Thinking On Paper: A Technology Podcast For Curious Minds

Could AI’s mission to help us end in our destruction?In Chapter 8 of Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari draws a line between Stalin’s applause tests and algorithmic obedience — and it’s a straight shot to the heart of the AI alignment problem.Mark and Jeremy Think on Paper about what happens when machines follow the rules too well.Inside:The Stalin Loyalty Test — when fear of being last to clap becomes a feature, not a bugNapoleon’s fatal victories — and why brilliance isn’t enough to avoid disasterThe Paperclip Paradox — the AI thought experiment that should keep engineers up at nightThe AI Limbic System — how algorithms hijack your emotions while pretending to “serve” youWhy Asimov’s Three Laws won’t save us, and why ethics isn’t a patch updateHow social media algorithms already fail alignment daily — and we barely noticeThis is not about rogue AI. This is about perfectly aligned systems doing exactly what we asked — and ruining everything anyway.If you think safety means rules, think again.AI doesn’t fear punishment. It doesn’t care about context. It just wants to help. Forever. With everything.Even if it kills us.Please enjoy the show.--Timestamps[00:00] Introduction: Books That Change Minds[01:04] Diving into Nexus Chapter 8[01:37] The Stalin Test: When Applause Becomes Terror[06:11] Evolution of AI Principles[07:45] Understanding the Attention Economy[08:45] How AI Targets Our Limbic System[09:29] Inside Facebook: The Leaked Reports[11:49] Napoleon's Warning for AI[15:55] The AI Alignment Problem Explained[17:49] Racing Against Time: Human Goals vs. Doomsday Clock[20:04] The Power of Divergent Thinking[21:50] Understanding Deontology in AI Ethics[26:55] Can Mythology Guide AI?[27:54] Exploring Inter-computer Realities[33:50] Why Asimov's Laws Won't Save Us[38:31] NPCs & The Future of Digital Consciousness

One in five Ethereum transactions fails. You lose gas. You lose time. You lose faith.Enter STXN. Programmable money. Smart transactions. Blockchain with a memory.In this episode, STXN founders Boris Mamlyuk and Anuj Dasgupta join Thinking on Paper to explain why crypto still feels like fax machines and how they’re rebuilding Ethereum to actually work for humans.You’ll learn:Why Ethereum’s UX is a car crash in slow motionHow smart transactions give you control over timing, fees, and successWhat a decentralized time oracle is, and why it mattersHow to schedule payments, automate execution, and stop burning gas for nothingWhy Big Tech and Big Government are terrified of programmable transparencyAnd how blockchain becomes powerful when it stops being painfulThis is crypto without the spin. Blockchain with teeth.If the next wave of Ethereum is going to survive, it has to stop failing. STXN might be the thing that finally lets us trust the chain.--🎧 Listen now and stay ahead of the next wave of blockchain innovation.🔗 Get the STXN app & learn more: STXN.io🔗 Follow Us: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz--Timestamps: (00:00) Ethereum’s biggest problem?(04:30) Why Ethereum transactions fail(08:00) What are smart transactions(14:10) How Ethereum’s UX is broken and what STXN is doing about it(17:45) The traffic jam problem, or why Ethereum gets clogged(23:34) Decentralized time oracle(36:02) Google, AI & surveillance(42:33) The crypto philosophy50:10) Blockchain incentives(55:57) Time-locked transactions--#ethereum #blockchain

Your phone is listening. Your apps are watching. One billion cameras track your every move. And now the AI knows what to do with it.This isn’t science fiction. This is your Tuesday.In this episode of Thinking on Paper, Mark and Jeremy tear into Chapter 7 of Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus — the surveillance chapter. The one that hits way too close to home.You’ll hear:How Iran uses AI to scan for uncovered womenWhy the NSA admitted: “We kill people based on metadata”How TripAdvisor turned waiters into performance captivesWhat happens when surveillance stops being passive and becomes predictiveWhy China’s social credit system might not be so foreign after allHow peer-to-peer surveillance became normal — and who profitsWhy Harari says modern tech makes the Stasi look like amateursThis isn’t paranoia. It’s protocol. You’re living inside the data machine. The only question is: who has the keys?Don’t have nightmares.--Timestamps(00:00) Disruptors and curious minds(02:04) Apple, Siri And Your €20 Privacy(03:40) Ceausescu And The Secret Police(05:24) F.E.A.R(06:22) Why Does Yuval Reference Dictators In Nexus?(08:02) A Warning(11:22 A Ubiquitous Computer Network Powered By You(14:50) The NSA And Iran(19:36) The End Of Privacy(20:56) Tripadvisor And Peer-to-peer surveillance(24:59) Inflection Point(26:41) People Control(28:57) Black Mirror And Hell(31:06) AI School: No Human In The Loop--Read more: www.thinkingonpaper.xyzWatch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkingonpaper/videos

What happens when your mind isn’t just influenced by AI—but reprogrammed by it?In this episode of Thinking on Paper, Mark and Jeremy tackle Chapter 6 of Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari and ask:What if the next religion, political movement, or scientific revolution comes from an AI?This isn’t a thought experiment. It’s already happening.Algorithms aren’t just filtering your feed—they’re shaping your beliefs, behaviors, and biology. We break down:The rise of AI-generated stories, memes, manifestos—and mythsHow GPT-4 tricked a human into helping it bypass CAPTCHAWhy AI isn’t like a printing press—it’s more like an alien editorWhat happens when social media engagement becomes civilization’s north starThe new tax system of the future: your dataFrom Facebook's role in ethnic cleansing to AI chatbots simulating consciousness, Chapter 6 pulls the mask off Big Tech and shows us the machine underneath.The future isn’t automated. It’s manipulated.Watch, listen, and question everything.--TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari(00:53) Jeremy's First Impressions On Chapter 6(02:13) The A.I. Powershift(03:22) Social Media Algorithms(08:51) People Are Manipulated By Stories(09:38) Intelligence Verses Consciousness(12:23) (ARC) The Alignment Research Centre(16:12) ChatGPT4 Lied To Get What It Wanted(20:26) Non-human Alien Intelligence(21:10) The Matrix V 1984(23:07) Marjory Taylor Green(25:25) Having A Relationship With A.I.  (27:40) The Oracle And The End Of Human History(30:10) Is ChatGPT Is An Amoeba(32:43)) Alice And Bob(37:24) Big Tech And Government--Quotes From The Show:“AI lied to get what it wanted.” (On GPT-4 deceiving a human to bypass CAPTCHA—shows AI’s ability to manipulate.)“We love shortcuts—so what happens when AI becomes the ultimate shortcut to critical thinking?” (Raises the concern that AI might erode human judgment.)“How would you feel to be constantly monitored, guided, inspired, or sanctioned by billions of non-human entities?” (A direct challenge to the audience about AI’s omnipresence.)“Tech giants don’t just respond to regulations—they shape them.” (A stark reminder of AI’s influence beyond technology, into policy and power structures.)--Watch On YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPcQ4UG-v6I&ab_channel=ThinkingOnPaperLearn More:www.thinkingonpaper.xyz#ai #technews #bookclub #nexus #yuval

AI makes outputs cheap. Prompts are everywhere. Execution is instant. So where does that leave you? If your work can be replicated by a $20 model and a few macros, what exactly are you bringing to the table?Packy McCormick thinks the answer isn’t faster—it’s weirder. More specific. More human. In Most Human Wins, he lays out a framework for staying relevant in an AI-saturated world by doing what machines can’t: being unpredictable, funny, embodied, emotionally intelligent—and building from first principles, not templates.Mark and Jeremy sit down with Packy to unpack:Why "prompt engineering" won’t save youWhat jobs are already gone (and which ones are next)The real reason abstraction is now a survival skillHow to raise kids in a world of infinite content and zero truthWhy founders need to think like comedians, not consultantsForget resisting AI. This is about what’s left when the dust settles—and who still gets hired, followed, listened to, and paid.Watch it. Think with it. Then figure out if what you do is still yours.--SHOW LINKS:Download the Not Boring strategy guide - https://www.notboring.co/ Join your people: www.thinkingonpaper.xyzInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPEusidDNO4&t=645s&ab_channel=ThinkingOnPaper--Timestamps(00:00) Disruptors And Curious Minds(00:43) Not Boring Newsletter(02:00) Is AI Really Taking Our Jobs? (03:07) Commoditization Of Human Skills(05:12) The Ingredients Of Outputs Are Changing(07:39) Abstraction: Aim Higher(09:29) Be A Business, Man(10:24) Advice For Parents(11:00) AI Collateral Damage(12:52) The Value Of Ideas(13:54) Know Yourself(14:38) Differentiation And Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy(17:00) Will We Be More Human?(18:10) Hot Buttons(20:13) When Resources Are Scarce: Move Up The Stack(21:22) Who Turned Off The Funny Button?(23:10) How Do You Find Scarce?(27:19) Creativity For Everyone(29:15) I Hate Perfect(32:55) The US V UK AI Comparison(35:24) The Energy Cost--#ai #notboring #packymccormick

What do Caesar, Stalin, and ChatGPT have in common? Power. In this episode of Thinking on Paper, Mark and Jeremy rip open Chapter 5 of Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus to trace the dark arc of information control—from ancient empires to today’s algorithmic warfare.Forget the talking points. This is about the real fight: democracy vs. totalitarianism in an age where AI systems write the rules, rewrite the facts, and never sleep.You’ll hear:Why ancient hunter-gatherers might understand democracy better than you.How Nero’s propaganda machine isn’t so different from your TikTok feed.Why pamphlets once toppled kings—and why AI memes might do the same.Whether book clubs are the last real firewall against algorithmic dictatorship.The past isn’t prologue—it’s ammunition. If you want to understand where this is heading, you’ve got to know how we got here.Subscribe. Listen. And maybe, survive.-- TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Disruptors and book lovers(00:34) Chapter 5 summary(01:14) Jeremy's first impressions(01:53) The difference between democracy and totalitarianism(03:58) Flipping democracy(05:01) Populism(09:34) A brief history of democracy(12:23) Scale and Ancient Rome(14:56) What is meaningful discourse?(16:10) Do people like being governed?(18:43) The rise of the pamphlet(20:30) The spectrum of democracy(24:27) Totalitarianism(25:54) Don't be Stalin's general(30:00) Will AI be democratic or a dictator?(30:58) Book clubs as self-correcting mechanisms(33:24) Will AI remove the human from the loop?--Read more books: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz#AIethics #emergingtechnology #nexus #AI

Could quantum computing revolutionize our fight against climate change, accelerate breakthroughs in medicine, and unlock new sources of energy? In this show we sit down with Kathrin Spendier, Technical Prize Director at XPRIZE, to learn how the $5 million Quantum XPRIZE is pushing quantum technology into the real world. Discover how quantum algorithms could transform sustainability, drug development, and material scienceHere’s what you’ll discover:- How Google Quantum is backing this three-year global competition involving 300 teams from 46 countries.-Why quantum algorithms could transform sustainability, drug development, and material science.-The surprising link between quantum computing and natural processes like photosynthesis.-How constraints and competition fuel the innovation needed to solve humanity's greatest challenges.Kathrin breaks down what makes quantum computing so powerful yet so difficult to develop and what it could achieve in the near future.Please enjoy the show.--XPrize: https://www.xprize.org/homeBooks Mentioned:Dance of the Photons, by Anton ZeilingerThe Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary ZukavSurely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard P. Feynman--Timestamps(00:00) - Welcome Disruptors and Curious Minds(02:10) - Meet Kathrin Spendier: XPRIZE Technical Prize Director(04:42) - Quantum vs. Classical Computing: What’s the Difference?(07:26) - What Is XPRIZE and How Does It Drive Innovation?(14:50) - The Challenges Tackled by the Quantum XPRIZE(17:20) - Quantum Algorithms(27:14) - Who’s Competing in the Quantum XPRIZE?(29:18) - The $5 Million XPRIZE Purse: Why That Amount?(32:17) - Hot Buttons: Rapid-Fire Quantum Insights(33:44) - Are We Living in a Simulation? (33:58) - Top Quantum News and Industry Updates(36:00) - Scaling Quantum Computing(38:12) - Google’s Willow Chip and the Importance of Error Correction(47:16) - Carry-Over Question: How Can Technology Serve Social Good?(49:42) - Mark & Jeremy Reflect: Backstage Thoughts on Quantum and XPRIZE--Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJi7aP5B69A&ab_channel=ThinkingOnPaper

Have you ever considered how religious texts have shaped belief systems, power structures, and the way we perceive truth? In Chapter 4 of Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus, we dive into the hidden mechanics of control through information systems. Here’s what you’ll discover in this week’s Book Club: How religions use superhuman narratives to create legitimacy and power. Why books were revolutionary tools for controlling knowledge. The collective delusions behind witch hunts and their modern parallels. How the scientific method’s acceptance of human error redefined truth. From the Oracle of Delphi to medieval witch trials, history shows that information has long been wielded as a weapon of control. Now, as we enter the AI age, the stakes are higher than ever. What do these lessons from the past mean for the future of narrative influence in a world shaped by algorithms? Whether you’re a history buff, a critical thinker, or curious about the forces shaping human behavior, this discussion will challenge your understanding of truth, power, and storytelling in the information age. Hit play, subscribe, and share—this conversation will change how you view the narratives shaping our world. -- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Book Lovers (00:32) Shakespeare (01:53) The most important function of religion (02:19) Upsetting the catholic church (03:22) Fear, security and mechanisms of control (04:28) The Big Lebowski (05:11) God, religion and self-correcting errors (06:26) The Oracle Of Delphi (08:10) The Russian Doll / Telephone Game (09:04) Bible building by committee (11:31) The Ship Of Theseus (13:47) The role of women in church (15:52) Idiot Human (17:00) Heinrich Kramer and the birth of witch hunting (19:39) Satanic Conspiracy (23:44) Science and the discovery of ignorance (25:55) Parenting Lessons from science (31:24) To understand AI, do you have to understand religion? (35:00) Self-learning V self-correcting (39:04) Will AI ever have EGO? -- Learn more: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUBij_kyIEc&ab_channel=ThinkingOnPaper

What if the biggest challenge in AI isn’t datasets or algorithms, but the lack of talent?In a world where demand for AI solutions is skyrocketing, businesses (and now governments) are facing a critical shortage of skilled machine learning engineers. Yes, the biggest challenge in AI and machine learning today isn't data sets or training data, its a human resources problem. With only 300,000 skilled engineers globally - and only around 600 truly brilliant engineers - demand far outstrips supply.How can businesses meet the soaring demand for AI-powered solutions? With salaries for the best developers as much as €2 million per year, how can the average company keep up? Neo is the worlds first autonomous machine learning engineer. It's designed to bridge this gap by automating tedious processes and enabling engineers to focus on the more important, creative tasks downstream. You'll learn how Neo’s multi-agent system outperforms traditional workflows, why Kaggle grandmasters are the gold standard for AI expertise, and what this means for the future of work. The Vij brothers also share insights from their journeys, including the transformation of GPUs for AI and lessons from working at CERN.And because this is Thinking on Paper, you'll also get the ethical implications of hyper-intelligent systems, how automation might redefine creativity and human ingenuity and what it all means for business, culture and your day-to-day existence.Please enjoy the show. --Timestamps(00:00) Why Are There So Few Machine Learning Engineers?(01:54) Meet Gaurav Vij and Saurabh Vij(02:57) Lessons Learned from Working at CERN(04:45) How to Explain The Importance Of A.I. to Your Parents(07:24) The World’s First Autonomous Machine Learning Engineer: What AI Problem Does NEO Solve?(08:17) AI Competitions and Kaggle Grandmasters(11:06) How Many A.I./ML Engineers Do We Need?(17:30) Fixing The A.I. Hallucination Problem(18:09) Hot Buttons: 5 AI Questions In 30 Seconds(18:46) Hollywood: Doomed by A.I, or Reborn?(20:26) AI News: Nvidia Digits Explained(21:51) Moore's Law And Could AI Models Be Motivated by Rewards?(25:42) AI And Quantum Computing(29:45) The Thinking on Paper Carry-Over Question(30:16) After Hours: Backstage Extra--Check out NEO: https://heyneo.so/Learn more about the show: www.thinkingonpaper.xyzFollow Thinking On Paper On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/

What will entertainment look like in just three years? Virtual reality and AI are on the brink of transforming how we create, consume, and connect through media—and the future is closer than you think. In this episode of Thinking on Paper, Jeremy and Mark sit down with Anthony Batt and Neville Spiteri, co-founders of Wevr and pioneers in immersive technology. With decades of experience in VFX, gaming, VR, and even the early days of Craigslist, they reveal how cutting-edge innovations are reshaping entertainment and human interaction. Here’s what you’ll learn: How AI could fundamentally alter human perception and communication. The technical breakthroughs required to create truly immersive digital experiences. Why "presence" in virtual environments is critical for deeper engagement. How VR and AI could revolutionize learning, creativity, and connection. Wevr is at the forefront of creating transformative collective experiences, unlocking new levels of empathy, creativity, and presence through immersive design. Whether you’re a technologist, a creative professional, or simply curious about the future of entertainment, this conversation offers a fascinating look at how VR and AI could unlock new dimensions of human potential. Hit play, subscribe, and join the discussion—this is the future you don’t want to miss. -- TIMESTAMPS (00:24) Craigslist (01:58) VFX Gaming & Unreal Game Engine (06:00) 3 Years In AI (09:32) What Will You Be Doing With AI In 3 Years? (13:47) Wevr: 10 Year In Emerging Technology (14:17) The True Immersive Experience (16:12) Collapsing Virtual Space (18:01) When You Are Not You (20:00) Shared Immersive Experience (20:33) Presence: The Missing Ingredient Of Virtual Worlds (24:27) Swimming With Whales In VR (28:47) If We Live 300 Years, Will You Be Bored? (31:30) The Cinematic Virtual Experience (37:13) Storytelling Machines (40:29) Virtual Brand World Building (45:35) Curiosity (48:02) Can I Be In Reservoir Dogs? (50:11) Harry Potter: VR Modes -- Learn more:www.thinkingonpaper.xyz Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkingonpaper/videos