Josh Brake

Josh Brake, a computer scientist and professor who studies tech’s social impacts, and Rosalind Picard, an affective computing pioneer who built emotion-sensing wearables, join to ask hard questions. They probe whether faster tools serve meaningful living. They debate human dignity, embodiment, and how to slow, resist, or shape AI so technology fits human purposes.

Josh Brake, associate professor at Harvey Mudd and writer on technology and human flourishing, uses an e-bike ride to explore AI as augmentation. He compares pedal-assist versus replacement, warns about speed enabling unreflective choices, discusses copyright and appropriation risks, and urges community checks and intentional purpose when adopting AI tools.

Rumman Chowdhury, data and social scientist who builds responsible AI teams. Josh Brake, computer scientist studying how tools shape human agency. They discuss how AI designs shape our habits and desires. They explore AI’s role in attention economies, how simulated intimacy can reshape relationships, and how profit incentives steer technological paths.