Podcast: James Evans on why reasoning models simulate societies of thought
profjamesevans · x · 2026-10-27
Lab Notes Ep. 6 (62 min) from Heavybit features Amir Zohrenejad in conversation with James Evans, University of Chicago professor and Knowledge Lab director. Key topics: the surprising finding that reasoning models simulate a society rather than a single brain (the "Reasoning Models Generate Societies of Thought" paper); sycophancy and why users trust AI less but perform better when it has a point of view; the Computational Life experiments that evolved self-replicating programs from a primordial soup of code; and Evans' argument that diverse novel ideas are about to become the scarcest resource on the planet. The episode also touches on his Science essay "After Science" with Eamon Duede and how AI reshapes the questions science asks.
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