Life, Automated

Ryan Institute on Complexity at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

Topics: Technology · Society & Culture

No. 82 in Technology▼4

Life, Automated explores how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. Through thoughtful conversations with researchers, practitioners, artists, and more, we do our best to make sense of how technology is changing—and how it is changing us. We ask: What does the economy look like if AI can do much of what humans can? Will AI tools isolate us further, or steer us back toward community and common ground? Can the average person expect to be better off a decade from now? And what the heck should we tell a sixteen-year-old who wants to know whether learning German (or design, or coding, or the piano) is still worth it? Life, Automated is grounded and...

Latest episodeIs Math the Canary in the AI Coal Mine? (with Bryna Kra)October 28, 2026 · 37 min

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Latest episodes

1. Is Math the Canary in the AI Coal Mine? (with Bryna Kra)October 28, 2026 · 37 min
2. Is Technology Making Our Lives Less Gratifying? (with Ian Bogost)October 14, 2026 · 34 min
3. The Cybersecurity Crisis Is About More Than “Rogue AI” (with V.S. Subrahmanian)September 30, 2026 · 36 min
4. Will We Still Learn Languages When Machines Can Translate? (with Abby Walker)September 16, 2026 · 33 min
5. AI, Artists, and the Future of Creative WorkSeptember 2, 2026 · 50 min
6. Why AI Might Not Change Education Much at All (with Justin Reich)August 19, 2026 · 42 min
7. An Optimist’s Take on AI and the Future of Learning (with Sébastien Martin)August 12, 2026 · 35 min
8. Our Chatbot Friends and Lovers (with Pat Pataranutaporn)August 5, 2026 · 41 min
9. Chatbots Don’t Fool Us, We Fool Ourselves (with Joshua Jay)July 29, 2026 · 42 min
10. Does AI Have to Be Bad News for the Planet? (with Meghan Busse)July 22, 2026 · 37 min

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