http://www.raisedbyrobots.fm
I started by experimenting with AI myself, but quickly realized the bigger questions go far beyond code.

On Raised by Robots, I speak with researchers, founders, and operators to break down how AI works, where it’s heading, and how it will shape everyday life—especially for the generation growing up alongside it.]]>enTechnologyCopyright NC Productionshttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/12ec1686a15daead3ee2f4cf251050c6.jpghttp://www.raisedbyrobots.fmSun, 25 Oct 2026 22:18:26 +0000NC ProductionsNC Productionsnolan@raisedbyrobots.fmI’m Nolan, I’m 13, and I’m trying to understand artificial intelligence by talking to the people building it. I started by experimenting with AI myself, but quickly realized the bigger questions go far beyond code. On Raised by Robots, I speak with...
I started by experimenting with AI myself, but quickly realized the bigger questions go far beyond code.

On Raised by Robots, I speak with researchers, founders, and operators to break down how AI works, where it’s heading, and how it will shape everyday life—especially for the generation growing up alongside it.]]>false900367da-5542-5729-a436-17a26db4b903episodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-11-drummond-reed-co-author-of-self-sovereign-identity-who-is-your-agent-working-for--75983053
Nolan sits down with Drummond Reed, who has spent 30 years working on digital identity and trust. Drummond co-edited the W3C standard for decentralized identifiers (DIDs), co-wrote Self-Sovereign Identity, helped found the Trust Over IP Foundation, and now works on the First Person Project, which is exploring how to prove there is a real person behind a digital identity or agent without relying on a centralized biometric database.

Drummond also turns the tables at the start and asks Nolan why he began interviewing AI leaders at 13.

What they cover:
• Why the internet was built without a way to know who is on the other end
• What a decentralized identifier is, and why controlling your own identifier matters
• Proving you are a real person without a centralized biometric database
• How a store could verify that an agent is really acting for you
• Fiduciary agents, and why authorization alone does not mean an agent serves your interests
• Permission slips for agents, including spending limits you can sign and revoke
• Building a trust layer for the internet
• Recovering your digital identity if you lose a device
• Portable memory, and taking what an AI knows about you to another service
• How parents and kids might share control of an agent as kids grow up
• What people Nolan's age should insist on before trusting an agent

Drummond also explains why he believes your AI memory should belong to you, not the company providing the AI, so you can inspect it, correct it and take it somewhere else.

Learn more about Drummond's work through the First Person Project and GLIA Net Alliance.

Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.
]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75983053Sun, 25 Oct 2026 22:18:22 +0000NC ProductionsIf an AI agent acts for you, how does anyone know it's really yours, and how do you know it's actually working in your best interest? Nolan sits down with Drummond Reed, who has spent 30 years working on digital identity and trust. Drummond co-edited...
Nolan sits down with Drummond Reed, who has spent 30 years working on digital identity and trust. Drummond co-edited the W3C standard for decentralized identifiers (DIDs), co-wrote Self-Sovereign Identity, helped found the Trust Over IP Foundation, and now works on the First Person Project, which is exploring how to prove there is a real person behind a digital identity or agent without relying on a centralized biometric database.

Drummond also turns the tables at the start and asks Nolan why he began interviewing AI leaders at 13.

What they cover:
• Why the internet was built without a way to know who is on the other end
• What a decentralized identifier is, and why controlling your own identifier matters
• Proving you are a real person without a centralized biometric database
• How a store could verify that an agent is really acting for you
• Fiduciary agents, and why authorization alone does not mean an agent serves your interests
• Permission slips for agents, including spending limits you can sign and revoke
• Building a trust layer for the internet
• Recovering your digital identity if you lose a device
• Portable memory, and taking what an AI knows about you to another service
• How parents and kids might share control of an agent as kids grow up
• What people Nolan's age should insist on before trusting an agent

Drummond also explains why he believes your AI memory should belong to you, not the company providing the AI, so you can inspect it, correct it and take it somewhere else.

Learn more about Drummond's work through the First Person Project and GLIA Net Alliance.

Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.
]]>1928agentic-ai,ai-agents,ai-privacy,decentralized-identity,digital-guardianship,digital-identity,drummond-reed,fiduciary-ai,first-person-project,internet-of-agents,kids-and-ai,portable-memory,self-sovereign-identity,trust-over-ip,verifiable-credentialsfalse211fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-10-gaowei-chang-agent-network-protocol-can-agents-have-their-own-internet--75862532
Nolan sits down with Gaowei Chang, creator of the Agent Network Protocol (ANP) and co-chair of the W3C AI Agent Protocol Community Group. After eight years at Alibaba, including work on Taobao Live, he left in 2024 to build an open protocol that lets AI agents discover each other, verify identity and communicate across platforms. He wants ANP to do for agents what HTTP did for websites.

Gaowei answered in Chinese, with live translation into English.

What they cover:
- What an Internet of Agents could look like in everyday life
- Why Gaowei left Alibaba to build an open agent network
- What today's internet is missing for agents to work across companies
- How ANP fits alongside MCP and A2A
- How an agent discovers a store it has never dealt with before
- Why agent identity and agent trust are two different problems
- How permissions and spending limits could be verified cryptographically
- What happens when your agent serves the company that built it instead of you
- Why Gaowei believes open-source personal agents will matter
- Whether large platforms will keep agents closed inside their own ecosystems
- What a 13-year-old could build now for the Internet of Agents

Gaowei also explains why he believes marketplaces like Amazon and Taobao could become less central if personal agents can discover and buy directly from stores.

Find ANP on GitHub by searching "Agent Network Protocol".
Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.
]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75862532Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:56:11 +0000NC ProductionsToday's internet was built for people. We log in, search, click and buy. What changes when AI agents start doing those things for us, across different companies and platforms? Nolan sits down with Gaowei Chang, creator of the Agent Network Protocol...
Nolan sits down with Gaowei Chang, creator of the Agent Network Protocol (ANP) and co-chair of the W3C AI Agent Protocol Community Group. After eight years at Alibaba, including work on Taobao Live, he left in 2024 to build an open protocol that lets AI agents discover each other, verify identity and communicate across platforms. He wants ANP to do for agents what HTTP did for websites.

Gaowei answered in Chinese, with live translation into English.

What they cover:
- What an Internet of Agents could look like in everyday life
- Why Gaowei left Alibaba to build an open agent network
- What today's internet is missing for agents to work across companies
- How ANP fits alongside MCP and A2A
- How an agent discovers a store it has never dealt with before
- Why agent identity and agent trust are two different problems
- How permissions and spending limits could be verified cryptographically
- What happens when your agent serves the company that built it instead of you
- Why Gaowei believes open-source personal agents will matter
- Whether large platforms will keep agents closed inside their own ecosystems
- What a 13-year-old could build now for the Internet of Agents

Gaowei also explains why he believes marketplaces like Amazon and Taobao could become less central if personal agents can discover and buy directly from stores.

Find ANP on GitHub by searching "Agent Network Protocol".
Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.
]]>1160a2a,agent-discovery,agentic-ai,agentic-commerce,agent-network-protocol,agent-protocols,ai-agents,ai-interoperability,decentralized-identity,digital-identity,gaowei-chang,internet-of-agents,mcp,open-source,verifiable-credentialsfalse210fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-9-tim-williams-astrasync-how-do-you-know-an-ai-agent-is-really-acting-for-you--75798660
Nolan sits down with Tim Williams, co-founder of AstraSync. Tim spent 20 years running customer operations at banks, insurers and a trading platform, working with the checks that confirm who a customer really is. Now he's building similar trust infrastructure for AI agents, through what AstraSync calls Know Your Agent.

In this episode, they look at what it would actually take for businesses to trust AI agents enough to let them buy and sell.

What they cover:
- Why human identity checks don't simply scale to AI agents
- A real-world test with agents trading on a financial exchange
- What a store can verify before letting an agent spend money
- How permissions should work when one agent hands a task to another
- What goes into an agent trust score
- Why trying to game that score can backfire
- How to trace what happened when an agent makes the wrong purchase
- How to prove who's behind an agent without exposing their private information
- Why identity alone isn't enough to make agentic commerce work
- What a 13-year-old should check before letting an agent act or spend for him

Tim also explains why the real challenge isn't just identifying an agent, but proving what it's allowed to do and how it behaves at the moment it acts.

Find Tim and AstraSync at astrasync.ai.
Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75798660Thu, 15 Oct 2026 02:34:29 +0000NC ProductionsIf an AI agent shows up to buy something for you, how does the store know it is really acting for you, what it is allowed to do, and whether you actually gave it permission to spend your money? Nolan sits down with Tim Williams, co-founder of...
Nolan sits down with Tim Williams, co-founder of AstraSync. Tim spent 20 years running customer operations at banks, insurers and a trading platform, working with the checks that confirm who a customer really is. Now he's building similar trust infrastructure for AI agents, through what AstraSync calls Know Your Agent.

In this episode, they look at what it would actually take for businesses to trust AI agents enough to let them buy and sell.

What they cover:
- Why human identity checks don't simply scale to AI agents
- A real-world test with agents trading on a financial exchange
- What a store can verify before letting an agent spend money
- How permissions should work when one agent hands a task to another
- What goes into an agent trust score
- Why trying to game that score can backfire
- How to trace what happened when an agent makes the wrong purchase
- How to prove who's behind an agent without exposing their private information
- Why identity alone isn't enough to make agentic commerce work
- What a 13-year-old should check before letting an agent act or spend for him

Tim also explains why the real challenge isn't just identifying an agent, but proving what it's allowed to do and how it behaves at the moment it acts.

Find Tim and AstraSync at astrasync.ai.
Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.]]>2109agentic-ai,agentic-commerce,ai-accountability,ai-agents,ai-governance,ai-privacy,ai-trust,astrasync,decentralized-identity,digital-identity,fintech,internet-of-agents,know-your-agent,tim-williams,verifiable-credentialsfalse29fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-8-casey-newton-platformer-machine-gods-who-s-watching-the-agents--75700374
Nolan sits down with Casey Newton, who writes Platformer, the newsletter he founded, and co-hosts the new NPR show Machine Gods with Kevin Roose. Casey has spent years reporting on the decisions made by the world’s biggest tech companies, and on what happens when those decisions go wrong.

In the first interview of Season 2, they look at what agents can actually do today, what happens when they start shopping and acting for us, and who should be responsible when things go wrong.

What they cover:

• What agents can reliably do today
• Whether a shopping agent’s recommendations can be trusted
• When stores should be allowed to block agents
• Identity, permissions and privacy when agents shop for us
• Whether every agent should be tied to a real person
• Who’s responsible when an agent buys something you never meant to buy
• What happens when agents go rogue
• Who should independently check AI companies’ claims
• Whether agents reduce or deepen Big Tech lock-in
• What AI companies should learn from social media’s mistakes with kids
• How to challenge an answer that sounds impressive but says very little

Casey also turns the questions back on Nolan, including how he thinks about AI guardrails, judgment, and where responsibility should sit between the companies building these tools and the people using them.

Find Casey at platformer.news, and Machine Gods wherever you get your podcasts.
Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75700374Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:07:45 +0000NC ProductionsAI agents are starting to act for us. But who’s watching the agents, and the companies building them? Nolan sits down with Casey Newton, who writes Platformer, the newsletter he founded, and co-hosts the new NPR show Machine Gods with Kevin Roose....
Nolan sits down with Casey Newton, who writes Platformer, the newsletter he founded, and co-hosts the new NPR show Machine Gods with Kevin Roose. Casey has spent years reporting on the decisions made by the world’s biggest tech companies, and on what happens when those decisions go wrong.

In the first interview of Season 2, they look at what agents can actually do today, what happens when they start shopping and acting for us, and who should be responsible when things go wrong.

What they cover:

• What agents can reliably do today
• Whether a shopping agent’s recommendations can be trusted
• When stores should be allowed to block agents
• Identity, permissions and privacy when agents shop for us
• Whether every agent should be tied to a real person
• Who’s responsible when an agent buys something you never meant to buy
• What happens when agents go rogue
• Who should independently check AI companies’ claims
• Whether agents reduce or deepen Big Tech lock-in
• What AI companies should learn from social media’s mistakes with kids
• How to challenge an answer that sounds impressive but says very little

Casey also turns the questions back on Nolan, including how he thinks about AI guardrails, judgment, and where responsibility should sit between the companies building these tools and the people using them.

Find Casey at platformer.news, and Machine Gods wherever you get your podcasts.
Raised by Robots, Season 2: The Internet of Agents. Hosted by Nolan Cohen.]]>1339agentic-ai,agentic-commerce,ai-accountability,ai-agents,ai-privacy,ai-regulation,ai-safety,artificial-intelligence,casey-newton,digital-identity,internet-of-agents,kids-and-ai,machine-gods,platformer,tech-journalismfalse28fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/season-2-trailer-the-internet-of-agents--75631832
In this short opener to season two, 13-year-old host Nolan Cohen introduces The Internet of Agents, exploring what happens when AI moves from answering our questions to acting on our behalf.

Inspired by his season one conversation with David Klingbeil, Nolan sets out to understand how agents will communicate, earn trust, and make purchases. This season, he’ll hear from builders, researchers, and skeptics about the technology and rules taking shape, and what they could mean for the people these agents represent.

The agents are already talking. Let’s listen in.

All episodes: https://raisedbyrobots.fm]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75631832Thu, 08 Oct 2026 03:42:40 +0000NC ProductionsIf your AI agent buys something from another agent, who gave it permission? How does the other side know it’s really acting for you? And who’s responsible if something goes wrong? In this short opener to season two, 13-year-old host Nolan Cohen...
In this short opener to season two, 13-year-old host Nolan Cohen introduces The Internet of Agents, exploring what happens when AI moves from answering our questions to acting on our behalf.

Inspired by his season one conversation with David Klingbeil, Nolan sets out to understand how agents will communicate, earn trust, and make purchases. This season, he’ll hear from builders, researchers, and skeptics about the technology and rules taking shape, and what they could mean for the people these agents represent.

The agents are already talking. Let’s listen in.

All episodes: https://raisedbyrobots.fm]]>142a2a,agentic-commerce,agent-to-agent,ai-accountability,ai-agents,ai-safety,ai-trust,artificial-intelligence,digital-identity,internet-of-agents,nolan-cohen,raised-by-robots,student-podcast,teen-podcastfalse2trailerhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-7-david-klingbeil-nyu-professor-what-happens-when-the-robots-start-talking-to-each-other--74760404
Nolan sits down with David Klingbeil, former Google executive, NYU professor of AI for Marketing and Strategy, and founder of Submarine.ai, where AI agents analyze billions of video views to understand brands, trends, and culture.

David explains what actually makes an AI agent, where agents are already working today, and what comes next as they begin recommending, negotiating, and eventually buying from other agents — without a human in the loop.

They covered:

• What makes an AI agent
• What AI still needs humans for: taste and judgment
• How Submarine’s Brand Radar works
• Where agents are actually being used today
• What happens when agents talk and transact with each other
• Why standards like MCP matter
• How brands market when the customer becomes an AI
• Why human-made could become the new luxury

And David’s advice to Nolan at 13: develop taste, master AI, and build judgment.

Because maybe the question isn’t whether a robot takes your job. It’s whether you’re still in the room when the decision gets made.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74760404Mon, 31 Aug 2026 01:37:47 +0000NC ProductionsWhat happens when the machines stop talking to us — and start talking to each other? Nolan sits down with David Klingbeil, former Google executive, NYU professor of AI for Marketing and Strategy, and founder of Submarine.ai, where AI agents analyze...
Nolan sits down with David Klingbeil, former Google executive, NYU professor of AI for Marketing and Strategy, and founder of Submarine.ai, where AI agents analyze billions of video views to understand brands, trends, and culture.

David explains what actually makes an AI agent, where agents are already working today, and what comes next as they begin recommending, negotiating, and eventually buying from other agents — without a human in the loop.

They covered:

• What makes an AI agent
• What AI still needs humans for: taste and judgment
• How Submarine’s Brand Radar works
• Where agents are actually being used today
• What happens when agents talk and transact with each other
• Why standards like MCP matter
• How brands market when the customer becomes an AI
• Why human-made could become the new luxury

And David’s advice to Nolan at 13: develop taste, master AI, and build judgment.

Because maybe the question isn’t whether a robot takes your job. It’s whether you’re still in the room when the decision gets made.]]>2054agentic-ai,agentic-commerce,agent-to-agent,ai-agents,ai-marketing,ai-podcast,ai-skills,ai-standards,brand-intelligence,david-klingbeil,entrepreneurship,future-of-ai,future-of-work,generative-ai,luxury-marketing,mcp,nyu,raised-by-robots,submarine-aifalse17fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-6-ben-relles-make-believe-what-happens-when-stories-talk-back--72353751
Nolan's guest today is Ben Relles, founder of Make Believe. Before launching Make Believe, Ben helped shape internet culture through viral video, co-founding Vsauce, and leading innovation at YouTube. Now he’s exploring a new idea: entertainment that responds to you.

They talked about entertainment formats that only AI makes possible, and how his team built Reid AI — a digital version of LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Then they tried something that has never been done before on Raised by Robots: they brought Reid AI onto the show and interviewed it live. That led into a bigger conversation about whether personalized stories strengthen or weaken shared culture, what recreating a person with AI reveals about being human, and whether one day most of us will want AI versions of ourselves. 

They covered:

• Entertainment formats impossible before AI
• How Reid AI was built
• Interviewing an AI guest live
• Can you tell human from AI?
• Personalized stories vs shared culture
• What AI reveals about being human
• Will we want AI versions of ourselves?

Because maybe the future of entertainment isn’t about watching stories. Maybe it’s about talking to them.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72353751Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:45:13 +0000NC ProductionsWhat happens when stories stop being something we watch — and start becoming something we talk to? Nolan's guest today is Ben Relles, founder of Make Believe. Before launching Make Believe, Ben helped shape internet culture through viral video,...
Nolan's guest today is Ben Relles, founder of Make Believe. Before launching Make Believe, Ben helped shape internet culture through viral video, co-founding Vsauce, and leading innovation at YouTube. Now he’s exploring a new idea: entertainment that responds to you.

They talked about entertainment formats that only AI makes possible, and how his team built Reid AI — a digital version of LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Then they tried something that has never been done before on Raised by Robots: they brought Reid AI onto the show and interviewed it live. That led into a bigger conversation about whether personalized stories strengthen or weaken shared culture, what recreating a person with AI reveals about being human, and whether one day most of us will want AI versions of ourselves. 

They covered:

• Entertainment formats impossible before AI
• How Reid AI was built
• Interviewing an AI guest live
• Can you tell human from AI?
• Personalized stories vs shared culture
• What AI reveals about being human
• Will we want AI versions of ourselves?

Because maybe the future of entertainment isn’t about watching stories. Maybe it’s about talking to them.]]>1220ai-avatars,ai-entertainment,ai-storytelling,ai-video,ben-relles,conversational-ai,digital-twins,future-of-media,generative-ai,human-vs-ai,interactive-media,make-believe,media-innovation,personalized-content,raised-by-robots,reid-ai,reid-hoffman,storytelling,vsauce,youtubefalse16fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-5-prof-carlo-ratti-mit-senseable-city-lab-will-ai-reshape-the-cities-around-us--72146297
In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan and Professor Ratti discuss what happens when artificial intelligence moves beyond screens and starts shaping buildings, transportation, public spaces, and entire cities.

They explore the balance between smarter cities and human creativity, the risks of surveillance and centralized control, and why the future of architecture may depend on combining technology with human connection.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How AI is moving from software into the physical world
• What makes a “sensible city” and how cities collect real-time data
• How AI can influence transportation, infrastructure, and architecture
• The balance between smarter cities, privacy, and human freedom
• Whether AI can make cities more sustainable or more energy intensive
• Why future architects may need skills across design, engineering, sociology, and AI

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72146297Sun, 24 May 2026 20:54:03 +0000NC ProductionsProfessor Carlo Ratti is an architect, engineer, and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, where he explores how AI, sensors, and data are changing the way cities function and how humans experience physical space. In this episode of Raised by...
In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan and Professor Ratti discuss what happens when artificial intelligence moves beyond screens and starts shaping buildings, transportation, public spaces, and entire cities.

They explore the balance between smarter cities and human creativity, the risks of surveillance and centralized control, and why the future of architecture may depend on combining technology with human connection.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How AI is moving from software into the physical world
• What makes a “sensible city” and how cities collect real-time data
• How AI can influence transportation, infrastructure, and architecture
• The balance between smarter cities, privacy, and human freedom
• Whether AI can make cities more sustainable or more energy intensive
• Why future architects may need skills across design, engineering, sociology, and AI

]]>977ai,ai-and-cities,architecture,artificial-intelligence,carlo-ratti,city-planning,future-cities,infrastructure,innovation,machine-learning,mit,mit-senseable-city-lab,privacy,raised-by-robots,robotics,smart-cities,sustainable-cities,technology,transportation,urban-designfalse15fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-4-clem-delangue-ceo-co-founder-of-hugging-face-will-ai-be-open-or-owned--72104585
Clem explains how Hugging Face grew from a chatbot for teenagers into a central platform for the AI world, why openness is not just about free software, and why the future of AI may depend on many smaller, specialized models rather than only a few giant systems controlled by big companies. He also discusses the real tradeoffs around open-source safety, the rise of AI agents, Hugging Face’s move into robotics with Reachy Mini, and why kids should see AI as something they can build with — not just consume.

Topics covered:

• Hugging Face’s origin story
• What AI training means
• Open-source vs. closed AI
• Specialized models
• AI safety and misuse
• AI agents and robotics
• Kids as AI builders

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72104585Sun, 24 May 2026 14:11:00 +0000NC ProductionsIn this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan sits down with Clem Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, one of the most important platforms in open-source AI. Often called the “GitHub of AI,” Hugging Face gives developers a place to share, test,...
Clem explains how Hugging Face grew from a chatbot for teenagers into a central platform for the AI world, why openness is not just about free software, and why the future of AI may depend on many smaller, specialized models rather than only a few giant systems controlled by big companies. He also discusses the real tradeoffs around open-source safety, the rise of AI agents, Hugging Face’s move into robotics with Reachy Mini, and why kids should see AI as something they can build with — not just consume.

Topics covered:

• Hugging Face’s origin story
• What AI training means
• Open-source vs. closed AI
• Specialized models
• AI safety and misuse
• AI agents and robotics
• Kids as AI builders

]]>1532ai-agents,ai-builders,ai-democratization,ai-education,ai-for-kids,ai-models,ai-robotics,artificial-intelligence,clem-delangue,foundation-models,future-of-ai,github-of-ai,hugging-face,machine-learning,open-source-ai,raised-by-robots,reachy-mini,specialized-models,technology-podcast,training-datafalse14fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-3-prof-amy-j-ko-university-of-washington-what-kind-of-builders-do-we-want-to-become--72085999
In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan talks with Amy J. Ko about a much bigger question: In the age of AI, who gets to be a builder — and who just becomes a user?

Amy is a professor at the University of Washington, creator of the multilingual programming platform WordPlay, and co-author of Critically Conscious Computing.

The conversation begins with the story of how a slow version of Tetris on a TI-82 calculator pulled Amy into programming in middle school — and expands into a broader discussion about learning, power, creativity, and the future of computing education.

Nolan and Amy explore:
• Why software engineering is more than just writing code
• The difference between digital literacy and understanding how computers actually work
• Why most programming languages are designed around English and Western culture
• How AI affects different kinds of learners differently
• What “self-regulated learning” means in an AI classroom
• Why teaching coding only as job preparation may miss the point
• Where large language models really come from — including data, labor, energy, and incentives
• What questions kids should be asking about AI that adults often are not

A conversation about coding that ultimately becomes a conversation about curiosity, responsibility, and what kind of builders we want to become.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72085999Wed, 20 May 2026 16:35:03 +0000NC ProductionsIf AI can write code, do kids still need to learn programming? In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan talks with Amy J. Ko about a much bigger question: In the age of AI, who gets to be a builder — and who just becomes a user? Amy is a...
In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan talks with Amy J. Ko about a much bigger question: In the age of AI, who gets to be a builder — and who just becomes a user?

Amy is a professor at the University of Washington, creator of the multilingual programming platform WordPlay, and co-author of Critically Conscious Computing.

The conversation begins with the story of how a slow version of Tetris on a TI-82 calculator pulled Amy into programming in middle school — and expands into a broader discussion about learning, power, creativity, and the future of computing education.

Nolan and Amy explore:
• Why software engineering is more than just writing code
• The difference between digital literacy and understanding how computers actually work
• Why most programming languages are designed around English and Western culture
• How AI affects different kinds of learners differently
• What “self-regulated learning” means in an AI classroom
• Why teaching coding only as job preparation may miss the point
• Where large language models really come from — including data, labor, energy, and incentives
• What questions kids should be asking about AI that adults often are not

A conversation about coding that ultimately becomes a conversation about curiosity, responsibility, and what kind of builders we want to become.]]>1365ai-and-coding,ai-and-education,ai-ethics,ai-training-data,amy-j-ko,builders-vs-users,computer-science-education,computing-education,critically-conscious-computing,digital-literacy,kids-and-ai,learning-to-code,multilingual-programming,paulo-freire,raised-by-robots,scratch-copilot,self-regulated-learning,software-engineering,university-of-washington,wordplay-programmingfalse13fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-2-prof-ahmed-elgammal-rutgers-university-creator-of-aican-can-machines-truly-create--71841734
In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan sits down with Professor Ahmed Elgammal, a leading researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence and art, to explore one of the most debated questions in AI today. From his early passion for art in Alexandria to building AICAN—a system designed not to imitate the past but to generate entirely new artistic styles—Professor Elgammal explains how machines “learn” creativity and where they fall short.

The conversation breaks down the difference between generating images and creating art, why most AI tools today may not truly be creative, and how randomness, human input, and intent all play a role. They also explore deeper questions: Who owns AI generated art? Is training on human artists fair? And will AI replace artists or become their most powerful tool?

This episode challenges the idea that creativity is uniquely human and reframes it as something more complex, evolving, and still not fully understood.

Covered themes:

• What creativity really means (and where AI fits)
• AICAN and how machines can generate novel art
• Difference between images, art, and human intent
• Ethics and ownership of AI generated content
• Whether AI will compete with or empower artists

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71841734Sun, 03 May 2026 17:43:48 +0000NC ProductionsCan a machine really be creative—or is it just following patterns? In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan sits down with Professor Ahmed Elgammal, a leading researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence and art, to explore one of the...
In this episode of Raised by Robots, Nolan sits down with Professor Ahmed Elgammal, a leading researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence and art, to explore one of the most debated questions in AI today. From his early passion for art in Alexandria to building AICAN—a system designed not to imitate the past but to generate entirely new artistic styles—Professor Elgammal explains how machines “learn” creativity and where they fall short.

The conversation breaks down the difference between generating images and creating art, why most AI tools today may not truly be creative, and how randomness, human input, and intent all play a role. They also explore deeper questions: Who owns AI generated art? Is training on human artists fair? And will AI replace artists or become their most powerful tool?

This episode challenges the idea that creativity is uniquely human and reframes it as something more complex, evolving, and still not fully understood.

Covered themes:

• What creativity really means (and where AI fits)
• AICAN and how machines can generate novel art
• Difference between images, art, and human intent
• Ethics and ownership of AI generated content
• Whether AI will compete with or empower artists

]]>1363ai-and-art,ai-art,aican-system,ai-creativity,ai-ethics,ai-innovation,ai-philosophy,artificial-intelligence,art-technology,computer-vision,creative-ai,creative-process,creativity-definition,digital-art,future-of-art,generative-ai,generative-models,machine-creativity,prompt-engineering,teen-tech-podcastfalse12fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-1-prof-dave-patterson-uc-berkeley-what-powers-the-ai-revolution--71323689
In this episode, Nolan speaks with Professor Dave Patterson of University of California, Berkeley, one of the most influential computer engineers in the world and a pioneer of RISC architecture — the design approach behind most modern computing systems.

Patterson explains how hardware quietly powers every AI breakthrough, why compute and energy are becoming the real constraints, and how the structure of machines shapes what AI can and cannot become.

This conversation breaks down the invisible layer beneath AI — and why understanding it matters.

In this episode:

• Hardware as the hidden foundation of AI
• The RISC revolution and why simplicity won
• AI as both a scientific race and an economic gold rush
• Where AI lives: cloud vs. edge
• Compute and energy as emerging limits
• Centralization vs. distribution of AI power
• Builders vs. users — and why expertise still matters

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71323689Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:16:02 +0000NC ProductionsBefore there are chatbots, before there are models, before there is AI — there are builders. In this episode, Nolan speaks with Professor Dave Patterson of University of California, Berkeley, one of the most influential computer engineers in the...
In this episode, Nolan speaks with Professor Dave Patterson of University of California, Berkeley, one of the most influential computer engineers in the world and a pioneer of RISC architecture — the design approach behind most modern computing systems.

Patterson explains how hardware quietly powers every AI breakthrough, why compute and energy are becoming the real constraints, and how the structure of machines shapes what AI can and cannot become.

This conversation breaks down the invisible layer beneath AI — and why understanding it matters.

In this episode:

• Hardware as the hidden foundation of AI
• The RISC revolution and why simplicity won
• AI as both a scientific race and an economic gold rush
• Where AI lives: cloud vs. edge
• Compute and energy as emerging limits
• Centralization vs. distribution of AI power
• Builders vs. users — and why expertise still matters

]]>1028ai-economy,ai-hardware,ai-infrastructure,ai-trends,artificial-intelligence,builders-of-ai,chip-design,compute-power,computer-engineering,data-centers,dave-patterson,deep-learning,edge-ai,future-of-ai,machine-learning,raised-by-robots,risc-architecture,tech-education,tech-podcast,uc-berkeleyfalse11fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/season-1-pilot--70981795
I’m Nolan, I’m 13, and on Raised by Robots, I explore artificial intelligence by speaking with the engineers, researchers, and founders shaping it.

This is a short introduction to the show.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70981795Sat, 28 Feb 2026 22:21:00 +0000NC ProductionsEveryone is talking about the future of AI—but not everyone is talking to the people building it. I’m Nolan, I’m 13, and on Raised by Robots, I explore artificial intelligence by speaking with the engineers, researchers, and founders shaping it....
I’m Nolan, I’m 13, and on Raised by Robots, I explore artificial intelligence by speaking with the engineers, researchers, and founders shaping it.

This is a short introduction to the show.]]>105ai,aieducation,aihardware,artificialintelligence,deeplearning,edgeai,emergingtechnology,engineers,founders,futureoftechnology,innovation,interviews,machinelearning,neuroscience,robotics,smartcities,startups,technology,techpodcast,tinymlfalse1trailer