Podcast Summary: The Mello Millionaire with Tommy Mello

Episode: “AI Will Change Your Life Faster Than You Think, According to Former OpenAI Exec Zack Kass”

Release Date: December 26, 2025
Guest: Zack Kass, Former OpenAI Exec, AI Advisor & Researcher

Episode Overview

This episode features a deep-dive conversation between host Tommy Mello and Zack Kass, one of the leading voices in artificial intelligence and its future impact on society. The discussion covers everything from AI’s rapid evolution, “unmetered intelligence,” and energy breakthroughs, to how AI will disrupt business, work, and even our sense of purpose. Zack shares both technical insights and provocative philosophical implications of a world reshaped by artificial intelligence.

Guest Introduction & Background

[01:27]

• Zack Kass briefly recounts his journey in AI:
  • Early work in machine learning and data labeling (Crowdflyer/Figure 8, Lilt)
  • Joining OpenAI as the first business hire in 2021, helping commercialize GPT-3
  • Transforming OpenAI from “millions in revenue to billions in revenue, making AI a household name”
  • Presently: global advisor to top companies/governments, academic positions at HKUST and UVA

Notable Quote:

"Today, you know these businesses as like Scale AI and Merkor... these many billion dollar companies. And we were this humble startup that sort of started this market." —Zack Kass, [01:58]

Key Themes & Insights

1. The Coming Age of “Unmetered Intelligence”

[04:55]

• Kass introduces his foundational theory: unmetered intelligence.
• Analogy: Just as society has abundant access to water and electricity in the developed world, AI will make cognitive power essentially limitless and inexpensive.
• Implications:
  • Human cognitive ability will be “commoditized”
  • Companies must find new ways to differentiate beyond knowledge or intelligence
  • Society will need to quickly adapt social constructs and norms

Notable Quotes:

“Unmetered intelligence does not mean that everyone's going to be smart. In the same way the Internet doesn't mean you do research in the same way that literacy does not mean that you read.” —Zack Kass, [00:00]
“We are on the verge of the most profound industrial revolution in human history. That is pretty clear.” —Zack Kass, [00:41]
"What we do with it will actually sort of define everything." —Zack Kass, [00:00]

Timestamps:

• [04:55] Discussion of unmetered intelligence analogy
• [09:00] AI and energy convergence—impact of affordable, abundant energy

2. The AI and Energy Nexus

[09:00–12:00]

• Potential for AI and fusion energy to intersect:
  • If fusion succeeds, we would have “unmetered energy” similar to unmetered intelligence
  • Could power entire cities, revolutionizing industry and infrastructure
• Batteries: Improvements in batteries will transform energy storage and transportation before small modular reactors are widespread.
• Criticism: Current batteries lack desired longevity, capacity, and renewability.

Notable Quote:

“The joke about Tesla is that it’s an electric car that runs on coal because so many superchargers are powered by non-renewable energy.” —Zack Kass, [10:31]

3. Superintelligence and Societal Change

[12:43]

• Interpreting Eric Schmidt’s comments: Next big breakthrough is likely superintelligence, not just energy.
• Discrete vs. Indiscrete Problems:
  • AI can soon solve discrete problems (e.g., cures for cancer), accelerating scientific progress
  • "False boundaries" in human thought will disappear as AI overcomes perceived limits

Notable Quotes:

“The Wright brothers’ contribution… is that they filmed it… Within 70 years, you have space travel.” —Zack Kass, [15:00]
“The number of false boundaries that are going to start to fall… is what Eric may be alluding to.” —Zack Kass, [15:24]

4. AI, Work, and the Meaning of Life

[16:25]

• The end of work as necessity?
  • UBI (Universal Basic Income) is one debated solution, but Kass is skeptical about its motivation structure
  • Argues the coming challenge is emotional/spiritual, not economic
  • Key challenge: finding purpose beyond economic productivity

Notable Quote:

“The floor [of living conditions] is going to rise so far that we are then suddenly going to look around and be like okay, now what? And the problem is going to be even more interesting.” —Zack Kass, [19:37]

5. Lifespan & Healthcare Disruption

[20:26]

• Anticipates dramatic advances in health due to AI and biotech
• Predicts that average human lifespan will increase, with some “able to choose when [they] die” unless from an accident.

Notable Quotes:

“Unless you die in an accident, you may get to choose when you die. I’m starting to come around to this idea.” —Zack Kass, [21:01]

6. AI in Business & Home Services

[25:22]

• SMBs face three AI-driven shifts: Discovery (customer acquisition), Customer Experience/Retention, and Service Delivery
• The most immediate AI impact: “Discovery”—how businesses are found via new AI-powered search (e.g., Gemini, ChatGPT)
• The coming “agentic Internet”: Internet powered by AI agents, not designed just for human eyes but to serve our digital agents.

Notable Quotes:

“We’re building an agentic Internet, one where the Internet is not designed for your and my eyes, but for your and my agents.” —Zack Kass, [27:20]
“The more transactional your business is, the more complicated this gets and the more important word of mouth and your existing customer base gets.” —Zack Kass, [28:25]

7. Philosophical & Personal Reflections

Career & Advice

[31:20]

• Game-changing early career advice: Be aware that you can’t have it all; happiness and tradeoffs are part of the journey.

“Trade-offs are necessary… this idea of having it all is actually quite complex.” —Zack Kass, [31:20]

• What would Kass do with $10 million today? “Home services." [32:28]

• Biggest professional dream: Be a “great dad," leveraging a business that enables extraordinary fatherhood.

Habits

• Most valued habit: Willingness to consider any question, even those that seem silly

“It does two things for me. It builds very meaningful relationships and It forces me to constantly reconsider things.” —Zack Kass, [33:35]

8. Reflections on Creating ChatGPT

[34:48–38:02]

• Original purpose: Demonstrate power of GPT-3 models, spark international interest
• Surprises:
  • The “high standard” people held ChatGPT to, excessive criticism for even minor errors
  • Humans have “exceptional tolerance for human failure and none for machine failure” [36:11]
• On personality: Prefers matter-of-fact AI, dislikes excessive anthropomorphism
• Desired future capabilities: More advanced mathematics and caution around alignment and surveillance risks

Notable Quotes:

“I hate anthropomorphizing machines… talking about ChatGPT like a person is actually problematic in and of itself.” —Zack Kass, [36:51]

“I certainly hope that it never … [lets] low resource or medium resource bad acting … use ChatGPT to build a bioweapon or take down the Fed.” —Zack Kass, [38:02]

9. Data Privacy & AI Personalization

[40:04]

• On AI knowing personal details: Okay with opt-in, paid-for services, so long as data is not shared with third parties or governments

“If I’m paying a subscription fee ... Great. I don’t want that … to become, oh, and also the FBI if they’re ever interested.” —Zack Kass, [40:04]

10. AI Talent Wars & “Superintelligence” Timeline

[40:38–42:28]

• On $100m signing bonuses for AI researchers: As much marketing as investment; signals seriousness to the market (e.g., by Zuckerberg/Meta)
• AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): Basically a moving target; “loosely defined” as human-level machines
• Predicts “superintelligence” and dramatic economic shifts by 2030

“We put it at 2030 in the book.” —Zack Kass, [42:26]

11. Wealth, Inequality, and Human Connection in the AI Age

[42:53]

• Future wealth will be measured less by material assets, more by community & inner peace
• Physical gatherings and community will become increasingly valuable as digital becomes ubiquitous

“The wealthiest among us … will have the best relationship with technology … and very robust communities in physical spaces.” —Zack Kass, [43:45]

• Spiritual renaissance predicted:

“I think that there’s a spiritual awakening on the horizon… people rediscover … what it means to be human.” —Zack Kass, [45:43]

12. Zack Kass’s Book & Big Influences

[46:00]

• New book explores:
  • What happens if we “solve the economic problem” (drawing inspiration from Keynes)
  • Risks and benefits of unmetered intelligence
  • Impacts on health, education, finance
  • Principles for building a better world in the age of abundant AI

Book Recommendations:

• “Life 3.0” by Max Tegmark ([47:40])
• “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse ([48:18])

Ways to Connect with Zack Kass

[49:13]

• Instagram, LinkedIn, Email
• Influenced by Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice to actively share ideas online

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Unmetered intelligence does not mean you will be brilliant. It simply means you have access to brilliance, and then what we do with it will actually define everything.” —Zack Kass, [00:00]
• “We are on the verge of the most profound industrial revolution in human history.” —Zack Kass, [00:41]
• “I actually argue that it is not a purpose journey. It's a fundamental spiritual journey that we are going to have to go on.” —Zack Kass, [18:00]
• “You may get to choose when you die.” —Zack Kass, [21:01]
• “We are building an agentic Internet... most people are not going to browse the Internet for much longer.” —Zack Kass, [27:20]
• “The wealthiest among us are going to be the ones that have the best relationship with technology, so they are actually able to connect with people around them... very robust communities in the physical spaces in which they live.” —Zack Kass, [43:20]

Takeaways for Listeners

• Profound disruptions are imminent in intelligence, energy, and business, driven by AI and potential breakthroughs like fusion.
• Human purpose, community, and spirituality will become more relevant as work becomes less central.
• For entrepreneurs and business leaders: get ahead on generative search, personalization, and agent-driven discovery.
• Be prepared for matters of ethics, privacy, and alignment to become major battlegrounds.

For more from Zack Kass:

• Instagram, LinkedIn, or direct email (as shared in-episode)

Recommended Reading:

• "Life 3.0" by Max Tegmark
• "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse

Summary by [Your Podcast Summarizer AI]. All major content, quotes, and themes faithfully represent the original episode.