Ideas

Thanks to AI, it's easier than ever to avoid reading books — but that convenience may come with a cost. IDEAS explores how our digital landscape, coupled with the decline of reading, is changing the way we think.

If you like this episode, listen to our podcast with Geoffrey Hinton, the 'godfather of artificial intelligence' who says AI must develop empathy and 'maternal instincts' or we risk human extinction.

Guests in this episode:

Adriaan Van der Weel is a professor emeritus by special appointment at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He's also the co-author of The Ljubljana Manifesto on Higher-Level Reading.

Maryanne Wolf is director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and the author of Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World (2018).

Naomi Baron is a professor emerita of World Languages and Cultures at American University and the author of Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters (2026).

Leah Sargeant is an author and senior policy analyst at the Niskanen Center.

Shannon Vallor is the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) at the University of Edinburgh, where she is also appointed in Philosophy. She is the author of The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking (2024).

If AI continues to develop without appropriate guardrails, a worst-case scenario could lead to human extinction, warns the 'godfather of artificial intelligence ' Geoffrey Hinton. But the Nobel Prize winner has a solution: AI must foster 'maternal' instincts, empathy and kindness. Hinton tells host Nahlah Ayed that it's fairly inevitable AI will become smarter than humans, but if we could make it care more for us than it did about itself, good things could happen.

IDEAS producer Tom Howell recently sold his car and joined the ranks of winter cyclists in Montreal. He is not the only one who commutes on bike in North America’s snowiest metropolis. The city’s bike-sharing program operates year-round. The bicycle’s popularity as a winter vehicle is increasing. Nevertheless, winter bicycling remains a minority practice, often viewed as folly. Howell investigates whether there is indeed wisdom in it.

Under pressure, our nerves can take over. At job interviews, performing in front of an audience and it's definitely present in sports. But why do our skills desert us at such a crucial moment? And what can be done to avoid choking? Studies have shown that when people tell themselves they're excited rather than nervous, they perform better. This podcast explores more ways to avoid the choke and why it happens. *This episode originally aired on Nov. 23, 2022.

Guests in this episode:

Sian Beilock is a cognitive scientist and author of Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting it Right When You Have to and How the Body Knows its Mind. She's recently been named President-elect of Dartmouth College.

Sandra Bezic is a former Olympian and Canadian champion in figure skating (with her brother Val), and is now a producer, director and choreographer.

Carolyn Christie is a retired member of the flute section of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She now teaches classical flute at McGill and is also a Certified Mental Skills Consultant.

Niklas Häusler is a neuroscientist and co-founder and CEO of the German startup company Neuro 11.

Noa Kageyama is a performance psychologist. He maintains a blog and podcast, Bulletproof Musician.

Elizabeth Manley was world and Olympic silver medalist in figure skating in 1988, and is now an executive life coach.

Jennifer Montone is the principal horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Aaron Williamon is head of the Center for Performance Science, a partnership between the Royal College of Music and Imperial College, London.

Henry Brown earned the name "Henry Box Brown" in March of 1849. He hatched a risky plan and had himself shipped in a wooden crate, from Richmond to Philadelphia. But that’s less than half his story. In freedom, he uses his escape box as the basis for a subversive magic act that sees him tour the stages of the UK and Canada — his final home. Henry's remarkable story is a must-listen. *This episode originally aired on Feb. 3, 2025.