Introduction: I’m your host today, Iona Italia, and for this week’s episode I interviewed Dr David Weitzner. David is an associate professor of management at York University. He is the author of the new book Thinking Like a Human: The Power of Your Mind in the Age of AI, the founder of The Artful Intelligence Institute, and writes the Managing with Meaning blog for Psychology Today. The springboard for our discussion was an article David wrote for Quillette:

AI Hype vs. Natural Intelligence Breakthroughs

Amid all the overexcitement about artificial intelligence, there is little room for public consideration of mind-blowing findings on natural intelligence.

QuilletteDavid Weitzner

David and I discuss the ways in which AI tools have fallen short of the hyperbolic promises made about them by Sam Altman and others. We talk about the differences between algorithmic calculation of the kind done by AIs and embodied cognition, which is how humans think. We also talk about what is at risk of being lost as we outsource increasing amounts of our reading and writing to AI.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with David Weitzner.