In this episode of Crazy Wisdom, host Stewart Alsop speaks with futurist Richard Yonck about the profound implications of our accelerating relationship with technology. Together, they explore the emergence of emotionally intelligent machines, the nuances of anticipatory systems, and how narrative frameworks help societies prepare for possible futures. Richard unpacks the role of emotion in AI and why cultivating foresight is essential in an age of rapid disruption.

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Timestamps

00:00 – The episode opens with Richard Yonck introducing the concept of artificial emotional intelligence and why it matters for the future of human-machine interaction.

05:00 – The discussion moves to anticipatory systems, exploring how technologies can be designed to predict and respond to future conditions.

10:00 – Richard explains how narrative foresight helps individuals and societies prepare for possible futures, emphasizing the power of storytelling in shaping collective imagination.

15:00 – A deeper look into affective computing, with examples of how machines are learning to detect and simulate emotional states to improve user experience.

20:00 – The conversation touches on the role of emotion in intelligence, challenging the misconception that emotion is the opposite of logic.

25:00 – Richard outlines how technological disruption can mirror societal values and blind spots, urging more thoughtful design.

30:00 – The focus shifts to long-term thinking, highlighting how future-oriented education and leadership are vital in an age of rapid change.

35:00 – Closing thoughts center around the evolution of human-technology partnerships, stressing the need for ethical, emotionally aware systems to support a thriving future.

Key Insights

1. Emotion as a Computational Frontier: Richard Yonck highlights that as we push the boundaries of artificial intelligence, the next significant frontier involves enabling machines to understand, interpret, and possibly simulate emotions. This capacity isn’t just a novelty—it plays a crucial role in how machines and humans interact, influencing trust, empathy, and cooperation in increasingly digital environments.
2. The Importance of Anticipatory Systems: One of the core ideas explored is the concept of anticipatory systems—those that can predict and react to future conditions. Richard emphasizes how building such foresight into our technologies, and even into our societal structures, is vital in managing the complexity and volatility of the modern world. It’s not just about responding to the future, but actively shaping it.
3. Narrative as a Tool for Foresight: The discussion underscores that storytelling isn’t just entertainment—it’s a powerful instrument for exploring and communicating possible futures. By framing future scenarios as narratives, we can emotionally and cognitively engage with potential outcomes, fostering a deeper understanding and preparedness across different segments of society.
4. Emotions as Integral to Intelligence: Contrary to the view that emotion impairs rationality, Richard points out that emotions are essential to decision-making and intelligence. They help prioritize actions and signal what matters. Bringing this understanding into AI development could result in systems that more effectively collaborate with humans, particularly in roles requiring empathy and nuanced social judgment.
5. Technology as a Mirror of Humanity: A recurring insight is that the technologies we create ultimately reflect our values, assumptions, and blind spots. Emotionally intelligent machines won’t just serve us—they’ll embody our understanding of ourselves. This raises profound ethical questions about what we choose to model and how these choices shape future interactions.
6. Urgency of Long-Term Thinking: The conversation brings to light how short-termism is a critical vulnerability in current systems—economic, political, and technological. Richard advocates for integrating long-term thinking into how we design and deploy innovations, suggesting that futures literacy should be a core skill in education and leadership.
7. Evolutionary Partnership Between Humans and Machines: Lastly, Richard describes the trajectory of human-technology interaction not as domination or subservience, but as an evolving partnership. This partnership will require emotional nuance, foresight, and ethical maturity if we’re to co-evolve in ways that support human flourishing and planetary stability.

Contact Information

• Richard Yonck's LinkedIn

I, Stewart Alsop, am thrilled to welcome Xathil of Poliebotics to this episode of Crazy Wisdom, for what is actually our second take, this time with a visual surprise involving a fascinating 3D-printed Bauta mask. Xathil is doing some truly groundbreaking work at the intersection of physical reality, cryptography, and AI, which we dive deep into, exploring everything from the philosophical implications of anonymity to the technical wizardry behind his "Truth Beam."

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Timestamps

01:35 Xathil explains the 3D-printed Bauta Mask, its Venetian origins, and its role in enabling truth through anonymity via his project, Poliepals.
04:50 The crucial distinction between public identity and "real" identity, and how pseudonyms can foster truth-telling rather than just conceal.
10:15 Addressing the serious risks faced by crypto influencers due to public displays of wealth and the broader implications for online identity.
15:05 Xathil details the core Poliebotics technology: the "Truth Beam," a projector-camera system for cryptographically timestamping physical reality.
18:50 Clarifying the concept of "proof of aliveness"—verifying a person is currently live in a video call—versus the more complex "proof of liveness."
21:45 How the speed of light provides a fundamental advantage for Poliebotics in outmaneuvering AI-generated deepfakes.
32:10 The concern of an "inversion," where machine learning systems could become dominant over physical reality by using humans as their actuators.
45:00 Xathil’s ambitious project to use Poliebotics for creating cryptographically verifiable records of biodiversity, beginning with an enhanced Meles trap.

Key Insights

1. Anonymity as a Truth Catalyst: Drawing from Oscar Wilde, the Bauta mask symbolizes how anonymity or pseudonyms can empower individuals to reveal deeper, more authentic truths. This challenges the notion that masks only serve to hide, suggesting they can be tools for genuine self-expression.
2. The Bifurcation of Identity: In our digital age, distinguishing between one's core "real" identity and various public-facing personas is increasingly vital. This separation isn't merely about concealment but offers a space for truthful expression while navigating public life.
3. The Truth Beam: Anchoring Reality: Poliebotics' "Truth Beam" technology employs a projector-camera system to cast cryptographic hashes onto physical scenes, recording them and anchoring them to a blockchain. This aims to create immutable, verifiable records of reality to combat the rise of sophisticated deepfakes.
4. Harnessing Light Speed Against Deepfakes: The fundamental defense Poliebotics offers against AI-generated fakes is the speed of light. Real-world light reflection for capturing projected hashes is virtually instantaneous, whereas an AI must simulate this complex process, a task too slow to keep up with real-time verification.
5. The Specter of Humans as AI Actuators: A significant future concern is the "inversion," where AI systems might utilize humans as unwitting agents to achieve their objectives in the physical world. By manipulating incentives, AIs could effectively direct human actions, raising profound questions about agency.
6. Towards AI Symbiosis: The ideal future isn't a human-AI war or complete technological asceticism, but a cooperative coexistence between nature, humanity, and artificial systems. This involves developing AI responsibly, instilling human values, and creating systems that are non-threatening and beneficial.

Contact Information

*   Polybotics' GitHub
*   Poliepals
*   Xathil: [email protected]

I, Stewart Alsop, had a fascinating conversation on this episode of Crazy Wisdom with Mallory McGee, the founder of Chroma, who is doing some really interesting work at the intersection of AI and crypto. We dove deep into how these two powerful technologies might reshape the internet and our interactions with it, moving beyond the hype cycles to what’s truly foundational.

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Timestamps

00:00 The Intersection of AI and Crypto
01:28 Bitcoin's Origins and Austrian Economics
04:35 AI's Centralization Problem and the New Gatekeepers
09:58 Agent Interactions and Decentralized Databases for Trustless Transactions
11:11 AI as a Prosthetic Mind and the Interpretability Challenge
15:12 Deterministic Blockchains vs. Non-Deterministic AI Intents
18:44 The Demise of Traditional Apps in an Agent-Driven World
35:07 Property Rights, Agent Registries, and Blockchains as Backends

Key Insights

1. Crypto's Enduring Fundamentals: Mallory emphasized that while crypto prices are often noise, the underlying fundamentals point to a new, long-term cycle for the Internet itself. It's about decentralizing control, a core principle stemming from Bitcoin's original blend of economics and technology.
2. AI's Centralization Dilemma: We discussed the concerning trend of AI development consolidating power within a few major players. This, as Mallory pointed out, ironically mirrors the very centralization crypto aims to dismantle, potentially shifting control from governments to a new set of tech monopolies.
3. Agents are the Future of Interaction: Mallory envisions a future where most digital interactions aren't human-to-LLM, but agent-to-agent. These autonomous agents will require decentralized, trustless platforms like blockchains to transact, hold assets, and communicate confidentially.
4. Bridging Non-Deterministic AI with Deterministic Blockchains: A fascinating challenge Mallory highlighted is translating the non-deterministic "intents" of AI (e.g., an agent's goal to "get me a good return on spare cash") into the deterministic transactions required by blockchains. This translation layer is crucial for agents to operate effectively on-chain.
5. The Decline of Traditional Apps: Mallory made a bold claim that traditional apps and web interfaces are on their way out. As AI agents become capable of generating personalized interfaces on the fly, the need for standardized, pre-built apps will diminish, leading to a world where software is hyper-personalized and often ephemeral.
6. Blockchains as Agent Backbones: We explored the intriguing idea that blockchains might be inherently better suited for AI agents than for direct human use. Their deterministic nature, ability to handle assets, and potential for trustless reputation systems make them ideal backends for an agent-centric internet.
7. Trust and Reputation for Agents: In a world teeming with AI agents, establishing trust is paramount. Mallory suggested that on-chain mechanisms like reward and slashing systems can be used to build verifiable reputation scores for agents, helping us discern trustworthy actors from malicious ones without central oversight.
8. The Battle for an Open AI Future: The age-old battle between open and closed source is playing out again in the AI sphere. While centralized players currently seem to dominate, Mallory sees hope in the open-source AI movement, which could provide a crucial alternative to a future controlled by a few large entities.

Contact Information

*   Twitter: @McGee_noodle
*   Company: Chroma

I, Stewart Alsop, welcomed Ben Roper, CEO and founder of Play Culture, to this episode of Crazy Wisdom for a fascinating discussion. We kicked things off by diving into Ben's reservations about AI, particularly its impact on creative authenticity, before exploring his innovative project, Play Culture, which aims to bring tactical outdoor games to adults. Ben also shared his journey of teaching himself to code and his philosophy on building experiences centered on human connection rather than pure profit.

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Timestamps

00:55 Ben Roper on AI's impact on creative authenticity and the dilution of the author's experience.
03:05 The discussion on AI leading to a "simulation of experience" versus genuine, embodied experiences.
08:40 Stewart Alsop explores the nuances of authenticity, honesty, and trust in media and personal interactions.
17:53 Ben discusses how trust is invaluable and often broken by corporate attempts to feign it.
20:22 Ben begins to explain the Play Culture project, discussing the community's confusion about its non-monetized approach, leading into his philosophy of "designing for people, not money."
37:08 Ben elaborates on the Play Culture experience: creating tactical outdoor games designed specifically for adults.
45:46 A comparison of Play Culture's approach with games like Pokémon GO, emphasizing "gentle technology."
58:48 Ben shares his thoughts on the future of augmented reality and designing humanistic experiences.
1:02:15 Ben describes "Pirate Gold," a real-world role-playing pirate simulator, as an example of Play Culture's innovative games.
1:06:30 How to find Play Culture and get involved in their events worldwide.

Key Insights

1. AI and Creative Authenticity: Ben, coming from a filmmaking background, views generative AI as a collaborator without a mind, which disassociates work from the author's unique experience. He believes art's value lies in being a window into an individual's life, a quality diluted by AI's averaged output.
2. Simulation vs. Real Experience: We discussed how AI and even some modern technologies offer simulations of experiences (like VR travel or social media connections) that lack the depth and richness of real-world engagement. These simulations can be easier to access but may leave individuals unfulfilled and unaware of what they're missing.
3. The Quest for Honesty Over Authenticity: I posited that while people claim to want authenticity, they might actually desire honesty more. Raw, unfiltered authenticity can be confronting, whereas honesty within a framework of trust allows for genuine connection without necessarily exposing every raw emotion.
4. Trust as Unpurchasable Value: Ben emphasized that trust is one of the few things that cannot be bought; it must be earned and is easily broken. This makes genuine trust incredibly valuable, especially in a world where corporate entities often feign trustworthiness for transactional purposes.
5. Designing for People, Not Money: Ben shared his philosophy behind Play Culture, which is to "design for people, not money." This means prioritizing genuine human experience, joy, and connection over optimizing for profit, believing that true value, including financial sustainability, can arise as a byproduct of creating something meaningful.
6. The Need for Adult Play: Play Culture aims to fill a void by creating tactical outdoor games specifically designed for adult minds and social dynamics. This goes beyond childlike play or existing adult games like video games and sports, focusing on socially driven gameplay, strategy, and unique adult experiences.
7. Gentle Technology in Gaming: Contrasting with AR-heavy games like Pokémon GO, Play Culture advocates for "gentle technology." The tech (like a mobile app) supports gameplay by providing information or connecting players, but the core interaction happens through players' senses and real-world engagement, not primarily through a screen.
8. Real-World Game Streaming as the Future: Ben's vision for Play Culture includes moving towards real-world game streaming, akin to video game streaming on Twitch, but featuring live-action tactical games played in real cities. This aims to create a new genre of entertainment showcasing genuine human interaction and strategy.

Contact Information
*   Ben Roper's Instagram
*   Website: playculture.com

I, Stewart Alsop, am thrilled to welcome Leon Coe back to the Crazy Wisdom Podcast for a second deep dive. This time, we journeyed from the Renaissance and McLuhan's media theories straight into the heart of theology, church history, and the very essence of faith, exploring how ancient wisdom and modern challenges intertwine. It was a fascinating exploration, touching on everything from apostolic succession to the nature of sin and the search for meaning in a secular age.

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Timestamps

00:43 I kick things off by asking Leon about the Renaissance, Martin Luther, and the profound impact of the printing press on religion.
01:02 Leon Coe illuminates Marshall McLuhan's insights on how technologies, like print, shape our consciousness and societal structures.
03:25 Leon takes us back to early Church history, discussing the Church's life and sacraments, including the Didache, well before the Bible's formal canonization.
06:00 Leon explains the scriptural basis for Peter as the "rock" of the Church, the foundation for the office of the papacy.
07:06 We delve into the concept of apostolic succession, where Leon describes the unbroken line of ordination from the apostles.
11:57 Leon clarifies Jesus's relationship to the Law, referencing Matthew 5:17 where Jesus states he came to fulfill, not abolish, the Law.
12:20 I reflect on the intricate dance of religion, culture, and technology, and the sometimes bewildering, "cosmic joke" nature of our current reality.
16:46 I share my thoughts on secularism potentially acting as a new, unacknowledged religion, and how it often leaves a void in our search for purpose.
19:28 Leon introduces what he calls the "most terrifying verse in the Bible," Matthew 7:21, emphasizing the importance of doing the Father's will.
24:21 Leon discusses the Eucharist as the new Passover, drawing connections to Jewish tradition and Jesus's institution of this central sacrament.

Key Insights

1. Technology's Shaping Power: McLuhan's Enduring Relevance. Leon highlighted how Marshall McLuhan's theories are crucial for understanding history. The shift from an oral, communal society to an individualistic one via the printing press, for instance, directly fueled the Protestant Reformation by enabling personal interpretation of scripture, moving away from a unified Church authority.
2. The Early Church's Foundation: Life Before the Canon. Leon emphasized that for roughly 300 years before the Bible was officially canonized, the Church was actively functioning. It had established practices, sacraments (like baptism and the Eucharist), and teachings, as evidenced by texts like the Didache, demonstrating a lived faith independent of a finalized scriptural canon.
3. Peter and Apostolic Succession: The Unbroken Chain. A core point from Leon was Jesus designating Peter as the "rock" upon which He would build His Church. This, combined with the principle of apostolic succession—the laying on of hands in an unbroken line from the apostles—forms the Catholic and Orthodox claim to authoritative teaching and sacramental ministry.
4. Fulfillment, Not Abolition: Jesus and the Law. Leon clarified that Jesus, as stated in Matthew 5:17, came not to abolish the Old Testament Law but to fulfill it. This means the Mosaic Law finds its ultimate meaning and completion in Christ, who institutes a New Covenant.
5. Secularism's Spiritual Vacuum: A Modern Religion? I, Stewart, posited that modern secularism, while valuing empiricism, often acts like a new religion that explicitly rejects the spiritual and miraculous. Leon agreed this can lead to a sense of emptiness, as humans inherently long for purpose and connection to a creator, a void secularism struggles to fill.
6. The Criticality of God's Will: Beyond Lip Service. Leon pointed to Matthew 7:21 ("Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven...") as a stark reminder. True faith requires more than verbal profession; it demands actively doing the will of the Father, implying that actions and heartfelt commitment are essential for salvation.
7. The Eucharist as Central: The New Passover and Real Presence. Leon passionately explained the Eucharist as the new Passover, instituted by Christ. Referencing John 6, he stressed the Catholic belief in the Real Presence—that the bread and wine become the literal body and blood of Christ—which is essential for spiritual life and communion with God.
8. Reconciliation and Purity: Restoring Communion. Leon explained the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) as a vital means, given through the Church's apostolic ministry, to restore communion with God after sin. He also touched upon Purgatory as a state of purification for overcoming attachments to sin, ensuring one is perfectly ordered to God before entering Heaven.

Contact Information
*   Leon Coe: @LeonJCoe on Twitter (X)

I, Stewart Alsop, welcomed Woody Wiegmann to this episode of Crazy Wisdom, where we explored the fascinating and sometimes unsettling landscape of Artificial Intelligence. Woody, who is deeply involved in teaching AI, shared his insights on everything from the US-China AI race to the radical transformations AI is bringing to education and society at large.

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Timestamps

01:17 The AI "Cold War": Discussing the intense AI development race between China and the US.
03:04 Opaque Models & Education's Resistance: The challenge of opaque AI and schools lagging in adoption.
05:22 AI Blocked in Schools: The paradox of teaching AI while institutions restrict access.
08:08 Crossing the AI Rubicon: How AI users are diverging from non-users into different realities.
09:00 Budgetary Constraints in AI Education: The struggle for resources like premium AI access for students.
12:45 Navigating AI Access for Students: Woody's ingenious workarounds for the premium AI divide.
19:15 Igniting Curiosity with AI: Students creating impressive projects, like catapult websites.
27:23 Exploring Grok and AI Interaction: Debating IP concerns and engaging with AI ("Morpheus").
46:19 AI's Societal Impact: AI girlfriends, masculinity, and the erosion of traditional skills.

Key Insights

The AI Arms Race: Woody highlights a "cold war of nerdiness" where China is rapidly developing AI models comparable to GPT-4 at a fraction of the cost. This competition raises questions about data transparency from both sides and the strategic implications of superintelligence.
Education's AI Resistance: I, Stewart Alsop, and Woody discuss the puzzling resistance to AI within educational institutions, including outright blocking of AI tools. This creates a paradox where courses on AI are taught in environments that restrict its use, hindering practical learning for students.
Diverging Realities: We explore how individuals who have crossed the "Rubicon" of AI adoption are now living in a vastly different world than those who haven't. This divergence is akin to past technological shifts but is happening at an accelerated pace, impacting how people learn, work, and perceive reality.
The Fading Relevance of Traditional Coding: Woody argues that focusing on teaching traditional coding languages like Python is becoming outdated in the age of advanced AI. AI can handle much of the detailed coding, shifting the necessary skills towards understanding AI systems, effective prompting, and higher-level architecture.
AI as the Ultimate Tutor: The advent of AI offers the potential for personalized, one-on-one tutoring for everyone, a far more effective learning method than traditional classroom lectures. However, this potential is hampered by institutional inertia and a lack of resources for tools like premium AI subscriptions for students.
Curiosity as the AI Catalyst: Woody shares anecdotes of students, even those initially disengaged, whose eyes light up when using AI for creative projects, like designing websites on niche topics such as catapults. This demonstrates AI's power to ignite curiosity and intrinsic motivation when paired with focused goals and the ability to build.
AI's Impact on Society and Skills: We touch upon the broader societal implications, including the rise of AI girlfriends addressing male loneliness and providing acceptance. Simultaneously, there's concern over the potential atrophy of critical skills like writing and debate if individuals overly rely on AI for summarization and opinion generation without deep engagement.

Contact Information

*   Twitter/X: @RulebyPowerlaw
*   Listeners can search for Woody Wiegmann's podcast "Courage over convention"
*   LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dataovernarratives/

I, Stewart Alsop, welcomed Alex Levin, CEO and co-founder of Regal, to this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast to discuss the fascinating world of AI phone agents. Alex shared some incredible insights into how AI is already transforming customer interactions and what the future holds for company agents, machine-to-machine communication, and even the nature of knowledge itself.

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Timestamps

00:29 Alex Levin shares that people are often more honest with AI agents than human agents, especially regarding payments.
02:41 The surprising persistence of voice as a preferred channel for customer interaction, and how AI is set to revolutionize it.
05:15 Discussion of the three types of AI agents: personal, work, and company agents, and how conversational AI will become the main interface with brands.
07:12 Exploring the shift to machine-to-machine interactions and how AI changes what knowledge humans need versus what machines need.
10:56 The looming challenge of centralization versus decentralization in AI, and how Americans often prioritize experience over privacy.
14:11 Alex explains how tokenized data can offer personalized experiences without compromising specific individual privacy.
25:44 Voice is predicted to become the primary way we interact with brands and technology due to its naturalness and efficiency.
33:21 Why AI agents are easier to implement in contact centers due to different entropy compared to typical software.
38:13 How Regal ensures AI agents stay on script and avoid "hallucinations" by proper training and guardrails.
46:11 The technical challenges in replicating human conversational latency and nuances in AI voice interactions.

Key Insights

AI Elicits Honesty
People tend to be more forthright with AI agents, particularly in financially sensitive situations like discussing overdue payments. Alex speculates this is because individuals may feel less judged by an AI, leading to more truthful disclosures compared to interactions with human agents.

Voice is King, AI is its Heir
Despite predictions of its decline, voice remains a dominant channel for customer interactions. Alex believes that within three to five years, AI will handle as much as 90% of these voice interactions, transforming customer service with its efficiency and availability.

The Rise of Company Agents
The primary interface with most brands is expected to shift from websites and apps to conversational AI agents. This is because voice is a more natural, faster, and emotive way for humans to interact, a behavior already seen in younger generations.

Machine-to-Machine Future
We're moving towards a world where AI agents representing companies will interact directly with AI agents representing consumers. This "machine-to-machine" (M2M) paradigm will redefine commerce and the nature of how businesses and customers engage.

Ontology of Knowledge
As AI systems process vast amounts of information, creating a clear "ontology of knowledge" becomes crucial. This means structuring and categorizing information so AI can understand the context and user's underlying intent, rather than just processing raw data.

Tokenized Data for Privacy
A potential solution to privacy concerns is "tokenized data." Instead of providing AI with specific personal details, users could share generalized tokens (e.g., "high-intent buyer in 30s") that allow for personalized experiences without revealing sensitive, identifiable information.

AI Highlights Human Inconsistencies
Implementing AI often brings to light existing inconsistencies or unacknowledged issues within a company. For instance, AI might reveal discrepancies between official scripts and how top-performing human agents actually communicate, forcing companies to address these differences.

Influence as a Key Human Skill
In a future increasingly shaped by AI, Sam Altman (via Alex) suggests that the ability to "influence" others will be a paramount human skill. This uniquely human trait will be vital, whether for interacting with other people or for guiding and shaping AI systems.

Contact Information
*   Regal AI: regal.ai
*   Email: [email protected]
*   LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alexlevin1/

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, I, Stewart Alsop, talk with AJ Beckner about how AI is reshaping the terrain of software development—from the quiet ritual of mate-fueled coding sessions to the radical shift in DevOps, tool use, and what it means to build software in a post-LLM world. AJ shares insights from his time in the Gauntlet AI program, reflecting on how platforms like Cursor, Lovable, and Supabase are changing what’s possible for both seasoned engineers and newcomers alike. We also explore the nuanced barbell dynamic of skill disruption, the philosophical limits of current AI tooling, and how rapid prototyping has morphed from a fringe craft into a mainstream practice. You can find more about AJ on Twitter at @thisistheaj.

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Timestamps

00:00 — Stewart and AJ kick off with mate culture, using it as a metaphor for vibe coding and discussing AJ’s caffeine stack of coffee and yerba mate.
05:00 — They explore how AI coding reshaped AJ’s perspective, from URBIT and functional languages to embracing JavaScript due to LLMs’ strength in common corpuses.
10:00 — AJ breaks down why DevOps remains difficult even as AI accelerates coding, comparing deployment friction across tools like Cursor, Replit, and Lovable.
15:00 — They outline the barbell effect of AI disruption—how seasoned engineers and non-technical users thrive while the middle gets squeezed—and highlight Supabase’s role in streamlining backends.
20:00 — AJ dives into context windows, memory limits, and the UX framing of AI’s intelligence. Cursor becomes a metaphor for tooling that “gets it right” through interaction.
25:00 — Stewart reflects on metadata, chunking, and structuring his 450+ podcast archive for AI. AJ proposes strategic summary hierarchies and cascading summaries.
30:00 — The Gauntlet AI program emerges as a case study in training high-openness engineers for applied AI work, replacing skeptical Stanford CS grads with practical builders.
35:00 — AJ outlines his background in rapid prototyping and how AI has supercharged that capacity.
40:00 — The conversation shifts to microservices, scale, and why shipping a monolith is still the right first move.
45:00 — They close with reflections on sovereignty, URBIT, and how AI may have functionally solved the UX problems URBIT originally aimed to address.

Key Insights

1. AI reshapes the value of programming languages and stacks: AJ Beckner reflects on how large language models have flipped the script on what makes a programming language or stack valuable. In a pre-LLM world, developers working with niche, complex systems like URBIT sought to simplify infrastructure to make app development manageable. But now, the vast and chaotic ecosystem of mainstream tools like JavaScript becomes a feature rather than a bug—LLMs thrive on the density of tokens and the volume of shared patterns. What was once seen as a messy stack becomes a fertile ground for AI-assisted development.
2. DevOps remains the bottleneck even in an AI-accelerated workflow: Despite the dramatic speedups in building features with AI tools, deployment still presents significant friction. Connecting authentication, deploying to cloud services, or managing infrastructure introduces real delays. Platforms like Replit and Lovable attempt to solve this by integrating backend services like Supabase directly into their stack, but even then, complexity lingers. DevOps hasn’t disappeared—it’s just more concentrated and increasingly a specialization distinct from traditional app development.
3. The 'barbell effect' splits value between experts and DIY builders: AI tools are democratizing access to software creation, allowing non-technical users to build functional apps. Yet this doesn’t flatten the playing field—it polarizes it. There’s growing value in both high-skill engineers who can build and maintain scalable, AI-enhanced systems, and low-skill users leveraging AI to extend their reach. But the middle—average developers doing routine app-building—risks being squeezed out. Success now hinges on openness, adaptability, and knowing where to play on the spectrum.
4. Context isn’t about memory—it’s about tooling: A key insight AJ offers is that context window size isn’t the real limiter for LLMs; it’s a UX issue. Tools like Cursor demonstrate that with the right infrastructure—error tracking, smart diffs, and contextual awareness—you don’t need infinite memory, just the right slices of relevance. It mirrors human memory: we don’t recall everything, just the crucial bits. Designing around that constraint is more impactful than waiting for models with bigger context windows.
5. The future belongs to those who prototype with conviction: AJ emphasizes that the ability to spin up ideas rapidly with AI is more than a technical advantage—it’s a philosophical one. People coming from a culture of iteration and lightweight experimentation are uniquely positioned to capitalize on this moment. He contrasts this with legacy engineers and institutions still approaching AI with skepticism or nostalgia. The ones who win will be those willing to reimagine their workflows, not retrofit AI into old mental models.
6. Sovereignty and convenience sit in quiet tension: While platforms like URBIT aim to give users sovereign control over their compute, AJ points out that ease-of-use platforms like Lovable and Replit are delivering on the practical dream of custom software for all. There’s a moral ideal to sovereignty, but in practice, many people just want software that adapts to their needs, not servers they can control. The deeper question isn’t just about owning your stack, but about where ownership and usability intersect.
7. AI doesn’t eliminate engineering—it clarifies its edges: Far from replacing engineers wholesale, AI sharpens the distinction between development and engineering. The role of site reliability engineers (SREs), DevOps specialists, and system architects remains crucial—especially in scaling, monitoring, and maintaining complex systems. Meanwhile, traditional “web dev” becomes increasingly automated. The craft of engineering doesn’t vanish; it migrates to the edges, where problems are less about writing code and more about ensuring resilience, scalability, and coherence.

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, Stewart Alsop III talks with Bobby Healy, CEO and co-founder of Manna Drone Delivery, about the evolving frontier where the digital meets the physical—specifically, the promise and challenges of autonomous drone logistics. They explore how regulatory landscapes are shaping the pace of drone delivery adoption globally, why Europe is ahead of the U.S., and what it takes to build scalable infrastructure for airborne logistics. The conversation also touches on the future of aerial mobility, the implications of automation for local commerce, and the philosophical impacts of deflationary technologies. For more about Bobby and Manna, visit mana.aero or follow Bobby on Twitter at @RealBobbyHealy.

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Timestamps

00:00 – Stewart Alsop introduces Bobby Healy and opens with the promise vs. reality of drone tech; Healy critiques early overpromising and sets the stage for today's tech maturity.
05:00 – Deep dive into FAA vs. EASA regulation, highlighting the regulatory bottleneck in the U.S. and the agility of the EU's centralized model.
10:00 – Comparison of airspace complexity between the U.S. and Europe; Healy explains why drone scaling is easier in the EU’s less crowded sky.
15:00 – Discussion of urban vs. suburban deployment, the ground risk challenge, and why automated (not fully autonomous) operations are still standard.
20:00 – Exploration of pilot oversight, the role of remote monitoring, and how the system is already profitable per flight.
25:00 – LLMs and vibe coding accelerate software iteration; Healy praises AI-powered development, calling it transformative for engineers and founders.
30:00 – Emphasis on local delivery revolution; small businesses are beating Amazon with ultra-fast drone drop-offs.
35:00 – Touches on Latin America’s opportunity, Argentina’s regulatory climate, and localized drone startups.
40:00 – Clarifies noise and privacy concerns; drone presence is minimal and often unnoticed, especially in suburbs.
45:00 – Final thoughts on airspace utilization, ground robots, and the deflationary effect of drone logistics on global commerce.

Key Insights

1. Drone Delivery’s Real Bottleneck is Regulation, Not Technology: While drone delivery technology has matured significantly—with off-the-shelf components now industrial-grade and reliable—the real constraint is regulatory. Bobby Healy emphasizes that in the U.S., drone delivery is several years behind Europe, not due to a lack of technological readiness, but because of a slower-moving and more complex regulatory environment governed by the FAA. In contrast, Europe benefits from a nimble, centralized aviation regulator (EASA), which has enabled faster deployment by treating regulation as the foundational "product" that allows the industry to launch.
2. The U.S. Airspace is Inherently More Complex: Healy draws attention to the density and fragmentation of U.S. airspace as a major challenge. From private planes to hobbyist aircraft and military operations, the sheer volume and variety of stakeholders complicate the regulatory path. Even though the FAA has created a solid framework (e.g., Part 108), implementing and scaling it across such a vast and fragmented system is slow. This puts the U.S. at a disadvantage, even though it holds the largest market potential for drone delivery.
3. Drone Logistics is Already Economically Viable at a Small Scale: Unlike many emerging technologies, drone delivery is already profitable on a per-flight basis. Healy notes that Manna’s drones, operating primarily in suburban areas, achieve unit economics that allow them to scale without needing to replace human pilots yet. These remote pilots still play a role for oversight and legal compliance, but full autonomy is technically ready and likely to be adopted within a few years. This puts Manna ahead of competitors, including some well-funded giants.
4. Suburban and Rural Areas Will Benefit Most from Drone Delivery First: The initial commercial impact of drone delivery is strongest in high-density suburban regions where traditional logistics are inefficient. These environments allow for easy takeoff and landing without the spatial constraints of dense urban cores. Healy explains that rooftops, parking lots, and small-scale launch zones can already support dozens of flights per hour. Over time, this infrastructure could rebalance urban and rural economies by enabling local producers and retailers to compete effectively with large logistics giants.
5. Drone Logistics Will Redefine Local Commerce: One of the most compelling outcomes discussed is how drone delivery changes the playing field for small, local businesses. Healy shares an example of a local Irish bookstore now beating Amazon on delivery speed thanks to Manna’s platform. With a six-minute turnaround from purchase to backyard delivery, drone logistics could dramatically lower barriers to entry for small businesses, giving them access to modern fulfillment without needing massive infrastructure.
6. Massive Deflation in Logistics Could Lead to Broader Economic Shifts: Healy argues that drone delivery, like AI, will drive a deflationary wave across sectors. By reducing the marginal cost of transportation to near zero, this technology could increase consumption and economic activity while also creating new jobs and opportunities in non-urban areas. This shift resembles the broad societal transformation brought on by the spread of electricity in the early 20th century—ubiquitous, enabling, and invisible.
7. Drones Could Transform Defense Strategy Through “Mutually Assured Defense”: In a thought-provoking segment, Healy discusses how cheap, scalable drone technology might shift the geopolitical landscape. Instead of focusing solely on destruction, drones could enable countries to build robust “defense clouds” over their borders—creating a deterrent similar to nuclear weapons but more accessible and less catastrophic. He proposes that wide-scale deployment of autonomous defensive drones could prevent conflicts by making invasion logistically impossible.

On this episode of Crazy Wisdom, I, Stewart Alsop, spoke with Neil Davies, creator of the Extelligencer project, about survival strategies in what he calls the “Dark Forest” of modern civilization — a world shaped by cryptographic trust, intelligence-immune system fusion, and the crumbling authority of legacy institutions. We explored how concepts like zero-knowledge proofs could defend against deepening informational warfare, the shift toward tribal "patchwork" societies, and the challenge of building a post-institutional framework for truth-seeking. Listeners can find Neil on Twitter as @sigilante and explore more about his work in the Extelligencer substack.

Check out this GPT we trained on the conversation!

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction of Neil Davies and the Extelligencer project, setting the stage with Dark Forest theory and operational survival concepts.
05:00 Expansion on Dark Forest as a metaphor for Internet-age exposure, with examples like scam evolution, parasites, and the vulnerability of modern systems.
10:00 Discussion of immune-intelligence fusion, how organisms like anthills and the Portuguese Man o’ War blend cognition and defense, leading into memetic immune systems online.
15:00 Introduction of cryptographic solutions, the role of signed communications, and the growing importance of cryptographic attestation against sophisticated scams.
20:00 Zero-knowledge proofs explained through real-world analogies like buying alcohol, emphasizing minimal information exposure and future-proofing identity verification.
25:00 Transition into post-institutional society, collapse of legacy trust structures, exploration of patchwork tribes, DAOs, and portable digital organizations.
30:00 Reflection on association vs. hierarchy, the persistence of oligarchies, and the shift from aristocratic governance to manipulated mass democracy.
35:00 AI risks discussed, including trapdoored LLMs, epistemic hygiene challenges, and historical examples like gold fulminate booby-traps in alchemical texts.
40:00 Controlled information flows, secular religion collapse, questioning sources of authority in a fragmented information landscape.
45:00 Origins and evolution of universities, from medieval student-driven models to Humboldt's research-focused institutions, and the absorption by the nation-state.
50:00 Financialization of universities, decay of independent scholarship, and imagining future knowledge structures outside corrupted legacy frameworks.

Key Insights

1. The "Dark Forest" is not just a cosmological metaphor, but a description of modern civilization's hidden dangers. Neil Davies explains that today's world operates like a Dark Forest where exposure — making oneself legible or visible — invites predation. This framework reshapes how individuals and groups must think about security, trust, and survival, particularly in an environment thick with scams, misinformation, and parasitic actors accelerated by the Internet.
2. Immune function and intelligence function have fused in both biological and societal contexts. Davies draws a parallel between decentralized organisms like anthills and modern human society, suggesting that intelligence and immunity are inseparable functions in highly interconnected systems. This fusion means that detecting threats, maintaining identity, and deciding what to incorporate or reject is now an active, continuous cognitive and social process.
3. Cryptographic tools are becoming essential for basic trust and survival. With the rise of scams that mimic legitimate authority figures and institutions, Davies highlights how cryptographic attestation — and eventually more sophisticated tools like zero-knowledge proofs — will become fundamental. Without cryptographically verifiable communication, distinguishing real demands from predatory scams may soon become impossible, especially as AI-generated deception grows more convincing.
4. Institutions are hollowing out, but will not disappear entirely. Rather than a sudden collapse, Davies envisions a future where legacy institutions like universities, corporations, and governments persist as "zombie" entities — still exerting influence but increasingly irrelevant to new forms of social organization. Meanwhile, smaller, nimble "patchwork" tribes and digital-first associations will become more central to human coordination and identity.
5. Modern universities have drifted far from their original purpose and structure. Tracing the history from medieval student guilds to Humboldt’s 19th-century research universities, Davies notes that today’s universities are heavily compromised by state agendas, mass democracy, and financialization. True inquiry and intellectual aloofness — once core to the ideal of the university — now require entirely new, post-institutional structures to be viable.
6. Artificial intelligence amplifies both opportunity and epistemic risk. Davies warns that large language models (LLMs) mainly recombine existing information rather than generate truly novel insights. Moreover, they can be trapdoored or poisoned at the data level, introducing dangerous, invisible vulnerabilities. This creates a new kind of "Dark Forest" risk: users must assume that any received information may carry unseen threats or distortions.
7. There is no longer a reliable central authority for epistemic trust. In a fragmented world where Wikipedia is compromised, traditional media is polarized, and even scientific institutions are politicized, Davies asserts that we must return to "epistemic hygiene." This means independently verifying knowledge where possible and treating all claims — even from AI — with skepticism. The burden of truth-validation increasingly falls on individuals and their trusted, cryptographically verifiable networks.