Stay ConnectedVoice notes from your favorite humanist and Harvard PhD Candidate on the AI developments that actually matter!
Each episode, I break down what’s happening in AI, from new research to policy shifts to workplace transformations, and explain what it means through a humanities lens.
No hype, no jargon, just clear thinking about how AI is reshaping work, knowledge, and society.
If you like to think critically about the future, this place is for you!
In this episode, I break down Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica Silbey's paper "How AI Destroys Institutions" and explain why anyone who cares about knowledge, power, and culture needs to get involved in AI governance NOW.
KEY POINTS:
Read the Paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5870623
My AI Collapse Thesis: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/ais-hidden-crisis-the-industry-is
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AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
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ChatGPT coughed during a study session and it broke a student's brain. For a split second, their mind processed: "Wait, is it sick?" This seemingly small moment reveals why the entire debate about AI consciousness is asking the wrong question.
In this episode, I explore why the appearance of AI consciousness matters infinitely more than whether AI is "truly" conscious. Drawing on Kant's distinction between phenomena and noumena, and Foucault's theory of epistemes, I argue we might be entering a fourth episteme where language doesn't just represent reality—it constitutes it.
I break down Mustafa Suleyman's (Microsoft AI CEO) warning about "Seemingly Conscious AI," explain why it can be built RIGHT NOW with existing technology, and explore the three major risks: AI rights movements, psychological dependency, and fundamentally misallocated moral concern.
Sources:
Foucault, Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, 1966. Bookshop Affiliate Link for Paperback: https://bookshop.org/a/106838/9780679753353
Bookshop Affiliate Link for eBook: https://bookshop.org/a/106838/9780307819307
Mustafa Suleyman, "Seemingly Conscious AI isComing." Personal blog, August 19, 2025.https://mustafa-suleyman.ai/seemingly-conscious-ai-is-coming
"Researchers Performed Psychotherapy on AI — Here'sWhat Happened." Nature, January 2025.https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04112-2
John-Stewart Gordon, "Artificial Moral and LegalPersonhood," AI & SOCIETY 36, no. 2 (2021): 457–71,https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-01063-2.
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AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
Even before AI entered the picture, we'd already lost the plot on work. This episode uses a viral Substack article about "the death of the corporate job" as a launching pad to ask deeper questions: What is work for? Why do we tie our entire identities to our jobs? And how do we create a future where work actually serves human flourishing?
Drawing on Hannah Arendt's philosophy, we explore the difference between labor (survival), work (creation), and action (meaningful engagement)—and why collapsing all three into "having a job" leaves us feeling hollow. We also examine why the fantasy of UBI + infinite leisure misunderstands human nature, and why the future of work isn't only about AI, but about confronting questions we've been avoiding for decades.
Read the Alex McCann's substack article here: https://thestillwandering.substack.com/p/the-death-of-the-corporate-job
**I was referring to the 2023 NEA reading study, not 2003. Read it here: https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-data-reading-pleasure-all-signs-show-slump
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Email: pr@iamshaeo.com
AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
AI data centers are reshaping communities, but they’re not inevitable, and they’re not unregulated. In this episode, we break down Microsoft’s new “Community-First AI Infrastructure” commitments, analyze what they actually mean, and explain how real communities have already blocked or reshaped AI data center projects.
Read the announcement with me while you listen: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2026/01/13/community-first-ai-infrastructure/
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AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
In this episode, I walk through the cultural reckoning that's already begun:
At what percentage does something stop being yours? At what point in the process does AI involvement "count"? And who gets to decide?
These aren't hypothetical questions. These are the standards being set right now—in awards committees, publishing houses, galleries, and platforms. The defaults being established today will shape what gets valued, compensated, and trusted for decades.
This episode isn't about being pro-AI or anti-AI, especially now that AI is everywhere and embedded. It's about being intentional. Because this shift is happening whether we're ready or not, and we get to decide what we value in the transition.
I want to hear your thoughts: Should human-made content carry a premium? Would you pay attention to a "human-made" label? If you discovered something you loved was AI-generated, would that change how you feel about it?
Let's figure this out together.
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AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
Learn the fundamental building blocks of critical thinking in this foundational episode. I break down what critical thinking actually means in practice and give you the tools to evaluate claims, spot weak arguments, and avoid cognitive biases.
In this episode, you'll learn:
This is a reference episode, so please bookmark it and return whenever you need a reminder of what clear thinking looks like.
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AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
California just implemented one of the most comprehensive AI transparency laws in the country and it's already facing a constitutional challenge. In this episode, I break down California Assembly Bill 2013, the AI Data Transparency Act that went into effect January 1, 2026, and xAI's lawsuit filed just days before.
What is AB 2013?The law requires AI companies doing business in California to publicly disclose detailed information about the datasets used to train their generative AI systems including sources, whether copyrighted material was used, cleaning processes, and more.
Why is xAI suing?xAI argues the law forces them to reveal valuable trade secrets, violates the First Amendment by compelling speech, and is unconstitutionally vague. Their central claim: this information helps competitors replicate their models but doesn't actually help consumers make informed decisions.
The bigger questions:This lawsuit raises critical questions about AI governance: How do we audit black-box systems? Who decides what "aligned AI" means? What happens when critical infrastructure is completely opaque? And how do we balance innovation incentives with democratic oversight?
Topics covered:
Key questions for you:What level of transparency should we demand from AI systems that make decisions about our lives? Should training data be considered proprietary trade secrets? How do we create accountability for systems we can't fully understand?
This is the second episode of Critical Thinking in the Age of AI, a podcast about AI's intersection with culture, society, and what it means to be human. If you care about thinking critically about our collective AI future, subscribe and join the conversation.
Resources mentioned:California AB 2013: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2013
xAI v. Bonta Lawsuit (Case No. 2:25-cv-12295): PDF linked in this article: https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2025/12/31/elon-musks-xai-represented-by-clement-murphy-firm-sues-california-law-ab-2013-the-generative-ai-training-data-transparency-act/
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AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
2026 won't be defined by what AI can do, but how we respond to the way it's already been impacting our lives.
In this episode, I share my 8 predictions for 2026: from the cultural reckoning coming when AI-made/assisted art wins major awards, to the rise of explainable AI, to a philosophical rebellion rooted in our deep human need for recognition.
We get into Alexandre Kojève's philosophy of recognition, Ubuntu philosophy ("I am because you are"), why privacy-first AI is about to go mainstream, and why I think AI policy will create a new kind of single-issue voter.
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Here is the post on the 5 different kinds of data: https://open.substack.com/pub/shaeomonijo/p/what-is-the-most-valuable-kind-of?r=2ptp7i&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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Check out my Stan store: https://stan.store/iamshaeo
Email: pr@iamshaeo.com
AI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guide
Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists
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