Unified Intelligence and the Future of Creative AI, w/ Caroline Ingeborn

The Real-World Impact of AI, w/ Sharon Goldman

What happens when AI stops being just a software story and starts showing up in towns, power grids, zoning fights, data centers, and business workflows? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Sharon Goldman, longtime AI journalist (most recently senior reporter at Fortune) who’s now the founder of Ground Level AI, which focuses on the real-world impact of the AI boom: infrastructure, data centers, cybersecurity, enterprise adoption, policy, geopolitics, and the communities affected by it all. We dig into Sharon’s reporting on AI data centers across the United States, including communities in Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, and Texas that are grappling with new development, construction chaos, zoning disputes, water and electricity concerns, noise, jobs, tax revenue, and a larger sense that AI is arriving faster than people expected. We also talk about why data centers have become a proxy for broader AI anxiety, and why the conversation often gets more complicated than a simple pro-AI or anti-AI split. Then we turn to the fast-moving world of frontier models, cybersecurity, and enterprise AI. We discuss the Mythos and Fable saga, the tension between open and closed models, why companies are rethinking model lock-in, and why business leaders increasingly want choice, redundancy, and model-agnostic AI strategies. Sharon also shares how she thinks about covering AI as a journalist, what stories she believes are still underreported, and how she uses AI herself as a solo creator building a new media business. Guest Sharon Goldman — Journalist and Founder, Ground Level AI Check out Sharon’s work * Ground Level AI: https://www.groundlevel-ai.com/ [https://www.groundlevel-ai.com/] * Sharon’s reporting on data centers in Texas: https://fortune.com/2026/06/16/ai-data-center-texas-lacy-lakeview-ross/ [https://fortune.com/2026/06/16/ai-data-center-texas-lacy-lakeview-ross/] Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

The Case for Merging Brains and AI to Save Humanity, w/ D. Scott Phoenix

What if the only way to stay human in the age of AI is to become something more than human? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with D. Scott Phoenix, partner at 50 Years and co-founder of Vicarious, about one of the most provocative arguments in AI: we cannot stop AI, we cannot control AI, so humans may need to enhance themselves to stay at the center of civilization. Scott lays out the thesis behind his TED talk, including why he believes conventional AI guardrails may not be enough, why brain-computer interfaces could become essential, and how a future human-AI merger might reduce the gap between thought and machine intelligence. We also explore the risks and ethics of that future, from neural data privacy and regulation to inequality, cognitive liberty, and who should control the infrastructure that connects brains to AI. Along the way, we get into the stranger possibilities too: shared consciousness, communicating more deeply with loved ones or even animals, backing up the mind, and whether this kind of technology could eventually help humanity reach the stars. It is a big, uncomfortable, and fascinating conversation about AI, human enhancement, and what it might mean to remain human in a world of increasingly powerful machines. Guest: D. Scott Phoenix — Partner at 50 Years and co-founder of Vicarious Watch Scott’s TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C18aaP4lvUk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C18aaP4lvUk] Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

The Missing Half of AI: Geospatial Intelligence, w/ John Lenahan

What if the most important part of AI is the part nobody talks about, not the chatbot, but the map underneath the world? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with John Lenahan, Head of Esri’s Global Commercial Services team, about geospatial AI, GIS, and why “where” may be the missing context in so much of today’s AI conversation. We explore how maps become far more powerful when they layer in infrastructure, weather, sensor data, supply chains, demographics, and risk, and how AI can help turn that complexity into faster, more actionable decisions. We also get into what this looks like in practice. We discuss the Baltimore bridge collapse and how responders were able to build an operational model of the wreckage in a day instead of spending weeks or months trying to recreate the scene. We look at how Raleigh is using spatial AI and computer vision to improve cyclist and pedestrian safety, how cities can rethink bus routes and permitting, and how companies can uncover risks they did not even realize they had, like suppliers concentrated in the same vulnerable region. This conversation also explores the bigger business case for spatial intelligence. We talk about why a pipeline is not just a line on a spreadsheet, how terrain and soil can change maintenance costs dramatically, and why AI gets much more useful when it understands the physical world instead of treating everything like abstract text. We also discuss the risks, from trust and transparency to keeping humans in the loop when real lives and real infrastructure are involved. Guest John Lenahan — Head of Esri’s Global Commercial Services team Don’t forget to check out Esri [https://www.esri.com/]! Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

Inside the Real Bleeding Edge of AI Workflows, w/ Elijah Spencer

What does the bleeding edge of AI actually look like inside a small team, before the big labs turn it into a polished product? In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Elijah Spencer, Chief of Staff at Miden, about the practical workflows power users are building right now with AI coding tools, research agents, and custom automation. We explore how Elijah uses tools like Claude Code, Codex, and third-party harnesses to move from idea to MVP fast, build internal apps for real business problems, and create agentic workflows for research, social listening, and outreach. We also get into a bigger question: who is really at the frontier of AI right now? Not just the CEOs talking about transformation from 30,000 feet, but the practitioners inside teams who are quietly figuring out what these systems can actually do. From a startup finance dashboard built in a week, to a research agent that briefs him every morning, to a workflow that can surface breaking developments and help a team respond in hours instead of days, this conversation is a grounded look at how AI is changing day-to-day work. Along the way, we talk about context management, memory files, Slack bots, agentic development, and why Elijah thinks the next generation of companies may be built more like Rick Rubin makes albums: not by touching every knob directly, but by directing the system and the people around it with taste and intent. Guest Elijah Spencer — Chief of Staff, Miden Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]

How AI Agents Could Change Shopping Forever, w/ Chi Zhang

What happens when your next customer is not a person, but an AI agent shopping on their behalf? The way we buy things online may be about to change a lot faster than most people realize. In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Chi Zhang, cofounder and CEO of Kite, about agentic commerce and the infrastructure that could make AI agents true economic actors instead of just helpful assistants. We explore what it means to let an agent not only research flights, groceries, APIs, or consumer goods, but actually complete the transaction safely. Along the way, we unpack why Chi describes Kite as the “Stripe for agents,” and why this shift could force businesses to rethink who they are really selling to. We also dig into the hard part: trust. If an agent is going to spend money on your behalf, how does a merchant know that your agent is legitimate, authorized, and not a scam wearing your face? We get into the identity, verification, authorization, privacy, and infrastructure layers that make agentic payments possible, and why those pieces matter just as much as the agents themselves. This conversation also looks at why stablecoins and programmable money may be especially well suited to this future, particularly for micropayments, API access, and machine-to-machine commerce where traditional card rails are too expensive or clunky. More broadly, we talk about what happens when AI agents start doing more of the comparison shopping, checkout, and transaction work that humans used to do themselves. Guest Chi Zhang — Cofounder and CEO, Kite Check out Kite AI [https://gokite.ai] Follow AI-Curious on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-curious-with-jeff-wilser/id1703130308]Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/70a9Xbhu5XQ47YOgVTE44Q?si=7cd5e03f4a0440ff]YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwilser]All Other Platforms [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2230097/follow] For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company: Reach out directly at jeff@jeffwilser.com [jeff@jeffwilser.com]