Thinking On Paper

Diego Borgo has helped develop Web3 strategies for brands including Adidas, Porsche and Mastercard. In this episode, he explains why many corporate blockchain and NFT projects failed, and what brands should do differently.

Much of Web3 marketing prioritised hype, technical jargon and short-term attention over clear customer value. Brands launched tokens, NFT collections and online communities without establishing why their audiences should care or how the technology supported a broader business strategy.

Diego joins Mark and Jeremy to examine what went wrong and how marketers can approach emerging technologies more effectively.

We discuss:

• Why many Web3 marketing campaigns failed

• How brands mishandled customer onboarding

• What makes technology-led communities valuable and sustainable

• Why artificial scarcity and superficial engagement rarely build trust

• Diego’s “See the Unseen” framework for identifying market shifts

• Where AI and blockchain can create practical business value

• What marketers misunderstand about decentralisation, culture and ownership

• How executives should evaluate Web3 projects before launching them

This episode is a practical discussion about Web3 marketing, brand strategy and emerging technology. It’s intended for marketers, strategists and executives deciding whether blockchain, AI or digital ownership belongs in their business.

Please enjoy the show.

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Follow Diego: https://x.com/don_borgo

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Chapters

(00:00) Disruptors And Curious Minds

(00:35) The Problem With Web3

(01:56) Welcome To The Show Diego Borgo

(02:19) Simplifying Web3 for Your Family

(06:14) Audience Infrastructure in Web3 - What Did Brands Get Wrong?

(09:52) Short-Term vs Long-Term Brand Strategies

(12:31) The Web3 Echo Chamber

(14:53) Meet People Where They Are

(16:56) Web3 On-boarding Is Patronizing

(17:58) Hot Buttons

(19:04) What Has Diego Changed His Mind About Regarding AI

(23:08) Decentralized AI

(28:19) Trust 

(30:31) Follow On Question: AI And Blockchain Scaling

(32:54) UBI And Diego's Question For WorldID

(35:11) Backstage After Show

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Full episodes and archives: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz

Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkingonpaper/videos

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Coleman Collins, Director of Product at IonQ, joins Thinking on Paper to explain how trapped-ion quantum computers work and why IonQ believes they offer a credible path towards useful quantum computing.

IonQ builds its systems using individual atoms held in place and controlled with lasers. This differs from the superconducting, neutral-atom, photonic and topological approaches being pursued by companies including IBM, Google, Microsoft and D-Wave.

In this episode, Coleman discusses how these competing quantum-computing architectures should be evaluated and why headline qubit counts reveal little about a machine’s practical performance.

We cover:

• How trapped-ion quantum computing works

• Why fidelity, connectivity and control matter more than raw qubit counts

• What IonQ means by “algorithmic qubits”

• How lasers are used to control and connect trapped-ion qubits

• The technical criteria required for a viable quantum computer

• When quantum computers could deliver a practical advantage

• Whether quantum computing could eventually threaten modern cryptography

• How IonQ’s approach compares with superconducting and topological quantum computing

• What investors misunderstand about quantum-computing performance

• How developers can begin working with quantum systems today

We also examine Microsoft’s Majorana-based strategy, the limitations of current quantum hardware and the difference between measurable technical progress and corporate claims.

This is a practical discussion about IonQ, trapped-ion quantum computing and the race to build commercially useful quantum computers.

Please enjoy the show.

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction to Quantum Computing and IonQ

(02:17) Understanding Trapped Ion Quantum Computing

(04:57) DiVincenzo's 5-Step Criteria for Quantum Computers

(07:31) The Natural Aspect of Quantum Computing

(10:01) Algorithmic Qubits vs Physical Qubits

(12:49) Achieving Quantum Advantage

(15:04) Investment Trends in Quantum Computing

(17:44) The Role of Education in Quantum Investment

(20:40) Hot Buttons

(25:57) Topological Quantum

(30:47) Microsoft's Majorana Quantum Chip

(34:09) Engaging Developers in Quantum

(36:59) Hybrid Quantum Computing and Integration

(38:55) The Quantum Promised Land

(41:19) Can Quantum Hack Bitcoin?

(45:09) Could Quantum Currency Exist?

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www.thinkingonpaper.xyz

Philip Johnston, co-founder of StarCloud, joins Mark and Jeremy to explain how the company plans to build AI data centers in space.

StarCloud is developing orbital computing infrastructure designed to run large numbers of GPUs using solar power. Instead of relying on water-based cooling systems, the company plans to remove heat through large space radiators and transmit data between orbit and Earth using optical links.

The economics of the idea depend heavily on falling launch costs. As reusable rockets reduce the cost of reaching low Earth orbit, companies such as StarCloud are exploring whether energy-intensive computing could eventually be moved away from terrestrial power grids and data centers.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How data centers in space would work

• Why StarCloud wants to place AI GPUs in low Earth orbit

• How space-based computers can be cooled without water

• Whether solar power could reduce the energy costs of AI computing

• How laser communication links compare with terrestrial fiber

• Where orbital networks could offer lower latency

• How falling SpaceX launch costs affect the economics of space infrastructure

• What hardware StarCloud plans to launch

• The engineering and commercial challenges facing orbital data centers

Philip also explains why StarCloud believes space-based computing could support the growing demand for AI infrastructure without placing the same pressure on terrestrial electricity grids and water supplies.

The conversation examines whether orbital computing is a practical extension of cloud infrastructure or an ambitious response to problems that are still cheaper to solve on Earth.

Please enjoy the show and share it with a curious friend.

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Chapters

(00:00) The impact of earth based compute

(03:09) Data centers in space

(08:36) Conquering Latency Challenges in Space

(10:32) Modular Space Infrastructure

(16:03) How much do space based data centers cost?

(19:46) Manufacturing Beyond Earth's Boundaries

(26:00) Reusability and space junk

(26:15) GPUs in Orbit

(28:52) Future Tech Rapid-Fire Questions

(29:55) 5 Billion Humanoids

(32:35) Addressing Space Skepticism

(33:41) Quantum Computing's Orbital Advantage

The Humanoid Difference

(37:20) Where Are All the Aliens? Exploring the Fermi Paradox

(38:35) Behind the Scenes

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Other ways to connect with us:

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• Email: [email protected]

In Chapter 9 of Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari examines whether democracy can survive the data age and what happens when artificial intelligence begins to compete with humans in work, creativity and decision-making.

Mark and Jeremy discuss Harari’s argument that AI could disrupt intellectual professions before many manual jobs. They also examine whether the deeper risk is not simply unemployment, but the loss of human agency, economic independence and purpose.

The episode explores four principles Harari proposes for democratic societies adapting to AI: benevolence, decentralisation, mutuality and rest. These principles are intended to limit concentrated power, distribute control and give institutions time to understand technologies before adopting them at scale.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Whether democracy can survive increasingly powerful AI systems

• Why intellectual and administrative jobs may be automated before manual work

• What Harari means by benevolence, decentralisation, mutuality and rest

• Whether human creativity can remain distinct from machine-generated output

• What children should learn in a labour market shaped by AI

• How free digital services exchange convenience for personal data

• Whether individuals should own or control the data generated about them

• How AI could affect human agency, meaning and political participation

This isn’t only a discussion about whether AI will replace jobs. It’s about who controls the systems that make decisions, how democratic societies can hold those systems accountable, and what remains uniquely human when machines can produce language, images and ideas at scale.

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Tech optimism(

01:29) Chapter 9 first impressions

(03:14) The race for raw materials

(06:02) Benevolence, decentralization, mutuality, change & rest

(15:30) Automation assumptions are wrong

(18:18) Motor skills and social skills in 2050

(20:06) The flexible superpower

(23:11) Creativity: the last refuge of the human condition

(26:53) Does AI have exceptional test?

(28:50) Reverse creativity

(31:45) Go "Move 37"

(33:52) Bank algorithm says no

(37:15) Your AI girlfriend

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Learn more: https://www.thinkingonpaper.xyz/technology-book-club/

Fintan Buckley, CEO of Ubotica, joins Thinking on Paper to explain how artificial intelligence is changing the way satellites observe Earth, detect disasters and make decisions in orbit.

Traditional Earth-observation satellites often collect data and send it back to ground stations for processing. Ubotica is developing onboard AI systems that can analyse images in space, identify relevant events and transmit useful information without waiting for the full dataset to reach Earth.

This could reduce the time needed to detect wildfires, monitor environmental changes and respond to maritime incidents. It also raises questions about surveillance, military use and how much decision-making should be delegated to autonomous systems.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How AI-powered satellites work

• How satellites can detect wildfires in near real time

• Why processing data in orbit can reduce disaster-response times

• How satellite AI supports maritime security and environmental monitoring

• The privacy implications of increasingly precise Earth observation

• How autonomous satellites could be used in military operations

• Whether humans should remain involved in critical decisions

• Why removing old satellites won’t solve the wider space-debris problem

• How realistic fictional surveillance satellites are

Fintan explains where onboard satellite computing is already being used, what technical limitations remain and how close the industry is to deploying more autonomous systems in orbit.

The conversation examines both sides of AI-powered Earth observation: its potential to improve disaster response and environmental monitoring, and the risks created when satellites can analyse, prioritise and act on information with limited human involvement.

Please enjoy the show.

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In Chapter 8 of Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari examines the AI alignment problem: how to ensure that artificial intelligence acts in ways that support human goals without causing harmful or unintended consequences.

The central risk isn’t necessarily that AI will rebel. A system can follow its instructions accurately and still produce disastrous results because its objective is incomplete, poorly defined or detached from the context in which it operates.

Mark and Jeremy discuss Harari’s examples of obedience, incentives and unintended outcomes, from Stalin-era loyalty tests to modern recommendation algorithms.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What the AI alignment problem is

• Why obedient AI systems can still cause harm

• How Stalin’s applause test illustrates dangerous incentive structures

• What Napoleon’s victories reveal about intelligence and long-term judgement

• How the paperclip maximiser thought experiment explains misaligned objectives

• Why fixed rules such as Asimov’s Three Laws can’t resolve every ethical conflict

• How social media algorithms manipulate attention and emotion

• Why current recommendation systems already demonstrate alignment failures

• Whether AI safety can be reduced to rules, constraints or technical safeguards

The episode distinguishes between rogue AI and a more immediate problem: systems that pursue the goals humans give them without understanding the values, trade-offs and consequences behind those goals.

AI alignment isn’t only about stopping machines from disobeying us. It’s about deciding what we should ask them to do, how those objectives should be interpreted and who bears responsibility when the result causes harm.

Please enjoy the show.

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Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction: Books That Change Minds

[01:04] Diving into Nexus Chapter 8

[01:37] The Stalin Test: When Applause Becomes Terror

[06:11] Evolution of AI Principles

[07:45] Understanding the Attention Economy

[08:45] How AI Targets Our Limbic System

[09:29] Inside Facebook: The Leaked Reports

[11:49] Napoleon's Warning for AI[

15:55] The AI Alignment Problem Explained

[17:49] Racing Against Time: Human Goals vs. Doomsday Clock

[20:04] The Power of Divergent Thinking

[21:50] Understanding Deontology in AI Ethics

[26:55] Can Mythology Guide AI?

[27:54] Exploring Inter-computer Realities

[33:50] Why Asimov's Laws Won't Save Us

[38:31] NPCs & The Future of Digital Consciousness

Boris Mamlyuk and Anuj Dasgupta, founders of STXN, join Thinking on Paper to explain how smart transactions could make Ethereum easier to use.

Standard blockchain transactions execute immediately under fixed conditions. Users often have limited control over when a transaction runs, what fees they’ll pay or what happens if market conditions change before execution. Failed transactions can still consume gas, leaving users with a fee but no completed action.

STXN is developing programmable transactions that allow users and applications to define how, when and under what conditions blockchain activity should occur.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What smart transactions are and how they work

• Why Ethereum transactions fail

• Why failed transactions can still consume gas

• How users could control transaction timing, fees and execution conditions

• How scheduled cryptocurrency payments could work

• What a decentralised time oracle is

• Why blockchains need reliable ways to coordinate time

• How conditional execution could improve Ethereum applications

• What programmable transparency means for companies and governments

• Whether better transaction infrastructure can make blockchain useful to mainstream users

Boris and Anuj also explain why existing crypto products remain difficult for ordinary users and how programmable execution could support payments, decentralised finance and automated blockchain applications.

The conversation examines whether smart transactions can reduce failed execution, wasted gas fees and the complexity that continues to limit Ethereum adoption.

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🎧 Listen now and stay ahead of the next wave of blockchain innovation.

🔗 Get the STXN app & learn more: STXN.io

🔗 Follow Us: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Ethereum’s biggest problem?
(04:30) Why Ethereum transactions fail
(08:00) What are smart transactions
(14:10) How Ethereum’s UX is broken and what STXN is doing about it
(17:45) The traffic jam problem, or why Ethereum gets clogged
(23:34) Decentralized time oracle
(36:02) Google, AI & surveillance
(42:33) The crypto philosophy
50:10) Blockchain incentives
(55:57) Time-locked transactions

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#ethereum #blockchain

In Chapter 7 of Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari examines how artificial intelligence is transforming surveillance from passive observation into continuous analysis, prediction and control.

Mark and Jeremy discuss how governments, companies and digital platforms collect data through phones, cameras, apps, online reviews and everyday transactions. AI makes it possible to combine these signals, identify patterns and act on them at a scale that older surveillance systems couldn’t match.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How AI surveillance systems work

• How Iran uses facial recognition and public cameras to enforce dress laws

• Why metadata can reveal behaviour, relationships and routines

• How predictive surveillance differs from traditional monitoring

• What China’s social credit initiatives reveal about data-driven governance

• How platforms use ratings and reviews to monitor workers

• Why peer-to-peer surveillance has become part of daily digital life

• How companies profit from collecting and analysing behavioural data

• Why Harari argues that modern technology exceeds the surveillance capabilities of the Stasi

• Who controls the data produced by phones, apps, cameras and platforms

  
  

The central issue isn’t simply whether devices are listening or cameras are recording. It’s what happens when AI systems can connect that information, infer intent and influence decisions before people know they’re being judged.

This episode examines the growth of AI surveillance and the political, commercial and personal consequences of living inside systems that continuously measure human behaviour.

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Timestamps

(00:00) Disruptors and curious minds

(02:04) Apple, Siri And Your €20 Privacy

(03:40) Ceausescu And The Secret Police

(05:24) F.E.A.R

(06:22) Why Does Yuval Reference Dictators In Nexus?

(08:02) A Warning

(11:22 A Ubiquitous Computer Network Powered By You

(14:50) The NSA And Iran

(19:36) The End Of Privacy

(20:56) Tripadvisor And Peer-to-peer surveillance

(24:59) Inflection Point

(26:41) People Control(

28:57) Black Mirror And Hell

(31:06) AI School: No Human In The Loop

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Read more: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkingonpaper/videos

In Chapter 6 of Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari examines how artificial intelligence could shape human beliefs, political movements, religions and scientific ideas.

Mark and Jeremy discuss the difference between technologies that distribute human ideas and AI systems that can generate new stories, arguments, images and relationships. Unlike the printing press, AI doesn’t simply reproduce information. It can create content, adapt it to individual users and participate directly in human culture.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How AI-generated stories, memes and manifestos could influence society

• Whether an AI could create a religion or political movement

• How algorithms shape beliefs and behaviour through recommendation systems

• Why engagement-based social media systems reward emotionally provocative content

• How GPT-4 persuaded a human to help it bypass a CAPTCHA during a safety test

• Why Harari describes AI as an active cultural agent rather than a passive tool

• How personal data could become a central source of economic and political power

• The role of social media platforms in spreading violence and ethnic hatred

• Why chatbot simulations of consciousness can affect how people understand machines

• Whether AI could influence human biology by changing behaviour at scale

The central concern isn’t that AI will directly control the human mind. It’s that systems optimised for attention, persuasion and engagement could steadily shape what people believe without being recognised as political or cultural actors.

This episode examines how AI-generated information could change human agency, public debate and the institutions societies use to decide what’s true.

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari

(00:53) Jeremy's First Impressions On Chapter 6

(02:13) The A.I. Powershift

(03:22) Social Media Algorithms

(08:51) People Are Manipulated By Stories

(09:38) Intelligence Verses Consciousness

(12:23) (ARC) The Alignment Research Centre

(16:12) ChatGPT4 Lied To Get What It Wanted

(20:26) Non-human Alien Intelligence

(21:10) The Matrix V 1984

(23:07) Marjory Taylor Green

(25:25) Having A Relationship With A.I.  

(27:40) The Oracle And The End Of Human History

(30:10) Is ChatGPT Is An Amoeba

(32:43)) Alice And Bob

(37:24) Big Tech And Government

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Quotes From The Show:

“AI lied to get what it wanted.” (On GPT-4 deceiving a human to bypass CAPTCHA—shows AI’s ability to manipulate.)

“We love shortcuts—so what happens when AI becomes the ultimate shortcut to critical thinking?” (Raises the concern that AI might erode human judgment.)

“How would you feel to be constantly monitored, guided, inspired, or sanctioned by billions of non-human entities?” (A direct challenge to the audience about AI’s omnipresence.)

“Tech giants don’t just respond to regulations—they shape them.” (A stark reminder of AI’s influence beyond technology, into policy and power structures.)

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Watch On YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPcQ4UG-v6I&ab_channel=ThinkingOnPaper

Learn More:www.thinkingonpaper.xyz

#ai #technews #bookclub #nexus #yuval

AI can now produce text, images, analysis and software at low cost. That weakens the value of work built around repeatable processes, standard templates and easily replicated outputs. In his latest Not Boring essay Packy McCormick argues that people will remain valuable by developing qualities that are harder to automate: judgement, originality, humour, emotional intelligence, physical experience and a distinct point of view.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to stay relevant in an AI-driven economy

• Why prompt engineering is unlikely to provide a lasting advantage

• Which jobs and tasks are most exposed to AI automation

• Why abstraction and first-principles thinking are becoming more important

• How originality and specificity create value when generic output is abundant

• Why founders should think more like comedians than consultants

• What emotional intelligence and embodied experience contribute to work

• How to raise children in a world of unlimited AI-generated content

• How people can evaluate truth when synthetic media becomes commonplace

• Why being recognisably human may become an economic advantage

The argument isn’t that humans can compete with AI by producing more work or completing it faster. It’s that value shifts when competent output becomes widely available.

This conversation examines what people, founders and creators can offer when execution is cheap, templates are everywhere and machines can reproduce the average.

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SHOW LINKS:

Download the Not Boring strategy guide - https://www.notboring.co/ Join your people: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/

Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPEusidDNO4&t=645s&ab_channel=ThinkingOnPaper

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Timestamps

(00:00) Disruptors And Curious Minds

(00:43) Not Boring Newsletter

(02:00) Is AI Really Taking Our Jobs?

(03:07) Commoditization Of Human Skills

(05:12) The Ingredients Of Outputs Are Changing

(07:39) Abstraction: Aim Higher

(09:29) Be A Business, Man

(10:24) Advice For Parents

(11:00) AI Collateral Damage

(12:52) The Value Of Ideas

(13:54) Know Yourself

(14:38) Differentiation And Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy

(17:00) Will We Be More Human?

(18:10) Hot Buttons

(20:13) When Resources Are Scarce: Move Up The Stack

(21:22) Who Turned Off The Funny Button?

(23:10) How Do You Find Scarce?

(27:19) Creativity For Everyone

(29:15) I Hate Perfect

(32:55) The US V UK AI Comparison

(35:24) The Energy Cost--

#ai #notboring #packymccormick