AI Unfiltered

This week Ian and Michael discuss the growing backlash against AI, from public frustration with generative tools to mounting opposition against the ever-expanding fleet of data centres needed to power them. Along the way there is the usual mixture of scepticism, speculation, and mild exasperation. The question, ultimately, is whether the backlash can change the trajectory — or whether we're all just living in a future data centre that hasn't been fully built yet. (This description was written with the help of AI)

This week, Ian and Michael ponder whether we're in too deep and to invested in AI for the bubble to burst, the death of privacy, an AI generated version of the late Val Kilmer starring in a new movie, and the implications for the creative arts in an AI-generated world.

This week Ian and Michael discuss “cognitive surrender” — the increasingly common habit of accepting whatever an AI chatbot tells us without much scrutiny. From there the conversation moves into critical thinking, the uneasy role of AI in recruitment and hiring, and the broader question of whether convenience is eroding our willingness to verify information for ourselves. We also revisit one of the podcast’s recurring themes: AI chess algorithms. A mildly sceptical look at what happens when outsourcing thought becomes just a little too easy. (This description was written with the help of AI - because outsourcing thought is indeed just a little too easy...)

This week Ian and Michael begin with the suspicion that smartphones may have reached the end of meaningful innovation. From there the conversation drifts through second-hand furniture, the growing use of food banks in a wealthy society, consumer culture, Turku’s long-discussed tramway, and — with generous spoilers — the moral philosophy hidden inside the TV series The Good Place. (This description was written with the help of AI)

Ian and Michael discuss the ethical aspects of using AI-generated art instead of human artists, the use of AI and photo manipulation in marketing, and the dangers of resting on one's laurels after prolonged success. And, at long last, our AI-generated contributor Emma Williams returns with another instalment of Emma's Artificial Reflections!