# Luke Drago: The Intelligence Curse | Intelligence at the Frontier 2026

- Channel: [Funding the Commons](https://streameth.org/funding_the_commons)
- Date: 2026-05-09
- Duration: 18:53
- Topics: Luke Drago, Workshop Labs, intelligence curse 2026, resource curse AI, AGI automation, future of work 2026, AI economics 2026, AI and labor, social contract AI, human flourishing AI, AI governance 2026, public goods, Intelligence at the Frontier, Funding the Commons, AI policy 2026, future of AI, AI inequality, economic displacement AI, making humans irreplaceable
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-rKgjA66BODE
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKgjA66BODE

## Description

Losing your job to AI is the obvious worry. Luke Drago argues the real problem is bigger.

Luke, co-founder of Workshop Labs and co-author of The Intelligence Curse, borrows a concept from development economics: the resource curse, where oil-rich states stop investing in their citizens because their wealth comes from the ground, not from taxing labor. His argument is that full automation creates the same dynamic. When a handful of actors own the models, the compute, and the data, there's no economic reason left to invest in everyone else. The social contract quietly stops working.

Luke makes the case that this outcome isn't inevitable, and that the window to build things differently is still open.

Speaker: Luke Drago (Workshop Labs / Blue Dot Impact)

This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco.

Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.