Season 1 of Machines Like Us: A Wrap

Season 1 of Machines Like Us is in the books.

Over the past year, I had the privilege of sitting down with 25 remarkable people to talk about how artificial intelligence is reshaping our world — our economies, our institutions, our relationships, and our sense of what it means to be human. The podcast, a collaboration with The Globe and Mail, set out to go beyond the headlines and hype to explore what AI actually means for the people and systems it touches.

Some conversations have stayed with me long after we recorded them. Maria Ressa spoke with striking clarity about the dangers social media platforms pose to democracy, and why the AI era risks amplifying those same dynamics. Yoshua Bengio offered a candid assessment of whether we are genuinely prepared for the systems we are building — and his answer was sobering. Margrethe Vestager brought the perspective of someone who has spent years at the front lines of tech regulation, and who understands both the promise and the limits of what policy can achieve.

These are just a few highlights from a season full of conversations that challenged my own thinking and, I hope, offered listeners something worth sitting with.

I want to thank the team at The Globe and Mail for their partnership and editorial vision, and my colleagues at McGill and the Max Bell School of Public Policy for their support throughout the project. This kind of work only happens through collaboration.

Season 2 is coming soon. We're planning new formats, new voices, and renewed energy for what promises to be an even more consequential year in AI. Stay tuned.

You can listen to Season 1 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at The Globe and Mail.