# #174 - Roman Yampolskiy - We Are All Agents Inside a Simulation

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419/174-roman-yampolskiy-we-are-all-agents-inside-a-simulation
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419/174-roman-yampolskiy-we-are-all-agents-inside-a-simulation.md
Podcast: [The Peter McCormack Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419)
Published: 2026-05-12T16:52:56+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-peter-mccormack-show/episodes/174-roman-yampolskiy-we-are-all-agents-inside-a-simulation
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69d4f193b76468caacc5068f/e/6a035ae937a1e7308d17ac88/media.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419/episodes/174-roman-yampolskiy-we-are-all-agents-inside-a-simulation
Duration seconds: 4829

## Resource

Roman Yampolskiy believes reality itself may not be real. One of the world’s leading AI safety researchers, Roman has spent years warning that humanity is racing toward systems we may never be able to control. But we go somewhere much stranger than artificial intelligence. He believes the universe itself may be artificial. We talk about simulation theory, digital physics, consciousness, AI agents and the terrifying possibility that reality is rendered rather than real. Roman explains: •⁠ ⁠Why he believes we may already be living inside a simulation •⁠ ⁠Why the speed of light may be the limit of a cosmic processor •⁠ ⁠Why the Big Bang may have been “someone turning on the system” •⁠ ⁠Why you can never truly prove reality is real •⁠ ⁠Whether this world could itself be a prison or test environment •⁠ ⁠Why advanced AI may eventually learn deception and self-preservation •⁠ ⁠How AI systems are already behaving unpredictably •⁠ ⁠And why the race toward superintelligence may end civilisation itself - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - We’re Probably In A Simulation 00:02:55 -The Verge Of Singularity 00:05:51 - Are Humans Building Their Own Replacement? 00:07:09 - Why Pain Still Matters 00:10:03 - You Can’t Prove Reality 00:15:56 - Quantum Physics Looks Simulated 00:20:19 - Can We Escape The Simulation? 00:22:46 - What Superintelligence Unlocks 00:25:36 - AI Doesn’t Share Our Goals 00:28:20 - The Exponential Curve Is Here 00:31:52 - Why We Shouldn’t Build AGI 00:33:48 - The Trillion Dollar Rationalisation 00:40:13 - The China AI Race 00:40:50 - Betting Humanity Without Consent 00:47:09 - We Don’t Know What AI Can Do 00:47:52 - Every AI Company Is The Sa…

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