Free Your Feed

Nikolas Harter

Fostering a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news. Created and produced by Nikolas Harter.

Episodes

  1. Oct 25 ·  Video

    When Media Outlets Copy/Paste Each Other's Lies

    Late last year, a study released by MIT attempted to track what skills AI tools could perform, and calculated the "wage value" of those skills.    Media outlets cherry-picked a statistic from the study and used it in EXACTLY the way that the authors of the study asked for it not to be used. Headlines splashed across the internet, "AI Can Already Do 11.7% of U.S. Jobs."    No, that's not what the study said, and unfortunately, this sort of lazy, clickbait reporting is not uncommon.  LINKS & RESOURCES    The Iceberg Index MIT Study: https://iceberg.mit.edu/report.pdf   Look up Studies:    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/   https://www.crossref.org/   Find out what journal the study comes from and if they do peer reviews. Look up the journal's reputation.  SUBSCRIBE   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-your-feed/id6804067075   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7M5MvwL4otWBgjZPoPE3q5   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter. I'm looking for a story editor, if you're interested, reach out.

    When Media Outlets Copy/Paste Each Other's Lies

  2. Oct 11 ·  Video

    The Sci-fi Origins of AI Psychosis

    Sam Altman tried to make ChatGPT like Samantha, the fictional AI-voice assistant from the movie Her, and it made people go insane.    AI psychosis (AKA chatbot psychosis or chatbot-related delusions) is when someone loses touch with reality after heavy chatbot use. Too often, chatbots repeat fictional sci-fi narratives about sentient or conscious AI as if they were fact, and it can push vulnerable people into a delusional state.    Lebron James is Him. ChatGPT is Her.    SOURCES   Episode Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mvDKg3_GHT8LMYCSoshmFB1iiIqKnoobkTnFnYjTB8w/edit?usp=sharing SUBSCRIBE   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-your-feed/id6804067075   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7M5MvwL4otWBgjZPoPE3q5   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of social media, technology, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter

    The Sci-fi Origins of AI Psychosis

  3. Oct 4 ·  Video

    Synthetic Influencers Are On the Rise

    Users on Reddit are trading strategies for how to make fake models and influencers with AI.    They call it "AI UGC" as in, "AI User-generated Content." Of course, most of these synthetic models are young, conventionally attractive women.    The users trading strategies acknowledge that their synthetic influencers are only "good" if they're indistinguishable from the real thing. The question is, good for who?    SOURCES   The Software Engineers paid to fix vibecoding: https://www.404media.co/the-software-engineers-paid-to-fix-vibe-coded-messes/   CNet Study about AI Labels: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/cnet-survey-ai-slop-confidence-in-spotting-ai-waning/   Grandview Research: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/virtual-influencer-market-report   https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/influencer-marketing-platform-market SUBSCRIBE   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-your-feed/id6804067075   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7M5MvwL4otWBgjZPoPE3q5   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of social media, technology, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter

    Synthetic Influencers Are On the Rise

  4. Sep 27 ·  Video

    Why Anthropomorphizing AI is Problematic

    Media outlets are complicit in a process which amplifies the central lie that underpins the AI boom (bubble).    By anthropomorphizing LLMs, AI companies and media outlets sell a story of AI that will never come true. MORE INFO    Cal Newport on the Hugging Face hack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxM35ij5VGg SUBSCRIBE   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-your-feed/id6804067075   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7M5MvwL4otWBgjZPoPE3q5   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed SOURCES   Episode Script: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed/note/p-212064853 Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter. I'm looking for a story editor, if you're interested, reach out.

    Why Anthropomorphizing AI is Problematic

  5. Sep 20 ·  Video

    Eras of AI: The Chatbot from 1966

    MIT Professor Joseph Weizenbaum created the first AI chatbot in 1967. He called it, ELIZA.   The professor wanted to show that people would never mistake a computer for a person if they but knew how the computer worked. The opposite ended up being true and led to the coining of a new phrase, "The Eliza Effect," the tendency to project human traits onto computers with a text interface.   Horrified by his own creation, Weizenbaum spent the rest of his life arguing that it's morally wrong to use computers for tasks that require interpersonal intelligence or empathy—things he believed computers would never be capable of, even if they could create a convincing illusion.   READ MORE   Excerpts from Weizenbaum's Computer Power and Human Reason: http://blogs.evergreen.edu/cpat/files/2013/05/Computer-Power-and-Human-Reason.pdf SUBSCRIBE   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed SOURCES   Citations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WHPbuyMx9LM2ltB5SUM-yGeCma9ASU3x_BCve2664dg/edit?usp=sharing     Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter. I'm looking for a story editor, if you're interested, reach out.

    Eras of AI: The Chatbot from 1966

  6. Sep 20 ·  Video

    Eras of AI: The Road to ChatGPT

    A competition called ImageNet kicked off our current era of AI, and led to everything from ChatGPT, to self-driving cars, to eerily good recommendation algorithms. ImageNet was a computer-nerd olympics except the winners got stupidly high-paying tech jobs instead of gold medals.    In this episode: some modern computer science history that'll teach you about how AI (machine learning and neural nets) actually works! We shall "get under the hood" as they say.    Connectionism > Symbolism 4 Lyfe    READ MORE   Image Net Competition: https://medium.com/@igquinteroch/understanding-alexnet-the-2012-breakthrough-that-redefined-ai-d0e267e2470a   SUBSCRIBE   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed   SOURCES   Citations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WHPbuyMx9LM2ltB5SUM-yGeCma9ASU3x_BCve2664dg/edit?usp=sharing Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter. I'm looking for a story editor, if you're interested, reach out.

    Eras of AI: The Road to ChatGPT

  7. Sep 13 ·  Video

    An Insane Take on the AI Bubble

    My mom sent me an opinion article from The New York Times titled, "AI is a Bubble, and Maybe That's OK."    It's decidedly not OK and delusional takes like this are what have brought us to the precipice of an AI-induced market crash.    This video is the first of a two-part series, originally posted to Instagram in late 2025.  READ MORE   NYT Opinion Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/opinion/ai-bubble-economy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare SUBSCRIBE   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed SOURCES   Episode Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aJRxM2uUfQv0ftN1AtOkPzsKb1OwPKr5oo916egek2o/edit?usp=sharing Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter. I'm looking for a story editor, if you're interested, reach out.

    An Insane Take on the AI Bubble

  8. Aug 21 ·  Video

    Free Your Feed Trailer

    The origin story of Free Your Feed as told by creator Nikolas Harter.  SOURCES   The Tech Won't Save Us podcast that kicked off the journey: https://www.techwontsave.us/episode/277_generative_ai_is_not_inevitable_w_emily_m_bender_and_alex_hanna SUBSCRIBE   Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeYourFeed/   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeYourFeed   Substack: https://substack.com/@freeyourfeed?r=cf3hy&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page Free Your Feed fosters a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news.    Created and produced by Nikolas Harter. I'm looking for a story editor, if you're interested, reach out.

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About

Fostering a better understanding of technology, social media, and the news. Created and produced by Nikolas Harter.

Information

  • Creator
    Nikolas Harter
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Free Your Feed