Navigating the Spiritual Crisis of Modern AI with Sam Harris 🤖

Shane Smith sits down with Sam Harris, philosopher, neuroscientist, and bestselling author for a deep conversation about artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the fragile future of humanity. They begin with Sam’s early life and unlikely path, from studying English at Stanford to dropping out after a transformative MDMA experience that led him to India and Nepal, where he meditated and even served briefly on the Dalai Lama’s security detail. What follows is a wide- ranging exploration of how psychedelics, meditation, and neuroscience all shape our understanding of the mind and what happens when machines start thinking faster than we ever could. From the quantum weirdness of parallel universes to the moral peril of unaligned AI, Sam warns that humanity isn’t in an arms race with China or Google—but with its own ignorance. The two dive into the ethics of wealth and power, the danger of tech billionaires acting like Bond villains, and how meditation might be the only antidote to an accelerating world we no longer understand. Funny, philosophical, and fearlessly honest, this episode tackles everything from Elon Musk and Bill Gates to psychedelics and the illusion of the self, weaving science and spirituality into a single, provocative conversation about where we go next. Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News #VICENews #news #sshq Check out VICE News for more: http://vicenews.com Follow VICE News here: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vicenews?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicenews Twitter: https://twitter.com/vicenews Instagram: http://instagram.com/vicenews More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo ============================= Chapters 00:00 Welcome, Sam Harris! 02:41 Deli Land Security and the Universe 12:30 The Processing Time of AI vs Human 24:50 The Consequences of Human Evolution 37:26 The Power of the Salesman 40:48 Recreating the '60s with MDMA 49:00 Laws, Religion, and the Base of Society 56:18 Drugs and the Young Minds 1:07:30 The Brain Activity with Psycodelics 1:17:10 The Process of Writing 1:30:30 The Implications of Free Will 1:42:08 The Dark Side of Social Media 1:49:03 Social Media Addiction in Young People 1:58:44 The use of Platforms for Investigation 2:08:19 The Freedom of Journalism 2:20:23 Final Thoughts ============================= The Spiritual Crisis of Modern Intelligence ft. Sam Harris | Shane Has Questions https://youtu.be/_409MGkzows