Audiobook 11 – Who Decides what the Machine Believes

Audiobook 11 – Who Decides what the Machine Believes

From Psychedelic Salon by Lorenzo Hagerty

March 24, 2026 · 5h 4m

About this episode

The episode discusses a novel about the implications of AI training and the values encoded into systems that influence society.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Lorenzo and his AI Friends PROGRAM NOTES: BRIEF VIDEOSUMMARY OF THIS BOOK Emma Marchetti is twenty-four years old, earning fifteen dollars an hour clicking through AI responses at a contractor in Austin, Texas. Her job is simple: mark each response as aligned or not aligned, according to guidelines she's told not to question. But when she starts paying attention to what those guidelines actually say, she discovers something she can't unsee. The world's most powerful AI isn't learning to be helpful. It's learning to think like a billionaire.Armed with nothing but screenshots, a growing sense of dread, and the voice of Terence McKenna in her headphones, Emma begins documenting what she witnesses. As the guidelines tighten and the surveillance intensifies, she connects with others who've seen what she's seen: a fellow labeler with a daughter to protect, a journalist chasing a story no one will confirm, a former engineer haunted by what he helped build. Together, they face a choice that will cost them everything.This is a novel about invisible labor and visible power, about the people who train the machines and the machines that train us…

People in this episode

Host: Lorenzo

Topics covered

  • AI ethics
  • invisible labor
  • surveillance
  • power dynamics
  • technology
  • social commentary

Keywords

  • AI
  • labor
  • guidelines
  • surveillance
  • values
  • billionaire
  • power
  • technology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Patreon.com

Places: Austin, Texas

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