In this episode of The Intersect, I’m joined by Dr. Hamsa Bastani -- an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- and Kristina Peterson -- a longtime high school English teacher and author of AI in the Writing Workshop – to discuss the ways that AI is transforming our education system.
Over the last couple of semesters, AI has become an overwhelming presence in school classrooms and on college campuses. While many remain concerned about students cheating and misusing AI, there’s a deeper question at play: How is this new technology reshaping the way students learn? In this episode, we explore how education is transforming as students and educators integrate it into their work and lives. The challenge remains big though: How can we ensure the education system maintains its relevance, meaning and humanity?
Topics Covered:
What does it mean to cheat in the age of AI?How can educators integrate AI into their classrooms to facilitate teaching and learning?How can AI be a thought partner for students rather than a crutch? Has AI allowed us to forget what it’s like to struggle in school? Does this matter?What can parents do to best navigate the rise of AI in the classroom?About Hamsa Bastani:
Hamsa Bastani is an Associate Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where she co-directs the Healthcare Analytics Lab. Her research develops innovative machine learning methods to address societal challenges, particularly in healthcare and education. She has partnered with national governments, including Greece and Sierra Leone, to deploy algorithms at the country-scale to improve public health outcomes, and her research has been published in leading outlets including Nature, Management Science, and Operations Research.
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About Kristina Peterson:
Kristina Peterson is a veteran high school English teacher, researcher, and co-founder of EmpowerEd Consulting, specializing in the ethical integration of generative AI in education. She is the co-author of AI in the Writing Workshop: Finding the Write Balance (April 2025), which explores how AI can serve as a writing partner while still preserving student voice and creativity. Kristina’s work bridges classroom practice with national conversations on innovation, equity, and digital literacy. She also consults with educators, universities, and law enforcement to help them adapt responsibly to emerging AI tools.
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In this episode of The Intersect, I sit down with Lila Shroff, an assistant editor at The Atlantic who covers technology, science, health and culture.Together we explore how AI is rapidly shaping the habits, experiences and worldviews of Gen Z, and how AI companies are diligently working to attract 18-24 year olds and convert them to loyal customers.
A member of Gen Z herself, Lila introduces the idea of the “Gen Z lifestyle subsidy,” which is the trend of AI companies subsidizing the cost of subscriptions for their premium offerings to college-aged students. Beyond this, we cover how education, data privacy, and intimate relationships are being re-imagined and influenced by AI for the better and for worse. And how this era is not just about humans talking to chatbots. Now chatbots are talking to chatbots to help humans navigate their lives from making restaurant reservations to writing job applications. The ultimate question: Is this the path to a more efficient life, or are we losing our agency?
Topics Covered:
What the Gen Z “lifestyle subsidy” is and how it’s impacting an entire generationHow 18-24-year-olds have become AI “power users” and what AI companies are doing to drive adoption and earn their loyaltyWhat growing up with chatbots means for young children born into an AI world The generational shift in attitude toward sharing private information with chat botsAbout Lila Shroff:
Lila Shroff is an assistant editor on The Atlantic’s Science, Technology, & Health team. Before The Atlantic, Lila served on the editorial board at Reboot and co-led a working group at the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute researching AI and the arts. She is particularly interested in the social and cultural impacts of AI. She graduated from Stanford where she studied AI and literature.
Follow Lila Shroff on X and LinkedIn at @lilashroff.
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In this episode of The Intersect, I sit down with Joanna Peña-Bickley, co-founder and CEO of Vibes AI. We explore where technology meets our most human needs and concerns, and discuss how AI can support brain health to help us age with dignity.
As wearable technology continues to advance, how can we better understand and care for our brains? Joanna and her team want to empower us with tools to understand and care for our brains. In our conversation, we delve into how Vibes AI is using voice analysis to detect early signs of cognitive decline, the connection between our hearing and our cognitive functioning, and an innovative vision for how AI and wearable tech might help us extend not just our lifespan, but our “joy span.”
Topics Covered:
Why brain health is a critical and often overlooked pillar of wellnessHow Vibes AI is working to identify early signs of cognitive decline by analyzing biomarkers in our voice.How hearing loss is connected to cognitive health, and how improving our hearing can lead to positive outcomes for our brains. Ways that having a healthy brain can increase not just our “joyspan,” but also our healthspan. How our voices have a unique frequency and when we’re “on the same wavelength” as others, it can lead to deeper connections.About Joanna Peña-Bickley:
Joanna Peña-Bickley is a design engineer known as the mother of Cognitive Experience Design and a leader in Generative AI. Her multidisciplinary work across tech, media, and design for the AI era has led to over 150 products for companies like IBM, Amazon, and NASA.
An advocate for inclusive design and AI ethics, she co-founded neurotechnology company Vibes AI that aims to make brain health and wellness accessible to all. She also launched the AI Design Corps to drive workforce upskilling.
Named one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women, Joanna is working to shape the future of human-centered AI.
Follow Joanna Peña-Bickley on Instagram and YouTube @joannapenabickley and TikTok @joannapenabickley0.
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In this episode of The Intersect I am joined by Aidan Walker -- a writer, internet culture researcher and the creator of the substack How to Do Things with Memes -- to discuss how culture isn’t created for us but by us.
Aidan studies where viral content comes from, how it spreads and what it reveals about our world — a world in which we’re all producers. It’s not just creators, influencers, or journalists who determine what content is important and shapes our culture but the commenters, the reposters, and the larger online community.
But what happens when our feed is filled with AI-generated content? Listen to my conversation with Aidan to learn more.
Topics Covered:
The origins and implications of "slop capitalism" in the digital content economyThe algorithmic shift from meaningful engagement to content saturationThe role of Substack, TikTok, and digital community in reclaiming thoughtful contentWhy platforms prefer “slop” over quality: an incentive structure driven by control, not just profitHow smartphones became the default middleman for all modern experiences—dating, jobs, entertainmentHow cultural expression is increasingly limited to what algorithms can track, monetize, and approveThe power of reframing internet users from passive consumers to active producersWhy honoring internet culture as serious, collaborative creative work is vital for our futureAbout Aidan Walker:
Aidan Walker is a writer and meme researcher who posts on TikTok and YouTube under the handle @aidanetcetera. He also writes the Substack newsletter How To Do Things With Memes.
Some of Aidan Walker’s recent work on Slop, and other reference material:
The unstoppable rise of Chubby: Why TikTok's AI-generated cat could be the future of the internet
How Spammers and Scammers Leverage AI-Generated Images on Facebook for Audience Growth
Follow Aidan Walker on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at @aidan.etcetera
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In this episode of The Intersect, I sit down with Katherine "KVJ" von Jan, veteran of big tech and co-founder/CEO of Tough Day, a company that’s built something quite remarkable: Tuffy, an AI-powered workplace resilience coach.
As traditional management structures have evolved, how can our work environments be healthier and more effective? We discuss how the middle manager role has become unsustainable and why so many employees at every level are feeling disempowered. In a world where burnout is epidemic, KVJ offers a hopeful vision for how AI might actually help us become more human at work.
Topics Covered:
How AI can assist both employees and managers with feedback, prep, and difficult conversations.The rise of “un-bossing,” which centers on disrupting traditional management hierarchies, empowering employees to self-manage, and prioritizing mentorship in the workplace.The power of AI “resilience partners” to not only help people navigate workplace challenges, but also learn new workplace skills. How Gen Z is redefining what leadership and work culture look like today, and how management will change in the future.About Katherine von Jan
Katherine "KVJ" von Jan is the co-founder and CEO of Tough Day, an AI-driven company focused on empowering employees to overcome challenges and thrive in a "manager-light" workplace. Prior to Tough Day, she was Chief Strategy Officer, Innovation at Salesforce. KVJ is a fearless advocate for a human-centered approach to building culture, trust, and success leveraging emerging technologies. Her views have been shared broadly in media including CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, and Wired Magazine. A global citizen and avid explorer, KVJ calls NYC her basecamp.
Follow Katherine "KVJ" von Jan on Instagram at @katherinevonjan
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In this premiere episode of The Intersect I sit down with Katie Drummond -- Global Editorial Director of WIRED -- to unpack one of the most urgent but under-examined realities of the last decade: the quiet erosion of journalism at the hands of AI and automation.
From the loss of local newsrooms to the rise of AI-generated content mills, journalism has been fundamentally reshaped by technology -- and the business models that now prioritize engagement algorithms over editorial judgment. We explore how early AI systems displaced thousands of journalists, how tech platforms siphoned away advertising revenue that once funded reporting, and how today’s news landscape reflects these foundational shifts.
Topics Covered:
How AI quietly displaced thousands of journalists over the last decadeThe erosion of editorial power and the rise of engagement optimizationWhy local journalism collapsed -- and what filled the vacuumThe dangers of AI-generated news and algorithmic storytellingHow media business models shifted trust away from the newsroomWhat comes next for independent and bold reportingWhy human editors are still essential in an AI-driven worldAbout Katie Drummond:
Katie Drummond is the global editorial director of WIRED, leading content strategy for the brand across all platforms and markets.
Prior to joining WIRED, Drummond was the senior vice president of global news & entertainment at VICE, where she led the global expansion of VICE News across Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and oversaw all VICE digital brands including Noisey, Munchies, Rec Room, Motherboard, and Waypoint. Previously, Drummond held editorial leadership positions at several media outlets, including as deputy editor of Bloomberg.com and Editor-in-Chief of technology website Gizmodo.
Drummond graduated from Queen’s University in Canada with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy. She resides in Brooklyn.
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In this episode of The Intersect I sit down with Natalie Monbiot -- Founder of The Virtual Human Economy -- to explore one of the most profound shifts underway: the rise of AI-powered digital twins, and what it means for the future of identity, work and human flourishing.
As AI agents grow more sophisticated and ubiquitous, we are stepping into a future where every individual could have a working virtual counterpart -- negotiating, building, scaling businesses and extending personal reach across the globe. But as we create ever more life-like digital representations of ourselves, a deeper question emerges: are our digital twins truly us? Or do they risk flattening and commodifying the very humanity they are meant to extend?
Topics Covered:
What is a digital twin -- and how close are we alreadyHow AI agents are reshaping the meaning of work and creativityThe rise of micro global companies and the solo entrepreneur economyWhy the ‘virtual human economy’ is poised to boomThe ethical and existential questions digital twins raiseWhether our digital selves can truly reflect our human selvesHow to use emerging AI tools for empowerment, not erosionAbout Natalie Monbiot:
Natalie Monbiot is the Founder of The Virtual Human Economy and a leading thinker on the future of AI, identity and digital labor. A pioneer at the intersection of technology, media and culture, Natalie builds custom pro-human AI solutions for Fortune 100 companies, helping them navigate the rise of AI-powered human extensions and build toward a future of expanded human potential and opportunity.
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