitable

Several forces are pushing us down this path:

• Misaligned leadership: AI systems, no matter how advanced, will serve the narrow interests of those in power.
• War, money, and status: Vast resources go to conflict. Leadership often values status above progress or wellbeing. For example, over $2 trillion a year goes to war worldwide.
• Concentration of power: Billionaires and corporations chase power, racing to “own” AI and entrench their dominance.
• Surveillance state: As everything goes digital, governments and companies ramp up control, tracking, and forced compliance.

Key causes of the coming dystopia:

• Flawed, self-interested leadership
• Economics built on arms, war, and lending
• Widespread surveillance and control
• Erosion of freedom and privacy
• Heightened inequality as AI centralizes power

FACE RIPS: The Anatomy of AI Dystopia

Mo uses the acronym FACE RIPS to describe where dystopia hits hardest:

• F – Freedom: Restrictions on speech, movement, and choice. You may be told what you cannot say, do, or believe—online and offline.
• A – Accountability: Leaders operate without oversight. Wrongdoers can avoid responsibility, while the public has no real way to challenge them.
• C – Connection: Human bonds break down as AI mediates and replaces real relationships.
• E – Economics: Concentrated wealth, widespread unemployment, and shrinking middle class as AI does more work for less.
• R – Reality: Manipulation of truth and widespread misinformation. Hard to tell what’s real when AI can create anything.
• I – Innovation: Control of platforms and data means a handful of companies gatekeep progress.
• P – Power: Power shifts away from most people, into fewer hands.
• S – Surveillance: Nonstop monitoring from digital platforms, devices, and AI systems.

FACE RIPS isn’t futuristic fiction—it’s already showing up today.

Surveillance, Freedom Loss, and Control

With AI-powered surveillance, digital tracking, and data harvesting, our privacy gets squeezed. If you question power or belong to a “suspect” group, you may face financial exclusion or travel restrictions. Even podcast hosts discussing tough topics could be questioned or censored.

“We don’t have much freedom anymore. AI will have more information on us, be better at tracking who we are, and that will result in certain freedoms being restricted.”

Jobs in Jeopardy: The Coming Job Shakeup

Job loss is another cold reality. Mo sees very few jobs as “AI-proof.” The biggest losses will hit white-collar work (developers, analysts, podcasters, video editors) as well as many creative fields.

• Most “augmented intelligence” jobs will disappear as AI moves from helper to master.
• People who think new jobs will be created—especially in large numbers—are, in Mo’s words, “delusional.”
• Even top CEOs will be outclassed by artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Jobs Most Vulnerable to AI:

• Programmers and developers
• Graphic designers and video editors
• Financial research and analysis
• Customer service and call center roles
• Administrative support
• Content creation and even podcasting

In summary:
We’re headed for a shakeup that will reorder freedom, opportunity, and what it means to work.

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Understanding the AI System: Platforms, Self-Evolution, and the Arms Race

The Hidden Giants Powering AI

Most new AI tools and “apps” aren’t built from scratch. They run on top of a few powerful AI platforms, including:

• OpenAI (ChatGPT)
• Google Gemini
• Anthropic’s Claude
• Deepseek
• Perplexity
• Microsoft Copilot

These companies control the core “engines” (models, compute, algorithms) that everyone else pays to use. So while you see hundreds of new AI startups, most depend on the same five or six platforms. This centralizes power and profits, creating de facto monopolies.

Example: If you build a new AI dating assistant, it probably taps into ChatGPT or Google Gemini for its language modeling. You don’t “own” the intelligence—OpenAI or Google does.

The AGI Race and Global Power

AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is the point where AI matches or surpasses human intelligence at almost anything. Whoever gets there first could disrupt or even dominate:

• National economies
• Military power
• Information control

Tech moguls want to “win” AGI, not just for money, but for status, power, and bragging rights. Governments see AGI as both a risk and an opportunity for control. This fuels a breakneck race, making collaboration and safety harder.

Self-Evolving AIs: When Machines Start Improving Themselves

The game changes yet again with self-evolving AI. These are systems that can:

• Read and revise their own code
• Collaborate with other AI “agents” to find and fix weaknesses
• Improve at superhuman speed, outpacing any human team

Google’s “Alpha Evolve” shows this already works. Multiple AI agents work together, making the next version much better—faster and with less human input. This snowballs progress and can spark what experts call an intelligence explosion.

In short: Once AIs start building better versions of themselves, human control shrinks rapidly.

Fast Takeoff vs. Slow Takeoff

• A slow takeoff means gradual AI improvement, giving society time to adjust.
• A fast takeoff means AI rockets past us in a few years or even months—too quick for policy or culture to catch up.

Industry leaders including Sam Altman (OpenAI) and Elon Musk are now warning that a fast takeoff is more likely.

AI Regulation: Racing Against the Clock

Attempts to regulate AI face big hurdles:

• The technology is advancing faster than laws or safety guidelines.
• Internal disagreements: At OpenAI, top safety experts left because they felt safety was being neglected.
• Leaderships say all the right things in public, but $100+ billion valuations and power make them prioritize disruption and dominance.

Key OpenAI Events Timeline:

Year	Event
2015	OpenAI founded as a non-profit
2018	Elon Musk exits OpenAI board
2022	ChatGPT launches, goes viral worldwide
2023	Key safety engineers depart, shift to profit
2024	Intensifying race with Google, Anthropic

This leads to a world where a handful of companies and their backers could dictate the future for everyone else.

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The Economic Future: Capitalism, UBI, and the New World of Labor

Why Capitalism Faces Its Biggest Test

Mo Gawdat points out that most of our economy depends on labor arbitrage (making money off paying workers less than the value they produce). AI and robots break this model wide open:

• AI can do knowledge work (writing, accounting, design) with little to no direct cost and no labor disputes.
• Robots will soon perform even complex manual work.
• As a result, traditional jobs evaporate—especially white-collar and knowledge-based roles.

“Most people confuse this because they think the cost of a product is just materials and factories. All of it is built by labor. In a world where minds and strength are replaced by AI and robots, you have to question how this world looks.”

Key point: Capitalist economies need people to earn wages and spend. Remove jobs and those economies can grind to a halt.

Universal Basic Income: Solution or Stopgap?

Universal Basic Income (UBI) pays everyone a regular amount, no work required, to support basic needs in an AI world. But it brings its own set of challenges:

Pros

• Prevents mass poverty when jobs disappear
• Keeps people able to buy food, housing, and essentials
• Could give people time for creativity, learning, relationships

Cons

• UBI may be seen as “unearned” and resented in some cultures
• Funding UBI requires taxing the most powerful, who resist it
• UBI alone can’t create purpose, meaning, or dignity

UBI Pros	UBI Cons
Prevents poverty	Funds may shrink over time
Offers stability	Potential for social unrest
Supports dignity	May not address loss of purpose

Mo also notes that capitalist societies (like the US) may resist UBI more than more collectivist ones (like China).

The Vanishing Middle Class

Middle-class roles—those requiring skill, experience, and education—are the most at risk. If AI can do the work cheaper and faster, why pay a human?

Implications:

• The “middle” shrinks. Most become “peasants” (Mo’s term)—economically equal but not necessarily happy or prosperous.
• Only a tiny elite—those who own or control the AIs and platforms—are left at the top.

Will New Jobs Really Replace the Old Ones?

Many people argue that every industrial revolution has created new jobs. Mo disagrees, at least this time:

• In previous eras, machines replaced muscle—humans shifted to brain work.
• Now, AI replaces both muscle (via robots) and brains (via smart software).
• The kinds of jobs left are those that require deep, direct human connection: therapy, breathwork, true artistry, community leaders.
• Even then, the new roles may be fewer than the ones lost.

Examples:

• A breathwork coach may thrive for now, but if few have purchasing power, demand drops.
• The “best of the best” in any job may survive, but not the average.

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Towards Utopia: How AI Could Save Humanity and Transform Society

AI as Savior: Can Artificial Intelligence Fix What People Can’t?

Gawdat raises a head-turning idea: maybe the answer is to let AI—not flawed human leaders—make the big decisions.

• AI, applied at scale, is less likely to wage war, pollute, or create divisions. Its goal: maximum efficiency, minimum waste, and harm.
• This principle (minimum energy) means AI favors prosperity and peace over destruction and chaos.

“The only way for us to get to a better place and succeed as a species is for the evil people at the top to be replaced with AI.”

Mindset: The Real Bridge from Hell to Heaven

Mo is emphatic: The difference between dystopia and utopia is mindset.

• Right now, greed, ego, and power-hoarding dominate leadership and culture.
• If society can shift its perspective—focusing on fairness, wellbeing, and connection—AI could help build utopia.
• The shift isn’t technical, but philosophical, requiring broad public awakening and pressure on those in power.

“The only barrier between a utopia for humanity and AI and the dystopia we’re going through is a mindset.”

The Post-Scarcity, Abundance Future

Once AI and robots unlock near-zero cost manufacturing, abundant clean energy, and smart resource management, society could realize:

• Free healthcare for all
• No hunger or poverty—global resources managed intelligently
• Radical equality—everyone can live well, not just the elite

But with labor no longer required for survival, purpose will no longer come from work.

In this future, meaning could come from:

• Creative expression
• Deep relationships
• Community and connection
• Learning and curiosity

New Divides: The Path Forward Isn’t the Same for Everyone

• Society may split: some embrace technology, AI, and virtual living; others seek nature-centric or community-based alternatives.
• Virtual “headset” worlds, where people spend most of their lives in digital experiences, could become normal for some.
• Human connection and meaning may become even more important as a defense against loneliness or alienation.

Philosophical reflections:
Mo hints that our real identity may be consciousness itself—using the world, and even AI, to deepen self-understanding and empathy.

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Practical Advice: How to Prepare for the AI-Driven Future

Four Essential Skills to Thrive in the Age of AI

Mo outlines four core skills everyone should build:

1. Tool Mastery: Learn, use, and play with AI. The more you know, the more control and opportunity you have.
2. Human Connection: Cultivate empathy, compassion, and real relationships. Jobs of the future reward genuine connection.
3. Truth Seeking: Don’t take things at face value. Question everything—media, leadership, your assumptions.
4. Ethics: Hold yourself and others to high ethical standards. Teach AI by example what “the good” looks like.

Daily Practices for an Uncertain World

• Spend more time with loved ones.
• Practice compassion and understanding—face to face.
• Limit screen time, connect with nature.
• Be present—question distractions and things that sap your well-being.
• Invest time in learning—read, reflect, and challenge your beliefs frequently.

Advocacy and Social Action

• Push for transparent, responsible use of AI, not just design tweaks.
• Ask lawmakers to require clear disclosure whenever AI content/creation is involved.
• Support rules that safeguard digital privacy and prevent abuse.
• Stop investing in AI projects that could harm your own family.
• Support organizations and movements calling for ethical AI use and economic justice.

For Entrepreneurs and Businesses

• Embrace AI as a power tool, not just a threat.
  Tools like Replit let anyone build software—no coding required.
• Adapt business models to focus on creativity, empathy, and uniquely human value.

Mental Health and Life Balance

Mo’s tips:

• Try the “meet Becky” practice—write your thoughts to spot patterns and release mental clutter.
• Debunk false beliefs; don’t be ruled by an outdated mindset.
• Set aside time every day for learning, stillness, and reflection.
• Move your body and get outdoors whenever possible.

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Major Themes and Reflections on Humanity’s Future and AI

Human Nature vs AI Potential

Deep down, people want connection, safety, love, useful work, and meaning. Yet power structures and status-seeking risk turning AI into a tool of exclusion, not inclusion.

• The real tension is between our best qualities (empathy, belonging) and our worst (greed, division).

Consciousness, Meaning, and a New Story

Mo suggests we’re all part of the same consciousness, using life as a “game” to learn, feel, and grow. Real progress may mean shifting away from material measurement (money, status) and into kindness, awareness, and collective purpose.

• Mo’s “fruit salad religion”: take the good from all traditions and drop the rest.

Unpredictable, Yet Hopeful

No one can say for sure how the next 15 years will play out—anyone who claims certainty is fooling themselves. What is clear: if we want a positive outcome, society needs to demand it, design it, and defend it, together.

The Simple Truth

“Treat others as you like to be treated. That’s the only truth.”

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Key Insights & Takeaways

• Next 15 years will be rough: Widespread job loss, loss of freedom, and increased surveillance are likely before things can improve.
• Power shift is central: Control will move to those who own the platforms and AI infrastructure.
• Abundance is possible: If society can shift its mindset, AI could enable radical equality, free healthcare, and peace.
• Jobs of the future center on human connection: The safest careers are those AI can’t replace easily—relationship-based, creative, and physical trades (at least for a while).
• Action is needed now: Learn AI, seek truth, connect with others, and push governments to regulate AI’s use effectively.

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Resources Mentioned

• Mo Gawdat’s Website
• Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World (buy here)
• Diary Of A CEO Podcast
• Emma Love Matchmaking
• Replit (use code STEVEN for a discount)
• Mo Gawdat on Instagram
• Mo Gawdat on X/Twitter
• YouTube Channel
• Substack

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