AITEC Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Joshua Hatherley, a bioethicist at the University of Copenhagen, about his recent article, “Are clinicians ethically obligated to disclose their use of medical machine learning systems to patients?” Dr. Hatherley challenges what has become a widely accepted view in bioethics: that patients must always be informed when clinicians use medical AI systems in diagnosis or treatment planning. We explore his critiques of four central arguments for the “disclosure thesis”—including risk, rights, materiality, and autonomy—and discuss why, in some cases, mandatory disclosure might do more harm than good. For more info, visit ethicscircle.org [https://www.ethicscircle.org/].

Philosopher Jeff Kane [https://waldorfgarden.org/about/meet-our-board/jeffrey-kane/] joins us to discuss his new book The Emergence of Mind: Where Technology Ends and We Begin [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-46835-3]. In an age where AI writes poems, paints portraits, and mimics conversation, Kane argues that the human mind remains fundamentally different—not because of what it does, but because of what it is. We explore the moral risks of thinking of ourselves as machines, the embodied nature of thought, the deep structure of human values, and why lived experience—not information processing—grounds what it means to be human.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Caroline Ashcroft, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford and author of Catastrophic Technology in Cold War Political Thought. Drawing on figures like Arendt, Jonas, Ellul, and Marcuse, Ashcroft explores a powerful yet underexamined idea: that modern technology is not just risky or disruptive—but fundamentally catastrophic. We discuss how mid-century political theorists viewed technology as reshaping the environment, the self, and the world in ways that eroded human dignity, democratic life, and any sense of limits. For more info, visit ethicscircle.org [https://www.ethicscircle.org/].

Philosopher Teresa Baron joins us to discuss her book The Artificial Womb on Trial. As artificial womb technology edges closer to reality, Baron asks a different question: not just what ectogenesis means for society, but how we ethically get there. From human subject trials to questions of consent, regulation, and reproductive justice, this episode puts the development process itself under the bioethical microscope. For more info, visit ethicscircle.org [https://www.ethicscircle.org/].

What does it mean to live well in an AI-driven world—and how can we use AI to help us get there? In this episode, we speak with psychologist and neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Kosslyn [https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/stephen-m-kosslyn]. Stephen Kosslyn is Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, and he is former chair of the Harvard psychology department and dean of social sciences. He is currently the CEO of Active Learning Sciences [https://www.activelearningsciences.com/]. We discuss how generative AI isn’t just a tool for speed and convenience—it can be a cognitive amplifier for building the kind of life we actually want. Drawing from his book Learning to Flourish in the Age of AI [https://www.routledge.com/Learning-to-Flourish-in-the-Age-of-AI/Kosslyn/p/book/9781032686660?srsltid=AfmBOoq6ZVq0FM_jbptvgRw6jd_TDjkbIe-0BMwsl8PV7TawiVkGlifB], we explore how to use large language models to set life goals, stay motivated, communicate better, manage emotions, understand ourselves and others, and think more clearly. For more info, visit ethicscircle.org [https://www.ethicscircle.org/].