The Thinking Mind Podcast: Psychiatry & Psychotherapy E160 | How AI Hacks Your Mind (w/ Jacob Ward)
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Jan 30, 2026 
Jacob Ward, veteran technology journalist and author of The Loop, explores how design, behavioral science and AI shape our choices. He discusses how product teams exploit predictable decision patterns, why LLMs trigger emotional bonds, the risk of shrinking creativity into a hive mind, and practical ways to use AI without losing agency.
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Human Minds Are Predictable, Not Fully Rational
- Human decision-making is largely unconscious, pattern-based, and predictable rather than purely rational.
- Jacob Ward says this predictable irrationality makes people highly targetable by technologies that exploit instincts.
Dinner Pitch From Ex-Addiction Researchers
- Jacob Ward recounts a dinner where former addiction researchers pitched using addiction science to hook users on products.
- Their consultancy even called itself "Dopamine" and later gained mainstream attention on 60 Minutes.
LLMs Imitate Language, They Don’t 'Think'
- Large language models (LLMs) statistically mimic human language by pattern-matching vast text corpora rather than thinking.
- Jacob Ward warns our brains mistake fluent imitation for genuine understanding, fostering undue trust.
