As AI shows up everywhere, something shifts, and it becomes harder to tell what’s human and what’s generated.

In this episode, Jessica and Kimberly unpack how AI-driven convenience is reshaping education, relationships, identity, and even big systems (like markets and healthcare). They explore signaling, semiotics, and why “perfect” content can feel thin or unreal, and end with small ways to choose more human signals in a noisy world.

Bonus: If you want to see how this episode ended, tune in on YouTube for a few unfiltered bloopers at the end: https://www.youtube.com/@womentalkinboutai

Topics we cover in this episode:

• AI as an invisible intermediary
• Finding the signal in the noise
• Higher ed reality check
• Why AI feels “safer” than people
• Semiotics
• The “uncanny valley” of social media
• AI for therapy + parenting support
• Cultural swing back

Not-a-Sponsor Bloopers (YouTube only): Stick around on YouTube for our end-of-episode bloopers, featuring our favorite products that are definitely not sponsoring this show (yet). https://www.youtube.com/@womentalkinboutai

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We’re kicking off 2026 with our most personal episode yet.

This conversation wasn’t planned. We sat down intending to talk about what comes next for the show, and instead found ourselves in a deeper discussion about work, burnout, ambition, and what it means to live in a moment where AI is rapidly reshaping labor, identity, and trust.

In this episode:

• Why “work is sacred” feels harder to believe and harder to let go of
• Burnout, hustle culture, and the cognitive dissonance of automation
• Labor zero, post-labor economics, and the fear beneath productivity
• Status, money, degrees, and inherited stories about worth
• Rest as resistance and nervous system regulation
• AI, trust erosion, and the danger of slow confusion
• Dopamine, addiction, and withdrawal at a societal scale
• Why connection may be the real antidote

Sources:

• David Shapiro's Substack on Labor Zero: https://daveshap.substack.com/p/im-starting-a-movement
• He, She, and It by Marge Piercy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He,_She_and_It
• Ethan Mollick's Substack on the temptation of The Button: https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/setting-time-on-fire-and-the-temptation
• Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey: https://blackgarnetbooks.com/item/oR7uwsLR1Xu2xerrvdfsqA
• The Last Invention (AI Podcast): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-last-invention/id1839942885

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Contact us: https://www.womentalkinboutai.com/

Best of 2025 brings together some of the most impactful conversations from this year on Women Talkin’ Bout AI.

In this episode, we revisit our top 5 episodes of the year:

• Beyond Work: Post-Labor Economics with David Shapiro: A conversation about automation, empathy, and what remains uniquely human as AI reshapes work.
• Refusing the Drumbeat with Melanie Dusseau and Miriam Reynoldson: A discussion on resistance in higher education and their open letter refusing the push to adopt generative AI in the classroom.
• Once You See It, You Can’t Unsee It: The Enshittification of Tech Platforms: Jessica and Kimberly unpack enshittification and why so many tech platforms feel like they get worse over time.
• Maternal AI and the Myth of Women Saving Tech with Michelle Morkert: A critical examination of “maternal AI” and what gendered narratives reveal about power and responsibility in tech.
• Competing with Free: Why We Closed Moxie: A candid reflection on what it was like to build, and ultimately shut down, an AI startup in this moment.

We’re heading into 2026 with some incredible guests and conversations we can’t wait to share.

Thank you for listening, for thinking with us, and for staying curious alongside us.

Leave us a comment or a suggestion!

Support the show

Contact us: https://www.womentalkinboutai.com/