The Human Voice with Bob Hutchins

Bob Hutchins- Digital Marketing OG, AI Researcher, Organizational Psychologist, Cultural and Media Theorist, talks about all things human and restorative. Tech, AI, Psychology, Change, Mental and Social Well-Being. Talks with Curious People who are curious about the world.

When Machines Imitate Art: What a 1930s Philosopher Saw Coming 07/09/2025

The End of Writing? AI and the Future of Human Expression 06/26/2025

The End of Writing? AI and the Future of Human Expression In this thought-provoking episode, Bob Hutchins explores a radical possibility: that we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of humanity's 500-year relationship with the written word. Drawing from media theorists Walter Ong and Harold Innis, Bob examines how generative AI might fundamentally transform not just how we communicate, but how we think and connect as human beings. Since Gutenberg's printing press, we've been compressing the entirety of human experience into alphabetic symbols—a constraint that has both liberated and limited us. While we've become virtuosos of written expression, creating symphonies of meaning from simple letters and punctuation, we've also lost touch with the immediacy and embodied richness of oral culture. Bob argues that AI could serve as more than just a writing assistant—it might become the bridge technology that frees us from the cognitive overhead of translating experience into symbols, allowing us to rediscover richer, more authentic forms of human communication. Key Topics Explored The Gutenberg Legacy How the printing press fundamentally altered human consciousness The trade-offs between abstract thinking and embodied presence Walter Ong's insights on orality versus literacy Media Ecology and Communication Bias Harold Innis's theory of communication bias How different media favor durability versus immediacy The space-biased nature of written civilization The Translation Problem The cognitive burden of converting lived experience into symbols Why meaningful moments often "die in translation" The gap between what we experience and what we can express AI as Liberation Technology How AI might reduce the overhead of symbolic communication The possibility of universal translation between experience and expression Moving beyond AI as writing assistant to AI as cognitive scaffolding Post-Literate Communication Immersive storytelling and embodied performance Collaborative creation and real-time narrative improvisation Visual, spatial, and archetypal forms of expression The return to mythic and symbolic meaning-making The Promise and the Peril Democratizing eloquence for those who struggle to articulate rich inner lives The risk of losing essential cognitive muscles developed through writing Questions of authenticity in AI-mediated communication What happens when written language becomes optional? Two Possible Futures AI as bridge to richer human communication AI as communicative prosthetic leading to human atrophy The importance of conscious navigation during this transition Key Insights "Even at their most transcendent, words remain what they've always been—ghosts of experience, shadows cast by the real thing." "The deepest insights seem to emerge in conversation rather than through explanation, in the spaces where we're figuring something out together rather than delivering prepared thoughts." "How we communicate shapes who we become. If we want AI to help us recover more embodied, authentic forms of expression, we need to be clear about what values we're optimizing for." Questions for Reflection Are we trying to become more efficient communicators or more fully human ones? What would it mean to communicate primarily through embodied presence again? How do we maintain authentic connection when our communications increasingly flow through AI mediators? What practices keep us grounded in embodied experience as AI handles more symbolic communication? About The Human Voice The Human Voice explores the intersection of technology, human flourishing, and authentic communication. Host Bob Hutchins brings together insights from media ecology, contemplative spirituality, and organizational psychology to examine how we can navigate technological change while preserving what makes us most human. Connect with Bob Website: http://www.humanvoicemedia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobhutchins/ Resources Mentioned Orality and Literacy by Walter Ong The Bias of Communication by Harold Innis Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan The Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshall McLuhan /episode/index/show/rumorsofgrace/id/37160510

Wisdom Weavers & Media Ecology: A Conversation with Dr. Tom Cooper 06/17/2025

Wisdom Weavers & Media Ecology: A Conversation with Dr. Tom Cooper 🎧 Show Notes (The Human Voice with Bob Hutchins): In this special episode, Bob Hutchins sits down with Dr. Tom Cooper—media ethicist, scholar, and former assistant to Marshall McLuhan—to unpack the lives and legacies of two of the most influential (and often misunderstood) thinkers in media history: Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan. Dr. Cooper shares insights from his new book Wisdom Weavers, offering rare stories from his time at the University of Toronto, reflections on the inner lives of both men, and how their ideas help us understand our AI-saturated, media-driven world today. We explore: Why Innis and McLuhan still matter in 2025 How their contrasting backgrounds (a stoic economist vs. a poetic provocateur) converged into a shared vision The quiet presence of women behind their work What McLuhan might say about AI, selfies, and the illusion of intelligence How both thinkers anticipated today’s blurred line between human and machine communication Whether you’re new to media ecology or deep in the trenches, this episode is a rich entry point to understanding the patterns behind the platforms—and why awareness, not alarm, might be our most important tool. 📚 Mentioned: Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan by Tom Cooper The Toronto School of Communication McLuhan’s The Gutenberg Galaxy The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Pinocchio, and other McLuhan metaphors AI, ethics, and modern-day media fasts Tom Cooper is a media scholar, author, and former assistant to Marshall McLuhan. He earned his doctorate at the University of Toronto, where he studied with leading figures in the Toronto School of Communication, and later taught media ethics for decades at Emerson College after earlier roles at Harvard. He is the founder of the Association for Responsible Communication, which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and previously served as an assistant speechwriter in the White House. Over his career, he authored more than ten books and 300 published articles and reviews, weaving together scholarship, ethics, and global engagement. Cooper’s sabbatical work as a guest scholar took him to Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, and other leading institutions. He is also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do—a reminder that his commitment to discipline and balance extended beyond the classroom. /episode/index/show/rumorsofgrace/id/37037360

Faisal Hoque, author of Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI 05/05/2025

The Soul in the Machine: A Spiritual Reflection on Artificial Intelligence 03/29/2025

The War of Words: Why Our Labels are Destroying Our Humanity 03/18/2025

Christopher Summerfield- THESE STRANGE NEW MINDS, How AI Learned to Talk and What it Means 02/27/2025

Christopher Summerfield- THESE STRANGE NEW MINDS, How AI Learned to Talk and What it Means Christopher Summerfield, Oxford Neuroscientist & Former DeepMind Researcher Episode Summary: In this episode, I sit down with Christopher Summerfield, an Oxford neuroscientist and former DeepMind researcher who has spent his career studying how human brains work and how AI models can replicate cognitive processes. His new book, These Strange New Minds: How AI Learned to Talk and What It Means, explores the evolution of AI from early chatbots to today's advanced language models. We discuss the key breakthroughs in AI, the parallels between human and machine reasoning, and the ethical questions surrounding AI’s role in shaping our world. If you’re curious about how AI is changing not just technology, but human thought itself—this conversation is for you. Key Takeaways: 🔹 From Neuroscience to AI – Christopher's journey from studying human cognition to working at DeepMind was shaped by a key question: How do brains and machines process information differently? 🔹 The Transformer Revolution – The biggest breakthrough in AI’s ability to "talk" wasn’t just training on more data—it was the invention of the transformer model in 2017, which dramatically improved language understanding. 🔹 Do AI and Human Brains Work the Same? – AI can store knowledge and reason about it, but it lacks human motivation, creativity, and initiative, which are fundamental aspects of intelligence. 🔹 The Creativity Debate – Will AI enhance human creativity or dilute it? Christopher explores how generative AI is reshaping art, storytelling, and meaning-making in a world where machines can generate content. 🔹 AI’s Influence on Society – AI isn't just a tool; it’s a force that shapes human beliefs, behaviors, and decision-making. We discuss the growing concern over how AI-driven persuasion will impact advertising, politics, and workplace dynamics. 🔹 The Future of AI & AGI – Is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) just around the corner? Christopher believes we overestimate AI’s capabilities while underestimating the complexity of human cognition. Memorable Moment: Christopher breaks down the difference between AI “hallucinations” vs. human memory—showing how confabulation in AI mirrors how people misremember events, and why truth and social norms in AI-generated content are still evolving. Get Christopher's Book: 📖 These Strange New Minds: How AI Learned to Talk and What It Means – Available March 2024 on Amazon and major bookstores. /episode/index/show/rumorsofgrace/id/35468810