The Data Fix

Please treat yourself to the Trust Control podcast series with journalist Kate Kaye, who I get to be in conversation with for this episode of The Data Fix. We unpack what trust means to researchers, scientists. and entrepreneurs, especially in relation to AI, automation, and the media. We'll give you trust issues!
Recorded October 5, 2026. Released October 12, 2026.

Trust Control
https://open.spotify.com/show/033Vfy3ziT4cPbCs8nZ2ZG

RedTail Media
https://redtailmedia.org

Follow @KateKaye.Bsky.Social
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is about care, attentiveness and the skill of being in relationship(s). (Jennifer) Jill Fellows and I discuss the rise of AI intimacy and the programmed sycophancy of generativeAI today, and what it reveals is that our emotional attachments to chatbots might be more about how easily we can convince ourselves of its significance than about any sophisticated technology. That said, when you talk to these chatbots, you enter into a relationship with a corporation that always already has money as a bottom line, not your wellbeing. This serves as an analysis and a warning. Recorded Sept 4, 2026. Released Sept 14, 2026.

Trigger warning -- we discuss self-harm and harm to others.

Joseph Weizenbaum on ELIZA:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/365153.365168

Sherry Turkle:
https://sherryturkle.mit.edu/

Hilde Lindemann's book on identity work:
https://academic.oup.com/book/4499?login=false

Joan Tronto:
https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/jctronto

Shannon Vallor on Moral Deskilling:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-014-0156-9

Helen DeCruz on Believing to Belong:
https://helendecruz.net/docs/DeCruz_belongbelief.pdf

Simone Natale et. al. on chatbot relationships:
https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221119021

Rosanne Ramos on her relationship with Eren:
https://www.newsweek.com/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-romance-1820752

Michael Geoffrey Asia on his life as a chatbot:
https://data-workers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/The-Emotional-Labor-Behind-AI-Intimacy-1.pdf

Ruo-Ning, Li, et. al. “Is a random human peer better than a highly supportive chatbot in reducing loneliness over time?” Journal of Expermental Sociology, Vol. 125.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2026.104911

CBC Understood Artificial Intimacy:
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1353-the-naked-emperor

Pullback Podcast Episode on Relationships with Chatbots:
https://pullback.podbean.com/e/computer-love/

Paranormal Programming:
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-23-ideas/clip/16133623-we-believe-artificial-intelligence-believe-ghosts

CBC Front Burner on Relationships with Chatbots:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/can-you-have-a-real-relationship-with-an-ai-1.7206945

CBC Spark on Relationships with AI:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/bots-like-chatgpt-aren-t-sentient-why-do-we-insist-on-making-them-seem-like-they-are-1.6761709

A Harem of Computers:
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6564912

(Jennifer) Jill Fellows website:
https://jenniferjillfellowsphd.opened.ca/

Cyborg Goddess Podcast:
https://cyborggoddess.opened.ca/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When is AI 'going rogue' and when is it just sloppy oversight by the companies designing the models? The answer won't surprise you -- probably -- but in this episode we discuss why we can both not believe the doom-hype marketing hype of AI companies and still be a bit worried about where this is all taking us. Erik Salvaggio unpacks and explains all of this better than anyone I know. Recorded Aug 27, 2026. Released Aug 31, 2026.

Eryk Salvaggio’s website
cyberneticforests.com
Linked In: Eryk Salvaggio’s Post
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eryk-salvaggio_when-you-see-a-headline-claiming-that-ai-activity-7485551550107656192-d-tq
The System From Nowhere
https://mail.cyberneticforests.com/the-system-from-nowhere/
On Stochastic Flocks & The Critical Problem of Useful AI
https://www.techpolicy.press/stochastic-flocks-and-the-critical-problem-of-useful-ai/
On RLVR (the verifiable rewards bit) - "It's Not X, It's Y"
https://mail.cyberneticforests.com/its-not-just-data-its-post-training/
The Data Fix: Soulless, with Eryk Salvaggio
https://shows.acast.com/the-data-fix/episodes/639d6648b0a821001040e0e2

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tracy Valcourt and I discuss this strange new AI phenomenon of using ads to sell both conservative veering on fascist ideology and AI production in itself, as a package. We meander through the strange worlds of advertising and AI and (re)consider the plausible. Recorded July 30, 2026. Released August 10, 2026.

That white guy who can’t get a job at Tim Hortons? He’s AI | Visual investigations -- CBC 2025
No Camera. No Crew. Just AI | Toyota Tundra Commercial
Being a Luddite Is Fun Again -- Janus Rose,Jul 27, 2026, 404
New Yorkers Are Defacing This AI Startup’s Million-Dollar Ad Campaign -- Rae Witte, Sep 30, 2025, Futurism

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development co-released the Data Center Opposition Report in April 2026, which we discuss in this episode with Kris Akin and Matthew Shaw. Recorded June 23, 2026. Released July 27, 2026.

Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development

Our Research — Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development

Data Center Opposition Report — Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development

Map of Community Organizations Focusing on Data Centers — Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.