AI Hot Takes #4: Websummit, Ethics & Caution

We spent the day at Web Summit filming hot takes about AI with people who had been living inside panels, keynotes, and expo halls for hours. The conversations felt different from anything we captured at night at parties. The daytime energy was sharper. People were more serious, more tired, and more aware of the ethical weight around them. Engineers, founders, students, researchers, and operators paused between talks to share what they actually think AI is doing to us.

Some arrived with caution. Others with optimism. Every one of them had a take worth hearing.

Here are some of the grounded and practical takes:

“AI is super powerful technology, but we have to use it responsibly. Not to replace our thinking, but to make us more powerful.”

“You need to practice your brain. Learn everything you can. If you want to stay valuable, you need to keep the skill alive.”

“There’s a big hype around AI. It’s here to stay, but a lot of it is much ado about nothing.”

“The next important data isn’t from the internet. It’s enterprise data, and we have to anonymize it to make better models for real industries.”

Warnings and deeper concerns:

“The agents working together in coordinated ways can really be dangerous for real people.”

“My kids can’t even navigate without maps anymore. We’re losing decentralized thought.”

“AI will replace the majority of work, except the physical and deeply personal jobs.”

“People are getting dumber using it. Everyone still needs to use Google and practice researching.”

“If we don’t place guardrails and moral values inside AI, we’re going to have real disruption and real harm.”

“We might not die from illness anymore. AI will create everything and the only danger left is if we get shot.”

“I believe there will be a bubble. Only a small percentage of AI products will stay, like the dot-com era.”

There were hopeful moments too:

“I love using AI in my daily process. It makes everything go so fast.”

“It’s going to help workers and students. More access to knowledge.”

“AI will be normal. Like the railroads. Like the early internet.”

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who stopped between sessions and offered their AI Hot Takes. It was nice to see how professionals and builders are thinking about ethics, responsibility, and the future of work when they are fresh during the daytime.