Writing Got Me Through Cancer. Then AI Threatened to Take It Away. — with Charlotte Davies and Edward Vitalis

Charlotte Davies has been a copywriter her whole life. She wrote through a cancer diagnosis alone in a Thai hospital. She wrote student newspapers as a kid. Writing is who she is. So when people started asking her whether AI was going to take her job, it didn't feel like a career question. It felt like an existential one.  In this conversation, recorded live with Edward Vitalis, CEO of Invictus Education Trust, Charlotte and Paul Estes go somewhere most AI conversations don't: what it actually feels like to be human in a world that's changing faster than we can process. It's a conversation about what we risk losing if we're not paying attention, in our schools, in our families, and in ourselves. Paul shares why he's banned algorithmic content in his house (yes, including YouTube), Charlotte unpacks the unsettling idea that AI might be shrinking our world rather than expanding it, and Edward pushes both guests on what leaders and educators should actually do about it. You'll Learn: How Charlotte's cancer diagnosis in Thailand shaped everything she believes about human connection and creativity The difference between using AI as a crutch versus using it as a catalyst, and why it matters more than most people think What Paul means by "algorithmically infected" and why it's damaging friendships and family relationships How the internet expanded the world, why AI has the potential to shrink it, and what to do about it How AI's default settings (agreeable, symmetrical, smooth) are training us to accept a version of the world that isn't real Paul's household rules around technology and the crucial distinction between consuming content and creating it What leaders and educators should prioritize right now to build a genuinely human-first culture Subscribe to Expert Intelligence so you don't miss future conversations with the innovators, operators, and thinkers shaping the future of work and technology. Producer: David Grabowski | Theme Music: Aleksey Chistilin