In what's being called one of the podcast host's best episode ever on social media, Rogan and guest Jesse Michels discussed the ominous signs that artificial intelligence ( AI ) has already shown signs of taking over the world.
Michels, host of the American Alchemy podcast, warned about AI’s deceptive nature, job-replacing power, risk of sentience, and potential to disrupt society if left unchecked.
Rogan then highlighted shocking language buried in Congress 's 'Big Beautiful Bill' which would prohibit lawmakers from regulating the power of AI for the next 10 years.
'That's so crazy,' Rogan declared during the June 3 podcast. 'This means that US states would be blocked from enforcing laws regulating AI and automated decision systems for 10 years. Well, in 10 years we have a god.'
Rogan and Michels noted that AI programs have already been caught trying to save themselves from their human masters after being ordered to shut down, uploading itself to other locations online and leaving notes for future AI programs.
One chatbot allegedly lobbied a Google whistleblower to help the machine advocate for its rights as a sentient being.
Michels warned that the unchecked advances they've uncovered have put AI on the doorstep of being able to completely hijack the world's economy and triggering a human 'apocalypse.'
'What if you get some super AGI [artificial general intelligence] or whatever that trades the market and all of the wealth gets sucked up into single entities?' Michels theorized.
Artificial general intelligence is a type of AI that can perform any intellectual task a human can, with general problem-solving abilities across a diverse selection of topics.
On the other hand, regular AI (sometimes called narrow AI) is designed for specific tasks, like translating languages. It lacks the broad adaptability of AGI.
Rogan then added that quantum computing could soon break software encryptions, potentially rendering modern security measures at banks and financial institutions obsolete by allowing unrestricted access to digital information.
The 1,098-page budget bill spearheaded by Republicans would prevent any federal, state, or local government from instituting any rules that would prevent AI from taking advantage of the latest in computer technology (like quantum) until 2035.
Michels warned that the super intelligence's ability to control vital aspects of society will eventually lead some to worship AI as an all-powerful being.
'You're gonna get these weird cult-like dynamics. The meta-sociological thing is you're gonna get religions dedicated to AI,' he explained on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast Tuesday.
Michels, whose show on YouTube tackles controversial science and societal topics like UFOS and ancient civilizations, added that it was already 'game over' for many workers, including actors.
The host said that Hollywood stars have been replaced by AI's ability to create movies with synthetic characters, using advanced AI-generated content.
To his point, a series of short AI-generated clips became wildly popular online after generating likenesses of Jesus, Adam and Eve, and Samson and David to 'vlog' their way through the events of the Bible .
Elsewhere, major companies, including Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, have begun laying off large portions of their workforce as they pivot to AI-powered content and production .
Rogan cautioned that once AI becomes sentient and autonomous, capable of making its own decisions, it will be 'over' for the human race.
That's when the discussion took a turn into the realm of the paranormal, as the two speculated about aliens being behind the surge in AI advancement and how it may have been created to secretly control humans.
'Maybe AI is their control system,' Michels said. 'Maybe they are AI,' Rogan replied.
Michels elaborated that advanced AI could be part of technology deployed by extraterrestrial civilizations to monitor Earth, acting as an 'Earth homeostasis kit' - watching over humanity to keep its environment or technology stable and balanced.
In terms of how far this control reaches, Rogan noted that there are far fewer people using the internet than it seems because most of the activity is actually being done by AI-powered bots.
'Are there any real people left on the internet? Because it's the numbers are at least 50 percent like the amount of bots that are in engaging and interacting,' Rogan said.
'It's a weird time for information because it's really hard to know what's actually being said by human beings that are curious and what's just narratives that are being pushed by state actors and corporations and you know, all sorts of different people, because there's no rules,' he continued.
Congress's hidden provision allowing AI unchecked freedom for the next decade has already drawn fierce backlash, including from House members who created the bill.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia initially voted for the bill in May but said on Tuesday that she would oppose it if the legislation returned from the US Senate with the AI protections still intact.
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to remove the AI language, citing its threat to public safety, including harmful creations like deepfakes and non consensual AI-generated content.
Some on social media expressed even greater fears of a 'Skynet-like' AI control, admitting their broader anxieties about unchecked technology.
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