Digital ghosts, bots speaking in tongues - with Halloween upon us, could there be anything more scary than the future for which we’re destined…
In a very special, spooky episode of Disconnected this week, Jag, Jen and Matt each share the technology fear that genuinely unsettles them - from digital life’s effect on human patience to AI systems we may no longer understand, and whether we truly have permission to rest in peace.
This episode of Disconnected covers:
Technology’s effect on human patience, attention, and connection
AI transparency and control: what happens when systems are hard to understand
Accountability for consequential decisions made with AI
Digital ghosts, consent, and memory after someone dies
The human value of critical thinking, reflection, and grief
Episode Highlights:
“I'd say I'm scared that technology is quietly and slowly destroying our tolerance for other human beings, and it's eroding human patience.” - 2:30 - Jen Campbell
“If you take a breath whilst you're expressing your opinion, other people in the room take that as a moment to jump in and interrupt you.” - 9:35 - Matt Webster
“The danger may not be that chatbots are becoming too human. It may be that humans start to feel too inconvenient.” - 11:05 - Jag Sharma
“I think this is why it's like a silent killer. It's been coming for a while. It's been coming slowly for us. It's gotten worse and worse.” - 11:50 - Jen Campbell
“What happens when artificial intelligence becomes so sophisticated that the AI systems we're using can communicate to each other in ways that we as humans, as creators of them, can't understand.” - 21:05 - Matt Webster
“So I guess we can outsource the decision, but we can't outsource the responsibility.” - 32:35 - Jag Sharma
“I think that if you give consent before you die, it makes sense. But using somebody after they've died doesn't feel right. There needs to have been some sort of agreement.” - 40:20 - Matt Webster
“Grief may be one of the last human experiences. So we should be careful about turning it into a subscription model.” - 45:35 - Jag Sharma
Links & references:
Jen Campbell:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-m-campbell/
Matt Webster:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwwebster/
Jag Sharma: