We Need to Talk about Tech: Exploring AI, fresh Hope…and the power of Song with Nathalie Nahai

The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed. William Gibson

We need to talk about Big Tech, and particularly AI - it's ubiquitous, it's powerful, and currently, it's unconstrained and this is not an ideal combination if we live in the real world of mass extinction where human and more-than-human communities are being destroyed to serve the death cult of predatory capitalism at its most rapacious.

The question is  - how do we shift the dial on the future when so many of those whose fortunes are sunk into Tech, and AI in particular, seem to be steeped in the Dark Triad of psychopathy, sadism and narcissism? Is there any sign of hope amidst all the chaos and the frozen despair that narratives of inevitability foster in us?

We turn this week to long-time friend of the podcast, Nathalie Nahai. Nathalie is a celebrated author, keynote speaker and host of the glorious Nathalie Nahai in Conversation podcast which enquires into our relationship with one another, with technology and with the living world. She’s author of the international best-seller Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion and, more recently, Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience which has been described as “One of the defining business books of our times”. She’s a consultant, artist and the founder of Flourishing Futures Salon, a project that offers curated gastronomical gatherings that explore how we can thrive in times of turbulence and change.

Links

Nathalie's website
Nathalie's podcast

Books
Business Unusual
Webs of Influence

Papal Encyclical on AI

Nathalie's Resources of wonderful people already in this space

PEOPLE

• Carole Cadwalladr - https://broligarchy.substack.com/ 
• Timnit Gebru - https://dair-institute.org/team/timnit-gebru/ 
• Cory Doctorow - https://craphound.com/
• Gary Marcus - https://garymarcus.substack.com/ 
• Carl Miller - DEMOS - https://demos.co.uk/people/carl-miller/ 
• Karen Hao - https://karendhao.com/
• Dr Joy Buolamwini - https://www.poetofcode.com/
• Wakanyi Hoffman - https://hoffmanwakanyi.wixsite.com/wakanyihoffman
• Zak Stein - https://www.zakstein.org/ 
• Tristan Harris & Ezra Raskin - https://www.humanetech.com/ 

EVENTS

• UN’s AI for Good: Global Summit: https://aiforgood.itu.int/  

BOOKS

• Hyperscalers - Paris Marx 
• End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World - Naomi Klein & Astra Taylor
• Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines - Sherry Turkle
• Empire of AI - Karen Hao
• Careless People - Sarah Wynn Williams
• Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang
• The Future - Naomi Alderman
• Enshittification - Cory Doctorow

ORGANISATIONS

• https://dair-institute.org/
• https://www.thenerve.news/
• https://rslmedia.org/
• https://airesistlist.org/
• https://www.lumiera.ai/ 

—About Accidental Gods—

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Our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme is 'BECOMING A GOOD ANCESTOR' which will run on Sunday 13th September 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member of Accidental Gods to come along, but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.

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