We really need to talk sensibly about intimacy and AI

I didn’t see this session live because it was originally in German and it clashes with another session I wanted to see.

There is so much in this session but it was a good reminder of why I was keen to setup making the familiar strange podcast. The nuance of intimacy and the sessions final point is something which comes up in the AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.

Under a solar republica sky mix

An AI altered view of Berlin's spa (liquiddrome) With 2 people sitting on a bench looking at the unique sky

I spent a good amount of time in Berlin, Germany recently for the fantastic Republica conference.

This was recorded on a Ryanair flight (I luckily booked my flights over 3 months ago) using a number of even newer tunes. I had to do quite a bit of editing from the different times when my arm was knocked but it turned out pretty well.

I tried to recreate it on the way back but honestly, the first one was better although I did prefer some of the second mix tunes but it didn’t flow as much. I especially love the mix from Remember the future – Ripsaw!

All recorded on my ageing Pacemaker device, but the drift DJ alpha testing is getting better everyday. So look out, a whole mix might be coming soon.

The Drift DJ Zero sat on a Ryan Air seat rest

The cover art comes from a shot I took of Liquidrome, near the hotel I was at. There was a football game happening and so I used Gemini to remove the football match then touched up the colours, etc myself. It was hot in Berlin all week and it was great to have the long bright nights.

The playlist is…

00:00:00 Voices In My Head x Insomnia (Stephani B Mashup) – Faithless
00:01:34 Mandy (extended mix) – 2nd Phase
00:04:38 Dare me – Hayley Parsons
00:08:54 Extortion (Extended mix) – Everlight
00:15:07 Remember The Future (Extended Mix) – Ferry Tayle & TonKs pres. Mirage
00:19:17 Never (H3rtz Bootleg Rework) – The Roc Project Feat. Tina Arena
00:24:02 Seven cities (V-one’s living cities mix) – Solar Stone
00:30:11 Ripsaw – Everlight
00:34:09 La Verità (Extended Mix) – Alex Merk & U-Mount
00:38:14 Catch Me (Aumak Extended Remix) – Ormus
00:42:57 Rise Again (Extended Mix) – Adam Lumina
00:46:02 Stresstest (John Askew Remix) – John O’callaghan
00:52:34 Adagio In G Minor (Extended Mix) – DIM3NSION

Anyway enjoy the mix on peertube either on my own mixgarden or on rankett at a lower quality.

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (May 2026)

Beach with a oil like container on its side written on the side is Facebook, where it would usually say toxic. The sea in the background

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed hearing how Tesla robotaxis being remotely driven, seeing Linkedin spying and fingerprinting job hunters and the absolute madding thoughts of Palantir CEO Alex Karp, translated for us lay people?

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

You are seeing aspects of this with few people posting on social media, a new plan to bring plugin solar to the UK and the EFF leaving X because its just too much!


On being a glasshole?

Ian thinks: What’s it like to walk the streets and live your life with the Meta smartglasses? Well you don’t need to put down the money yourself because Ella has described in a lot of detail her experiences. I find the privacy recommendations at the end useful but will meta learn and act? Not likely…

AI is a insecurity wonderland

Ian thinks: When are we going to take the well established practice of the separations of concerns seriously. It seems most people have forgotten, never run commands you don’t understand and certainly don’t provide access to sensitive data. This is why Google’s AI will never have explicit consent to my drives and data.

Imagine consumer technology had recall warnings?

Ian thinks: Its quite a serious question and In this podcast, about a Android streaming box, which is pretty much a Trojan horse. The question becomes a lot more serious, especially when thinking about national security and the endless IOT junk found and shipped from many shopping sites. Does your coffee cup really need to be connected and what is it up to on your network?

How can age verification actually work and be private?

Ian thinks: Age verification and stopping harms from young people is always in the news I found Proton’s summary of the alternatives quite useful for anyone being told this is a binary choice. The CEO’s blog is also worth reading too.

We have to talk about prediction markets

Ian thinks: At the start of April I gave a talk to European broadcasters about the future of social. At the very end I mentioned prediction markets, and the impact of a number of trends; being crypto, gamestop and economic reality of today. It was a surprise for many but a reality worth understanding. I was pleased to see Last week tonight’s John Oliver’s segment about the exact thing a week ago too.

Traditional Social media did it to themselves

Ian thinks: This report from OFCOM, highlights how less people are posting on traditional social media. There are many reasons for this but when I saw the report, it was a clear call back to the future of social report where we described people migrating to smaller private networks. Like it or not, companies like Meta did this to themselves with their emphasis on algorithms, enshitification and so much more.

Goodbye Sora and thank goodness

Ian thinks: Good reddens, it was a machine pumping out so much AI slop and misinformation. Of course we know the real reason of Sora closure; the huge costs to Open AI and there already over inflated stock price.

True stories affected by incentives

Ian thinks: We have all heard the stories about AI use, but I found this podcast with Oprah Winfrey and Tristan Harris, quite captivating and a clear reminder of the problem of incentives. This is also a big part of the newly released AI Doc, which I do recommend watching.

The Facebook museum?

Ian thinks: Does Facebook need its own museum, I wonder? But like the recently compiled geocities archive, there was moments of creativity and personal joy we all had. Is this worth celebrating and archiving, is another question?


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