Taking Back Control in the Age of AI: Creativity, Transhumanism & The Myth of Machine Consciousness

It is an ordinary human impulse to find a reflection of ourselves in the machines we build. But what happens when the lifeless begins to talk back, to paint, to compose and to simulate our emotions? How do we hold on to what makes us human? Today we hear from philosophers and writers Siri Hustvedt, C. Thi Nguyen, and Bayo Akomolafe on the myth of machine consciousness. Artist Jonathan Yeo, playwright and screenwriter Laura Eason, composer Max Richter, and photographer Ralph Gibson discuss why the struggle of the creative process cannot be outsourced. They are joined by actress Catherine Curtin, neuroscientist Liad Mudrik, tech journalist Jacob Ward, and museum director Chris Dercon, who examine the power of imperfection, imagination, intuition, and how to avoid getting lost in the machine.(0:00) Siri Hustvedt (Author of Ghost Stories, What I Loved) (4:07) Jonathan Yeo (Portrait Artist) (5:08) Catherine Curtin (Actress, Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things) (8:49) C. Thi Nguyen (Philosopher, Author of The Score) (10:35) Bayo Akomolafe (Philosopher, Writer, Founder of The Emergence Network) (13:41) Chris Dercon (Museum Director, Fondation Cartier) (17:58) Laura Eason (Playwright, Screenwriter, Three Women, House of Cards) (20:58) Max Richter (Composer, Pianist, SLEEP, Hamnet) (23:44) Jacob Ward (Tech Journalist, Author, The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices) (28:19) Liad Mudrik (Neuroscientist, Professor, Tel Aviv University) (29:04) Ralph Gibson (Photographer)To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews.Episode SiteInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“Imagining with precision is a very fundamental part of my work. When I sit down to write about anything, whether it be The Hungry Tide in the Sundarbans, or let's say The Shadow Lines, or Ghost-Eye. It's very important for me to get the topography right, to get the outlay of the streets or the house exactly right so I can actually picture all of that in my head. It's very important for me to have a sort of pictorial sense of what I'm seeing and what I'm writing about. Before I can write about it, I need to see it, as it were. So that's absolutely fundamental to my craft. That's just how I go about it. Like the Sufis say—behind the apparent reality is a hidden or batin reality. “In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with Amitav Ghosh about his new novel, Ghost-Eye. The novel is about reincarnation, but also a lot more. In our conversation we talk about the need to address the terrible set of environmental and other crises we face, and the seeming foreclosure of the imagination by the obsession with technology and the future it offers to us. Instead, we look to how we can fashion beginnings out of endings, aided by a renewed sense of wonder, curiosity, and awe. We turn to the body, to the haptic, and perhaps most important, to food as more than simply nourishment. In all this, story-telling, the revival of connections between living beings, and a deep sense of other times and places are central.(0:56) Planetary Crisis and Accelerating Disasters(3:50) The Lasting Impact of The Hungry Tide(5:00) Storytelling and the Existential Crisis(8:26) Imagining with Precision in Literature(12:46) The Denuded Human Existence and AI(15:37) Artisanal Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence(17:57) Food, Industrial Agriculture, and Memory(21:16) Cultural Assimilation Through Cooking(24:12) The Sociability and Joy of Cooking(27:57) The Failure of the Humanities(31:38) The Role of the Narrator(35:27) Regaining Our Sense of Wonder(37:04) Past Life Memories and Circular TemporalityEpisode Websitewww.palumbo-liu.com https://speakingoutofplace.com Bluesky @palumboliu.bsky.social Instagram @speaking_out_of_place

How much of our consciousness is shaped by our bodies? That rhythmical reality that Siri Hustvedt describes is something we often take for granted until it is disrupted by grief or illness. Much of what we consider the mind is happening in the body.Today, we're looking at embodied cognition, the idea that we think with our limbs, our breath and our physical interactions with the world. We will hear from researchers and neuroscientists Anil Seth, David J. Linden, Dr. Guy Leschziner and Daisy Fancourt, who are studying how much touch, sleep and the arts physically alter our brains. We will also talk with philosophers, advocates and spiritual leaders Arash Abizadeh, Bayo Akomolafe, Master Shi Heng Yi and Helen Whybrow. To understand how this translates into art and movement, we are joined by author Siri Hustvedt, curator Marie Nipper, psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, dancer and ballet stager Noelani Pantastico and choreographer Sean Curran.0:00) Siri Hustvedt (Author of Ghost Stories) (18:53) (2:22) Guy Leschziner (Neurologist, Author, The Nocturnal Brain) (3:45) Daisy Fancourt (Author, Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health) (5:08) Helen Whybrow (Shepherd, Organic Farmer, Author of The Salt Stones) (6:28) Marie Nipper (Dir., Creator Projects, Fmr. Dir., ARKEN Museum of Modern Art) (8:16) Arash Abizadeh (Professor, Political Science, McGill University, Author) (9:04) David Linden (Professor, Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Author of Unique, Touch) (11:16) Bayo Akomolafe (Philosopher, Founder, Emergence Network) (12:13) Master Shi Heng Yi (35th Generation of Shaolin Masters, Headmaster, Shaolin Temple Europe) (13:48) Anil Seth (Author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, Co-director, Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science) (15:41) Robert Waldinger (Psychiatrist, Harvard Study of Adult Development, Author, The Good Life) (16:40) Noelani Pantastico (Fmr. Principal Dancer, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dance Teacher) (18:02) Sean Curran (Dancer, Dir, Sean Curran Company)For more, listen to their full interviewsEpisode Site https://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/anth-body

Today, we examine how we will adapt to a changing climate and learn to listen to the Earth.(0:00) Abrahm Lustgarten (Reporter, ProPublica) (3:00) Jon Gertner (Author, The Ice at the End of the World) (5:32) Bill Hare (CEO, Climate Analytics) (6:35) Rob Nixon (Prof. Environmental Humanities, Princeton) (8:12) Louis de Jaeger (Co-founder, Food Forest Institute) (10:06) Kathleen Rogers (Pres., EarthDay.org) (11:31) Rebecca Tickell (Filmmaker, Kiss the Ground) (13:42) Ben Goldfarb (Author, Crossings) (14:56) Jane Madgwick (CEO, Plantlife International) (19:23) Jason deCaires Taylor (Sculptor, Underwater Museums) (21:02) William McDonough (Architect, Cradle to Cradle) (23:19) Euan Nisbet (Scientist, Royal Holloway) (26:06) Roland Geyer (Author, The Business of Less) (28:15) Ron Gonen (CEO, Closed Loop Partners) (29:34) Paul Shrivastava (Co-President, Club of Rome) (30:14) Carlo Ratti (Architect, Dir., MIT Senseable City Lab) (31:24) Osprey Orielle Lake (Founder, WECAN) (32:38) Liza Featherstone (Journalist) (33:41) Yolanda Kakabadse (Fmr. President, WWF)For more, listen to their full interviewsEpisode Site: https://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/anth-regen

Today we explore the collapse of the journalism business model, the rise of spin dictators and how disinformation has become the new censorship. As empires struggle and media consolidates, the pursuit of truth remains an act of hope. We hear from foreign correspondents and journalists Nicholas Kristof, Abrahm Lustgarten, Michael Maren, Richard Black and Jacob Ward. They're joined by scholars and economists Jeffrey Rosen, Sergei Guriev, James Fishkin, Richard Wolff and Daniel Susskind. Writers Viet Thanh Nguyen, T.C. Boyle and Lee McIntyre, TV showrunners George Pelecanos and Debora Cahn and activists Dean Spade and Mike Davis explore language, authoritarianism and human conflict.(0:00) Nicholas Kristof (Journalist, NYTimes) (3:03) Abrahm Lustgarten (ProPublica) (4:45) Lee McIntyre (Philosopher) (8:40) Richard Black (Fmr. BBC, Dir. of Policy, Ember) (7:40) Jacob Ward (Journalist) (10:50) Jeffrey Rosen (Journalist, Legal Scholar) (11:19) Sergei Guriev (Economist, Dean, LBS) James Fishkin (Dir., Stanford's Deliberative Democracy Lab) (14:14) Viet Thanh Nguyen (Author, The Sympathizer) (15:37) T.C. Boyle (Novelist, Blue Skies) (16:16) George Pelecanos (Writer/Co-creator, We Own This City, The Wire) (17:48) Dean Spade (Activist) (18:15) Debora Cahn (Creator, Netflix's The Diplomat) (18:51) Richard Wolff (Economist, Co-founder, Democracy at Work) (22:23) Daniel Susskind (Economist) (30:19) Mike Davis (CEO, Global Witness) (33:50) Michael Maren (Filmmaker, Fmr. Foreign Correspondent)https://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/anth-journalism https://www.creativeprocess.info/pod

“I've discovered in my studies of creativity in general that creativity is not about starting with a brilliant idea and then following a linear path to an execution of your idea. What I see in art and design is a much more iterative, wandering, exploratory process where the ideas emerge from the act of engaging in the work.”Dr. Keith Sawyer’s work focuses on creativity and human ingenuity. With over 20 books and a career that spans computer science, psychology, and the study of innovation, he has explored what it means to lead a creative life. Following his foundational research with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, his books include Explaining Creativity and Group Genius. In his latest book, Learning to See: Inside the World's Leading Art and Design Schools, he pulls back the curtain on how elite institutions cultivate the creative mind. He has been a jazz pianist for over 40 years. We will explore the evolution of his research, and what music and improvisation have taught him about life.(0:00) The Non-Linear Process of Creativity(3:12) Teaching Students to Find Their Own Aesthetic(7:13) The Pressure to Replicate Success(13:31) Guided Improvisation in Education (16:46) Unlearning Rigid Perceptions(22:52) Embodiment and the Material World(25:27) Deep Listening and Jazz Improvisation(27:09) Domain General vs. Domain Specific Creativity(30:07) Architecture as an Exchange(37:47) Learning from Nature: The Velcro Lesson(42:54) Gen AI and Human Ingenuity(44:42) The System of Improv(1:01:08) The Value of Problem FindingEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"What we need to do is learn from nature. If you think about how nature progresses through trial and error. I'm really a fan of how we can do open designs that citizens can respond to, and use the feedback in order to create similar systems to what happens in nature."Our guest today is Carlo Ratti, an architect, engineer, and academic who is deeply engaged with the critical questions facing our planet and its urban spaces. He's known for his innovative work at MIT's Senseable City Lab, where he explores how digital technologies are transforming our cities and for his groundbreaking design projectsaround the world. Carlo Ratti's work has been called everything from sensory city philosophy to a driving force behind the world of design. And having recently tackled one of the biggest challenges of our time as a curator of the 19th International Architectural Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, the exhibition Intelligence, Natural, Artificial, Collective seeks to fundamentally rethink architecture's role in an altered world and rapidly changing climate.(0:00) Learning From Nature's Trial and Error(1:20) The Senseable City(6:05) The Future Of Concrete and Circular Building(9:02) Peak Population And The Century Of The City(10:55) Transforming Architecture With Japanese Joinery and AI(14:36) Curating the Venice Biennale As An Open Lab(16:22) Blending The Natural And Artificial Through Data(20:32) Breaking Down Silos and Staying CuriousEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Look closely at the screen in front of you. It is no longer just a passive device; it is actively shaping your perception. Today, we investigate the cognitive and ethical costs of offloading our reason to algorithms and ask what happens when our tools begin to train us? We explore the rise of surveillance capitalism with those documenting the shift—technologists Jaron Lanier, Henry Ajder, and Antonella Wilby. We hear from those fighting to preserve our essence and agency—philosophers Iain McGilchrist and C. Thi Nguyen, economist Jeffrey Sachs and ecologist Carl Safina. Grounding us in the power of expression, are artists and writers Trevor Paglen, April Gornik, Etgar Keret, and Hans Ulrich Obrist. In these original interviews for The Creative Process, our guests remind us that we must never surrender our messy, human reality to artificial perfection.(0:00) Trevor Paglen (Artist) The cognitive cost of offloading our reasoning to AI (3:26)(2:28) Jaron Lanier (Computer Scientist, VR Pioneer) The Turing Test and the degradation of humanity (14:30)(5:42) Henry Ajder (AI & Deepfakes Expert) The unprecedented speed of generative AI(8:48) Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries) The fight for net neutrality(10:14) Antonella Wilby (Roboticist, NatGeo Explorer) Encoded biases, the danger of neutral tech(11:50) C. Thi Nguyen (Philosopher, Author) Thin metrics and the truth about screen time(13:09) Carl Safina (Ecologist, Author) Mechanization and human dignity(15:17) Jeffrey Sachs (Economist, Center for Sustainable Development) Citizen responsibility (23:06)(16:54) Etgar Keret (Writer, Filmmaker) Enslavement to the machine, outsourcing imagination(19:07) April Gornik (Artist) The historical parallel between AI and nuclear weapons(20:46) Iain McGilchrist (Psychiatrist, Author) Wisdom vs. utility in artificial intelligenceTo hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews here or http://www.creativeprocess.info/podEpisode Website IG@creativeprocesspodcast

“ Musk interestingly has this way of excluding the majority of the population from consideration, what he variously calls non-playing characters or NPCs, which is a category from video games, or sometimes bots, vampires. And this is a much more stark version of insider and outsider group creation than even hierarchies of race because it takes this one step further by taking very seriously the idea that other people are not only not human, but they in some way don't even exist, which is the literal reading of Musk's adoption of Nick Bostrom's simulation theory, which is that most people are simply programmable parts of a simulation and only a small number of people are actual players.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff about their new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. This is much more than a biography or popular account of Elon Musk, it is a radical analysis of a deeply disturbing, computational way of seeing the world. We see a mind that is profoundly troubled by any contagion spreading into seemingly closed systems—it can take the form of racial others, transpeople, “woke” populations, or most generally and dismissively, “Non-Player-Characters.” We talk about the dangers this mindset has on democracy and the public sphere, and argue that what we should do is to “embrace the woke-mind virus as a counter-revolutionary act.”Quinn Slobodian is professor of international history at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. His books include Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism, Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracy and Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right. Slobodian is a Guggenheim Fellow. has been an associate fellow at Chatham House and held residential fellowships at Harvard University and Free University Berlin. Project Syndicate put him on a list of 30 Forward Thinkers and Prospect UK named him one of the World’s 25 Top Thinkers.Ben Tarnoff's books include Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do-and How They Do It, and Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future. He's a contributor to the New York Review of Books, NYTimes and The New Yorker.(4:50) How childhood in apartheid South Africa shaped Musk’s worldview(11:05) Humans as NPCs(17:26) Memes & far-right discourse(21:40) Engineering ideology through Grok & probabilistic language models(33:03) Automating consent & isolating the public sphere(38:08) DOGE, the limits of cyborg optimization(47:46) Unwinding tech monopolies, Embracing the woke mind virus(53::20) Possible Futures of Carbon Musk & Contractor Muskhttps://www.creativeprocess.info/speaking-out-of-place-6/elon-musk-slobodian-tarnoffwww.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.com Bluesky @palumboliu.bsky.socialIG @speaking_out_of_place

“I think in terms of the Land-Grab project: looking at that history and really beginning to learn more about the history of education in the United States—and especially Indian education—a lot of that was new to me. So, our project that we did about two years ago, building on Land-Grab, was our Misplaced Trust investigation at Grist. We wanted to go back to those universities and start looking at not just the history of how they got their finances, but looking at the present to understand how dispossession and extraction are ongoing.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu and guests Tristan Ahtone, Andrew Herscher and Robert Warrior take a deep look into universities, and education more broadly with We focus on a critique of land grant universities, which were built on land granted by the federal government. What we learn is that lands were stolen from Indigenous peoples through violence-based treaties and seizures. These 57 universities have used wealth derived from those initial acts of theft to buy more property, expand holdings, and enrich themselves. In contrast, we see the continued harm these universities do to Native peoples. This harm comes what Herscher calls “non-memory,” which creates knowledge that distorts and omits historical truths and impedes upon Indigenous futures. We talk about the deep damage non-memory does to education for all, and the ways people have fought back to retrieve, restore, and grow knowledge through scholar-journalist activism like the Land Grab University project.(6:18) The Morrill Land-Grant Act and the Origins of Institutional Wealth(7:38) Visualizing the Massive Wealth Transfer(15:30) The Northwest Ordinance and the Architecture of Deletion(27:32) Reframing Education as Indigenous Negotiation(46:33) Settler Insecurity and the Politics of Non-memoryTristan Ahtone (Kiowa) is Editor at Large at Grist and one of the foremost journalists covering Indigenous affairs in America. He previously served as Editor in Chief of the Texas Observer and Indigenous Affairs editor at High Country News.Andrew Herscher’s work endeavors to bring the study of architecture and cities to bear on struggles for justice, democracy, and self-determination across a range of global sites. He is the co-founder of a series of militant research collectives, including Detroit Resists, Settler Colonial City Project, and the We the People of Detroit Community Research Collective. Robert Warrior is Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas and a member/citizen of the Osage Nation. He is the author of Tribal Secrets: Recovering American Indian Intellectual Traditions, The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction.https://www.creativeprocess.info/speaking-out-of-place-6/land-grab-universitieshttps://www.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.social IG @speaking_out_of_place