Daniel H. Wilson x Eric Anctil | Keep Evolving, Stay Human: Can AI Make Us Better People?

In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, professor  @DrEricAnctil  and science fiction author Daniel H. Wilson meet for a wide-ranging dialogue on artificial intelligence, human nature, and the uncertain futures we're building together. What begins as introductions between a media scholar and a roboticist-turned-storyteller unfolds into a profound exploration of how humans interface with technology, the cultural implications of AI, and whether our species can evolve alongside machines without losing what makes us fundamentally human.

Eric traces his academic journey from sports media and higher education to inventing his own role studying media, technology, and the cultural dimensions of innovation—focusing not on how machines are built, but on how humans engage with them. Daniel describes his path from growing up in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma through earning his robotics PhD at Carnegie Mellon to writing bestsellers like How to Survive a Robot Uprising, blending his technical expertise with indigenous perspectives and science fiction imagination. Together, they probe whether science fiction can help us navigate near-future scenarios, how different cultural frameworks might reshape our relationship with AI, and whether capitalism's profit motives can align with technologies that make us better people.

At the heart of the discussion lies a shared tension: we're living through a "wild west" moment with AI, simultaneously fascinated and terrified by what we're creating. The pair explore how social media addiction revealed humanity's vulnerability to engineered engagement, why "engaging" rather than "embracing" should be our stance toward new technologies, and how younger generations might inject different values into systems currently driven by shareholder interests. They also examine the anthropomorphization of AI in everything from autonomous vehicles to children's toys, and debate whether we can design AI companions that challenge us to be more empathetic rather than simply reinforcing our existing behaviors.

Through these exchanges, Eric and Daniel circle around an audacious hope: that despite the dangers ahead, humans can evolve together, retain their humanity, and create technologies that serve the greater good rather than merely extracting value.

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Learn More About the Guests

Daniel H. Wilson

Author and Roboticist | PhD, Carnegie Mellon University

Cherokee Nation Citizen | Author of Robopocalypse, The Andromeda Evolution, Pearl in the Sky

https://danielhwilson.com

Eric Anctil

Professor of Media and Technology, University of Portland

Founder, Cosmic North Studio | Author of Keep Evolving and Stay Human

https://cosmicnorth.studio

https://youtube.com/@UCjeiKRid_5RsYCWvMJ5KhVQ

https://ericanctil.com

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Timestamps

00:00:27 – Introductions: Robots, fiction, and the human side of AI

00:04:12 – How science fiction predicts and shapes the future

00:06:00 – Voyeurism, exhibitionism, and the psychology of social media

00:08:14 – The real “robopocalypse”: attention as the new battleground

00:10:47 – Consciousness, sentience, and the rise of AI companions

00:13:40 – Infotainment, learning, and the erosion of deep knowledge

00:15:45 – The domestication of robots and humans

00:17:18 – Psychosis, ego, and the hidden dangers of AI interaction

00:19:59 – Deifying machines and the illusion of digital gods

00:21:26 – Reciprocity, empathy, and losing our social reflexes

00:27:24 – Why machines flatter us and how it makes them dangerous

00:29:23 – Working inside the machine: morality, capitalism, and complicity

00:33:05 – Bezos, efficiency, and the dark logic of progress

00:36:25 – Hole in the Sky and the idea of Indigenous technology

00:39:51 – Is AI the new colonizer and are we its resources

00:42:31 – The peer-opticon: how we surveil each other for free

00:47:20 – Hive minds, utopias, and the illusion of collective intelligence