AI: Tools or Gods? Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/ai-tools-or-gods What happens when we stop treating AI as a force of nature and start treating it as what it is: a political choice? AI: Tools or Gods? is a podcast about the stories we tell about artificial intelligence and why they matter. Each episode, host Caroline De Cock talks with researchers, lawyers, policymakers, and advocates who are building a more grounded, democratic alternative to the dominant AI narrative. No prophecies. No panic. Just honest, rigorous conversation about power, accountability, and what technology is actually for. A companion to the book AI Tools, Not Gods (BTF Press, 2026, foreword by Brewster Kahle) and a production of information labs. © 2026 Caroline De Cock, LL.M. 094f39b0-c3cb-57e8-af66-514c37e338ba yes AI: Tools or Gods? - Trailer en Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:30:06 +0200 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:31:03 +0200 https://aitoolsnotgods.org https://img.transistorcdn.com/5q3ZMb0IOMJTQr3FogeDdcfvyIbAsQqz0eytTpyf7g8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNTQz/YzM0NzQ4NmYzNDRi/MDU0NDNlMzE2MjUw/ZDY3Zi5wbmc.jpg AI: Tools or Gods? https://aitoolsnotgods.org episodic Caroline De Cock, LL.M. What happens when we stop treating AI as a force of nature and start treating it as what it is: a political choice? AI: Tools or Gods? is a podcast about the stories we tell about artificial intelligence and why they matter. Each episode, host Caroline De Cock talks with researchers, lawyers, policymakers, and advocates who are building a more grounded, democratic alternative to the dominant AI narrative. No prophecies. No panic. Just honest, rigorous conversation about power, accountability, and what technology is actually for. A companion to the book AI Tools, Not Gods (BTF Press, 2026, foreword by Brewster Kahle) and a production of information labs. What happens when we stop treating AI as a force of nature and start treating it as what it is: a political choice. Tech, Information Policy, Internet Policy, Computing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, AI policy, AI governance, AI regulation, artificial intelligence, technology policy, digital rights, EU AI Act, copyright, platform accountability, AI mythology, AI hype information labs No No AI: Tools or Gods? | Is the AI doom narrative a Western export? - Part 1 (ft. Payal Arora) 2 2 AI: Tools or Gods? | Is the AI doom narrative a Western export? - Part 1 (ft. Payal Arora) full 10a11edb-ead8-49ce-9d89-5f65ad5c0f82 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0d987ad6 Part 1 of this two-part podcast explores the growing divide between Western fears of AI and the more optimistic, practical ways technology is being used across the Global South. The conversation challenges dominant narratives around AI, arguing that digital tools can empower people, create opportunities, and expand global connection when approached with creativity, agency, and human-centered thinking rather than fear and restriction.

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning

Guest
Payal Arora is a digital anthropologist and Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University. She has spent two decades doing fieldwork in some of the places the AI conversation most rarely reaches: factory towns, slums, townships, and favelas across India, Brazil, China, South Africa, and the Middle East. She is the author of The Next Billion Users and From Pessimism to Promise, both grounded in that fieldwork, and Forbes named her the next billion champion and the right kind of person to reform tech. Her work has been cited by many thousands of researchers, read across many thousands of classrooms, and it makes one of the most uncomfortable arguments in contemporary technology studies: that the story we tell about AI being dangerous is not a neutral observation. It is a story shaped by where you stand.

🔗LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/payalarora 
đź”—Website: payalarora.com

]]> Part 1 of this two-part podcast explores the growing divide between Western fears of AI and the more optimistic, practical ways technology is being used across the Global South. The conversation challenges dominant narratives around AI, arguing that digital tools can empower people, create opportunities, and expand global connection when approached with creativity, agency, and human-centered thinking rather than fear and restriction.

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning

Guest
Payal Arora is a digital anthropologist and Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University. She has spent two decades doing fieldwork in some of the places the AI conversation most rarely reaches: factory towns, slums, townships, and favelas across India, Brazil, China, South Africa, and the Middle East. She is the author of The Next Billion Users and From Pessimism to Promise, both grounded in that fieldwork, and Forbes named her the next billion champion and the right kind of person to reform tech. Her work has been cited by many thousands of researchers, read across many thousands of classrooms, and it makes one of the most uncomfortable arguments in contemporary technology studies: that the story we tell about AI being dangerous is not a neutral observation. It is a story shaped by where you stand.

🔗LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/payalarora 
đź”—Website: payalarora.com

]]> Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:30:00 +0200 Caroline De Cock, LL.M. Caroline De Cock, LL.M. 1393 Part 1 of this two-part podcast explores the growing divide between Western fears of AI and the more optimistic, practical ways technology is being used across the Global South. The conversation challenges dominant narratives around AI, arguing that digital tools can empower people, create opportunities, and expand global connection when approached with creativity, agency, and human-centered thinking rather than fear and restriction.

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning

Guest
Payal Arora is a digital anthropologist and Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University. She has spent two decades doing fieldwork in some of the places the AI conversation most rarely reaches: factory towns, slums, townships, and favelas across India, Brazil, China, South Africa, and the Middle East. She is the author of The Next Billion Users and From Pessimism to Promise, both grounded in that fieldwork, and Forbes named her the next billion champion and the right kind of person to reform tech. Her work has been cited by many thousands of researchers, read across many thousands of classrooms, and it makes one of the most uncomfortable arguments in contemporary technology studies: that the story we tell about AI being dangerous is not a neutral observation. It is a story shaped by where you stand.

🔗LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/payalarora 
đź”—Website: payalarora.com

]]> Tech, Information Policy, Internet Policy, Computing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, AI policy, AI governance, AI regulation, artificial intelligence, technology policy, digital rights, EU AI Act, copyright, platform accountability, AI mythology, AI hype No AI: Tools or Gods | Who benefits from the hype? (ft. Maria Sukhareva) 1 1 AI: Tools or Gods | Who benefits from the hype? (ft. Maria Sukhareva) full 502bca46-6b35-43f3-a7bf-664dd009b17d https://share.transistor.fm/s/35b35a7a
The dominant narrative around AI suggests that the public simply misunderstands the technology — that better education will eventually align expectations with reality. But what if the hype is not a misunderstanding at all? In this episode, we examine the growing gap between what AI systems can actually do and what companies, investors, and public figures claim they can do. We discuss AI agents, hallucinations, enterprise failures, regulation, AGI narratives, and why both hype and backlash risk damaging serious AI research and practical applications.


#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning

About The Guest

Maria Sukhareva has been working in natural language processing since 2008, long before AI became a mainstream headline topic. She is a Principal AI Expert at a DAX company and the author of AI Realist, a newsletter focused on evidence-based analysis of AI systems, their limitations, and their real-world applications. Maria is one of the clearest voices in the field arguing for treating AI as a serious technical discipline rather than a speculative ideology.

đź”—LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msukhareva
đź”—Website: https://www.airealist.org
🔗Substack: https://msukhareva.substack.com 

]]>
The dominant narrative around AI suggests that the public simply misunderstands the technology — that better education will eventually align expectations with reality. But what if the hype is not a misunderstanding at all? In this episode, we examine the growing gap between what AI systems can actually do and what companies, investors, and public figures claim they can do. We discuss AI agents, hallucinations, enterprise failures, regulation, AGI narratives, and why both hype and backlash risk damaging serious AI research and practical applications.


#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning

About The Guest

Maria Sukhareva has been working in natural language processing since 2008, long before AI became a mainstream headline topic. She is a Principal AI Expert at a DAX company and the author of AI Realist, a newsletter focused on evidence-based analysis of AI systems, their limitations, and their real-world applications. Maria is one of the clearest voices in the field arguing for treating AI as a serious technical discipline rather than a speculative ideology.

đź”—LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msukhareva
đź”—Website: https://www.airealist.org
🔗Substack: https://msukhareva.substack.com 

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 14:30:00 +0200 Caroline De Cock, LL.M. Caroline De Cock, LL.M. 2045
The dominant narrative around AI suggests that the public simply misunderstands the technology — that better education will eventually align expectations with reality. But what if the hype is not a misunderstanding at all? In this episode, we examine the growing gap between what AI systems can actually do and what companies, investors, and public figures claim they can do. We discuss AI agents, hallucinations, enterprise failures, regulation, AGI narratives, and why both hype and backlash risk damaging serious AI research and practical applications.


#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning

About The Guest

Maria Sukhareva has been working in natural language processing since 2008, long before AI became a mainstream headline topic. She is a Principal AI Expert at a DAX company and the author of AI Realist, a newsletter focused on evidence-based analysis of AI systems, their limitations, and their real-world applications. Maria is one of the clearest voices in the field arguing for treating AI as a serious technical discipline rather than a speculative ideology.

đź”—LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msukhareva
đź”—Website: https://www.airealist.org
🔗Substack: https://msukhareva.substack.com 

]]> Tech, Information Policy, Internet Policy, Computing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, AI policy, AI governance, AI regulation, artificial intelligence, technology policy, digital rights, EU AI Act, copyright, platform accountability, AI mythology, AI hype No AI: Tools or Gods? - Trailer 1 1 AI: Tools or Gods? - Trailer trailer 29af90c4-5b45-4a6d-a4ef-d66bb3cba371 https://aitoolsnotgods.org Here's what you can expect from the AI: Tools or Gods? Podcast.

AI: Tools or Gods? is launching soon as a new podcast examining how “god-like” narratives around AI shape our laws, culture, and future.

]]> Here's what you can expect from the AI: Tools or Gods? Podcast.

AI: Tools or Gods? is launching soon as a new podcast examining how “god-like” narratives around AI shape our laws, culture, and future.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:51:10 +0200 Caroline De Cock, LL.M. Caroline De Cock, LL.M. 31 Here's what you can expect from the AI: Tools or Gods? Podcast.

AI: Tools or Gods? is launching soon as a new podcast examining how “god-like” narratives around AI shape our laws, culture, and future.

]]> Tech, Information Policy, Internet Policy, Computing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, AI policy, AI governance, AI regulation, artificial intelligence, technology policy, digital rights, EU AI Act, copyright, platform accountability, AI mythology, AI hype No