Permanently Moved

Permanently Moved is an audio-only podcast about digital culture, internet culture, and the changing shape of the web. Written, recorded, and edited by Jay Springett since 2018, this long-running podcast explores artificial intelligence, social media, world-running, online communities, and life lived online in the shadow of the stack. Episodes blend personal journal and cultural analysis; tracing the strange edges of technology, AI, media, games, and the internet as it evolves. They are accompanied by Start Select Reset, a physical essay zine sent by post to supporters, with limited copies also available for purchase.

Episode 302: Monsters In The Mirror 03/02/2026

Episode 302: Monsters In The Mirror What are large language models, really? A genuinely different frame for what AI is, where it came from, and what it means to live alongside it. This episode of Permanently Moved is an hour-long audio essay on artificial intelligence, agency, and the history of computing that made LLMs possible. The essay moves from the invention of the mirror to double-entry bookkeeping, the printing press, the Manhattan Project, the transistor, and the particular civilisational strangeness of ChatGPT and its successors. It argues that the question everyone is asking about AI "is it intelligent?" is a trap, and it tries to ask a better one. Issue 15 of SSRZ, the print companion to this episode, is available to pre-order now until Monday 16th March. 36 pages, A5, containing the full transcript plus an introduction and afterword not in the audio. Membership (£5/month) shipping included: Pre-order the zine (£18 + shipping): CHAPTERS (00:00:02) Introduction (00:00:34) Monsters In The Mirror (00:01:00) Part 1. The Mirror of Modernity (00:05:33) Part 2. The State’s Gaze (00:11:28) Part 3. Paper Truths (00:17:27) Part 4. Crystal Fire (00:26:13) Part 5. The Silicon Mirror (00:31:54) Part 6. World(view) in the West (00:35:28) Part 7. Haunted Habitats (00:40:45) Part 8. Thinking Machines (00:49:28) Part 9. Abracadabra (00:54:26) Part 10. Monsters in the Mirror (00:59:03) Afterward (01:00:05) Support the Show (01:00:48) Credits Mentioned in this episode Tyson Yunkaporta — Sand Talk James C. Scott — Seeing Like a State Marion Fourcade & Kieran Healy — The Ordinal Society Marek Poliks & Roberto Alonso Trillo — Exocapitalism Marshall McLuhan — The Gutenberg Galaxy Walter Ong — Orality and Literacy Jean Baudrillard — Simulacra and Simulation Nick Land — Fanged Noumena Monica Gagliano — Thus Spoke the Plant Benedict Anderson — Imagined Communities Bayo Akomolafe Gordon White — Rune Soup Permanently Moved is a quarterly podcast written, recorded, and edited by Jay Springett. --- SHOW NOTES FIND EVERYTHING ELSE thejaymo.net: Experience.Computer: Worldrunning.guide: Subscriber Zine support the show! /episode/index/show/permanentlymoved/id/40279185