In this mind-bending episode of Leaders of AI, marketing virtuoso Austin Armstrong (1M+ Meta followers) joins Julia McCoy and David Shapiro to explore the rapidly approaching reality of AI agents replacing human virtual workers. Armstrong predicts massive workforce disruption within just 2 years as agentic AI becomes capable of performing knowledge work at a fraction of the cost. The conversation dives deep into AI consciousness, sustainable technology adoption, and how businesses can prepare for the agent revolution. From philosophical discussions about machine consciousness to practical insights about integration, this episode provides a fascinating glimpse into both the immediate and long-term future of work and technology. Don't miss Armstrong's compelling insights on why AI agents could make the traditional virtual workforce obsolete by 2026.

Key topics covered:

• The 2-year timeline for AI agent disruption
• Why virtual/remote workers will be first to feel the impact
• The philosophical implications of AI consciousness
• How businesses should prepare for the age of AI agents
• The future of human-AI interaction and rights

Leaders of AI with Dave Shapiro and Julia McCoy is now streaming on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music & Audible, TuneIn/Alexa, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, PlayerFM, and Pandora. Subscribe where you most enjoy listening to podcasts.

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In this incredible episode, Julia, Dave, and special guest Charles Sears, ex-military ops, expert on human consciousness, and current AI consultant and entrepreneur, have a mind-blowing conversation that you can't afford to miss if you're at all interested in the current state of machine evolution and if we will be living in an iRobot situation very soon. Charles Sears is the author of The Architecture of Awareness: Decoding Consciousness, and is a leading authority on the topic of human consciousness and awareness. Inside this episode, we discuss if AGI is already here (Sears believes it is, and is rolling out slowly), how life will change due to AGI among the human population, if we can avoid a dystopia on our way to the new Post-Labor Economy, and more.

Leaders of AI with Dave Shapiro and Julia McCoy is now streaming on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music & Audible, TuneIn/Alexa, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, PlayerFM, and Pandora. Subscribe where you most enjoy listening to podcasts.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leaders-of-ai/id1776902731 Watch YouTube to catch the video versions: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadersofAIPodcast

In this episode, Julia, Dave, and special guest YouTuber Dylan Curious cover the intersection of generative AI in call centers with a recent use case from Verizon, where they're building “personal research assistants” for employees on calls so they don't have to record or search around for particular data while on the line, where the AI assistant delivers necessary data to them as they handle the call.

Pranay Bajpai, VP of digital and assisted experience systems at Verizon, says "it’s not about dollar value, but more about getting more productivity and improving staff performance as we deal with the undoubted multitude of customer calls."

Next, Julia, Dave and Dylan cover how AI models helped virologists identify over 160,000 new viruses in one of the largest discoveries of new viruses ever made, by a machine learning tool. They also cover AGI and the meaning of a life of purpose when automation removes all human workload. And finally, they talk about what it would be like to live in a day and age where dating AI apps or even AGI apps is mainstream. Leaders of AI with Dave Shapiro and Julia McCoy is now streaming on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music & Audible, TuneIn/Alexa, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, PlayerFM, and Pandora. Subscribe where you most enjoy listening to podcasts. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leaders-of-ai/id1776902731 Watch YouTube to catch the video versions: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadersofAIPodcast