Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn

Benjamin Todd, co-founder and President of 80,000 Hours and author of the new Penguin Random House book 80,000 Hours: How to Have a Fulfilling Career That Does Good, joins Jon Krohn for a major update on career strategy in the AI era, his first appearance since before ChatGPT existed. Ben explains why “follow your passion” is backwards and why rare, valuable skills used to help others are what actually generate lasting fulfillment, the ABZ framework for planning under deep uncertainty, why the only durable move is to keep shifting onto whatever bottleneck AI can’t yet clear, and how a human-level digital worker becomes superhuman almost immediately. He and Jon also map the risk landscape, power-seeking AI, extreme power concentration, engineered pandemics, gradual disempowerment, and S-risks, before landing on a hopeful, actionable note: your career is a bigger lever than ever.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1007⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:


(06:44) The ABZ framework for career planning under deep uncertainty


(14:30) Why “follow your passion” is backwards and what builds fulfillment instead


(20:52) The moving bottleneck: how to stay valuable as AI keeps improving


(29:54) Why a human-level digital worker becomes superhuman almost immediately


(51:11) Power-seeking AI and extreme power concentration


(1:16:11) Why your career is a bigger lever than ever

In this month's episode of ICYMI, hear from Chip Huyen, Andrey Kurenkov, Frank Basso and Gilbert Eijkelenboom, discussing why moats are shifting toward physical systems and accumulated product intuition, how Astrocade built vibe coding before the term existed, what it's really like inside a deafeningly loud AI data center, why only 15% of people are technically self-aware and whether AGI requires anything like consciousness.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.superdatascience.com/1006⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:


(00:00) The Cost of Building Software Is Going to Zero — Now What?


(10:18) We Built Vibe Coding Before Anyone Called It That


(21:08) AI Data Centers Are Louder Than a Rock Concert


(28:39) Why 85% of Data Scientists Can't Communicate Their Work


(33:46) Are Humans Also Just Predicting the Next Token?

Gilbert Eijkelenboom, bestselling author of People Skills for Analytical Thinkers and founder of the training firm MindSpeaking joins Jon Krohn to make the case that communication is a core data skill, not an optional extra. Gilbert shares the “And, But, Therefore” framework for turning dense analysis into a story stakeholders act on, the research suggesting only around 15% of people are genuinely self-aware (and how journaling, meditation, and exercise help close that gap), how childhood experiences install behavioral “algorithms” we carry into the workplace and why behavior change precedes attitude change, so doing small, uncomfortable things for 30 days can rewire how you see yourself.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1005⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:


(02:54) Why your analysis only creates value once people actually use it


(24:53) What it really means that only ~15% of people are self-aware and how to close the gap


(34:01) The “And, But, Therefore” framework for data storytelling


(37:44) How childhood installs personal “algorithms” and the keep/stop/start question to surface them


(46:55) Why behavior change comes before attitude change (the 30-day practice)


(50:33) Defusing the trigger between data teams and pushy stakeholders

Could an AI get good enough at AI research to build its own, more capable successor and kick off a compounding loop? That’s recursive self-improvement (RSI) and it surged into the conversation after Anthropic revealed that, as of May 2026, Claude wrote more than 80% of the code merged into its production codebase. In this Five-Minute Friday, Jon Krohn separates today’s AI-assisted coding from true RSI, walks through the accelerating evidence - METR’s shrinking task “time horizon,” Google DeepMind’s AlphaEvolve, Andrej Karpathy’s overnight training-tuner, weighs Jack Clark’s 60% bet that AI builds its own successor by 2028 against the compute, data and “marketing” skeptics. As ever, Jon lands in the optimistic middle.

Additional materials:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.superdatascience.com/1004⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

Frank Basso, VP of Infrastructure at Lightning AI, joins Jon Krohn for a rare ground-level tour of the one layer of the AI stack the show had never covered in over a thousand episodes: the physical data center. Frank explains how Lightning AI provisions its 35,000-plus GPUs through hyperscale co-location, why everything new is liquid-to-chip cooled, how GPUs talk to each other over ultra-fast east-west networks, and what it’s actually like to stand inside a 110-decibel AI data hall. He also debunks the most persistent myths about data-center water and electricity use, and makes the case for fuel cells, nuclear power, and 800-volt DC distribution as the path forward.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1003⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:



(02:47) What actually makes an AI data center different from a traditional one



(06:04) How Lightning AI provisions its 35,000+ GPUs through hyperscale co-location



(24:01) Why liquid cooling doesn’t waste water, debunking the biggest data-center myth



(29:46) East-west vs. north-south networks, explained



(43:47) “Screaming banshees”: why AI data halls run at 105–110 decibels



(51:52) Why data centers don’t actually drive up your power bill