Ep. 74 AI is not your friend or your enemy…it’s a computer

About this episode

Hayden discusses his evolving relationship with AI and its implications on creativity and critical thinking.

I use AI to help me with every podcast episode I make. Topic generation, writing descriptions, making titles — AI has been a big part of my podcast process for a long time. I was an early adopter, I’m not planning to quit, and no, this is not an episode telling you to cut AI out of your life. But lately… I’ve been feeling disillusioned. In this episode, I sit in the gray area and talk through my evolving relationship with AI — what it offers, what it takes, and why something about it has started to feel unsettling. We’ll cover: Using AI as a therapist, expert, artist, and even a friend How confidently wrong AI can be — and why that matters The way AI can undermine critical thinking and creative struggle Outsourcing communication, ideas, and emotional labor Feeling skeptical of everything online and questioning what’s real How constant AI-generated content can flatten nuance and push us into black-and-white thinking Why you don’t have to be fully for or fully against it Staying open-minded, human, and intentional in a rapidly changing digital world There’s no hot take or final answer here — just a real-time processing of how to stay thoughtful and grounded while engaging with a…

People in this episode

Host: Hayden

Topics covered

• AI
• mental health
• technology
• critical thinking
• digital communication
• creativity

Keywords

• AI
• podcast process
• disillusionment
• emotional labor
• online skepticism
• content generation

More episodes of The Evergreen Rx

• Ep. 78 Ambition, identity, & belonging with Meera Lee Patel · March 25, 2026 · 39 min
• Ep. 77 Insecurity, fear-based choices, & building self-trust · March 4, 2026 · 36 min
• Ep. 76 Losing the spark, drifting apart, and evolving friendships · February 25, 2026 · 18 min
• Ep. 75 Moral grandstanding, virtue signaling, & outrage culture · February 18, 2026 · 36 min
• Ep. 73 Social burnout, friendship guilt, & honest communication · February 4, 2026 · 35 min
• Ep. 72 The psychology of texting, attachment, & digital boundaries · January 28, 2026 · 24 min