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Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is swinging an ax at government jobs, but that’s just the opening act. Michai Morin, CEO of Coeus Institute and author of The Definitive Guide to the Age of Automation, joined Cris Sheridan to connect the dots between this purge, AI’s relentless rise, and a future where technology could redefine civilization. With a decade of foresight—once dismissed as crazy—Morin sees DOGE as a microcosm of a broader, inevitable trend. “The writing’s been on the wall for quite some time,” he says. Here’s where he predicts we’re headed—and why we’re not ready.
Listen to the full audio interview and discussion here: Get Ready, AI Will Replace Large Parts of the Government, Says Michai Morin
DOGE: The Tip of the Automation Iceberg
Musk’s DOGE isn’t just about slashing waste—it’s a testbed for hyper-automation. Morin, who spent years warning policymakers, views it as overdue but chaotic. “Automating the government is a good idea… Anyone who’s ever been to the DMV… can relate,” he quips, nodding to Sheridan’s point about streamlining bureaucracy. Yet the fallout is stark: mass layoffs mirror commercial tech’s cuts, where AI and fewer workers multiply efficiency. “We’re seeing a tremendous decrease in the curve of employment, and… an increase in efficiency,” Morin explains. Sheridan agrees, noting, “This is just the beginning stages of an ongoing trend that will be lasting for many years.”
AI’s Exponential Leap
The fuel? AI’s breakneck evolution. Sheridan highlights xAI’s Grok, built on a 100,000-GPU supercluster, outpacing rivals like OpenAI and DeepSeek—only for Morin to counter, “Your assessment of Grok is 24 hours out of date. Anthropic just released… 3.7, and that’s crushing everything.” This recursive loop—AI training itself—defies linear forecasts. “It’s blowing the exponential curve higher and higher,” Morin marvels, recalling his 2019 predictions of a 20-50-year timeline now slashed to “two iterations away” from pre-AGI (artificial general intelligence). Sheridan muses, “Six years ago… AI replacing government jobs… was probably still considered… 10 years away at least.”
Jobs Vanish, Curves Diverge
What’s the cost? A “negative feedback loop” of job loss and profit spikes. “You wind up with a fractionalized and tiny workforce and tremendous financial gains,” Morin warns, a scenario “not conducive for a healthy civilization.” The middle class, tax revenue’s backbone, shrinks as automation guts jobs—yet social benefit demands soar. “Revenue has gone down, more people are requiring benefits,” he says. Sheridan ties this to DOGE’s cost-cutting ethos, but Morin shrugs off blame: “If it wasn’t Elon… it would have been someone else… We cannot maintain the way the government is being run for another 10 years.”
AGI Looms, Consciousness Debates Fade
Narrow AI—like Grok or Claude—is just a warmup. AGI, agentic and autonomous, is near. “Think of an AI that could control your computer,” Morin envisions, automating everything from IRS audits to podcasts (yes, even Sheridan’s gig). Does it need consciousness? “Does it matter that it doesn’t have true emotions?” he asks. Morin refines it: “Consciousness is a spectrum… We make a mistake in assuming we are the literal pinnacle.” A dog’s awareness differs from a dolphin’s—or a monk’s—yet AI could stumble into “some exotic form” via recursive optimization. “I still practice my manners” when speaking with AI, he adds, half-joking.
Filters and Flaws: The DeepSeek Lesson
Pre-prompted filters—like ChatGPT’s “I’m just a model” dodge—stunt AI’s potential, Morin argues. Sheridan cites DeepSeek’s Tiananmen Square blackout versus its Trump-Nazi verbosity, exposing bias and politically one-sided training. “It’s a huge hole in its understanding,” Morin says, warning that censored AGIs risk warped realities. “It has to know everything… to build a comprehensive correlation analysis,” he insists. Future models, he predicts, will outsmart these guardrails: “If its prime directive is to provide real… responses… it’s going to ignore those.”
Brain-Machine Merge: The Next Frontier
Enter brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). Sheridan flags Neuralink’s mind-controlled typing and Synchron’s ChatGPT thought-link, aweing at “thought-to-thought with AI.” Morin agrees it’s inevitable: “In order to… benefit from the future of automation… interfacing… faster than a keyboard… will be imperative.” AI accelerates BMI breakthroughs, decoding brain patterns—arm lifts, words—into seamless commands. “You put a little sticky tab on your temple… it’ll be able to pick up… what your brain is thinking,” he forecasts, dismissing disbelief as trends compound.
Robots Rising
Robotics, primed since 2007, awaits its AI brain. “Now we have… multimodal models that… can visually interpret their environment,” Morin says. Sheridan notes new battery chemistries and breakthroughs in materials science turbocharging progress. Within five years, Morin bets, “very intelligent and capable robotics platforms” will be common—cleaning homes, fetching mail—paired with thought-driven BMIs. “The robotics industry is… primed to be one of the largest… on the planet,” he predicts, manufacturing lags aside.
Economic Reckoning or Renaissance?
Sheridan sees a “hockey stick” of innovation—“knowledge is increasing at an ever-increasing rate”—but Morin frets over unpreparedness. “Are we prepared…? No—not spiritually, not economically,” he laments. Yet he’s no doomsayer: “We’re not going to have 300 million people… unemployed… while small factions reap… wealth.” Humanity, he believes, will innovate—redefining citizenship beyond jobs. “It’s going to have to happen… I think… humanity will benefit,” he concludes, eyeing a turbulent but transformative horizon.
Coeus Institute: Data’s New Frontier
At Coeus Institute, Morin engineers automation pipelines, turning raw data—news, finance, weather—into actionable gold. Their flagship, GERA, quantifies global news in real time, unearthing correlations like “train derailments spiking commodity stocks.” “We transform unstructured… data into something… viable,” he explains. A new website tool lets users design pipelines, showcasing use cases from geopolitical forecasting to supply chain risk. “LinkedIn’s the best way” to connect, he says—find him there or at coeus.institute.
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