The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

This episode is about care, attentiveness and the skill of being in relationship(s). (Jennifer) Jill Fellows and I discuss the rise of AI intimacy and the programmed sycophancy of generativeAI today, and what it reveals is that our emotional attachments to chatbots might be more about how easily we can convince ourselves of its significance than about any sophisticated technology. That said, when you talk to these chatbots, you enter into a relationship with a corporation that always already has money as a bottom line, not your wellbeing. This serves as an analysis and a warning. Recorded Sept 4, 2026. Released Sept 14, 2026. Trigger warning -- we discuss self-harm and harm to others.Joseph Weizenbaum on ELIZA:https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/365153.365168Sherry Turkle:https://sherryturkle.mit.edu/Hilde Lindemann's book on identity work:https://academic.oup.com/book/4499?login=falseJoan Tronto:https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/jctrontoShannon Vallor on Moral Deskilling:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-014-0156-9Helen DeCruz on Believing to Belong:https://helendecruz.net/docs/DeCruz_belongbelief.pdfSimone Natale et. al. on chatbot relationships:https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221119021Rosanne Ramos on her relationship with Eren:https://www.newsweek.com/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-romance-1820752Michael Geoffrey Asia on his life as a chatbot:https://data-workers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/The-Emotional-Labor-Behind-AI-Intimacy-1.pdfRuo-Ning, Li, et. al. “Is a random human peer better than a highly supportive chatbot in reducing loneliness over time?” Journal of Expermental Sociology, Vol. 125.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2026.104911CBC Understood Artificial Intimacy:https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1353-the-naked-emperorPullback Podcast Episode on Relationships with Chatbots:https://pullback.podbean.com/e/computer-love/Paranormal Programming:https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-23-ideas/clip/16133623-we-believe-artificial-intelligence-believe-ghostsCBC Front Burner on Relationships with Chatbots:https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/can-you-have-a-real-relationship-with-an-ai-1.7206945CBC Spark on Relationships with AI:https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/bots-like-chatgpt-aren-t-sentient-why-do-we-insist-on-making-them-seem-like-they-are-1.6761709A Harem of Computers:https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6564912(Jennifer) Jill Fellows website:https://jenniferjillfellowsphd.opened.ca/Cyborg Goddess Podcast:https://cyborggoddess.opened.ca/

When is AI 'going rogue' and when is it just sloppy oversight by the companies designing the models? The answer won't surprise you -- probably -- but in this episode we discuss why we can both not believe the doom-hype marketing hype of AI companies and still be a bit worried about where this is all taking us. Erik Salvaggio unpacks and explains all of this better than anyone I know. Recorded Aug 27, 2026. Released Aug 31, 2026.Eryk Salvaggio’s websitecyberneticforests.comLinked In: Eryk Salvaggio’s Posthttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/eryk-salvaggio_when-you-see-a-headline-claiming-that-ai-activity-7485551550107656192-d-tq The System From Nowherehttps://mail.cyberneticforests.com/the-system-from-nowhere/On Stochastic Flocks & The Critical Problem of Useful AI https://www.techpolicy.press/stochastic-flocks-and-the-critical-problem-of-useful-ai/ On RLVR (the verifiable rewards bit) - "It's Not X, It's Y"https://mail.cyberneticforests.com/its-not-just-data-its-post-training/ The Data Fix: Soulless, with Eryk Salvaggiohttps://shows.acast.com/the-data-fix/episodes/639d6648b0a821001040e0e2

Tracy Valcourt and I discuss this strange new AI phenomenon of using ads to sell both conservative veering on fascist ideology and AI production in itself, as a package. We meander through the strange worlds of advertising and AI and (re)consider the plausible. Recorded July 30, 2026. Released August 10, 2026.That white guy who can’t get a job at Tim Hortons? He’s AI | Visual investigations -- CBC 2025No Camera. No Crew. Just AI | Toyota Tundra CommercialBeing a Luddite Is Fun Again -- Janus Rose,Jul 27, 2026, 404New Yorkers Are Defacing This AI Startup’s Million-Dollar Ad Campaign -- Rae Witte, Sep 30, 2025, Futurism

The Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development co-released the Data Center Opposition Report in April 2026, which we discuss in this episode with Kris Akin and Matthew Shaw. Recorded June 23, 2026. Released July 27, 2026. Coalition for Responsible Data Center DevelopmentOur Research — Coalition for Responsible Data Center DevelopmentData Center Opposition Report — Coalition for Responsible Data Center DevelopmentMap of Community Organizations Focusing on Data Centers — Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development

This episode was a recap of an event called How to Stop a Data Center that took place at Swathmore College in April 2026. I was able to listen via Zoom and then later asked available panelists to come on the podcast to discuss community-based activism against AI data centers. Recorded June 17, 2026. Released July 13, 2026. Fight Data Centershttps://www.kairosfellows.org/fightdatacentersFor more info on Stop the Data Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan:Stop the Data Center Campaign link tree https://linktr.ee/stopthedata Stop the Data Center substack for major updates and calls to action https://stopthedatacenter.substack.com/ How to Stop a Data Centerhttps://www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/10/how-to-stop-a-data-center/ For more info on Steph Jordanhttps://stephaniebethjordan.com/ 'PENNSYLVANIA IS PERFECT'https://newint.org/science-and-technology/2026/pennsylvania-perfectPENNSYLVANIA’S POWERWhy Local Authority Is the Key to AI Infrastructure Decisions https://datasociety.net/library/pennsylvanias-power/DATA AS DESTINY IN THE STEEL CITYHow Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past Is Being Leveraged for an AI Futurehttps://datasociety.net/points/data-as-destiny-in-the-steel-city/

This episode is a recording of an event that took place at Concordia University: So an AI Data Centre is coming to your community? Don't panic! A roundtable on strategies for building community power. We discuss tactics and strategies for pushing back against Big Tech and their AI data centers -- seen as monstrosities by those who know how much humanity stands to lose by and through AI logics and their instantiations in infrastructure. Recorded June 12, 2026. Released June 29, 2026.Featuring: Adam Wilkins and Lauren Stephens Smith (Save Lorneville), Rania Masri (NC Environmental Justice Center), Simon Enoch (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives). Hosted by the Social Justice Centre.So you’re getting a data centre! Here’s what to knowhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/so-youre-getting-a-data-centre-heres-what-to-know/In New Brunswick, residents battle the government over a planned AI data centrehttps://thenarwhal.ca/lorneville-ai-data-centre/Dr. Rania Masrihttps://ncejn.org/staff/dr-rania-masri/Event Sponsors: Social Justice Centre (Concordia), SCPA Student Association (SCPSA), School for Community and Public Affairs (Concordia), Climate Justice Montreal, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Time, Technology, and Capitalism (Concordia), Confronting Emergent Dystopia Working Group (Concordia).

This episode covers the role of fiction -- literal readings and total misreadings of sci-fi -- in how they shape tech CEOs ideas about the future. Teresa Hefffernan is incredible at communicating the problems with AI today. Please listen to the podcast/lecture linked below, too, for more. Recorded June 10, 2026. Released June 15, 2026.CBC Ideas Literature Versus the AI Industryhttps://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-23-ideas/clip/16208906-literature-versus-ai-industryThe 2026 Wiegand Lecture featuring Teresa Heffernan — Literature Versus the AI Industry https://youtu.be/hPV-Ql_KGzM?si=XperXIzFO5ydcStUTeresa Hefffernan websitehttps://www.socialrobotfutures.com/publicationsmedia/publications/

This episode is with the amazing Valerie Veatch, director of Ghost in the Machine -- a documentary that serves as a critical takedown of "AI". It's the best argument against "AI" that I've seen, highlighting the voices of scholars across various academic disciplines. You can watch the film via the link below and listen to the director explain her process and ideas for continuing the conversation... as a trilogy. Recorded May 12, 2026. Released May 25, 2026. Ghost in the Machine 2026 • 1h 30m • Documentary • Valerie Veatch (dir)https://kinema.com/films/ghost-in-the-machine-pvxg4p Not AIhttps://notaidoc.com/

In this episode, in front of a live audience at Carleton University for their "The Ends of AI: A symposium on technopolitics and intellectual culture", I spoke about strategies and outlooks on environment justice with policy expert, Sonja Solomun. Recorded Apr 2, 2026. Released May 11, 2026.The end of accountability: How autonomous AI could supercharge climate disinformationhttps://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/27/opinion/ai-conspiracies-climate-disinformation Polarization as the technological goal – not the errorhttps://www.mediatechdemocracy.com/all-work/polarization-as-the-technological-goal-not-the-errorFrom Tech to Justice: A Call for Environmental Justice in AIhttps://ainowinstitute.org/publications/collection/a-new-ai-lexicon-sustainabilityBeyond Technology: The Role of Information Interference in Climate and Election Obstructionhttps://www.mediatechdemocracy.com/all-work/beyond-technology-the-role-of-information-interference-in-climate-and-election-obstruction“You will be in positions that matter. Positions in which you can decide thenature and quality of other people’s lives. Your errors may be irrevocable.So when you enter those places of trust, or power, dream a little before youthink, so your thoughts, your solutions, your directions, your choices aboutwho lives and who doesn’t, about who flourishes and who doesn’t will beworth the very sacred life you have chosen to live. You are not helpless.You are not heartless. And you have time.”― Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations