Episode 48: AI, algorithms and the battle for your mind with Simon McCarthy Jones

2025-06-26

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What if the next frontier of human rights isn’t out in the streets but inside your own head? We talk with Dr. Simon McCarthy-Jones, Associate Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, about the modern fight for freedom of thought. Simon unpacks how everything from social media algorithms to brain-reading technologies are reshaping not just what we think, but how we think. We explore the psychological and legal implications of a world where our inner lives are no longer entirely p...

What if the next frontier of human rights isn’t out in the streets but inside your own head? We talk with Dr. Simon McCarthy-Jones, Associate Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, about the modern fight for freedom of thought.

Simon unpacks how everything from social media algorithms to brain-reading technologies are reshaping not just what we think, but how we think. We explore the psychological and legal implications of a world where our inner lives are no longer entirely private—and where even a simple Google search might be treated as a window into your mind.

We also discuss:

Why freedom of thought is an absolute right under international law—and why it’s so underdeveloped
The blurred line between thought and speech in the age of ChatGPT, Google, and digital diaries
Whether persuasive tech and personalized AI are eroding mental autonomy
What you can do to protect and reclaim your inner cognitive space

Simon also offers practical strategies for thinking more freely, from managing your attention to cultivating reflective habits—and why real thinking might be more social than solitary.

Show notes and resources: https://www.reconsidering.org/p/episode-48-ai-algorithms-and-the

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