The People's AI: The Decentralized AI Podcast

What is your data actually worth, and who gets paid when it moves through the invisible economy? In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore the hidden markets built on the data we generate every day. From geolocation signals and shopping behavior to credit histories and even the weight of restaurant garbage, we look at how ordinary activity becomes valuable in...

What if the best real-world example of data portability is hiding in plain sight inside your bank account? In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore why open banking has become one of the clearest success stories in moving data from one platform to another. Starting with the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, we look at how regulators, markets, and commo...

Who should control a digital version of you: the platform that hosts it, or you? What about after you’re dead– the platform or your estate? In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore the fast-emerging world of personal digital twins: AI versions of people built from voice, writing, behavior, and context. We look at what a digital twin actually is, how it diffe...

What happens when you try to leave an AI that already knows you? In this episode of The People’s AI , presented by the Vana Foundation , we explore a new frontier in data portability: whether you can take your AI memory, context, and chat history with you when you switch models. What begins as a technical question quickly becomes something more personal. As AI tools learn our preferences, workflow...

Why is it so easy to switch banks, but so hard to move your photos, playlists, messages, or years of digital history from one platform to another? In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore the foundational reasons of why data portability matters. Starting with the simple frustration of thousands of photos stuck in an old software ecosystem, we unpack the bigg...

What if the future of AI in healthcare depends less on better models and more on whether patients can actually access their own data? In this episode of The People’s AI , presented by the Vana Foundation , we explore why health data portability is not just a bureaucratic headache, but a foundational issue for better care, better research, and better AI. We begin with the story of Liz Salmi , who d...

What happens when the biggest questions about AI stop being theoretical and start shaping jobs, education, truth, power, and even what it means to be human. In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore ten of the biggest questions on the future of AI. We examine whether AI will create abundance or accelerate job displacement, whether it will improve education or...

What if the next life-saving medical breakthrough isn’t a brand-new drug, but an old generic hiding in plain sight, waiting to be matched to the right disease? In this episode of The People’s AI , presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore the upside of AI and data when used to solve consequential problems, from AI drug discovery and drug repurposing to ambient AI in clinical workflows -- to cli...

What happens when robots stop looking like industrial machines—and start looking (and even feeling ) human? And if “replicants” become plausible within our lifetimes, what would it take to get there… and what might it break along the way? In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by the Vana Foundation, we explore the robot revolution from three angles: what robots can actually do today (quiet...

What happens when AI gets smarter by quietly consuming the work of writers, artists, and publishers—without asking, crediting, or paying? And if the “original sin” is already baked into today’s models, what does a fair future look like for human creativity? In this episode, we examine the fast-moving collision between generative AI and copyright: the lived experience of authors who feel violated,...

What happens when a “kid-friendly” AI bedtime story turns racy—inside your own car? In this episode of The People’s AI (presented by the Vana Foundation), we explore “Generation Generative”: how kids are already using AI, what the biggest risks really are (from inappropriate content to emotional manipulation), and what practical parenting looks like when the tech is everywhere—from smart speakers...

Can AI help us grieve, or does it blur the line between comfort and delusion in ways we’re not ready for? In this episode of The People’s AI , we explore the rise of grief tech: “griefbots,” AI avatars, and “digital ghosts” designed to simulate conversations with deceased loved ones. We start with Justin Harrison , founder of You, Only Virtual , whose near-fatal motorcycle accident and his mother’...

Who are the invisible human data-workers behind the “magic” of AI, and what does their work really look like? In this episode of THE PEOPLE'S AI, presented by Vana, We pull back the curtain on AI data labeling, ghost work, and content moderation with former data worker and organizer Krystal Kauffman and AI researcher Graham Morehead . We hear how low-paid workers around the world train large...

What if your robot vacuum accidentally leaked naked photos of you onto Facebook—and that was just the tip of the iceberg for how your data trains AI? In this episode of The People’s AI , presented by Vana, we kick off Season 3 with a deep-dive primer on the real stakes of AI and data: in our homes, in our work, and across society. We start with a jaw-dropping story from MIT Technology Review senio...

How do we protect privacy in an AI-powered world? As AI systems become increasingly powerful, they’re also becoming increasingly invasive. The stakes are no longer theoretical — they’re immediate and personal. From hospitals and law firms to small construction firms, businesses across industries are facing a pressing dilemma: how can we unlock the benefits of AI without compromising sensitive data...

What happens when AI runs out of energy? As models grow exponentially, the world’s compute and energy needs are skyrocketing—and our current infrastructure may not keep up. On today's episode of THE PEOPLE'S AI, presented by Gensyn, we speak with Greg Osuri , founder and CEO of Akash Network , to dive into the future of decentralized AI and why distributed compute could be the key to sol...

What does it mean for AI to be creative? Can a machine surprise us—or even move us? This week, we explore the frontier of AI-generated art, emotional AI, and decentralized creativity through two very different lenses. In this episode of The People’s AI , presented by Gensyn, we speak with Mario Klingemann , creator of the autonomous artist Botto , and Shavonne Wong , the mind behind the interactiv...

How will AI Agents transform the world? And why do they need to be Decentralized? This episode explores the frontier of AI agents—their power, their risks, and their role in shaping our future, on THE PEOPLE'S AI, presented by Gensyn. Host Jeff Wilser talks with Shaw Walters (founder of Eliza Labs) and Harry Grieve (co-founder of Gensyn) about what happens when AI agents become autonomous, se...

Should AI be regulated by governments, left to the courts, or guided by open markets and open source? That question is at the heart of this thoughtful, civil debate between two leaders shaping the future of AI policy. In this episode of The People’s AI , we’re joined by Justin Hendrix (Tech Policy Press) and Jeff Amico (Gensyn) for a wide-ranging conversation on how — and by whom — artificial inte...

What if we could trust AI results the way we trust cryptographic signatures? That’s the radical promise behind Gensyn’s work—building verifiable, decentralized AI infrastructure from the ground up. We kick off Season 2 of The People’s AI with Ben Fielding and Harry Grieve, the co-founders of Gensyn. We hear how their origin story began in a London warehouse—right before COVID lockdown—and how thei...

Why can ChatGPT write your emails, but robots still can’t fold your laundry? The answer isn’t hardware—it’s data. On today's episode of THE PEOPLE'S AI, presented by Vana, we speak with Bayley Wang, co-founder of PrismaX , a startup building the “base layer” for real-world robotics.  PrismaX connects user-generated video data —like clips of people folding sheets or restocking shelves—wit...

What if your personal data wasn’t  being harvested — but instead valued, tokenized, and returned to you? That’s the radical shift proposed by Vana, a platform building decentralized data marketplaces that aim to give users economic power over their own data. In this episode of "The People's AI," we speak with Art Abal, Vana’s co-founder, to unpack how today’s data economy works behi...

What’s real in Crypto + AI—and what’s just noise? In this episode of THE PEOPLE'S AI podcast, presented by Vana, we sat down with two top investors to unpack the actual state of decentralized AI. These are the people who see all the decks, hear all the pitches, and are funding what they believe is the future of the space. So what’s legit, what’s frothy, and where’s it all headed? First, we ta...

In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by Vana, we explore one of the most promising frontiers in artificial intelligence: federated learning. We speak with Nic Lane, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Flower Labs and a professor at the University of Cambridge, to unpack why decentralized AI may not only be more ethical—but more effective—than centralized systems. We dive into: •Why...

In this episode of The People’s AI , presented by Vana, we dive into one of the most compelling intersections in tech today: AI agents and crypto infrastructure. Our guest is Bryan Pellegrino, co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs. His journey is anything but ordinary—former top-ranked professional poker player, model builder for MLB teams alongside Billy Beane, and now a key architect of decentral...