Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · 2d

It's publication day for AI and the Art of Being Human, and to celebrate, for this week only you can pick up the Kindle version for a mere $0.99 (usually $9.99)!

Already getting wonderful reviews, which is both humbling and gratifying.

More on the book: www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/ai-and-the...

Do NOT read "AI and the Art of Being Human" ... unless you want to!

After all, what could possibly go wrong as AI gets increasingly good at doing you?

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · 11d

When ChatGPT turns informant
www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/when-chatg...

When ChatGPT turns snitch

The largely overlooked privacy risks of using AI apps that not only remember your conversations, but are capable of using these to reveal your deepest secrets to others

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · 19d

An Academic and a VC Walk into an AI Salon ...

The unexpected collaboration that became "AI and the Art of Being Human"

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/an-academi...

An Academic and a VC Walk into an AI Salon ...

The unexpected collaboration that became "AI and the Art of Being Human"

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Sep 7

If you use ChatGPT or other AI apps to respond to emails, or you've been tempted to, you may want to read this week's Substack newsletter from The Future of Being Human

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/the-hidden...

The hidden risks of using AI to write emails

When is it OK to use AI to craft emails, and when do you risk stepping into a whole lot of unexpected hurt? Intrigued by the question, I brushed off my risk hat and dived in.

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Sep 5

Of course, pestilence is a popular misread of the Biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but that's all part of the joke ...

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Sep 5

So pleased to see the US administration embrace their apocalyptic vision with the renaming of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Looking forward to the Executive Order changing CDC to the Department of Pestilence, USDA to the Department of Famine, and DOGE to the Department of Death

1 4

Reposted by Andrew Maynard

Sherry Pagoto, PhD @drsherrypagoto.bsky.social · Sep 1

This morning 9 former CDC Directors, whose tenures date back to 1977, published this warning in the NYT:

RFK Jr is a danger to public health.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

www.nytimes.com

26 530 1.4K

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 31

AIs are becoming startlingly good at emulating what we do. But what happens when they start to influence who we are and how we behave?

Holding on to our humanity in an age of AI: www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/holding-on...

Holding on to our humanity in an age of AI

AIs are becoming startlingly good at emulating what we do. But what happens when they start to influence who we are and how we behave?

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

2

Reposted by Andrew Maynard

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · Aug 28

“‘It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science,’ Mr. Zaid and Mr. Lowell wrote. ‘The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: Our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within.’”

debra-mathews.bsky.social @debra-mathews.bsky.social · Aug 28

New C.D.C. Director Is Fired, White House Says

www.nytimes.com

11 35

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 26

Unpacking Agentic AI in Education – a fantastic conversation with Punya Mishra on the hype and realities of agentic AI in education, and transformative ways of approaching artificial intelligence and learning. www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/unpacking-...

Unpacking Agentic AI in Education

A quick plug for this week's episode of Modem Futura with Punya Mishra, which dives into what agentic AI does and doesn't mean in education, and why this matters.

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 24

Using AI to Assess Student-AI Conversations

This week's Substack goes down a rabbit hole of developing a AI-prompt/tool for extracting insights from messy student-AI conversations

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/using-ai-t...

Using AI to Assess Student-AI Conversations

Can ChatGPT be used to extract useful learning insights from long and meandering conversations between learners and AI?

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1 2

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 17

Stop asking students "Show Me Your Prompt!"
As educators continue to grapple with students using AI for assignments, we need to move beyond the idea that showing the original prompt is useful
www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/stop-askin...

Stop asking students "Show Me Your Prompt!"

As educators continue to grapple with students using AI for assignments, we need to move beyond the idea that showing the original prompt is useful

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1 1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 13

For when you're asked "show me the prompt" on a college assignment where you use AI:
fvture.net/notaprompt/

My AI Prompt

fvture.net

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 10

The Scared Witless Educator's Guide to Surviving GPT-5

Someone had to do it -- a slightly tongue in cheek but also deadly serious plan for surviving ChatGPT GPT-5 in the classroom as the new academic year starts.

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/the-scared...

The Scared Witless Educator's Guide to Surviving GPT-5

If you're panicking over how to survive in world where every student has access to one of the most powerful AI's ever made, I have a plan ...

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 5

Eye (ear?) opening: Living Machines: Inside the Future World of Bio‑Hybrid Robotics

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

Living Machines: Inside the Future World of Bio‑Hybrid Robotics

Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 08/05/2025 · 1h 14m

podcasts.apple.com

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Aug 3

As universities and companies scramble to bring agentic AI to learning, I was intrigued by CodeSignal's approach to using AI in a new course inspired by the book Future Rising

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/codesignal...

CodeSignal turned my book into an AI-assisted professional development course

As universities and companies scramble to bring agentic AI to learning, I was intrigued by CodeSignal's approach to using AI in a new course inspired by the book Future Rising

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 29

This week's Modem Futura is up! Definitely the most fun you can have listening to an AI podcast 😜

Futures of Agentic AI and the 2025 (US) AI Action Plan
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Futures of Agentic AI and the 2025 AI Action Plan

Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 07/29/2025 · 1h 25m

podcasts.apple.com

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 27

Spiky surfaces and jagged edges: Moving beyond what's known in an Age of AI www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/spiky-surf...

Spiky surfaces and jagged edges: Moving beyond what's known in an Age of AI

Do we need to move beyond simple models of knowledge creation and discovery as AI becomes increasingly capable?

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 23

The White House's just-released AI Action Plan prioritizes speed, power, and US AI supremacy, over pretty much everything else. This will likely be good news for some, but not for others.
www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/americas-a...

America's AI Action Plan: "Build, Baby, Build"

The White House's just-released AI Action Plan prioritizes speed, power, and US AI supremacy, over pretty much everything else. This will likely be good news for some, but not for others.

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 23

Just beginning to go through the newly released US AI Action Plan, but this sentence seems to say it all: "Simply put, we need to 'Build, Baby, Build!" I may be wrong but it seems that, when it comes to US policy, any hint of innovating responsibly is dead

More at www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...

WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS AMERICA'S AI ACTION PLAN

WASHINGTON, DC – The White House today released “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, in accordance with President Trump’s January executive

www.whitehouse.gov

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 22

Summer School with AI: Rethinking Learning in the Age of GPT:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Summer School with AI: Rethinking Learning in the Age of GPT

Podcast Episode · Modem Futura · 07/22/2025 · 1h 23m

podcasts.apple.com

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 20

Something of a personal post on this week's Future of Being Human substack -- 61 paintings by young people that stopped me in my tracks in a a recent trip to China.

www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/still-huma...

Still Human: 61 Inspiring paintings from an upcoming generation

Amidst today's flood of AI-generated art, these paintings by Chinese children speak with a rare clarity about empathy, creativity, and the soul of what it means to be human

www.futureofbeinghuman.com

2

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 17

As AI "watchers" are proposed -- Chain of Thought (CoT) monitors -- who will watch the watchers?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes artificiosos?

tomekkorbak.com/cot-monitora...

tomekkorbak.com

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 17

Over the years my interpretation of Banks’ Culture series and the intertwined narratives has moved around quite a bit - probably because of their complexity and nuance. Great thread!

1

Andrew Maynard @andrewmaynard.net · Jul 14

What's Grok 4's "Moral Character"? With the launch of xAI's Grok 4 – heralded by Elon Musk as "the world's smartest AI" – I was interested to see how it's "moral character" stacked up agains other models www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/whats-grok...

What's Grok 4's "Moral Character"?

With the launch of xAI's Grok 4 – heralded by Elon Musk as "the world's smartest AI" – I was interested to see how it's "moral character" stacked up agains other models

www.futureofbeinghuman.com