Episode Details

This week on The Hope Axis, Dean Ball joined me for a conversation that took a real intersection in the space-time continuum to finally make happen. Dean — a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, author of the Substack Hyperdimensional, and an influential policy voice in Washington — and I sat down to talk about his groundbreaking AI policy work including his recent four months at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he served as the principal staff drafter for America's AI Action Plan. We went into Dean's journey in politics, his writing, why Beethoven matters for technologists, and much more. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m6PwzgJI5p2zYbNYwypFnz6F5WPEaL0E/view?usp=sharing

Important Links: 

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/deanwball?lang=en 

Substack - https://www.hyperdimensional.co/ 

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/dean-ball-66823728 

The Foundation for American Innovation - https://www.thefai.org/profile/dean-ball

The Federalist Society - https://fedsoc.org/bio/dean-ball-2

Show Notes:

(00:00) Introduction
(01:54) Dean Ball's family history

(05:33) New wave of politicians

(11:52) Explaining AI public debate to an alien

(17:19) The difference between American and European thought about AI?

(21:50) Technological chase and it's ties

(24:52) Is it still possible for the past to guide us through the present revolutions?

(29:51) The warmth of untidiness and conservative disposition

(36:42) Why don't Europeans understand AGI?

(47:23) The Encyclical

(50:32) What did it cost to publicly criticize the Anthropic–Department of War fiasco?

(58:59) The Hope Axis question - Beethoven and the metaphor of technology.

(01:01:55) Final comments

Books, Essays & References Mentioned: 

• Michael Oakeshott — On Being Conservative 

• Joel Mokyr — The Great Divergence 

• Luis and Pieter Garicano — Silicon Continent 

• Pope Leo XIII — Rerum Novarum 

• Ludwig van Beethoven — Hammerklavi