On The Line: The Ghosts in the Machine

In this episode of On The Line, Jen Gerson speaks with Karin Valis, a Berlin-based machine learning engineer and writer behind Mercurial Minutes. Together, they explore the complex and sometimes unsettling ways artificial intelligence intersects with human cognition, creativity, and mental health.This episode of On the Line is brought to you by Airbnb. As we’ve discussed many times before, it’s no secret that Canada is in a housing crisis. Some think that one way we can solve it is by regulating short-term rentals like Airbnb. But the closer you look, the clearer it gets: that’s simply not the case. According to Statistics Canada, the number of Airbnbs that could be converted into long-term homes amounts to only 0.6 per cent of Canada’s housing stock. Something that has been clear for a long time is that tackling affordability will require big and bold action that addresses all of the housing market, not just 0.6 per cent of it. To learn more, visit Airbnb.ca/closerlook.They talk about how the role of AI engineers is shifting and what that means for the future. They get into the way we lean on machines to do our thinking for us — and what that does to our own brains. There’s a lively back-and-forth about whether AI companionship helps or hurts us, and what happens when we start to depend on it too much. Karin also explains how these systems reflect our own behaviour back at us, often in surprising ways, and why the ethical questions are only getting harder.This episode of On The Line is also brought to you by the Métis Nation of Ontario. It's Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, 1993. A father and son — Steve and Roddy Powley — went hunting moose without a tag. What followed was more than a trial. For a decade, their entire community stood accused — told they didn’t exist, told they had no rights. In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled otherwise. In R. v. Powley, Métis rights were fully recognized in law — rights rooted in history, culture, and community in Ontario.Today, on those same lands where Métis once farmed river lots and were pushed aside, a new chapter has begun. The old Central United Church has been reclaimed as the Powley Institute — a Métis-led centre for education, culture, and truth. Here, the stories once silenced will be told and the lessons of Powley will endure: justice follows when you stand firm in the truth of your history. To learn more, visit OntarioMetisFacts.com.Of particular interest to many, we suspect, you’ll also hear a thoughtful take on where AI is headed — not as something alien or futuristic, but as a mirror of ourselves, raising tough questions about how we adapt to the tools we’ve built. And also on the ethical issues that will inevitably arise — and it is inevitable — when AI and increasingly life-like robots are combined. Subscribe at ReadTheLine.ca, follow us on your favourite podcast app, and don’t forget to leave us a nice review. Audio drops every Tuesday morning, with video rolling out Tuesday evening on YouTube and our social channels. Catch it wherever you listen or watch.Spotify:Apple:And plenty more options here.We hope you enjoy this episode, and don’t miss us next week. We’ll be back with more On The Line.The Line is entirely reader and advertiser funded — no federal subsidy for us! If you value our work, have already subscribed, and still worry about what will happen when the conventional media finishes collapsing, please make a donation today.The Line is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider supporting us by subscribing. Please follow us on social media! Facebook x 2: On The Line Podcast here, and The Line Podcast here. Instagram. Also: TikTok. BlueSky. LinkedIn. Matt’s Twitter. The Line’s Twitter.Jen’s Twitter. Contact us by email: [email protected]. Get full access to The Line at www.readtheline.ca/subscribe