PU 27: LLMs Are a Dead-End

Richard Sutton, pioneer of reinforcement learning, explaining why he thinks LLMs are basically a waste of time (Dwarkesh Patel)

Why current AI technology can’t get us what its proponents are promising. Why the media keeps getting the AI story wrong. Why AI layoffs are just an excuse to re-hire workers for cheaper.

Punching Upwards, Episode 27 for 15 March 2026

Topic: Technology / Artificial Intelligence

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Credits

Thanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater, Sir Galteran and John C. for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!

See Also

• Punching Upwards 22: Moltbook Madness

Sources

1. Richard Sutton – Father of RL thinks LLMs are a dead end, Dwarkesh Patel, 26 September 2025

2. The Bitter Lesson, Richard Sutton, 13 March 2019

3. DHUnplugged #793: Mission Accomplished?, Dvorak / Horowitz Unplugged, 11 March 2026

4. Meta just bought Moltbook, the viral social network for AI agents, Business Insider, 10 March 2026

5. The lethal trifecta for AI agents: private data, untrusted content, and external communication, Simon Willison, 16 June 2025

6. Jürgen “tante” Geuter

7. Wading Through AI by Casey Muratori, Molly Rocket

The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules!