Mind the Machine

Artificial intelligence feels overwhelming for a lot of people right now. The speed is fast, the tools are endless, and the noise can make it hard to know what actually matters.In this keynote-style talk, Cheryl Goodman reframes AI through a different lens: not hype, not fear, and not magic, but understanding. By grounding AI in history, fundamentals, and purpose, this session focuses on how real people and organizations can think clearly, act responsibly, and move forward with confidence.You’ll learn why AI is a general-purpose technology, how to think about risk and cost, what hallucinations really are, and why understanding matters more than speed. Most importantly, this talk centers on the idea that hope in AI is not wishful thinking, but a valid expectation when knowledge replaces fear.This a framework for leading and building in the age of AI.AI Fluent Course: https://findgood.tech/ai-fluent-in-person-course/Book Cheryl to speak at your company or community, she’s trained executives at Fortune 100 companies and has taught practical AI courses at 7 universities and has led a series of Hack-a thons for all levels of learners. You can submit a booking inquiry through FindGood.tech speaking contact page to discuss keynotes, panels, or corporate events. https://findgood.tech/speaking/AAE Speakers Bureau: You can check her availability and request fee information through All American Entertainment (AAE). They handle logistics, offer negotiations, and contractual assistance.Direct Contact: For general inquiries, her team can be reached at [email protected] or via her LinkedIn profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckgoodman00:00 Introduction – What This AI Talk Promises01:23 The “Three Theories” Behind AI03:17 The Hope in AI Framework04:54 What We’ll Cover Today06:20 Where Do You Stand on AI?08:11 The Generative AI Explosion09:41 Why AI Is Not Just Hype12:19 Why Speed Isn’t the Goal14:18 What AI Actually Is15:26 Tokens – The True Cost of AI17:18 Core Concepts: Vectors, Embeddings, Weights18:19 Everything Is Numbers – How Prediction Works22:42 Temperature – Creativity vs Predictability24:10 Context, Meaning & Word Embeddings26:13 Weights & Bias – Why Training Matters31:56 Hallucinations & Error Rates33:32 AI as a Partner (Not a Replacement)35:12 What AI Can Already Do36:05 Prompt Engineering Explained38:42 Jobs, Infrastructure & Investment Implications39:10 The Hope Framework Recap40:48 Final Takeaways

If your marketing isn’t compliant, the risk isn’t theoretical. It can mean lawsuits, fines, or having your ad accounts shut down overnight.

In this episode of the Mind the Machine Podcast, we sit down with the co-founders of Loopholes, an AI-powered marketing compliance platform built to catch risk before it becomes expensive. They explain how a single word or image can trigger massive penalties, why highly regulated industries struggle to scale marketing safely, and how AI can act like an antivirus for your brand’s messaging.

We cover how Loopholes emerged from years running a regulated marketing agency, what Techstars helped unlock for their growth, and why compliance is becoming a core part of modern go-to-market teams. This conversation is essential for marketers, founders, legal teams, and anyone using AI to scale content in a regulated world.

Get a free trial: https://www.loopholes.com

Timestamps:
00:00 Why non-compliant marketing is dangerous
02:00 The real problem with marketing compliance
03:36 A full AI platform
07:12 Why compliance slows companies down
09:34 How one word can trigger massive fines
11:25 Who actually needs marketing compliance
14:02 The future of AI compliance agents
18:35 Cutting weeks of review down to seconds
25:20 Why GPT alone isn’t enough
30:28 Staying creative without getting fined

Doug Harrison breaks down the 10 mind traps he’s seen repeatedly while working with over a thousand brands and businesses. These traps are subtle, common patterns that work against people’s best interests without them realizing it: the Over-Explainer, the Copycat, the Day Jobber, the Tactician, the Pillar Pitcher, the Glorifier, the Defender, the Interrogator, and the Schmoozer. Doug explains why they happen, how they create risk in the buyer’s mind, and why clarity is the real advantage.Then the conversation shifts into Doug’s next chapter: the Keep Rising platform, built to solve what happens between appointments for advisors like therapists, coaches, case managers, and clinicians. The platform focuses on behavior change through systems instead of willpower, using “extreme humanness,” specificity, and a whole-brain approach to help people follow through on the habits they want to build.Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Framework-Business-Distinctly-Matter/dp/1631959514Follow Mind the Machine:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindthemachinepodcastTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mindthemachinepodcastWebsite: https://findgood.tech/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/findgood-tech/0:00 Intro0:30 Episode overview and guest intro1:07 Setting up the mind traps concept1:57 Overexplainer3:09 Copycat4:00 Day Job5:42 Tactician8:02 Pillar Picture21:41 Glorifier26:24 Defender27:07 Interrogator28:18 Schmoozer29:36 Reflecting on all mind traps32:36 Transition to the Rise / Keep Rising framework37:50 Whole-brain approach to behavior change45:21 Why good intentions fail52:57 Closing remarks

CES 2026 made one thing clear: AI is no longer something we open in a browser. It is becoming the interface for everything around us. From humanoid robots and autonomous vehicles to edge AI, cooling breakthroughs, and voice-first homes, this episode explores how artificial intelligence is moving out of the cloud and into the physical world.

Recorded on the show floor and inside CES’s new “Foundry” experience, this recap covers NVIDIA’s compute platforms, Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid, AI-powered vehicles, Qualcomm’s edge strategy, and a deep dive into Frore Systems’ solid-state AirJet cooling technology. The common thread is simple but massive: performance, intelligence, and autonomy are now constrained less by software and more by hardware, thermals, and form factor.

We also zoom out to the bigger question CES raised this year: if AI is becoming a medium rather than a feature, what does that mean for our homes, devices, and daily lives? From robotics skepticism to voice-controlled AI hubs, this episode breaks down what is real, what is hype, and what is coming sooner than most people expect.

00:00 CES 2026 recap and first impressions
00:52 AI is no longer a tool, it is the new UI
01:06 Inside CES’s new Foundry and NVIDIA compute
01:50 Robotics, generative AI, and the future of household labor
02:07 Are we actually ready for robots in our homes?
02:19 Sponsor message
02:31 Meet Digit and the rise of humanoid robotics
03:29 Why CES has quietly become a car show
04:10 AI cars, edge compute, and on-device intelligence
05:01 NVIDIA-powered vehicles and Jensen Huang’s keynote moment
05:46 NVIDIA Blackwell, Rubin, and Piper explained
06:09 Where real CES business actually happens
06:31 Frore Systems and the AirJet cooling breakthrough
07:25 How solid-state cooling changes device design
08:47 Qualcomm reference designs and thin-form AI devices
09:35 Why AI moving to the edge changes everything
10:39 Thermal limits as the new performance bottleneck
10:59 Qualcomm’s AI hardware strategy
11:45 Who AirJet is actually built for
12:22 CES reflections and industry relationships
12:42 Voice, AI hubs, and a future with fewer screens
13:21 AI as a medium and final CES 2026 takeaways

In this episode of Mind the Machine Podcast, we sit down with Stephanie Sylvester, CEO of Avatar Buddy, to explore what human-centered AI actually looks like in practice.

Stephanie explains why the real power of AI lives at the intersection between humans and machines, and how small language models can deliver more accurate, secure, and aligned outcomes than massive general-purpose models. She shares clear analogies for understanding LLMs versus SLMs, explains how “managed AI as a service” helps organizations maintain consistency and control, and outlines how AI can increase self-agency rather than replace people.

The conversation also dives into jobs of the future, the skills that will matter most in an AI-driven world, and how thoughtful AI design can reduce bias, support marginalized communities, and create real win-win-win outcomes for workers, companies, and society.

Follow Mind the Machine:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindthemachinepodcast
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mindthemachinepodcast
Website: https://findgood.tech/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/findgood-tech/

Timestamps

00:00 – The human-AI continuum and why AI should amplify people
00:30 – Introduction to Stephanie Sylvester and Avatar Buddy
01:38 – What Avatar Buddy does and why “everyone needs a buddy”
03:00 – The human-digital handshake explained
04:25 – Why AI can be a true win-win-win solution
05:30 – Large language models vs small language models
06:30 – The library analogy for understanding SLMs
08:00 – Reducing hallucinations and validating AI outputs
09:00 – Privacy, security, and ecological benefits of small models
10:00 – How businesses win with managed AI and consistent data
11:30 – Brand consistency, compliance, and AI as institutional memory
13:40 – Jobs of the future and the skills that matter most
15:00 – Resiliency, creativity, and learning in an AI world
17:30 – Critical thinking, problem solving, and managing AI output
18:30 – Hiring for humble, hungry, and smart
20:00 – AI-powered recruiting with dignity
22:30 – Using AI to practice interviews and build confidence
23:30 – Fears, concerns, and misinformation around AI and jobs
25:00 – AI, equity, and empowering marginalized communities
26:00 – What excites Stephanie most about the future of AI
26:52 – Closing thoughts and where to find Avatar Buddy