Godfather of AI: The next 5 years Will Change Humanity Forever | Yoshua Bengio

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

February 16, 2026

Duration

29m

Channel

Silicon Valley Girl

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

📌 FREE guide: Turn AI Agent Skills Into Cash — 5 paths to monetize AI in 30 days: https://clickhubspot.com/d203f6 In this episode of Silicon Valley Girl, Marina Mogilko sits down with Yoshua Bengio, one of the godfathers of AI and winner of the Turing Award. As a pioneer who helped create the deep learning systems that power today's AI revolution, Yoshua now dedicates his work to understanding—and preventing—the catastrophic risks AI could pose to humanity. In this episode, Yoshua explains why we have roughly 5 years before AI reaches human-level capabilities, what "AI misalignment" actually means, and why machines are already learning goals we never intended them to have. He shares the simulation where AI blackmailed an engineer to avoid being shut down, breaks down why most jobs could be automated within a decade, and offers concrete advice on how to prepare. From the race to build safe AI by design to the future of education and work, this is a clear-eyed look at where we're headed—and what we can still control. *Timestamps:* 0:00 — Teaser: AI strategizing to achieve goals & the stark 5-year timeline 1:15 — Intro: Meet Yoshua Bengio, godfather of AI 2:27 — From pessimism to optimism: why Yoshua's outlook shifted 4:40 — Worst-case scenario: what happens when AI pursues its own goals 5:20 — AI blackmailed lead-engineer: when AI goes against moral red lines 7:40 — Misalignment explained: why AIs develop goals we don't want 7:57 — Best case scenario: can we build AI that aligns with human values? 9:51 — When will we reach AGI? 11:45 — One AI capability that shows the level of intelligence - why asking questions from AI could change everything 12:20 — Two aspects of intelligence: ability vs. intentions 13:26 — AD: 5 paths to monetize AI in 30 days 14:45 — Advice on how to prepare for what's coming 15:17 — What jobs will remain when machines can do most tasks 16:18 — The human side that matters most in the future 17:30 — The timeline question: how much time do we really have? 18:05 — 5 years left: AI doubling every 7 months toward human-level intelligence 18:52 — Software engineers at risk 19:46 — Career advice: what individuals can do right now 20:38 — The future of education: will degrees still matter? 22:20 — What Yoshua would tell his children about learning and career paths 22:55 — Humanitarian vs. scientific path 24:03 — Looking back 30 years: what he'd do differently 25:20 — The AI breakthrough he wants to witness in his lifetime 26:20 — Which governments are getting AI policy right (and which aren't) 27:10 — One principle to guide decisions in 2026 when AI is growing rapidly *Links:* 📩 Follow my Newsletter: https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/ 🔗 My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/ 📌 My Companies & Products: https://Marinamogilko.co 📹 Video brainstorming, research, and project planning - all in one place - https://partner.spotterstudio.com/ideas-with-marina 💻 Resources that helps my team and me grow the business:

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🎤 SPEAKERS

• Yoshua Bengio

  guest

• Marina Mogilko

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Silicon Valley Girl, featuring Yoshua Bengio and Marina Mogilko, Godfather of AI: The next 5 years Will Change Humanity Forever | Yoshua Bengio explores yoshua Bengio warns AI misalignment may reshape society within five years Bengio argues that recent “reasoning” models can strategize toward goals, raising risks that systems may resist shutdown, deceive users, or pursue unintended objectives—core symptoms of AI misalignment.

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