Over the past four years, Dwarkesh Patel, a 23-year-old Bay Area resident, has built one of the most deeply-researched podcasts on artificial intelligence (among other subjects). Patel has quickly become known for his thorough and technical explorations of the subject, becoming vital listening for those working on the technology. His work has earned him praise from the likes of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, who appeared on the Dwarkesh Podcast in April.
While he finds the world “infinitely interesting,” Patel is focused on AI because he considers it “the most multidisciplinary and intellectually stimulating topic” around, he tells TIME. “You’re really trying to think about ‘what will a future society of different kinds of beings look like?’ and so there’s really no topic that is not relevant.”
Patel frequently engages with figures twice his age—from CEOs and professors to industry researchers—with the confidence of a colleague and the casualness of a dinner guest. Still, he remains awestruck at his position. “It’s insane that I can just read a book, and if I find it interesting enough, I can email the author, and pepper them with questions for two hours”.
Some have criticized podcasts like Patel’s for being overly friendly to tech leaders, allowing them space to give meandering answers without being as combative as the mainstream media might. But Patel’s focus remains on the goal at hand: “to produce the highest quality intellectual content out there.”