Hey there, Seb here.
TL;DR: Forget the Hollywood nightmare of one all-powerful AI. The future is multiple AI systems, each reflecting different cultures and values. This changes everything about how you should think about AI, crypto, and your competitive edge.
I just heard something that completely flipped my perspective on AI’s future. And it came from someone whose predictions have a habit of coming true: Balaji Srinivasan.
Quick context on why Balaji’s voice matters:
- Former CTO of Coinbase (built crypto infrastructure at scale)
- Ex-General Partner at A16Z (funded the companies shaping our future)
- Called remote work, crypto adoption, and network states years before they became obvious
His latest insight? We’re thinking about AGI all wrong.
The Big Reframe: One God vs. Many Gods
Most people imagine AGI like this: One superintelligent system that either saves humanity or paperclips us into oblivion.
Balaji sees it differently. He predicts polytheistic AGI — multiple AI systems, each shaped by different cultures, values, and communities.
Think about it:
- Chinese AGI: Reflects Chinese values, censorship standards, social priorities
- European AGI: GDPR-compliant, privacy-focused, regulation-heavy
- American AGI: Innovation-first, market-driven, free speech oriented
- Religious AGI: Islamic banking principles, Christian ethics, Buddhist mindfulness
Not one AI god ruling over everyone. Many AI gods serving different tribes.
The New Trinity: AI + Crypto + Social
Here’s where it gets interesting. Balaji argues each digital civilization needs three things:
🤖 AI = The Oracle
- Provides intelligence and answers
- Reflects the culture’s values and biases
- Gets smarter over time through interaction
₿ Crypto = The Law
- Enforces rules without human intervention
- Provides truth that AI can’t fake or manipulate
- Creates economic incentives and consequences
🌐 Social Networks = The Coordination Layer
- Binds the community together
- Spreads the culture’s values and norms
- Enables collective decision-making
This trinity becomes the “reactor core” of future digital nations.
Why This Actually Makes You Sleep Better at Night
The polytheistic model is way less scary than the monopolistic one:
❌ Monopolistic Fear: One AI becomes all-powerful, and we’re all screwed if it goes wrong.
✅ Polytheistic Reality: Multiple AIs compete and balance each other. Bad actors get out-competed. Innovation accelerates through competition.
Your talking point: “We’re not building one AI overlord. We’re building an ecosystem of competing AI systems that keep each other in check.”
The Age of the Phrase (And Why Words Are Your Superpower)
We’re entering what Balaji calls the Age of the Phrase:
- The right prompt unlocks the AI oracle
- The viral tweet shapes public opinion
- The 12-word seed phrase secures generational wealth
- The smart contract enforces unstoppable agreements
In other words: Your ability to use language precisely determines your leverage.
Better vocabulary → Better prompts → Better AI outputs → Better outcomes.
This isn’t just about being “good with words.” It’s about programming reality with language.
What You Can’t Fake in an AI World
AI is getting scary good at faking everything:
- Photos (deepfakes)
- Videos (Sora-level quality)
- Writing (indistinguishable from human)
- Voices (clone anyone in minutes)
But here’s what AI cannot fake:
- Private keys (cryptographic proof of ownership)
- Blockchain timestamps (immutable record of when something happened)
- Zero-knowledge proofs (mathematical certainty without revealing secrets)
- Onchain transactions (verifiable value transfers)
Your talking point: “In a world where AI can fake anything, crypto becomes the source of truth that grounds reality.”
Your Action Plan: How to Win in the Polytheistic Age
1. Choose Your AI Gods Wisely
Stop asking “What’s the best AI?” Start asking:
- Who built this AI?
- What values does it encode?
- Does it align with my goals?
You’re not just picking a tool. You’re joining a tribe.
2. Master the New Stack: Prompt → Verify → Deploy
- Prompt like a strategist (give clear direction)
- Verify like a detective (check AI outputs against crypto truth)
- Deploy like a CEO (coordinate human + AI teams)
3. Build Your Language Arsenal
Invest in communication skills like your career depends on it (because it does):
- Learn prompt engineering
- Study persuasive writing
- Practice explaining complex ideas simply
4. Understand the Competition
You’re not competing with AI. You’re competing with people who use AI better than you.
The winner: Whoever combines human judgment with AI leverage most effectively.
The Bottom Line
We’re not heading toward one AI overlord scenario. We’re heading toward multiple AI civilizations, each with their own oracle (AI), law (crypto), and tribe (social network).
Your advantage isn’t knowing how to use AI tools.
Your advantage is knowing:
- Which AI to trust for different tasks
- How to verify AI outputs with crypto truth
- When to rely on human judgment vs. machine intelligence
The future belongs to AI orchestra conductors, not AI tool users.
One Last Thing
If we’re building multiple AI gods…
Which gods are you choosing to work with?
Which truths are you anchoring in unbreakable code?
And which tribes are you helping coordinate?
These aren’t philosophical questions. They’re career decisions.
The polytheistic age is already here. The only question is whether you’re building with it or getting built over by it.
Stay ahead,
— Seb
P.S. Want to dive deeper into Balaji’s thinking? Check out the A16Z podcast episode where he breaks this down. It’s some of the highest-signal content on where technology and society are heading.
Hit reply and tell me: Which AI “god” are you currently using most, and how do you verify its outputs? I read every response.
