41. Update on AI themes for 2026

Casting Spells for a Living: Prompting, AI “Magic,” and the Superpower ShiftJonathan revisits a 3.5-year-old episode and argues it has aged well as generative AI now turns ideas into apps, sites, songs, videos, and images, making human–AI interaction feel like “casting spells.” Reflecting on prompt engineering, they describe iterative prompting as a transient UX phase or a new loose form of programming, and connect today’s viral AI fabrications to a future where technology is indistinguishable from magic (citing Arthur C. Clarke). He worries society isn’t ready for everyone to have these “superpowers,” predicting disruption to professions, labor pricing, and the internet’s content makeup, alongside risks of abuse and regulatory backlash. Despite the challenges, he's optimistic, urging people to learn these tools, re-educate around imagination and creativity, and look ahead to AI moving from digital creation into 3D models, robotics, and the physical world.00:00 New Intro01:04 Is it prompt engineering or just incantations?03:20 Theme Song03:20 Introduction04:18 The UX of being a super powered wizard?05:42 How our modern world would look to someone from the 1950s.07:12 What happens when all people have magical super powers?08:19 What we can learn from the stories09:36 The cost of getting superpowers11:33 Looking forward to super powers 12:28 Acknowledgements12:28 Conclusion

Go to my ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see the video version of this podcast.In this episode, I explore six different things that I don't think we were expecting or ready for, but they're coming due to AI.Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.Agentic Loops and Loop Engineering: Who Controls the Loop?This episode explains why “agentic loops” suddenly became a hot topic in early June, sparked by Boris Cherny saying he no longer prompts Claude much because “the loops” do it, Peter Steinberger urging people to stop prompting coding agents and instead design loops, and Adi Osmani naming it “loop engineering,” which drew both “you invented the for loop” ridicule and warnings it’s only for a tiny minority. It traces the evolution from ReAct (reason–act–observe) and reflection, through Jeffrey Huntley’s “Ralph Wiggum” bash loop and Andrej Karpathy’s Autoresearch optimization loop, to today’s formal loop specs in tools like Codex and Claude Code (e.g., /loop or /goal) that define verification and stopping criteria. The key debate is control, cost, and failure modes: infinite-scale loops can burn money if mis-specified, shifting humans from “in the loop” to “on the loop” to set goals, guardrails, budgets, and success measures.00:00 Why Everything Is Loopy00:32 The Loop Engineering Spark01:50 Who Controls The Loop02:14 ReAct And Early Agents02:49 Ralph Wiggum Goes Viral03:45 Autoresearch And Optimization04:29 Modern Loop Specs In Tools05:34 Stacked Loops And Scale06:31 Infinite Failure Modes07:12 Humans In Loop To On Loop08:27 Shift Left And Control Surface09:27 What Happens Next10:15 Closing Thoughts

Go to my ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠ to see the video version of this podcast.In this episode, I explore six different things that I don't think we were expecting or ready for, but they're coming due to AI.Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.

Go to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ to see the video version of this podcast.My April Update to the "Top 10 things I want to see from AI in 2026".Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.

Go to my ⁠YouTube⁠ to see the video version of this podcast.My Top 10 things I want to see from AI in 2026.Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.

Go to my YouTube to see the full version of this podcast.Spotify blocks the AI generated music unless I register as a artist and sign up with a distributor.Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!This is the 12th and final episode of twelve days of CTRL-mas.Let's sing some carols.

Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!This is the 11th of the twelve days of CTRL-mas.I'm not an author, but today I'm publishing a short story. This is a speculative fiction short story created by and narrated by AI, but based on real deep research about the topic of universal translation between humans, animals, computers, plants, trees, and everything you could possibly imagine. Enjoy

Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year!This is the 10th of the twelve days of CTRL-mas.Today I'm exploring some often-forgotten-about technological breakthroughs that have had a phenomenal impact on our lived experience, the workforce, the economy, and everything we take for granted.Yet there are very few people who look at those as parallels to the AI revolution we're going through at the moment. So I wanted to suggest that alternative perspective and explore it through this deeply researched podcast episode.Enjoy.

Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year!This is the 9th of the twelve days of CTRL-mas.Today I want to tell the story of bitcoin through a much more human lens.

Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TechBackControl ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for the infographics and visuals which accompany this episode.Merry Christmas!This is the eighth of the twelve days of CTRL-mas.Today I want to tell the story of Ethereum through the lens of comparing it to Linux. They both have so much in common from their open-source roots to their community development to their rocky and fragmented approach to creating an ecosystem with a common set of principles and foundations. And I think we can learn a lot about where Ethereum is heading by looking at the story of Linux.