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AIQuiet 5d · day 7

Tyler Cowen rebuts Obama's skepticism of 'agentic AI'

A viral clip of Obama downplaying the need for autonomous AI agents drew a pointed pushback from economist Tyler Cowen.

newest coverage 5d agosummary written 5d ago2 pieces7.3k likes & upvotes233 comments XNewswires

What to know

  • Obama suggested that curing cancer or improving energy doesn't require 'agentic AI' roaming the internet, implying the emphasis on such capabilities is driven by product marketing rather than necessity.
  • Tyler Cowen and AI commentator Roon push back, arguing that agentic capabilities—planning, tool use, running experiments—are precisely how real AI-driven scientific work gets done.
  • Cowen separately raises practical and civil-liberties concerns about how any government prohibition on commercial AI agents could even be enforced, warning it could bankrupt companies like Anthropic and OpenAI.

“You do not cure cancer with a model that only answers questions. You cure cancer with systems that can read the literature, propose hypotheses, design assays, analyze results, rewrite the next experiment, and do that loop a thousand times faster than a human postdoc.”

Tyler Cowen, Economist, Marginal Revolution blogger · Marginal Revolution ↗ · Sep 20

Barack ObamaBarack Obama Former U.S. PresidentTyler CowenTyler Cowen Economist, Marginal Revolution bloggerRoon AI commentatorRob Saker Commentator quoted by Cowen

Tyler Cowen rebuts Obama's skepticism of 'agentic AI'
x.com

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 1 piece in two hours at Sep 19, 11 AM; 2 pieces over 7 days (1 article · 1 post) Sep 19, 11 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — X 1Sep 19, 1 PM — quietSep 19, 3 PM — quietSep 19, 5 PM — quietSep 19, 7 PM — quietSep 19, 9 PM — quietSep 19, 11 PM — quietSep 20, 1 AM — quietSep 20, 3 AM — quietSep 20, 5 AM — quietSep 20, 7 AM — quietSep 20, 9 AM — quietSep 20, 11 AM — quietSep 20, 1 PM — quietSep 20, 3 PM — quietSep 20, 5 PM — quietSep 20, 7 PM — quietSep 20, 9 PM — quietSep 20, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 21, 1 AM — quietSep 21, 3 AM — quietSep 21, 5 AM — quietSep 21, 7 AM — quietSep 21, 9 AM — quietSep 21, 11 AM — quietSep 21, 1 PM — quietSep 21, 3 PM — quietSep 21, 5 PM — quietSep 21, 7 PM — quietSep 21, 9 PM — quietSep 21, 11 PM — quietSep 22, 1 AM — quietSep 22, 3 AM — quietSep 22, 5 AM — quietSep 22, 7 AM — quietSep 22, 9 AM — quietSep 22, 11 AM — quietSep 22, 1 PM — quietSep 22, 3 PM — quietSep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietSep 23, 1 AM — quietSep 23, 3 AM — quietSep 23, 5 AM — quietSep 23, 7 AM — quietSep 23, 9 AM — quietSep 23, 11 AM — quietSep 23, 1 PM — quietSep 23, 3 PM — quietSep 23, 5 PM — quietSep 23, 7 PM — quietSep 23, 9 PM — quietSep 23, 11 PM — quietSep 24, 1 AM — quietSep 24, 3 AM — quietSep 24, 5 AM — quietSep 24, 7 AM — quietSep 24, 9 AM — quietSep 24, 11 AM — quietSep 24, 1 PM — quietSep 24, 3 PM — quietSep 24, 5 PM — quietSep 24, 7 PM — quietSep 24, 9 PM — quietSep 24, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quiet 12
Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22Sep 23Sep 24yesterdaynow · 11:46 AM ET
  1. 2

    Tyler Cowen rebuts Obama's comment as incoherent

    Cowen argues on Marginal Revolution that agentic capabilities—planning, tool use, running experiments, checking work—are precisely how scientific work like cancer research gets done, citing AI commentator Roon calling the remark incoherent. He also questions how a prohibition on commercial AI agents could be enforced without major civil-liberties costs.

    “this sounds completely incoherent to me…”
    — Roon
    1. 1 outlet Obama on agentic AI

      first by Marginal Revolution, 5d ago

  2. 1

    Obama says agentic AI isn't needed to cure cancer

    In remarks circulated via a clip posted by @MeidasTouch, Obama argued that curing cancer or improving energy doesn't require agentic AI 'roaming free in the internet,' suggesting the push for agentic capabilities is driven by the need to market a product.

    “If we are thinking about AI just in terms of how do we cure cancer or get better energy, you can do that without having agentic AI and having it just roaming free in the internet.”
    — Barack Obama

    • 🚨 OBAMA ON AI: "If we are thinking about AI just in terms of how do we cure cancer or get better energy, you can do that without having agentic AI and having it just roaming free in the internet. The reason you are doing that is because you have to market a product that people

      @MeidasTouchX6d ago7.3k▲view on X ↗