What if the biggest regret we’ll have in 10 years isn’t over-regulating AI, but failing to educate people about it? In this episode of Poets & Thinkers, we explore the intersection of AI policy, national sovereignty, and digital literacy with Jaxson Khan, a unique cross-sector leader who transitioned from startup founder to senior policy advisor for Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. From his home in Toronto, Jaxson shares hard-won insights from the frontlines of AI policy development, where he helped craft Canada’s approach to artificial intelligence across multiple critical areas.

Jaxson takes us behind the scenes of government AI strategy, revealing why less than 25% of Canadians have any formal AI education despite the country being home to some of the technology’s foundational researchers. He explains Canada’s Sovereign AI Compute Strategy – a response to the brain drain that sees Canadian talent and capital flow south to Silicon Valley – and makes the case for treating AI infrastructure like a public utility. Through his current work helping nonprofits and corporations adopt AI, Jaxson demonstrates how the same technology reshaping global geopolitics can be leveraged for social good.

Throughout our conversation, Jaxson challenges the notion that we need to choose between innovation and regulation, instead advocating for what he calls “meaningful consent” in privacy frameworks and emphasizing the critical importance of cultural sovereignty in AI development. His perspective bridges the technical, political, and deeply human aspects of our AI-powered future, showing how policy decisions made today will determine whether societies remain intact through this transformation.

In this discussion, we explore:

• Why AI literacy should be treated as urgently as national defense in the modern era
• How Canada is building sovereign AI infrastructure without trying to replace Big Tech
• The three pillars of AI sovereignty: technology IP, data and compute, and cultural preservation
• Why privacy laws that predate iPhones are a “travesty” in the AI age
• How the imagination gap is holding back traditional companies from AI adoption
• Why NGOs and government agencies must accelerate AI adoption to stay relevant

This episode is an invitation to think beyond the hype and fear surrounding AI, focusing instead on the practical policy frameworks and educational foundations needed to ensure this powerful technology serves humanity’s highest aspirations.

Resources Mentioned

Canada’s Sovereign AI Compute Strategy

“Bridging the Imagination Gap” Royal Bank of Canada white paper

OECD data on international AI adoption patterns

“AI is Normal Technology” by Prof. Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor

“Genesis” by Kissing

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What if the people building AI are so caught up in the rush to market that they’ve forgotten to ask the most important question: what does this mean for humanity? In this refreshingly honest episode, we explore the human side of artificial intelligence with Danielle McClune, a writer and poet who has spent the last years at the epicenter of AI development at Microsoft, training conversational models and crafting the prompts that shape how AI communicates with millions of users worldwide.

Danielle takes us behind the scenes of AI development with a perspective that’s rare in the tech industry – one grounded in creative writing, poetry, and a deep concern for preserving our humanity in an increasingly automated world. From her Substack “Soft Coded” writing that challenges the industry’s relentless optimism to her daily work training models to sound human while remembering they’re not, Danielle offers a critical yet nuanced view of where AI is headed and what we might be losing along the way.

Throughout our conversation, Danielle reveals the absurdity of charging users for saying “please” and “thank you” to AI while encouraging human-like interaction, questions why we’re bolting chat interfaces onto existing software instead of reimagining human-computer interaction, and argues for maintaining the “uncanny valley” as a crucial reminder that we’re not talking to someone with a childhood. Her vision for AI as a public utility and her insights into what the technology might look like if women had led its development offer provocative alternatives to the current Silicon Valley narrative.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why saying “please” and “thank you” to AI reveals deeper contradictions in how we’re building the technology
• The rush to add chat interfaces to everything instead of reimagining user experiences from scratch
• Why the uncanny valley might be a feature, not a bug, in human-AI interaction
• How “vibe checks” and human intuition remain essential in evaluating AI output
• The case for treating AI as a public utility rather than private corporate property
• Why training AI models feels like “raising a toddler” and often becomes “women’s work”

This episode is an invitation to slow down, ask harder questions, and remember that behind every AI interaction is a human being whose life might be changed – for better or worse – by the choices we make today.

Resources Mentioned

Soft Coded is Danielle’s excellent Substack

Ruined by Design – Mike Monteiro’s book

Design for the Real World – Victor Papanek

Connect with Danielle

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-mcclune-2b35b95b/

Substack: https://softcoded.substack.com/

Bio

Danielle McClune is a writer and poet embedded in the frontier of AI development at Microsoft, where she has spent the last two years training conversational models and

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Humans are multisensory beings. What if the tiny sounds you hear from your devices every day are literally vibrating through your body, changing your nervous system, and collectively creating decades of audio pollution? And what do we do about it in an age where generative AI is likely going to add even more noise?

In this fascinating episode of Poets & Thinkers, we explore the profound intersection of sound, technology, and human experience with Matthew Bennett, a composer, sound artist, and sensory designer who led sound design at Microsoft for 12 years. From his home studio in Seattle, Matthew reveals how he shaped the sonic experience of billions of people worldwide while pioneering a new paradigm for technology sound design.

Matthew takes us on a journey through the science of sound as sensory experience – not just something we hear, but a form of touch that vibrates our entire body and changes our physiology. He shares mind-blowing insights about how Microsoft’s tiny notification sounds, when multiplied across hundreds of millions of users, created decades of sound pollution daily – and how his team cut 10 years off that global audio footprint by shortening sounds by just one second. Through the lens of neuroaesthetics and multisensory design, Matthew illustrates why our digital experiences are always multisensory whether we intend them to be or not.

Throughout our conversation, Matthew challenges the current AI music generation hype, revealing how these tools expose the formulaic nature of popular music while lacking the human intention and authenticity that gives art its soul. He advocates for a “do no harm” approach to sound design, emphasizing the importance of designing silence and understanding that unexpected sounds can hijack our brains and trigger fight-or-flight responses. His vision for Musical Sensory Environments and precision therapies offers a glimpse into how sound can heal rather than harm.

In this discussion, we explore:

• Why sound is actually a special form of touch that vibrates through your entire body
• How tiny notification sounds create decades of global audio pollution daily
• The ethics of multisensory design and the responsibility that comes with scale
• Why AI-generated music reveals the formulaic nature of popular genres
• How neuroesthetics can become essential literacy for designers and leaders
• The difference between human intention and statistical pattern matching in creativity

This episode is an invitation to understand sound as a powerful force that shapes our digital ecosystems, our physical well-being, and our human connections – and to approach the creation of sensory experiences with the care and intention they deserve.

Resources Mentioned

• Jaron Lanier’ work
• World Health Organization (WHO) research on noise pollution as global health crisis
• Neuroaesthetics research and fMRI studies on brain responses to sound
• Musical Sensory Environments – Matthew’s pioneering approach to immersive audio

Connect with Matthew Bennett:

Website: https://soundandsensory.com/

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