#346 We Need to Talk about Tech: Exploring AI, fresh Hope…and the power of Song with Nathalie Nahai
“The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” William Gibson
We need to talk about Big Tech, and particularly AI – it’s ubiquitous, it’s powerful, and currently, it’s unconstrained and this is not an ideal combination if we live in the real world of mass extinction where human and more-than-human communities are being destroyed to serve the death cult of predatory capitalism at its most rapacious.
The question is – how do we shift the dial on the future when so many of those whose fortunes are sunk into Tech, and AI in particular, seem to be steeped in the Dark Triad of psychopathy, sadism and narcissism? Is there any sign of hope amidst all the chaos and the frozen despair that narratives of inevitability foster in us?
We turn this week to long-time friend of the podcast, Nathalie Nahai. Nathalie is a celebrated author, keynote speaker and host of the glorious Nathalie Nahai in Conversation podcast which enquires into our relationship with one another, with technology and with the living world. She’s author of the international best-seller Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion and, more recently, Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience which has been described as “One of the defining business books of our times”. She’s a consultant, artist and the founder of Flourishing Futures Salon, a project that offers curated gastronomical gatherings that explore how we can thrive in times of turbulence and change.
Episode #346
LINKS
Nathalie’s Books
Nathalie’s Resources of wonderful people already in this space
More from Accidental Gods…
We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass.
Our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme is Becoming a Good Ancestor which will run on Sunday 13th September 2026 from 16:00 – 20:00 GMT – details are here. You don’t have to be a member of Accidental Gods – but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.
If you’d like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life.
If you’d like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you’ll find us here.
If you’d like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Masterclass, the details are here
Manda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls. Manda is writing a book just now, but if you’d like to contact Louise, details are here.
In Conversation
You may also like these recent podcasts
Grown Up Politics 2: How can Andy Burnham deliver a future that works? With Rupert Read and Clive Lewis MP
How can we bring power to those with wisdom and wisdom to those with power? Specifically, how can our new Prime Minister deliver a future that repairs the ruptures within our national and international culture in a time frame that works while in the face of biophysical collapse and the onward march of the political wing of predatory capital?
Healthy People, Healthy Planet, Healthy Future with Dr Amanda d’Almeida of Medicine Explained
How do we create healthy people, intimately enmeshed in a healthy biosphere so that, together, we can co-create routes to a healthy future?
Health is such an astonishingly polarised and polarising field, but there are some truly astonishing people out there who are fully on board with the concept that late stage capitalism is at the heart of our ills and that regeneration of our connections is the key to building health in all its senses.
Podcasters Unite! Thinking about systemic change with Tim Logan, Nathalie Nahai, Amit Paul, and Manda Scott
How do we think about systemic change? Specifically, how do four podcasters who spend their entire lives thinking about this think about systemic change – what it is and how we get there?
Design for the Ineffable: Crafting a Flourishing world with Dr Jenna Mikus
If each of us were able to discover what’s ours to do, we’d be well on the way to the transformation we need to get us through the pinch points of the climate, cultural and technological apocalypses that are heading our way. So today we’re talking with someone who crosses many disciplines in search of human flourishing.
STAY IN TOUCH
For a regular supply of ideas about humanity's next evolutionary step, insights into the thinking behind some of the podcasts, early updates on the guests we'll be having on the show - AND a free Water visualisation that will guide you through a deep immersion in water connection...sign up here.
(NB: This is a free newsletter - it's not joining up to the Membership! That's a nice, subtle pink button on the 'Join Us' page...)



