Andrew Maynard

CodeSignal turned my book into an AI-assisted professional development course As universities and companies scramble to bring agentic AI to learning, I was intrigued by CodeSignal's approach to using AI in a new course inspired by the book Future Rising

As universities and companies scramble to bring agentic AI to learning, I was intrigued by CodeSignal's approach to using AI in a new course inspired by the book Future Rising

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/codesignal...

Futures of Agentic AI and the 2025 AI Action Plan Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 07/29/2025 · 1h 25m

This week's Modem Futura is up! Definitely the most fun you can have listening to an AI podcast 😜

Futures of Agentic AI and the 2025 (US) AI Action Plan
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Spiky surfaces and jagged edges: Moving beyond what's known in an Age of AI Do we need to move beyond simple models of knowledge creation and discovery as AI becomes increasingly capable?

Spiky surfaces and jagged edges: Moving beyond what's known in an Age of AI www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/spiky-surf...

America's AI Action Plan: "Build, Baby, Build" The White House's just-released AI Action Plan prioritizes speed, power, and US AI supremacy, over pretty much everything else. This will likely be good news for some, but not for others.

The White House's just-released AI Action Plan prioritizes speed, power, and US AI supremacy, over pretty much everything else. This will likely be good news for some, but not for others.
www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/americas-a...

WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS AMERICA'S AI ACTION PLAN WASHINGTON, DC – The White House today released “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, in accordance with President Trump’s January executive

Just beginning to go through the newly released US AI Action Plan, but this sentence seems to say it all: "Simply put, we need to 'Build, Baby, Build!" I may be wrong but it seems that, when it comes to US policy, any hint of innovating responsibly is dead

More at www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...

Summer School with AI: Rethinking Learning in the Age of GPT Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 07/22/2025 · 1h 23m

Summer School with AI: Rethinking Learning in the Age of GPT:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Still Human: 61 Inspiring paintings from an upcoming generation Amidst today's flood of AI-generated art, these paintings by Chinese children speak with a rare clarity about empathy, creativity, and the soul of what it means to be human

Something of a personal post on this week's Future of Being Human substack -- 61 paintings by young people that stopped me in my tracks in a a recent trip to China.

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/still-huma...

As AI "watchers" are proposed -- Chain of Thought (CoT) monitors -- who will watch the watchers?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes artificiosos?

tomekkorbak.com/cot-monitora...

Over the years my interpretation of Banks’ Culture series and the intertwined narratives has moved around quite a bit - probably because of their complexity and nuance. Great thread!

What's Grok 4's "Moral Character"? With the launch of xAI's Grok 4 – heralded by Elon Musk as "the world's smartest AI" – I was interested to see how it's "moral character" stacked up agains other models

What's Grok 4's "Moral Character"? With the launch of xAI's Grok 4 – heralded by Elon Musk as "the world's smartest AI" – I was interested to see how it's "moral character" stacked up agains other models www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/whats-grok...

At Least 13 People Died by Suicide Amid U.K. Post Office Scandal, Report Says A public inquiry into the wrongful prosecutions of about 1,000 postal workers has uncovered more victims than previously known, according to a report.

At least 13 postal workers in Britain died by suicide amid a post office scandal in which about 1,000 postal workers were wrongfully prosecuted for theft and other crimes, according to a report released this week as part of an inquiry into the scandal.

Summer Vibes & Spatial Rides: Inside Vision Pro, F1 & Jurassic Reboots Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 07/08/2025 · 55m

This week's episode of Modem Futura is out! Catch it here or wherever you get your podcasts:

Summer Vibes & Spatial Rides: Inside Vision Pro, F1 & Jurassic Reboots

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

I saw an off hand remark somewhere that companies are probably already doing what the Centaur team achieved - I don’t think they are that sophisticated yet but these behavioral models could be a worrying game changer

Motive, Means, and Opportunity: The Growing Risk of AI Manipulation Two recent studies reveal how frontier AI models may leverage the ability to manipulate users to achieve their goals — if given the access and incentive.

The Growing Risk of AI Manipulation: Two recent studies reveal how frontier AI models may leverage the ability to manipulate users to achieve their goals — if given the access and incentive. www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/ai-risk-mo...

Future Vibes: Sean & Andrew’s 2025 Summer Reading List Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 07/01/2025 · 55m

Loved recording this week's episode of Modem Futura -- a totally eclectic Summer reading list from myself and co-host Sean Leahy, with a lot of laughs along the way: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Staying true to form, this year's list of Top Ten Emerging Technologies from the World Economic Forum includes tech that may not be on your radar but should be – from nanozymes and generative watermarking to treating neurodegenerative disease with GLP-1's
www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/wef-top-te...

She was a Disney star with platinum records, but Bridgit Mendler gave it up to change the world “The space industry has a ground bottleneck, and the problem is going to get worse.”…

I went in-depth here on Bridgit Mendler and Northwood Space. There's a lot of bad news out there, but this is one of the most uplifting stories I've reported on in awhile.

arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

YouTube video by Risk Bites Don't treat coronavirus by injecting disinfectant - it could kill you!

I never thought a time would come when I reposted this video, but here we are:

Don't treat coronavirus by injecting disinfectant
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GZB...

Living Circuits and Biofoundries: Ethics and Care of Synthetic Biology with Emma Frow Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 06/03/2025 · 1h 12m

Can't recommend this conversation with ASU's Professor Emma Frow on synthetic biology and responsible innovation enough: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

Vibe coding moral panic Not a panic about vibe coding, but an idle thought that led down a rabbit hole that turned into an online timeline on tech driven angst through the ages

Vibe coding moral panic (the story behind the moral panic link I posted a few days ago). www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/vibe-codin...

😊 Not comprehensive, but focusing on major panics that were typically more than conspiracy theories and fringe fears -- or well founded fears in some cases. But it's a very gray dividing line

Thanks for all the interest in the Technology-Driven Moral Panics timeline! This has now been cleaned up, an About section added and -- most importantly -- an AI follow-up link added to every entry.

techlashed.org

This was supposed to be a quick coffee break project -- it sort of grew!

Thanks - yes, still cleaning up! This started as a 5 minute vibe coding project and grew rather fast -- still a number of glitches!

It is - and wish I’d seen this first - but the bar is higher here for moral risk/peril, although it’s a squishy line

Couldn't find a good technology-fueled moral panic timeline, so I made this (with a little help): techlashed.org

I’ve been vocal for years on how many marcomm teams fail to understand this - or don’t care!

Have to agree Re: the switch back to transactional communication. And of course there’s a vibrant community of science communicators out there who deeply understand the importance of relational communication (including you of course), but still feels like an up hill struggle

Lots of interesting food for thought here. As someone who believes in relational science communication enough to have written a book about it, it’s been tough to see a switch back to very transactional communication in the midst of a higher ed crisis.

Why parasocial communication around complex ideas is important – and why we need more of it Conveying facts and figures is an important communication strategy – but relationship-based communication and engagement have a unique and often under-appreciated role in empowering audiences at scale

Conveying facts and figures is an important communication strategy – but relationship-based communication and engagement have a unique and often under-appreciated role in empowering audiences at scale
www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/why-paraso...

Can cause-effect models like this help people develop a better sense of developing and using AI responsibly? Link to the tool here: www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/exploring-...