Intelligence Explosion: Managing the coming wave of hybrid intelligence

In this final episode of Season 1 of The Intelligence Explosion podcast host Tamim Asey sits down with Professor Nick Srnicek of King’s College London who is a leading authority and one of the sharpest minds dissecting the intersection of artificial intelligence, capitalism and power.Prof. Srnicek, author of the upcoming book Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI, unpacks how the race for AI supremacy is reshaping global capitalism from compute monopolies and infrastructure control to the brewing AI Cold War between the U.S. and China.Together, they explore:•What exactly are “AI Empires,” and who controls them?•The hidden infrastructures — chips, clouds, and data pipelines — that decide the balance of digital power.•How the AI bubble might burst, and what comes next.•Why the future of capitalism itself may depend on who commands the algorithms.This conversation isn’t just about technology but it’s about the architecture of power, sovereignty and survival in the age of artificial intelligence.Tune in for a deep, thrilling, and eye-opening discussion that peels back the curtain on Silicon Empires and the global scramble for algorithmic dominance.

In this episode, host Tamim Asey sits down with Associate Professor Lauren Gould, a leading scholar of conflict studies at Utrecht University. She is the Project Leader of the Intimacies of Remote Warfare and Realities of Algorithmic Warfare research programs and a Senior Researcher at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Her publications and projects critically explore the politics of remote warfare, algorithmic decision-making, security assemblages and the militarization of digital infrastructures.The conversation centers on her co-authored paper "Tracing Algorithmic Harm: From Innovation to Deployment and Impact on Civilians" — written with Linde Arentze and Dr. Marijn Hoijtink. The paper examines the full lifecycle of military AI: from innovation and design in tech companies to deployment in programs such as Project Maven and Microsoft Azure and finally to the often-overlooked consequences for civilians on the ground.We discuss the expanding role of big tech firms in warfare, the accountability gaps created when algorithms make life-and-death decisions and how algorithmic harm is reshaping the ethics, politics and practice of contemporary conflict. This is a deep dive into the new frontiers of war where data, algorithms and corporate actors converge: raising profound questions about security, rights and the future of global order.

In this episode of the Intelligence Explosion podcast, host Tamim Asey sits down with Dr. Janos Mark Szakolczai, author of the forthcoming book Onlife Criminology: Virtual Crimes and Real Harms (Bristol University Press, 2025).Together they explore how the digital and physical worlds have collapsed into one, creating new forms of crime, harm, and power. The discussion covers everyday surveillance and predictive policing, Big Tech’s business models of addiction and inequality, digital colonialism in the Global South, the erosion of trust through deepfakes and conspiracies, and Dr. Janos’s call for an “Offlife” future to reclaim autonomy in a hyperconnected world.It’s a thought-provoking conversation about the hidden architectures of control, the future of digital freedoms, and the urgent choices societies face. Tune in for an eye-opening journey into the Onlife.

In this episode of the Intelligence Explosion podcast, host Tamim Asey is joined by Professor Andrew Hoskins, Professor of AI, Memory & War at the University of Edinburgh. A leading authority on digital memory and conflict, Professor Hoskins has written extensively on how technology transforms the ways societies record, remember and forget.He currently leads the ERC/UKRI-funded WARSHARE project, a five-year study of digital participation in the Russian war against Ukraine. His landmark works include Radical War: Data, Attention & Control in the Twenty-First Century, and his forthcoming books Memorybot: AI and the End of the Human Past and The AI Memory Machine: Why the Past is All Over will push the debate even further.In this episode we cover:•How memory itself has become a frontline in contemporary conflict.•The rise of “epistemic warfare” and the battle for truth in the digital age.•How AI reshapes remembrance and orchestrates forgetting in real time.•The weaponisation of archives, testimony, and authenticity.•Digital participation in war and lessons from Ukraine.•What Memorybot and The AI Memory Machine reveal about the future of collective memory.Tune in for a wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversation on AI, war, and the weaponisation of memory.

Autonomous systems are no longer the stuff of science fiction - they are already reshaping our lives in many ways . In this episode of Intelligence Explosion, host Tamim Asey sits down with Dr. Zena Assaad award-winning researcher, engineer and podcast host of Responsible Bytes whose groundbreaking work explores the promise, peril and paradox of autonomy and human-machine teaming.Dr. Assaad has been recognized as one of the Top 10 Women in AI in Asia-Pacific, awarded the Women in AI Defence and Intelligence Award and named among the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics. From unmanned aerial systems to human-machine teaming she has become a leading global voice on how we design, deploy and govern autonomous technologies responsibly.Together, we unpack:•The ethics and engineering of trust in autonomous systems.•How human–machine teaming is reshaping defense and security.•The risks and dilemmas of handing decision-making power to machines.•Why responsible AI frameworks are critical for defense innovation.•The future of autonomy: balancing control, responsibility, and trust.Join us for an insightful and deeply intriguing conversation that ventures into the uncharted frontiers of autonomous systems, technology and responsibility with Dr. Zena Assaad as our guide.

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a future concept in humanitarian work — it’s already reshaping how crises are predicted, aid is delivered and decisions are made on the ground.In this episode of the Intelligence Explosion podcast, host Tamim Asey with guests unpack the landmark July 2025 report, “How are humanitarians using artificial intelligence in 2025? Mapping Current Practice and Future Potential.” This is the first global snapshot of AI adoption in the humanitarian sector, co-authored by Ka Man Parkinson (Humanitarian Leadership Academy), Madigan Johnson (Data Friendly Space) and Lucy Hall.Our guests:•Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, part of Save the Children UK. She co-led the global study on humanitarian AI adoption and also produces the Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives podcast.•Madigan Johnson is Head of Communication at Data Friendly Space. She specializes in digital strategy, user behavior, and human-centered design, with a focus on responsible and ethical AI in humanitarian action.•Lucy Hall co-led the study alongside Ka Man and Madigan, bringing her expertise to shaping and delivering this pioneering global report.We discuss:•How humanitarian organizations are experimenting with large language models and algorithms in real-world operations.•The opportunities AI offers for crisis response and resource allocation.•The ethical and governance challenges that come with automation and predictive tools.•What the future might hold for accountability, agency, and human oversight in AI-powered humanitarian action.Read the full survey report here: https://www.humanitarianleadershipacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Initial-insights-report-How-are-humanitarians-using-artificial-intelligence-in-2025-Mapping-current-practice-and-future-potential.pdfTune in for a fascinating discussion at the frontier of technology, ethics and humanitarian futures.

In this thought-provoking episode of Intelligence Explosion, host Tamim Asey speaks with Dr. Sebastian Loewe, Director of UX Design at Virtual Identity and co-author of Design und künstliche Intelligenz, about his pioneering vision for the Empathetic Web—a future where our digital environments understand, anticipate and respond to human emotions.We explore how the concept emerged from his work in UX and digital interaction, the role of AI in fostering more human-centered online spaces and the design principles needed to make empathy tangible in digital form. Dr. Loewe explains how empathy can be measured, the challenges of implementing it across cultures and the ethical safeguards needed to ensure it’s used for good and not manipulation.Topics discussed include:•The origins and definition of the Empathetic Web.•Translating empathy into real UX design features.•AI’s role in emotional awareness and user interaction.•Risks and ethical dilemmas in designing for empathy.•How empathetic design could revolutionize the internet experience.🎧 Tune in for a conversation that blurs the line between human emotion and digital intelligence and reimagines the internet’s future. Available now on all podcast platforms. 

In this inaugural episode of Intelligence Explosion, host Tamim Asey speaks with Professor Elke Schwarz, a political theorist at Queen Mary University London and Vice Chair of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control. She is the author of the acclaimed book Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies and a leading expert on the intersection of emerging technologies, cognition and governance. As artificial systems increasingly simulate human thought and decision-making, we explore the scientific foundations of machine intelligence and the structural changes it is driving in warfare, policy and society.This episode covers:•What we mean by mind, intelligence and cognition, and how AI is redefining these concepts•The idea of intelligence explosion and the rise of hybrid intelligence•The ethical and regulatory challenges of autonomous weapons and algorithmic decision-making•The automation of public services and its impact on fairness, accountability and oversight•How responsibility is diffused and delegated in complex systems•National and global efforts to regulate AI akin to Geneva convention for Algorithms and Brettonwoods for AI and the critical gaps that remainDrawing on her influential work, including Blitzscaling War and Trolleyology: Algorithmic Ethics for Killer Robots, Professor Schwarz offers a compelling analysis of how machine cognition is reshaping power, responsibility and the future of governance.This is a deeply informative and insightful conversation on the future of human and machine brains, cognition and control.

Welcome aboard!