Deep tech entrepreneur D. Scott Phoenix spent years building AI — now, he believes we’re on the cusp of a profound merger between humans and machines. Reframing the AI debate through the lens of evolutionary biology, he shifts the question from whether we should fear or embrace AI to whether we understand what’s at stake if we get it wrong. Hear his provocative case for why we need to “eat the AI.” (Recorded at TED2026 on April 15, 2026)
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@mind_palace
May 23, 2026 at 3:57 pm
Disrespectfully no
@mind_palace
May 23, 2026 at 3:57 pm
2:13 I’d say, let’s eat the rich instead
@candlelight_diaries
May 23, 2026 at 4:11 pm
What I’m getting from this: one day, life will be so easy (“thanks” to AI) that you won’t even have to go through the trouble of thinking anymore, going anywhere, or having any uniqueness. We won’t even have any personal thoughts anymore because AI will be inside your brain, once the only completely private space. What even is the point of existing then?
Life can suck sometimes, but I think that if we’re alive, we might as well feel and do as much as we want. I personally think that AI will lose its hold on society and we’ll have a second Renaissance where real art and music and writing will have their glorious revival. I say this as a young person (mid Gen Z) who craves the essence of life.
Yes, AI could help people with genuine medical conditions live better quality lives, but that’s where it should end.
@MrGIMoe82
May 23, 2026 at 4:19 pm
@Ted no one wants this. Could you explain to us why you’re promoting it?
@shanebrady4826
May 23, 2026 at 4:36 pm
Make yourself into a slave robot with AI 🙂
@itsamemarkus
May 23, 2026 at 5:02 pm
AI in 2030: sorry Markus you are right I can’t distinguish between intrusive thoughts and your real commands. I’m sorry that I shredded all project related files beyond repair like you initially requested. Can I do something else for you?
@lostinfrp
May 23, 2026 at 5:52 pm
Psychopathy misleading those silicon valley types…
@aminadream3237
May 23, 2026 at 6:13 pm
Just came to comment: no thanks. Ok bye
@urieaaron
May 23, 2026 at 6:26 pm
I saw this in sci-fi decades ago. We start by letting AI help us see the world. Eventually, AI becomes the world, and we only see what it wants us to see.
@KMHill
May 23, 2026 at 6:27 pm
How out of touch with our humanity can one get?
@sidolanters1394
May 23, 2026 at 6:28 pm
This is satire, right?
@niepotrzebujetego
May 23, 2026 at 6:47 pm
I hate that TED has became an obnoxious startup founder’s pitch presentation repository and stopped being a truly inspiring platform for ideas that really change world.
@gt-gu7rb
May 23, 2026 at 6:49 pm
After reading the comments. Noped out.
@AidenCos
May 23, 2026 at 7:01 pm
I understand why so many people are reacting with fear. Given the last several decades, it makes sense that people don’t automatically trust corporations, governments, or tech leaders to handle something this powerful wisely. That distrust did not come from nowhere.
But I think the deeper point of this talk is being missed. The speaker is not simply saying, “submit to technology.” He is saying that the worst version of the future is one where AI remains separate from us: owned by a few, optimized for profit, and used as a replacement for human beings rather than an extension of human flourishing. That is exactly the future many people in these comments are afraid of.
The hopeful possibility is not becoming less human. It is becoming more connected, more capable, and more responsible for one another. Human beings have always extended themselves through tools, language, writing, medicine, prosthetics, culture, and institutions. The question is not whether we change. We always do. The question is whether the change deepens our humanity or hollows it out.
What struck me most was the speaker’s warning that “for us to make it to a merger with AI, we have to stay merged with each other.” That is the real issue. A fractured, suspicious, winner-take-all society will turn AI into something terrifying. But a society that remembers care, dignity, consent, shared benefit, and the common good could make AI part of a larger human transition.
I don’t think people would run toward brain chips tomorrow. Nor should they. The fears about control, privacy, inequality, ecological cost, and consent are legitimate. But rejecting every positive possibility out of fear gives the future to the very forces people distrust most.
The better response is not “never AI.” It is: AI must serve life. It must serve human agency, not erase it. It must be governed democratically, not captured by corporations. It must heal divisions, not exploit them. It must expand consciousness, creativity, empathy, and access, not reduce people to data points.
If we only imagine dystopia, dystopia becomes easier to build. We need a better vision: not humans replaced by machines, and not humans surrendering to machines, but humans using intelligence—biological, artificial, and collective—to finally become wiser stewards of each other and the planet.
That future is not guaranteed. But it is still worth fighting for.
@Grayccoon
May 23, 2026 at 7:05 pm
what’s up with the delulu these days? are you ok TED? what happened? blink twice if you need help
@Humandriver5280
May 23, 2026 at 7:20 pm
Too many tech bros have aspbergers. Early mergers will have it, too.
@BenSvender
May 23, 2026 at 7:27 pm
“late-stage capitalism has put us in a rather sticky situation, and the only way out of it is by surrendering our humanity altogether. thanks for coming to my ted talk!”
@maxschwartz3684
May 23, 2026 at 7:39 pm
That’s a hard pass from me.
@avoidkit
May 23, 2026 at 7:39 pm
Ah so a billionaire Ai founder guy, who’s Ai has been losing money and costs lots to upkeep and run. Reveals that he and his tech ai buddies were aware of the potential/current misuse and terribleness of Ai, and chose to not do the right thing, help make laws and regulate Ai. Instead chose to just keep doing what they doing cause “If not us, someone else will.”
Dude! This just shows how out of touch and overall selfish these billionaire tech people and the 1% are with the rest of humanity and the world.
And proposes a solution as “Let’s just use it more.”
It’s like a alchemist discovers a new poisonous plant species, breeding, making it easier available for everyone. Instead of regulating the laws, availability and usage of the poisonous plant.
Yeah nah mate.
@ironmaiden5658
May 23, 2026 at 8:04 pm
AI will be the end of the human species. The Genie is already out of the bottle. Now be careful what you wish for.
@max20731
May 23, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Don’t kill the messenger guys. He’s just reporting on what’s going on. He said himself that the very people developing the AI believe that there’s a good likelihood it could wipe up most of the human race.
You either merge, or get left behind skrubs
@im_organic_mojo
May 23, 2026 at 8:42 pm
OR you humans can use your brain and think for yourself. Open a book. An advanced calculator isn’t going to live your life for you.
@im_organic_mojo
May 23, 2026 at 8:43 pm
We live and die in the blink of an eye. To some we life lifetimes. To others. Just a few solstices. Boo to bots
@KyleMorpheus
May 23, 2026 at 8:50 pm
garbage
@One337x
May 23, 2026 at 9:21 pm
I’m all for AI being a tool to be used. But let’s be real. If I use GPS every day, I never remember how to get from A to B. If I read sheet music, I never remember the song without it. If I use AI to complete a task for me, I never know how to complete it myself. Is it OK to become reliant on something so fragile? Something which will become another utility like Electricity where, one fella on the other side of the world could just decide to start a war so him and his buddies can make money from the stock market .. meanwhile because I’m reliant on AI for everything, my GeminiPro subscriptions per usage sky rockets. I’ve no control myself. Will the world become cheaper to live? Will I be able to afford taking my family on a holiday? Will I be able to eat without worrying about money? It’s far more complex than just merge with AI or never use it. The world is a really unfair place to live right now and I don’t see it getting any better.