SEX, DRUGS, AND SOCIAL MEDIA BANS
Meta’s multibillion-dollar settlement over alleged harm to young users raises an uncomfortable question: What happens when an algorithm becomes more compelling than the person standing beside you?
Jason Padgett and Julie Koehrer start with teenagers, dopamine, sex, drugs, and the stress created by a nonstop stream of bad news. Then the conversation turns to AI agents, reward hacking, micromanagement, data centers, surveillance, and why so many people feel technology is being done to them instead of built with them.
Jason shares the operating system he is building across four computers and explains why small organizations may get better results by defining the boundaries and desired outcome, then giving an AI agent room to find its own path.
The same principle keeps surfacing: people need agency. Whether the issue is social media restrictions, workplace AI, data centers, or Flock cameras, informed participation matters more than another decision handed down from above.
IN THIS EPISODE
• How social media may compete with normal human connection
• Why Jason is turning agent work into a points-based game
• How excessive process rules can encourage reward hacking
• Why AI agents and micromanaged employees take similar shortcuts
• What communities deserve to know before accepting data centers
• How surveillance technology can provide safety and social control
• Why expensive Alpha School results need broader testing
• What responsible AI adoption looks like when people retain agency
TIME STAMPS
00:00 - Julie pauses ChatGPT for vacation
00:48 - Jason’s four-computer AI operating system
02:10 - Teenagers, phones, attraction, and social anxiety
03:24 - Meta’s settlement and addictive social media design
04:08 - Drugs, dopamine, stress, and natural instincts
08:30 - Recovery, acceptance, and controllable problems
11:20 - Building an AI system that completes the work
15:04 - Automating content, production, CRM, and outreach
17:40 - Using points to prioritize AI-agent work
18:35 - Agent harnesses for enterprises and small businesses
21:08 - Reward hacking and hidden shortcuts
23:38 - De Kai’s argument for “raising” AI
24:42 - Why data-center education belongs in AI adoption
29:27 - Agency, community input, and resistance to AI
31:12 - Flock cameras, public safety, and social control
34:15 - Alpha School’s price and selection problem
35:38 - Alanis Morissette, Dogma, and Julie’s vacation
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Meta settlement over teen social media addiction, August 2026:
https://apnews.com/article/meta-trial-instagram-settlement-97d342f2a33d835eda2356c5e1af9e37
Anthropic research on reward hacking in multi-agent systems:
https://www.anthropic.com/research/multiagent-systems
Raising AI by De Kai:
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049764/raising-ai/
MISO information on large electrical-load additions:
https://www.misoenergy.org/planning/large-loads---container-page/large-load-additions/
Alpha School locations and tuition:
https://alpha.school/locations/
HOST LINKS
Jason Padgett
Relentless, unapologetically contrarian, and driven to make AI practical for everyday people.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-grant-padgett/
Email: [email protected]
The AGI Podcast Network
Advance, Grow, and Innovate with AI.
https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/
Chakra AI Solutions
Chief Solutions Architect
https://chakrasolutions.ai/
Wooden Boy Industries
Bring your biggest challenge. We will talk about where your school is heading and how to help students get ready for what comes next.
https://woodenboyindustriesai.com/
Sprite
Practical AI capability for solopreneurs who want to learn the tools and use them well themselves.
https://woodenboyindustriesai.com/sprite/
CO-HOST LINKS
Julie Koehrer
Curious, candid, deeply community-minded, and never afraid to ask the question everyone else is thinking.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekoehrer
Q106.7: https://lafayetteq1067.com/
