Artificial intelligence is not simply changing the world around us, it’s changing the conditions through which we experience ourselves.
Neuroscientist Joel Pearson, cyberneticist Maia Gould and anthropologist Monty Badami meet on AI that speaks the language of connection, attachment and rewards dependence.
The conversation moves from loneliness epidemics to attachment hacking, from Indigenous knowledge systems to the architecture of language models, asking when intelligence becomes abundant, what becomes precious?
What hangs in the balance is not human intelligence, but human depth: our willingness to tolerate friction, uncertainty and genuine connection in an age designed to remove them.
“We’re not just hacking attention anymore. We’re hacking attachment.”
— Maia Gould
“To think of it as a technology is a categorical error.”
— Joel Pearson
“Everyone falls in love with AI. If you let it, you will… This is the power of language.”
— Maia Gould
“We’ve become prisoners of our own exploitation.”
— Dr Monty Badami
“Healthy relationships with each other require healthy relationships with conflict, friction and uncertainty.”
— Dr Monty Badami
“You don’t need to lose your job to feel the pain and fear of that already.”
— Joel Pearson
“The opposite to addiction is not sobriety. It’s connection.”
— Dr Monty Badami
Show Notes
Professor · Cognitive Neuroscience · Author
A Professor of cognitive neuroscience and psychology at UNSW Sydney, founder of the Future Minds Lab and author of The Intuition Toolkit. His work looks at how the mind makes decisions and adapts as technology reshapes it.
Associate Professor · Cybernetics, AI & Bioethics
An Associate Professor at the ANU School of Cybernetics, where she works on how we understand, govern and live well with AI as it gets woven into the systems around us.
Anthropologist · Army Reserves Officer
An anthropologist, Australian Army Reserve Officer and founder of the social enterprise Habitus. His work centres on how we make meaning and stay connected to one another through relationships, ritual, belief and connection.
