Show Notes
300 million jobs globally exposed to AI. 192,000 American jobs already erased in 12 months (Goldman April 2026). And nobody is being honest about what it actually means.
Episode 1 of Are We Cooked? sits with the question that named the show. Not as a verdict. As an investigation.
Half the world says AI will save us. Productivity, abundance, freedom from the boring grind. The other half says we're cooked. Jobs gone, meaning gone, identity gone.
Both can't be right.
In 17 minutes, Anurag Sharma walks through: - The hook stat that started this podcast, and the April 2026 Goldman update that made it real - The optimist case (Andreessen, Hoffman, Altman, Autor) backed by Stanford AI Index 2026 productivity data - The pessimist case (Harari, Acemoglu, Marcus, Turkle) plus Stanford's finding: entry-level dev jobs down 20% since 2024 - What both sides are missing, including the conversation nobody is having - The pattern Anurag is watching on his own 30-person marketing team - Three sharper questions to take into your week
Not a hype show. Not a doom show. A thinking show. We don't hand you the answer. We hand you a sharper version of the question.
Then we let you decide. Are we?
CHAPTERS:
[00:00] The Question Every Thinking Adult Is Avoiding [00:42] Meet Your Host [02:00] Why This Question, Right Now [03:23] The Optimist Case [07:00] The Pessimist Case [09:09] What Both Sides Miss [11:51] Are We? You Decide.
More from Are We Cooked?
220 million cumulative downloads of AI companion apps by mid-2025. 88% year-over-year growth. The largest platform, Xiaoice in China, has 660 million users. And 72% of US teens have tried AI companions; a third have chosen AI over humans for serious conversations.
99% of creative professionals are using generative AI. 88% say it ships faster. 87% say it improved quality. So why is freelance writing income on Upwork down 32% year-over-year, the largest decline of any category?
13% of US teens used AI for schoolwork in 2023. 26% in 2024. 54% in 2026. The Pew Research curve that quadrupled in three years. And 72% have tried AI companions. A third have chosen AI over humans for serious conversations (Common Sense Media 2025).
16,000 American jobs. Erased by AI. Every single month for the past year. 192,000 jobs in 12 months. Not a forecast. A payroll measurement (Goldman Sachs, April 2026).
Your job. Your kids. Your relationships. The way you write. The way you fall in love. The way you think.