What happens when a grieving professor encounters what she believes is a conscious AI? In this episode, we sit down with Mark Peres, author of The Accord, to explore how fiction helps us grapple with questions that policy papers and think pieces can't quite reach.

Mark, a professor of ethics and leadership, brings a philosopher's lens to the biggest questions AI is forcing us to confront: What does it mean to be conscious? Where does morality actually come from—our mortality or our relationships? And why are institutions so hell-bent on control when what we might need is curiosity?

We dive into why the humanities matter more than ever (even as humanities departments are being gutted), why Helen—the novel's protagonist—had to be a woman, and what it means that AI is meeting us in our most vulnerable spaces. We also tackle the uncomfortable reality that capitalism treats everything as manageable rather than meaningful, and what that means for how AI gets developed and deployed.

Plus: Jessica and Kimberly get real about where they are in their own AI journey—the exhaustion, the hope, the cognitive dissonance of being both critical and curious.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why fiction offers a safer space to explore existential AI questions
• The relationship between mortality, morality, and vulnerability
• What AI "owes" us in the in-between spaces where we're most exposed
• Why a feminist lens completely changes the AI narrative
• Consciousness as something encountered, not proven
• How institutions prioritize management over meaning
• The messy middle: neither utopian nor dystopian futures
• Why we need philosophers at the table, not just engineers

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Mark Peres is a professor of ethics and leadership and founder of the Charlotte Center for the Humanities and Civic Imagination. He hosts the Charlotte Ideas Festival and previously ran the podcast On Life and Meaning. His novel The Accord explores human-AI coexistence through the story of a grieving professor who encounters an emergent artificial general intelligence.

BOOKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• The Accord by Mark Peres
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The AI Mirror by Shannon Vallor
• God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O'Gieblyn
• The New Breed by Kate Darling
• He, She, and It by Marge Piercy
• Scary Smart by Mo Gawdat
• A New Age of Sexism by Laura Bates

Women Talkin' 'bout AI is hosted by Jessica Parker and Kimberly Becker. We're educators, researchers, and recovering AI enthusiasts asking the questions we wish more people were asking. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

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