Humans in the Lead: The Case for Advancing Intelligence, Not Just Automating It

The real AI question isn't about automation - it's whether we're designing technology to advance human capability or quietly engineer it out. In this episode, Dean van Leeuwen and Graeme Codrington ask the question most boardrooms aren't asking: are we advancing intelligence, or just advancing the artificial? Hear what happened when one of Nashville's Waymo driverless taxis ends up in a standoff with a road foreman that the algorithm can't understand, and why the Pope's new encyclical on AI - mirrors its 130-year-old predecessor from the height of the Industrial Revolution. You'll take away: • Demand "humans in the lead" not just "humans in the loop" - genuine responsibility for AI outcomes • Reframe AI as advancing intelligence - the language you use shapes the choices you make • Build the guardrails now - seatbelts weren't mandated until the 1980s; AI's side effects are already visible 🔗 Resources mentioned Magnificat Humanitatis - Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on AI → https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html#The_res_novae_of_our_time Rerum Novarum - Pope Leo XIII (1891) → https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html The seven grey elephants framework → https://tomorrowtoday.consulting/greyelephantsintroduction This episode explores: Intelligent Advances - one of the seven grey elephants we track at TomorrowToday Global. The Elephant You Could Name: Are you using AI to make your people more capable, or more replaceable? Full shownotes, references and white papers: https://www.tomorrowtoday.consulting/podcast#episode-17 Sponsored by Achilles - building anti-fragile, transparent supply chains. achilles.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices