Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News.

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

SUB QUESTION #1: What is Yan LeCun Up To? [2:55]

SUB QUESTION #2: How is it possible that LeCun could be right about LLM’s begin a dead-end? We’ve been hearing non-stop recently about how fast they’re advancing. [14:55]

SUB QUESTION #3: What would happen next if LeCun is right? [22:26]

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/technology/ami-labs-yann-lecun-funding.html

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A new study finds that for many workers, AI increases shallow efforts while decreasing time focusing on what really matters. This is not the first digital productivity technology to create this paradoxical effect. In today’s episode, Cal dives deep into why this happens and then details three strategies for avoiding these traps in your own professional life.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

DEEP DIVE: Why Do “Productivity Technologies” Make My Job Worse? [3:17]

INBOX:

• An article about meetings [36:11]
• A case study on escaping email overload [47:29]
• A tool that makes the internet more boring [50:37]

WHAT CAL IS UP TO:

• Deep or Crazy? [57:02]
• What Cal read [1:02:23]
• Cal in the news [1:05:57]

Books:

Reader, Come Home (Maryanne Wolf)
What Do You Say? (William Stixrud and Ned Johnson)

Links:
Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow
Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?
pmresearcher.substack.com/p/why-meetings-multiply
docs.pluckeye.net/overview

Thanks to our Sponsors:

calderalab.com/deep
cozyearth.com/deep (Use code “DEEP”)
grammarly.com
drinkag1.com/deep

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Nate Mechler for research and newsletter, and Mark Miles for mastering.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News.

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

STORY #1: Did an AI Agent Email an AI Researcher? [1:01]

STORY #2: Does the Pentagon Think Claude Has a Soul? [10:20]

STORY #3: What’s Going on with Anthropic Revenues? [14:16]

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/philosopher-ai-consciousness-startled-ai-email

https://x.com/dioscuri/status/2029227527718236359

https://x.com/thomaschattwill/status/2029273517175263679

https://x.com/ns123abc/status/2032122638852640951

https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/anthropic-gives-lesson-ai-revenue-hallucination-2026-03-10/

https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/12/normal-technology/

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.