S13E4: Who Governs AI? The U.S. State vs. Federal Showdown, with Alexandra Tsalidis

Send a textIn this episode of Age of AI, I share a conversation with international business attorney Jonathan Bench on what it means to govern intelligence in a rapidly shifting legal and geopolitical landscape. We explore how AI is reshaping the practice of law, what is keeping boards and executives up at night, whether regulation is constraining or enabling innovation, and why the global competition over AI may ultimately be a race to define standards rather than simply build faster models. Drawing on Jonathan’s experience advising companies, founders, and investment funds across multiple continents, this discussion examines the intersection of corporate governance, regulatory strategy, and long-term national competitiveness in the age of artificial intelligence.Links:Jonathan Bench Personal Page AEGIX AI Law and Governance PracticumLawbalization Podcast 

Send a textFrom AI built religions on Moltbook to human simulation platforms like RentAHuman, the boundaries between human and machine are already blurring. While Congress debates national frameworks, US states are advancing their own AI transparency and safety laws. In this episode, Alexandra Tsalidis of the Future of Life Institute breaks down how state governments are shaping AI policy, why voters are backing these efforts, and how a growing federal preemption fight could determine who governs AI in America.Links:Alexandra Tsalidis - Future of Life InstituteMoltbook: AI bots use social network to create religions and deal digital drugs – but are some really humans in disguise?The Hill Republican who could get a deal on AI — if his leadership lets him ‘Vance Is Handcuffed’: The Tech Fight Bedeviling 2028 Republicans

Send a textIn this episode, we sit down with entrepreneur, investor, educator, and author Jeff Burnigham to explore what it truly means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence. The author of  bestselling book: The Last Book Written by a Human, Jeff reframes AI not as a technological challenge but as a human one. We discuss why simulated understanding is not the same as lived experience, how love, loss, and wisdom ground us in an age of acceleration, the risks of synthetic relationships and attention capture, and why becoming an anomaly willing to step outside normalized patterns may be essential to shaping a more humane future.Links:Jeff Burningham LinkedInThe Last Book Written by a HumanPodcasting @ The Extraordinary Us

Send a textIn this episode of Age of AI, Medlir sits down with Melissa McKay, Founder of the Digital Childhood Institute. They examine how Big Tech platforms and app store gatekeepers have failed to protect kids online. From Google emailing children in order to remove parental controls, to deceptive app age ratings, we discuss how safety breakdowns are not accidents but predictable outcomes of misaligned incentives. Online harm to children is not inevitable. It appears to be designed, normalized, and protected by powerful systems that profit from inaction.Links:Digital Childhood Institute Google’s Broken Promise of Safety Child Advocates File Landmark FTC Complaint Against Apple Over Pervasive Harms to Kids OpenAI, childrens’ advocates join forces on initiative to protect kids from chatbots Grok, CSAM, and the Gatekeepers Who Looked Away H.B. 273 Classroom Technology Amendments 

Send a textIn this episode of Age of AI, Medlir speaks with Seth Lewis, professor at the University of Oregon and a leading scholar of journalism, AI, and communication. The conversation explores what Lewis calls the “AI turn” in journalism: a moment when generative AI begins to challenge core ideas about authorship, creativity, trust, and professional identity. We examine how AI is moving from a backstage technology to an active participant in communication, how it shapes trust in society, and how we can retain our ability to ‘think’ in an age of AI.Episode Links:https://www.sethlewis.org/Artificial intelligence and communication: A human–machine communication research agendaTechnological Hype and AI in Journalism: Five Functions and Why They MatterGenerative AI and its disruptive challenge to journalism: An institutional analysisThe AI turn in journalism: Disruption, adaptation, and democratic futures

Send a textIn this episode, host Chris Lamont is joined by Christoph Regli, Swiss Air Force drone pilot, commercial airline pilot, and aviation scholar, to explore one of the most unsettling questions in civil aviation governance: would you trust an aircraft with no human pilot on board?Drawing on his experience as a pilot, engineer, regulator, and researcher, Regli unpacks the regulatory, technical, and societal challenges of introducing AI pilots into the cockpit. The conversation moves beyond technology to examine trust, certification versus licensing, human versus machine judgment, and why aviation regulation, which is “written in blood,” poses unique obstacles to autonomous flight.From sensor reliability and explainability to accountability, social acceptance, and the future of pilot training, this episode offers a rare insider perspective on why fully autonomous commercial aviation remains elusive and what would need to change before society is ready to board.Links:On Automation of Flight Training of AI Pilots: A Formal Language to Particularize Flight Instruction Scenarios Could AI make flying more dangerous? | Christoph Regli | TEDxZHAWThis episode is part of a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 25K04983 project “Global Governance of Civil Aviation in the Indo-Pacific” 2025-2027

Send a textFresh off the 2025 Utah AI Summit, Utah’s Department of Commerce director Margaret Busse joins us to break down what really happened when policymakers, educators, and tech leaders came together to imagine a Pro Human future. We talk standout moments, surprises, and why Utah’s new Office of AI Policy is getting national attention. This conversation offers a clear view into how Utah is positioning itself at the forefront of responsible AI leadership.Links:Margaret Busse Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy Utah AI Summit 

Send a textCaryn Lusinchi returns to unpack a whirlwind week in AI policy across the EU and the United States. We break down the European Commission's new Digital Omnibus proposals and a leaked US executive order that aims to rein in state-level AI rules, looking at what these moves could mean for companies, regulators, and the future of AI governance. A fast-moving and timely conversation at the crossroads of technology, law, and society."Links:Digital Omnibus Regulation ProposalLaunching the Genesis MissionWhat the leaked AI executive order tells us about the Big Tech power grab

Send a textIn this episode, Medlir sits down with Dr. Elke Schwarz—Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University of London and author of Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies—to explore how AI is transforming not only the tools of war, but the very way we understand conflict, responsibility, and humanity itself. We also explore the rise of apocalyptic narratives surrounding AI—what Dr. Schwarz calls “techno-eschatology.” Why are end-times stories so dominant in our cultural imagination? What political possibilities do they shut down?Links:Eichmann’s inheritance – On AI and autonomous weapons in a darkening worldGaza war: Israel using AI to identify human targets raising fears that innocents are being caught in the netBeyond Law: Reaffirming the Centrality of Ethics in WarThe (im)possibility of responsible military AI governanceFrom blitzkrieg to blitzscaling: Assessing the impact of venture capital dynamics on military normsThe Silicon Valley venture capitalists who want to ‘move fast and break things’ in the defence industryConjuring the End: Techno-eschatology and the Power of Prophecy

Send a textIn this episode, Eugene Tan from RSIS Singapore and Chris explore how advances in aviation technology are transforming our airspace. With cargo drones and urban air taxis taking to the skies, how will an increasing number of autonomous or remotely piloted aircraft safely share the airspace with traditional aviation? What new security, privacy, and safety risks do such air mobility systems bring? And how will regulatory and governance regimes adapt to these challenges? Show Notes: https://www.caas.gov.sg/who-we-are/newsroom/Detail/asia-pacific-region-adopts-reference-materials-for-the-regulation-of-air-taxis-and-drones https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-low-altitude-economy-air-taxi-drones-policy-regulations-5419456 https://www.mlit.go.jp/koku/content/001757082.pdfhttps://www.euronews.com/2025/11/05/latest-drone-sightings-force-flight-cancellations-at-belgiums-main-airportThis episode is part of a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 25K04983 project “Global Governance of Civil Aviation in the Indo-Pacific” 2025-2027