AI Experts React to Oprah Winfrey's "AI and the Future of Us" Special

Most people saw Oprah’s AI special. But what *didn’t* it cover? Juan Faisal talks with AI filmmaker Jagger Waters, strategist Kate Cook, and edtech PM Kyle-Prescott Ogunbase about the trust gap in AI, what "Generation AI" actually faces, and why public understanding—not just faster tools—matters most.

🤖 Why it matters:

AI is scaling faster than most people can make sense of it. This episode unpacks the real risks, power moves, and human questions getting buried in the hype.

🤖 You’ll learn:

- Why safety, scams, and trust need center stage in AI debates

- How Gen AI is already growing up inside a synthetic media world

- Why ethical development needs stronger incentives—not just open letters

- What AI can and can’t fix when it comes to loneliness, labor, and learning

🤖 Guests:

Kate Cook – Founder, Era Seven Partners

Certified AI strategist helping brands adapt to rapid tech change

Kyle-Prescott Ogunbase – Product Manager, Newsela

Building AI tools to improve literacy in classrooms

Jagger Waters – Award-winning AI filmmaker

Producer at Curious Refuge and escape.ai

🤖 Host: Juan Faisal

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akajuanfaisal/

- Newsletter: https://juanfaisal.substack.com/

- Website: https://juanfaisal.com/

🤖 Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:43 Oprah’s special: What it got right and wrong

06:35 Sam Altman: Most dangerous man in tech?

12:23 Trust, ethics, and who builds the future

18:05 Marques Brownlee: AI for video and voice

20:20 Deepfakes and what’s fueling them

25:20 Why AI literacy may be the most urgent skill

29:10 Aza Raskin & Tristan Harris: AI vs. society

32:21 Christopher Wray: AI and criminal threats

36:00 Why companies still hesitate to adopt AI

40:07 Can schools undo biased training data?

43:05 Parenting in the age of Generation AI

45:35 Is AI a threat—or a lifeline—for workers?

52:19 Marilynne Robinson: The human cost of progress

56:40 Difficulty is the point

59:50 Final thoughts on what comes next