How is AI influencing our decisions? Is opting IN to every AI offer causing us to opt OUT of our free will?

Jake Ward is a former NBC News correspondent & is currently the founding editor & host of The Rip Current newsletter & podcast, which looks at the hidden forces of modern life, like Big Tech, business, and politics. He’s also the author of The Loop: How AI is creating a world without choices & how to fight back.

In this episode, you’ll hear how the brain ACTUALLY makes decisions & how corporations leverage that without you knowing, how Corporate exceptionalism + American exceptionalism = tragedy & the case for inefficiency.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 205: NEUROTECH: SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT OR MIND CONTROL?

Host:  

https://www.meredithforreal.com/  

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[email protected]

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal 

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Sponsors: 

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00:48 — The hidden cost of “opting in”

01:32 — Is AI manipulating us?

05:02 — AI’s arrival vs. America’s readiness

06:05 — The brain that isn’t built for this

08:05 — Rock ’em Sock ’em brains

09:12 — Why our instincts make us hackable

15:20 — When companies exploit the “monkey brain”

16:10 — Social casino games and human cynicism

17:14 — The rise of AI psychosis

18:02 — Why young developers can’t see the danger

19:00 — The “scale will solve it” delusion

20:16 — Croissants, bolts, and AI ethics

21:25 — What regulation really looks like

22:30 — Politicians in your chat companion

23:40 — The edge-case problem that becomes everyone’s problem

24:50 — Don’t fear robot overlords — fear amplified instincts

26:02 — Why our brains love flattery bots

27:14 — When chatbots become the worst therapist

28:20 — Isolation vs. connection in recovery

32:55 — Can market signals actually work?

34:00 — The case for the “less convenient” AI

35:10 — Why bad AI is sometimes better for you

42:15 — What parents need to decide early

43:20 — Building community norms before tech does

44:28 — Permission to have more fun without phones

50:20 — Locating yourself in the narrative

51:30 — The allergy model of human behavior

52:48 — How shame keeps us from seeing ourselves

56:40 — Preserving human friction

58:20 — The case for inefficiency

59:50 — Music, jokes, and the death of practice

01:01:10 — The nightmare world of the AI life-coach

01:03:30 — Jake’s practical rules for tech sanity

01:04:48 — Why satisfaction beats happiness

01:08:00 — Jake’s links, book & gratitude

01:09:00 — Meredith’s closing notes & next episode

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