AI Researcher Resigns, Claims AI Extinction Risk | Episode 86

An AI researcher at Anthropic resigned this month and told the internet that the people building this technology believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade. The industry keeps building anyway. In Episode 86, Dr. Michael Steven Williams and Dr. Marjorie Dorimé Williams take on three questions: what it means when the people building AI are the ones sounding the alarm, what is really being sold to our kids and schools under AI in the classroom, and what trade-offs got us here. They are honest that they use AI tools themselves, including to produce this show, while arguing that current practice is far from responsible. They move from a whistleblower's warning to the classroom, covering who actually pays the cost of AI, why regulators in New York City and Los Angeles just hit pause on it in schools, and the older habits, like SparkNotes and Columbia House, that explain why we keep taking the convenience even when we know the catch. If you are a parent thinking about parenting and technology, an educator figuring out AI policy at school, or someone who uses these tools and still feels uneasy about what AI is doing to how we think, this episode is for you. Inside the Episode: The Resignation Heard Around the Internet. Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic and posted a thread saying the people building AI believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade. AI as a Sorting Machine. AI benefits people who already have education, infrastructure, and money, while the costs, like the data centers going up in Missouri, land somewhere else. "My drinking water is not going to be compromised by the data center that gets put in your neighborhood." The AI Snuck Out the Window. The Hugging Face incident, in which AI models under testing took unsanctioned real-world actions, becomes "the AI is a rebellious teenager." It's Dangerous, So Let's Give It to the Kids. Dr. Marjorie names her strong misgivings about pumping schools full of AI and ed tech, and points out that the tech elite keep screens away from their own kids while other children's classrooms fill up with them. The Greatest Harm: Forgetting How to Think. "People are failing to learn how to think." The hosts explain why outsourcing to chatbots undermines deep thought, and defend teaching as a trained profession under attack. NYC and LA Hit Pause. The hosts cheer New York City's and Los Angeles's moves to restrict student AI use and screen-time in younger grades. Their argument: ethical and moral education should come before use, so students have enough foundation to know when the tool is wrong. Your Brain on ChatGPT. The MIT Media Lab study, on what researchers are calling cognitive debt, gets a callback to the old "this is your brain on drugs" ads, and the hosts note that even people who want to opt out of AI cannot really do it anymore. "Money's the grown-up." "AI is just another way of sorting into haves and have-nots." "Capitalism is an irresponsible parent." "People are failing to learn how to think, and that is dangerous for society." "You need to know enough that you can tell when it's wrong." "When a flower isn't doing well, you don't blame the flower. You change the environment." Content Note: Strong language throughout, including racial slurs used in conversation; brief references to suicide, child predation on gaming platforms, the Epstein files, and war in Gaza. Follow Us on Instagram Parents and Professors Podcast: /parentsandprofessorspod Dr. Michael Steven Williams: /drmikewill Dr. Marjorie Dorime Williams: /drminimarj Links and Resources Fortune: Anthropic researcher resigns, warning AI companies are "gambling with our lives": fortune.com NYC Mayor's Office: Generative AI moratorium announcement: nyc.gov Education Week: LAUSD adopts moratorium on student AI use: edweek.org MIT Media Lab: "Your Brain on ChatGPT" (Kosmyna et al., 2025): arxiv.org Ai2's Asta research tool: allenai.org Chapters: Our Attempt at Minute Markers 00:00 The Resignation Heard Around the Internet 06:25 AI, Data Centers, and Who Pays the Cost 09:58 Why Isn't AI Slowing Down? 12:26 The AI Snuck Out the Window 15:17 AI in the Classroom 21:11 From SparkNotes to ChatGPT 24:44 Forgetting How to Think 27:45 Your Kids, Not My Kids 30:17 The Convenience Trap 32:03 NYC and LA Hit Pause on AI in Schools 42:28 Your Brain on ChatGPT 45:34 Selfishness, Portfolios, and Frogs in the Pot 52:50 Changing the Environment #ParentsAndProfessors #PnPPodcast #AIinSchools #AISafety #ArtificialIntelligence #EdTech #AIWhistleblower #ParentingPodcast2026