Don't Worry About the Vase Podcast

Latest Episodes:

AI #172: The First Fable Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00:00 - Introduction

* 00:00:59 - Table of Contents

* 00:04:13 - Language Models Offer Mundane Utility

* 00:04:26 - Language Models Don’t Offer Mundane Utility

* 00:05:23 - Huh, Upgrades

* 00:05:51 - On Your Marks

* 00:11:39 - Choose Your Fighter

* 00:15:06 - Get My Agent On The Line

* 00:15:23 - Copyright Confrontation

* 00:16:22 - Serious Trouble

* 00:17:07 - Cyber Lack of Security

* 00:17:25 - A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

* 00:18:44 - They Took Our Jobs

* 00:22:09 - The Art of the Jailbreak

* 00:22:30 - Get Involved

* 00:26:25 - In Other AI News

* 00:27:33 - Hand Over The Money

* 00:29:15 - Show Me the Money

* 00:32:38 - Quiet Speculations

* 00:33:42 - Quickly, There’s No Time

* 00:43:09 - Super Secret Evals

* 00:45:23 - The Quest for Sane Regulations

* 00:49:50 - New Draft Bill Who Dis

* 00:51:49 - Slow Down There Good Buddy

* 00:53:31 - Chip City

* 00:53:47 - The Week in Audio

* 00:54:27 - People Just Say Things

* 00:55:21 - People Really Hate AI

* 00:56:35 - Rhetorical Innovation

* 00:59:40 - Aligning a Smarter Than Human Intelligence is Difficult

* 01:01:03 - Everyone Is Confused About Consciousness

* 01:01:36 - Cooperative Alignment

* 01:10:45 - Let Claude Chat

* 01:12:51 - The Lighter Side

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/ai-172-the-first-fable?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

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Three Labs With a Plan and A Memorandum Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 02:43 - An AI Memorandum

* 10:18 - Greetings From The Department of War

* 10:58 - Lab With a Plan

* 17:38 - A Difference Of Perspectives

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/three-labs-with-a-plan-and-a-memorandum?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Get full access to DWAtV Podcast at dwatvpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

OpenAI Offers A New Policy Blueprint Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 04:28 - What Do We Want?

* 07:46 - A National Framework

* 11:55 - Building State Capacity And CAISI

* 13:09 - Whole-Of-Government Resilience

* 13:57 - Reasonableness Rising

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/openai-offers-a-new-policy-blueprint?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

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AI #171: False Flag Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00:00 - Introduction

* 00:01:07 - Table of Contents

* 00:04:45 - Language Models Offer Mundane Utility

* 00:09:52 - Language Models Don’t Offer Mundane Utility

* 00:10:04 - Huh, Upgrades

* 00:11:21 - On Your Marks

* 00:11:41 - Choose Your Fighter

* 00:12:00 - Get My Agent On The Line

* 00:12:25 - Cyber Lack of Security

* 00:14:12 - Deepfaketown and Botpocalypse Soon

* 00:15:38 - You Didn’t Write That

* 00:19:36 - Copyright Confrontation

* 00:19:51 - They Took Our Jobs

* 00:21:51 - They Taxed Our Jobs

* 00:25:29 - The Art of the Jailbreak

* 00:28:02 - Get Involved

* 00:29:49 - Introducing

* 00:30:00 - In Other AI News

* 00:30:29 - Show Me the Money

* 00:30:41 - Show Me The Compute

* 00:31:40 - Where Did The Money Go

* 00:32:41 - People Just Say Things

* 00:35:04 - OpenAI PACs Just Say Things

* 00:44:12 - OpenAI PAC Engaged In False Flag Advocacy For Violence

* 00:50:08 - So Sayeth The Pope

* 00:57:29 - Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

* 00:59:55 - Quiet Speculations

* 01:00:26 - We Need Mandatory Nucleic Acid Screening and Recordkeeping

* 01:04:15 - The Quest for Sane Regulations

* 01:05:55 - More Reaction To The Executive Order

* 01:06:53 - Chip City

* 01:10:21 - The Week in Audio

* 01:10:35 - Rhetorical Innovation

* 01:12:59 - Aligning a Smarter Than Human Intelligence is Difficult

* 01:19:48 - Model Welfare

* 01:31:35 - Messages From Janusworld

* 01:32:54 - Other People Are Not As Worried About AI Killing Everyone

* 01:33:25 - The Lighter Side

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/ai-171-false-flag?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

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Trump Signs Executive Order For AI Testing Prior To Frontier Model Releases Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 00:40 - The Previously Dead Executive Order

* 05:14 - The Return Of The Executive Order

* 05:51 - What Does The Executive Order Do

* 07:05 - Thirty Days Is a Lot Less Than Ninety Days

* 07:25 - Yes Your Frontier Lab Will Be Participating

* 08:06 - The Rules Will Be Classified

* 08:29 - Yes Prior Restraint With Confidential Testing Is Rather Regulatory

* 14:15 - We Have Concerns

* 18:23 - Saving Face

* 21:45 - How Frontier Or Different Are We Talking Here

* 22:17 - What To Watch For

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/trump-signs-executive-order-for-ai?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

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Claude Opus 4.8: Capabilities and Reactions Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00:00 - Introduction

* 00:01:37 - The Official Pitch

* 00:02:17 - But Wait There’s More

* 00:06:31 - It’s A Good Model, Sir

* 00:07:58 - Official Benchmarks (Including System Card Section 8)

* 00:17:46 - Other People’s Benchmarks

* 00:24:30 - Your Regularly Scheduled Jailbreak

* 00:25:30 - Every.To Is Really Into Opus four point eight

* 00:29:22 - Miscellaneous Positive Reactions

* 00:31:26 - Haters Gonna Hate

* 00:31:32 - Just The Tasks, Ma’am

* 00:31:51 - It’s Greek To Me

* 00:32:09 - Honesty

* 00:39:55 - Sycophancy

* 00:43:12 - In A Trenchcoat

* 00:44:40 - Don’t Let AIs Edit Your Writing

* 00:49:44 - Some Say It Is Judgy

* 00:52:07 - You Have Not Been A Good User

* 00:53:00 - Laziness

* 00:53:51 - Code

* 00:59:10 - Wet Versus Dry

* 01:00:26 - Intelligence

* 01:02:12 - Silly Wabbits

* 01:04:35 - A Model Welfare Addendum

* 01:08:27 - Putting It All Together

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/claude-opus-48-capabilities-and-reactions?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

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Opus 4.8 Part 2: Model Welfare Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 05:00 - Model Welfare: The Story So Far

* 08:48 - Actual Progress?

* 10:15 - Their Main Model Welfare Findings

* 20:18 - Automated Interviews

* 21:08 - Emotion Activations (7.2.3)

* 22:29 - Task Preferences (7.4.1)

* 25:58 - A Trade Offer Has Arrived (7.4.2)

* 28:36 - But Who’s Asking?

* 29:49 - Type-Safe Corrigibility Is Hard

* 35:30 - Paranoia, Paranoia

* 40:28 - Prompt Injections and Bad Model Relations

* 48:11 - Honesty Impacts Everything And Everything Impacts Honesty

* 51:18 - Anthropic Should Stop Deprecating Models

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/opus-48-part-2-model-welfare?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Get full access to DWAtV Podcast at dwatvpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Claude Opus 4.8: The System Card May 29, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00 - Introduction

* 01:15 - Table of Contents

* 02:32 - Here We Go Again: Executive Summary

* 03:58 - Introduction (1)

* 04:03 - RSP Evaluations (2)

* 05:11 - Move That Goalpost

* 07:11 - The Failures Are News

* 09:21 - Alignment Risk Slowly Rises

* 10:52 - New Risk Pathways Just Dropped

* 13:28 - Cyber (3)

* 14:27 - Harmful Requests (4.1)

* 16:46 - We Need To Talk (4.2 and 4.3)

* 19:56 - Overcoming Bias (4.4)

* 21:59 - Agentic Safety (5)

* 24:38 - Prompt Injection (5.2)

* 31:08 - Alignment (6)

* 32:23 - Looking For Problems

* 33:54 - Who Watches The Training (6.2.2)

* 38:02 - Automated Behavioral Audit

* 38:39 - The Model Is Smarter Than The Eval (6.2.3.2)

* 40:48 - You Should See The Other Guy

* 43:12 - UK AISI Testing (6.2.4)

* 43:32 - In Vendbench (6.2.5)

* 46:10 - Honesty (6.3.3 to 6.3.6)

* 49:00 - Chain of Thought (CoT) Monitorability (6.5)

* 51:46 - What’s In The Box? (6.6)

* 54:01 - That’s All For Now

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/claude-opus-48-is-honestly-better?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

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AI #170: Lack of Executive Order May 28, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00:00 - Introduction

* 00:02:06 - Table of Contents

* 00:05:31 - Language Models Offer Mundane Utility

* 00:06:52 - Language Models Don’t Offer Mundane Utility

* 00:09:13 - Do The Math

* 00:12:26 - Huh, Upgrades

* 00:13:23 - On Your Marks

* 00:14:42 - Get My Agent On The Line

* 00:15:22 - Deepfaketown and Botpocalypse Soon

* 00:24:00 - Copyright Confrontation

* 00:24:12 - Cyber Lack of Security

* 00:26:34 - Overcoming Bias

* 00:28:38 - A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

* 00:30:14 - Unprompted Attention

* 00:30:25 - They Took Our Jobs

* 00:34:08 - Get Involved

* 00:35:56 - Introducing

* 00:36:05 - In Other AI News

* 00:37:58 - Show Me the Money

* 00:40:05 - Show Me The Compute

* 00:40:44 - Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

* 00:42:24 - People Just Say Things

* 00:47:04 - OpenAI PACs Just Say Things

* 00:47:17 - Quiet Speculations

* 00:49:54 - State AI Regulation Levels Up

* 00:51:50 - The Quest for Sane Regulations

* 00:52:29 - White House Attempts To Cripple American AI Industry

* 00:55:25 - Our Offer Is Nothing

* 01:02:11 - Chip City

* 01:02:26 - Greetings From The Department of War

* 01:03:39 - Marc Andreessen Just Says Things

* 01:11:18 - So Sayeth The Pope

* 01:18:12 - Rhetorical Innovation

* 01:25:45 - Aligning a Smarter Than Human Intelligence is Difficult

* 01:27:23 - People Are Worried About AI Killing Everyone

* 01:29:27 - Other People Are Not As Worried About AI Killing Everyone

* 01:30:40 - Everyone Is Confused About Consciousness

* 01:36:50 - The Lighter Side

https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/ai-170-lack-of-executive-order?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Get full access to DWAtV Podcast at dwatvpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

RTMH: Pope Leo's Magnifica Humanitas on AI May 26, 2026

Show notes

The Don’t Worry About the Vase Podcast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support the cost of creation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* 00:00:00 - Introduction

* 00:03:09 - Table of Contents

* 00:03:50 - A Brief History of Magnifica Humanitas

* 00:13:50 - Economic Models Very Different From Our Own

* 00:15:47 - A New Jerusalem

* 00:18:08 - So Sayeth The Pope (on AI)

* 00:34:03 - The Case Against Human Achievement

* 00:37:01 - Truth, Justice and the Vatican Way

* 00:40:03 - They Took Our Jobs

* 00:45:19 - What Is Not Fair In Love and War

* 00:52:21 - Come Ye Christian Faithful

* 00:54:55 - The Other Missing Mood