Atari could beat today’s AI LLMs on chess?

The current AI hype seems to be encountering some gravity at the moment. Gravity as beeing pulled back toward the earth, and its consequences may obviously be "grave" in important ways.

This is an engaging discussion by Chris Hayes with Ed Zitron about the business of AI and the financial bubble that we’re experiencing right now: (1)

The following is an hour and a half discussion with Gary Marcus that focuses on the development, capabilities, and limitations of AI than on the status of the AI business or the current AI bubble. (2)

Zitron also did a appearance last week on The Majority Report, in which he also talks about his jaded and skeptical take on the recent, dodgy, Space X IPO: (3)

Science fiction writer Cory Doctorow recently published a book on the topic, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It’s Too Late (2026) from Verso, a left-leaning publisher with something of an academic tilt.

In a report on Doctorow’s position, Dorian Lynskey writes: (4)

A decade ago, when the likes of Elon Musk and Sam Altman were still passionate advocates of heavily regulated ethical AI (ha!), the technology’s most widely discussed downside had an apocalyptic glamour: superintelligent AI could one day destroy the human race. But since Altman’s company OpenAI released its large language model ChatGPT in November 2022, AI’s public image has fallen to earth: it’s now widely seen as a job crusher, a fact mangler, a slop maker, a privacy invader, a climate trasher and a general pain in the neck. Never before has a new technology been rammed down our throats with such speed, determination and complete disregard for public opinion. [my emphasis]

Doctorow in this podcast discusses the present moment: (5)

And even Paul Krugman has waded in on the current AI situation in this 11-minute clip. (6) Krugman is not afraid to go against the consensus opinion of those he has famously and ironically labeled the Very Serious People. And he very often right in his analysis – and often point out how he has gone wrong on some expectation.

Notes:

(1) Is the AI Boom About to COLLAPSE? MS NOW YouTube channel 06/10/2026. <https://youtu.be/-Mn-TNLwQys?si=rHa2yF0O0d6OGwwW> (Accessed: 2026-06-22).

(2) The Uncomfortable Truth About AI “Reasoning”. World Science Festival YouTube channel 05/16/2026. <https://youtu.be/iFYF_e1GSGI?si=J_noG6NqQ9p2jBpv> (Accessed: 2026-06-25).

(3) The AI Bubble Crash Will Be Worse… The Majority Report YouTube channel 06/16/2026. <https://youtu.be/8_2nB68Ruig?si=395Lk7AFp3e8Lj3P> (Accessed: 2026-06-22).

(4) Lynskey, Dorian (2026): The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow review - the real price of artificial intelligence. Guardian 06/22/2026. <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/22/the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai-by-cory-doctorow-review-the-real-price-of-artificial-intelligence> (Accessed: 2026-06-25).

(5) AI Was Never About Helping You | Cory Doctorow. The Atlantic YouTube channel 06/19/2026. <https://youtu.be/SPQNPJ0CEPo?si=4nJZPQYPDzUsG1RV> (Accessed: 2026-06-25).

(6) The Chips Are Down. Paul Krugman YouTube channel 06/24/2026. <https://youtu.be/erdyFIwkXk0?si=b6wQUAFLMgKQWJYn> (Accessed: 2026-06-25).