Human x Intelligent

Madalena Costa

In a world where technology transforms faster than our environment, we can make sense of it. Human × Intelligent invites you to pause, think and design the future with intention. We explore the intersection of humanity and intelligence: how leaders, creators and systems can co-create meaningful impact. Conversations, frameworks and ideas that unite purpose, ethics and innovation. The future of product is human × intelligent.

  1. 4d ago

    How to use AI without losing your creative voice | Miguel

    Send us an email! What can AI actually teach a creative person? I asked Miguel, a multimedia designer and visual artist who moves between client work and his own art. Miguel started in drawing and painting and went on to bring video, electronics and 3D animation into his practice. He uses AI as a technical assistant: how to get a specific effect in a piece of software or how to write a script when his coding runs out. The concept phase stays his. His phrase for image generation is a calculator of the average, the most statistically common version of what you ask for. Distinctiveness, he says, is a design strength. We talk about the difference between designing for a client and making your own art and about who says a piece is finished in each one. We walk through how his character Agar went from graphite sketches on paper to a 3D model and why he refuses to let the complexity of the end medium constrain the design. We also get into his ethical and environmental concerns and his interest in small local models. His dream setup is a software manual fed to a local model that tutors him when he needs it. And we talk about taste, references and visual personality, the things that grow out of lived experience, school, peers and environment. For Cradgy, the mistakes and the loss of control in the making are part of where voice and style come from. Find Miguel: - ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/miguel_fortes_carvalho - Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user45302937 - Human x Intelligent: https://humanxintelligent.com - Human first conference: https://humanxintelligent.tech Producing more and faster does not answer the question that matters: what is worth creating? Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    How to use AI without losing your creative voice | Miguel

  2. Nov 2

    The Bug AI Couldn't Solve (A Colleague Did in 10 Seconds) | Liliana Pereira

    Send us an email! Backend engineer Liliana Pereira shares how she went from wanting to be an archaeologist to building systems that move data at scale. She tells the story of the bug AI couldn't solve, explains why we should think critically about the tools we rely on, and shares what makes a system worth trusting. She also gives her advice for anyone choosing a career: pick something you'd happily do eight hours a day. Find Liliana's work at LilianaPereira.dev. -- Follow the guest 🌐 Website: LilianaPereira.dev 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lcfpereira/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liliana.pereira.dev/ Follow the host, Madalena Costa 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madalenafigueirasdacosta/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madalenacosta.ai Follow the show ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@humanxintelligent 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humanxintelligent/ 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/human-x-intelligent/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more: humanxintelligent.com ▶️ Join the waitlist: humanxintelligent.tech Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    The Bug AI Couldn't Solve (A Colleague Did in 10 Seconds) | Liliana Pereira

  3. Oct 26

    Will AI replace product managers? Why shipping 10x faster doesn't mean 10x more winners | Rich Mironov

    Send us an email! If AI makes it faster to write code, what happens to the product manager's job? I asked Rich Mironov, who has worked in software product management for 40 years and writes about it at mironov.com. Rich walks through his math on why shipping ten times as many products into the same market does not create ten times as many winners. The same buyers are still looking for software, so four wins out of ten becomes four wins out of a hundred. We talk about the difference between engineering waste and product waste, why speed moves the bottleneck to users, buyers, marketing and sales, and what that means for designers, engineers and product managers. We also get into discovery. Rich is happy to let AI summarize transcripts. He still wants a product manager, a designer and an engineer in the room when real users talk, because a script cannot follow the surprising thing someone just said. And we look at the barbell shape of the product job and what he thinks AI tools will look like by 2031. I closed with the question I ask every guest: what does it mean to you to be more human right now? In this conversation: - Why 10x faster code does not mean 10x more winners - Engineering waste versus product waste - Where product managers spend their time when engineering speeds up - What senior designers and engineers bring when agents do the first pass - Why discovery interviews need humans in the room - The barbell: more weight on what to build and how to sell it - Guardrails: spending more discovery time on bigger and riskier bets - Looking ahead to 2031 - What it means to be more human About Rich: Rich has led product teams for 40 years, including six Silicon Valley B2B software startups (3 exits) and 15 interim CPO roles. Today, he coaches product leaders. Rich is the author of "Money Stories" and "The Art of Product Management." He has been blogging about software product management since 2002 and launched the first Product Camps. Find Rich: https://www.mironov.com  Book Money Stories: https://www.amazon.com/Money-Stories-Communicating-Value-Product/dp/0986030325/ Human x Intelligent: https://humanxintelligent.com Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    Will AI replace product managers? Why shipping 10x faster doesn't mean 10x more winners | Rich Mironov

  4. Oct 19

    Cognitive surrender: what we lose when AI thinks first | Toju Duke

    Send us an email! Toju Duke has worked in AI long before the hype. In this episode of Human x Intelligent, she explains why so many of us handed our judgment to AI without asking how it works, and how to take it back. We talk about automation bias, dependency and cognitive surrender; why she never goes to AI first, how to fact-check without drowning in it and what she calls AI-inflicted burnout. Her answer to the closing question: be more kind. About Toju: named one of the top leaders in AI, Toju is a speaker, author and advisor with 20 years of experience across advertising, retail, not-for-profit and tech. She spent 10 years at Google, the last three leading Responsible AI work on early frontier models. She founded Diverse AI, wrote "Building Responsible AI Algorithms" and "Responsible AI in Practice", leads the career guidance working group at EU Women in Digital and sits on the Council of International Schools' task force for emerging technologies. Links: https://tojuduke.comhttps://diverse-ai.orghttps://linkedin.com/in/tojuduke/Books: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Responsible-Algorithms-Transparency-Robustness/dp/1484293053https://www.amazon.com/Responsible-AI-Practice-Practical-Guide-ebook/dp/B0DV2ZXXPDHuman x Intelligent: https://humanxintelligent.com@humanxintelligent (Instagram & LinkedIn)Host:@madalenacosta.ai (Instagram)@madalenafigueirasdacosta (LinkedIn)Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    Cognitive surrender: what we lose when AI thinks first | Toju Duke

  5. Oct 12

    What Should You Delegate to AI (and What Should Stay Human)?

    Send us an email! What should you hand to AI and what should you keep for yourself? Human x Intelligent is back!! In this solo episode, I explain the delay (imagine a dinner party with the table set and an oven that refuses to cooperate) and share the question at the heart of this season: what do we keep? AI can help with drafts, summaries and the first pass of our work. But deciding what matters, what's true and what we're willing to put our name on is still ours. And sometimes a task turns into a decision before we notice. I talk about: What following a GPS can teach us about handing over judgmentThe difference between delegating a task and delegating a decision⁠Why "just rank these candidates" deserves a closer lookWhat we do with the time AI gives us backWhat's coming in Season 3: six recorded episodes and a new practical episode each month What have you happily handed to AI? And what have you decided to keep? Send me a message on LinkedIn or Instagram. I'd love to hear your answer. Delegate the work, never the judgment. 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Explore the show: https://humanxintelligent.com Book a discovery call: https://calendar.app.google/s8EzUzjCrUuUQv8n9 Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    What Should You Delegate to AI (and What Should Stay Human)?

  6. Sep 21

    Where does your judgment still matter? - Season 3 Premiere

    Send us an email! The more people trusted AI on a task, the less critical thinking they said they did on it. Season 3 of Human x Intelligent starts here, with an eight-minute premiere on where your judgment still matters. I opened the season with a short solo episode, because the real conversations start next Monday. Here I look at what's happening in the market right now, what I mean by the human moat and what this season will look like, including an app I'm building called Human Plus. And I ask the question I can't stop asking: if AI does the practice, where does the next group get good? What you'll learn: Why the more people trusted AI on a task, the less critical thinking they reported and why I hold that study looselyWhy I changed my mind about the human moat and the definition I use nowWhat Gallup found about how US workers use AI and why the first draft is quietly changing handsThe Stanford result that found no widespread job loss and still made me stop: employment for workers aged 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed jobs is about 19 percent below where it would beWhat Season 3 looks like, from Monday interviews to practical videos to Human PlusA one-week challenge with a strange name: count your nothingsNext Monday: the first interview of the season!!!  Enter the early birds for Human Plus and tell me what's missing: https://humanxintelligent.com/human-plus In this episode, I cover:  0:00 The study that made me uncomfortable  1:15 Welcome to Season 3  1:37 Who this show is for  2:01 The human moat, revised  2:41 Gallup: who writes the first draft now  3:07 Stanford: the youngest workers in AI-exposed jobs  3:42 If AI does the practice, where does the next group get good?  4:08 What Season 3 looks like  4:36 Practical videos, starting with Miro, Claude and Lovable  4:56 Human Plus and how to sign up  6:17 Count your nothings  7:10 Next Monday: the first interview Referenced: Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon, "The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking" (CHI 2025): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-impact-of-generative-ai-on-critical-thinking-self-reported-reductions-in-cognitive-effort-and-confidence-effects-from-a-survey-of-knowledge-workers/Gallup, "Rising AI Adoption Spurs Workforce Changes" (July 2026): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/704225/rising-adoption-spurs-workforce-changes.aspxStanford Digital Economy Lab, "Canaries in the Coal Mine?" (August 2026 update): https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/news/canariesaug26/Tools referenced: Miro: https://miro.comClaude: https://claude.aiLovable: https://lovable.devThe Nest, where I taught the workflow: https://lnkd.in/p/gF7dzGRhWhere to find Madalena: Human Plus sign-up: https://humanxintelligent.com/human-plusLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/human-x-intelligent/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humanxintelligent/Website: https://humanxintelligent.com/calendarSubscribe so you catch the first interview: https://www.youtube.com/@humanxintelligent Listen on your podcast app:  #HumanxIntelligent #AIatWork #Podcast Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    Where does your judgment still matter? - Season 3 Premiere

  7. Jul 2

    Are you using AI or is AI using you? | Ricardo Luiz | Season finale

    Send us an email! We talk a lot on this show about what AI can do. This one's about what it can quietly take, if you let it. Ricardo Luiz has spent over twenty years building products at the intersection of psychology, UX and AI, and his warning is simple: the moment you outsource what to think, you've outsourced who you are. AI is good enough and fast enough that most people won't notice the handoff happening. We get into exactly where the line sits between AI amplifying you and AI quietly making you dependent on it. Ricardo's test: if the tool disappeared tomorrow, would you panic or would you just slow down? Panic means you were never really driving. We also get into why Anthropic named 'understanding what's happening inside the black box' a real 2026 goal, why intent is the one word Ricardo wants you to sit with before opening another AI tool and a story involving a dog, a cancer diagnosis and a vaccine formula that shouldn't have existed. Plus a study on why people trust an AI's medical answer over an actual doctor's, even when it's wrong. And we get honest about the economics nobody wants to talk about. The tools feel cheap right now because the real cost isn't being charged yet. Ricardo's bet: give it two years and the businesses behind these tools will have to charge what they actually cost and not everyone will be able to afford what they've gotten used to. Fair warning: this one might change how you use every AI tool you touch after it. About Ricardo: Ricardo is a product leader focused on AI-native product development, mentorship and the cultivation of communities of practice. He's spent his career turning ambiguous problems into shipped products and individual contributors into the teams everyone wants to work on. He mentors emerging and senior PMs across geographies, hosts peer-learning circles and believes the most effective thing a senior practitioner can do is multiply other practitioners.  - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uxluiz/ - UXDX: https://uxdx.com/profile/ricard-luiz/ - WUD Portugal: https://wudportugal.com/orador/ricardo-luiz/ Mentioned in this episode: 'The Urgency of Interpretability' - Dario Amodei: https://darioamodei.com/post/the-urgency-of-interpretabilityThe study on over-trust in AI-generated medical responses: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.15266Coverage of the Claude Max plan usage-limits lawsuit (Engadget): https://www.engadget.com/2194626/anthropic-hit-with-lawsuit-over-its-claude-max-usage-limits/Season 2 ends here. Season 3 arrives in September and takes the show beyond tech; we will have doctors, chefs, scientists, artists, all asked the same closing question. Subscribe now so you're there for episode one. Human × Intelligent is a podcast at the intersection of design, AI and human agency. Hosted by Madalena Costa. → humanxintelligent.com → https://www.instagram.com/humanxintelligent/ → https://www.linkedin.com/company/human-x-intelligent/ → https://www.instagram.com/designwithmaddie/ → https://www.linkedin.com/in/madalenafigueirasdacosta/ 📩 Want to be a guest on Human X Intelligent? Reach out to Madalena at madalena@humanxintelligent.com Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    Are you using AI or is AI using you? | Ricardo Luiz | Season finale

  8. Jun 18

    Is AI making us dumber? The science, the warning and what to do about it

    Send us an email! You've heard the productivity pitch. AI makes you faster. AI makes you more efficient. AI makes your work better. But what if it's also making you worse at working without it and faster than you think? In this episode of Human × Intelligent, I go deeper into a cluster of research and stories that, taken together, paint a picture we can't afford to ignore. A study from Carnegie Mellon, Oxford, MIT and UCLA found that just 10 minutes of AI assistance was enough to impair independent problem-solving. Researchers have shown that inaudible sounds hidden inside background music can hijack AI notetakers in your meetings without you knowing. MIT professor Max Tegmark has pointed out that AI is currently less regulated than a sandwich shop. And the movie Idiocracy, a 2006 comedy barely anyone saw, is starting to feel less like satire and more like a schedule. This isn't a doom episode. It's an episode where I share a perspective. I walk through what the science actually says, what it means for how we work and lead and what to do about it. From the three questions you should be asking every AI vendor you work with, to the one habit that protects your cognitive independence, to what it actually means to be an irreplaceable human professional in 2026. If you use AI at work and you do, this is the episode to sit with. Reading list: AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance - arXivUsing AI for 10 minutes damages intellect, study shows - EuronewsAI: the "boiling frog" effect on cognition - FuturismAI assistants can be hijacked by inaudible sounds - Cyber InsiderAI is less regulated than sandwiches - EuronewsIdiocracy: A Prophetic View of an AI-Driven Future - Aragon ResearchA Place for Human Talent in the AI Age - IMFRedesigning work around human skills - EY Connect with us: 🌐 humanxintelligent.com 📸 Instagram: @designwithmaddie 📸 Instagram: @humanxintelligent 💼 linkedin.com/in/madalenafigueirasdacosta 💼 linkedin.com/company/human-x-intelligent Support the show 🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about what it means to be human in the age of AI. Hosted by Madalena Costa. Book a 30-minute discovery call: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0gWe6GXjyLRo9EsZ3RnwmNbGqS1IkkxXtc3FNSy2HOEarPQlqMurL8Ts4pzWrEx4Zq2qXB2X11

    Is AI making us dumber? The science, the warning and what to do about it
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About

In a world where technology transforms faster than our environment, we can make sense of it. Human × Intelligent invites you to pause, think and design the future with intention. We explore the intersection of humanity and intelligence: how leaders, creators and systems can co-create meaningful impact. Conversations, frameworks and ideas that unite purpose, ethics and innovation. The future of product is human × intelligent.

Information

  • Creator
    Madalena Costa
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Human x Intelligent
  • Show Website
    Human x Intelligent

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