Economist and writer Noah Smith joins MTS for a cultural history of San Francisco technology. He contrasts the early web's experimental scene with the more corporate, standardized startup culture of the 2010s, then describes the pandemic-era transition through crypto to the present AI boom. These are his recollections and interpretations, not a measured historical study.
The AI-specific portion asks how large the technology's economic impact has been so far. Smith cautions against reading too much into total-factor-productivity estimates and argues that the industry is still early relative to the historical impact of computers and the internet. The conversation does not present a new measurement of AI-driven GDP growth.
The later discussion turns to effective altruism and rationalist communities that influenced AI-safety conversations. Smith says their ideas sit alongside older science fiction, economics and Silicon Valley traditions, and favors eclectic reasoning over treating one framework as authoritative. Much of the episode is broader tech culture, so its value here is context for how current AI debates formed rather than product or model analysis. Sponsor readings are excluded.
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