Staying Human in an Age of Abundance and Superintelligence

A conversation between Esther Dyson and Unity Stoakes about limits—why they matter, what they protect, and why they may be the missing counterweight in an era of runaway scale.

I’ve been fortunate to know Esther Dyson for 30 years – long enough to experience firsthand how rare her generosity, clarity, and deep wisdom truly are.

I first met Esther at my first job out of college (long before she became our first angel investor at OrganizedWisdom and StartUp Health) and she has shown up through my life ever since as one of my most trusted mentors and friends. I’m deeply grateful that, over the years, she has gifted me (and countless innovators and Health Transformers) the most precious resource of all: her time.

Esther has a way of cutting through noise without losing nuance. She asks the kinds of questions that stay with you – sometimes for years.

Earlier this month, I had the good fortune to spend another afternoon with Esther in downtown Oakland, overlooking the port at sunset – ships moving in and out, constant motion, a quiet reminder that everything has a season. It was the perfect backdrop for a conversation about term limits – not just in politics or leadership, but in life: the boundaries that give meaning to our choices, and the discipline required to honor limits in a world addicted to ‘more.’

We talk about her upcoming book on term limits, the seductions and dangers of abundance, the AI bubble debate (and what bubbles really mean), and what must remain distinctly human as superintelligent tools reshape culture – including healthcare. Esther doesn’t offer ten tidy takeaways. She offers something better: hard-won wisdom, generously shared, and an invitation to ask better questions. Watch our listen to our video convo below, and read an edited Q&A text version here.