Practice Ground

Nifemi Aluko
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Practice Ground explores how we find meaning as automation reshapes work, creativity, and daily life. Host Nifemi interviews artists, engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and builders about the practices they use to stay grounded in a world that moves faster than we can process. These conversations are shaping a book on meaning in the automation era, coming in 2025. New episodes every two weeks.

Episodes

  1. 5h ago

    Sanmi Koyejo: Stanford Professor '50% of AI Is Data — 10% Is the Algorithm We Actually Teach' | Ep 9

    Sanmi Koyejo is an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford University, where he leads the Stanford Trustworthy AI Research group. He's also the founder and chief AI officer at Virtue AI, and is writing a book on machine learning from human preferences. He grew up in Lagos, Nigeria — and if you've been following Practice Ground, you may recognize International School of Lagos as the same school I attended. We also trained at the same boxing gym in Austin for years, without fully realizing how far our paths would go. In this conversation, we explore what trustworthy AI actually means technically, why measurement systems built for academic use are failing at the societal level, and what role serendipity really plays in every meaningful career. We discuss: • [5:15] Why the AI field is great at making a number get bigger — and why that's now a problem • [8:30] What AI measurement was built for vs. what society is demanding from it now • [12:40] The shocking reality: 50% data/engineering, 10% algorithms we actually teach • [18:25] Why humans will always be in the loop with complex AI systems • [28:10] What trustworthy AI actually means — calibrated trust, not blind trust • [32:50] Fairness, robustness, privacy, security: the four directions of trustworthy AI • [42:15] Exploration vs. exploitation in research vs. business • [48:30] Serendipity, fire alarms, and the career moments you can't predict • [54:40] Why you're probably better off not doing a PhD — unless you love exploration • [58:20] Daily practice in utopia: a researcher freed to explore and think broadly Sanmi's candor is rare: he'll tell PhD students to their faces that they might be better off not doing a PhD. He'll admit that data and engineering dwarf the algorithms he loves. And he'll acknowledge that the measurement systems he's built most of his career on weren't designed for the decisions society is now trying to make with them. That kind of intellectual honesty is exactly what this era needs. This is episode 8 of Practice Ground — exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026.

  2. Aug 6

    Yemi Amu: 'Tell the pH by Smelling the Water' — A Brooklyn Farmer On Human Instinct vs. AI | Ep. 8

    Yemi Amu is the founder and director of Oko Farms — New York City's first and only public accessible outdoor aquaponics farm, which she established in Brooklyn in 2013. She's an aquaponics expert, educator, and cultural steward who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, came to New York for undergrad (supposed to do law school and go home), and found her calling not in law, music publishing, or sci-fi writing, but in the soil. Her farm grows Nigerian vegetables, fiber crops, indigo, and medicine plants — not just as food, but as living acts of cultural reclamation and ancestral practice. In this conversation, we explore what it means to create the world you want to live in, why Yemi's farming is inseparable from her Yoruba heritage, and what happens when human instinct and embodied knowledge meet a world increasingly in love with automation. We discuss: • [3:45] Why caring for the environment is a spiritual practice, not an ideology • [8:30] The winding path from Lagos to law school to vegan baking to aquaponics • [16:20] The conflict between Nigerian immigrant expectations and finding your own meaning • [28:40] Farming as Yoruba ancestral practice and cultural reclamation • [33:15] What growing Nigerian vegetables taught her about identity and diaspora • [44:50] The eighty-year-old teacher who said: tell the pH by smelling the water • [47:30] Why technology must be farmer-led, not the other way around • [51:10] "We're being sold something as progress that I'm not sure is progress" • [57:20] Her daily practice in a utopian world: mornings of dreaming, praying, and growing for joy Yemi has a phrase she lives by: she would grow purely for the joy of growing. That's not a metaphor. It's her test for whether something is worth doing. And it's one of the simplest answers to the meaning question I've heard in this entire series. This is episode 7 of Practice Ground — exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026.

  3. Jul 23

    Tony Kipkemboi: "Stop Agentifying Everything" - What AI Builders Keep Getting Wrong | Ep 7

    In this conversation, we explore what most teams get wrong when building agentic systems, how to distinguish between problems that need agents and problems that just need a script, and what Tony's obsessive daily practice reveals about finding meaningful work. Tony Kipkemboi grew up in Kaptagat, Kenya — a small town that produces an extraordinary share of the world's greatest distance runners. He came to the US on a running scholarship, served seven years in the US Army (including frontline COVID-19 research at USAMRIID), pivoted into tech by teaching himself Python during late nights while his family slept, earned a master's from Penn, worked at Bloomberg, Booz Allen, Snowflake, and Crew AI, and is now at Guild helping close the AI talent gap. On YouTube, he's known as The How To Guy, where he teaches technical builders how to design automation and agent systems. We discuss: • [3:20] Why "agentifying everything" is the wrong approach to building automation • [6:45] Workflow first, agent second - the right order for building agentic systems • [9:10] Why AI is a magnifying glass on your data infrastructure • [22:30] From Kaptagat farm boy to NCAA runner to US Army to AI builder • [38:50] The two-door strategy for navigating career pivots • [42:20] How obsession, not ambition, is the real signal of meaningful work • [50:15] Teaching people to use AI as a thought partner, not a crutch • [58:30] Why skills and community are the anchors in any future — utopian or dystopian Tony's story is a masterclass in relentless pursuit. He didn't start with a plan - he started with a door. When it didn't work, he found another. And when he finally found the thing where his off day is when he's asleep, he went all in. This is episode 7 of Practice Ground — exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026.

  4. Jul 8

    Michael Hendrix: AI Gives You the Most Average Thing - Because It's Based on Averages | Ep. 6

    Michael Hendrix is a writer, author, designer, musician, collage artist, and educator. He spent decades at IDEO, where he pioneered the concept of design sensibilities - the idea that emotional intent, not just methodology, is what separates great design from average design. He's the co-author of "Two Beats Ahead," a book exploring what music can teach the creative process. He now lives in Iceland. In this conversation, we explore how emotional intent transfers from maker to receiver, why constraints are essential to creative freedom, what AI actually produces (and why it's almost guaranteed to be mediocre), and what principles will give humans meaning no matter what the technology does. We discuss: • [5:20] How emotional intent transfers from maker to receiver in design and music • [12:10] The difference between design methodology and design sensibility • [18:30] Why constraints are a creative strategy, not a limitation • [27:15] The thing I'm always looking for in a product: was it made with care? • [34:40] Why AI gives you the most average thing - because it's based on averages • [37:55] What lifelong creatives celebrate more than the outcome • [44:20] Fiction vs. non-fiction and long-term vs. short-term truths • [50:10] Relationships, awe, and what gives humans meaning across all eras • [56:35] His daily practice: making, teaching, telling stories about the world Michael's central idea: you can feel whether something was made with care. That care shows up in the seams, in the materials, in whether the maker understood what they were really making. It's as true for a sneaker as it is for a song. And it's the one thing AI - optimized for averages - cannot replicate. This is episode 6 of Practice Ground -exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026.

  5. Jun 24

    John Small: The Human Magic AI Can't Replicate in Good Writing | Practice Ground Ep. 5

    John Small is a writer, editor, journalist, and the host of Small Talk a Substack newsletter, podcast, and media business about Gen X culture, creativity, and living with intention. In this conversation, we explore why AI will never replicate the human magic that makes a piece of writing worth reading, what it means to finally write for yourself after three decades of writing for others, and the only reliable way to find meaning in a creative idea. We discuss:  • [4:20] Why the writers who fear AI are the ones who've never actually used it • [9:45] The fake video effect: why people tire of knowing something isn't real • [13:30] What the magic is - and why AI can never generate it • [18:20] Writing as a drug: the flow state and why it's so hard to protect • [28:10] Why your best creative work happens when you write for yourself first • [34:50] How to find meaning in an idea (hint: it's never in your head) • [42:15] Finding your voice as a writer - why it's not a moment, it's a process • [48:30] Morning pages, walking, and putting the phone away • [54:10] Why books will survive - and why reading trains your attention • [58:40] Daily practice in utopia: pure aesthetic experience, no agenda  This is episode 5 of Practice Ground - exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026.

  6. Jun 11

    Joe Reis: Finding True North in the Age of AI Abundance | Practice Ground Ep. 4

    Joe Reis is the co-author of the best-selling "Fundamentals of Data Engineering" and a polymath who refuses to be put in a box. He's a data engineer, advisor, entrepreneur, DJ, rock climber, writer, and someone who wakes up every morning to have AI agents build things while he reads. He's launching a publishing company and writing his second book, and he believes we're living through the most exciting creative moment in history. In this conversation, we explore the era of abundance for creators, what happens when the barrier to making things drops to near-zero, and what remains distinctly human when AI can match your style. We discuss: • [4:20] Why everyone's back at the starting line in the AI era • [8:45] The challenge of knowing when to stop building with AI • [15:30] His daily practice: AI agents building while he makes coffee • [28:15] Why distribution and attention are the scarcest currencies • [35:40] What's left for humans when AI can write in your style • [38:20] How experience becomes your data, and writing is just the tool • [45:10] Finding "true north" when everything keeps changing • [50:25] Why he's choosing optimism over dystopia • [53:40] His daily practice: random acts of kindness and community Joe's perspective is refreshing: the bar for quality has been raised, not lowered. AI doesn't replace human creativity - it forces us to inject more of ourselves into our work. Your experiences, the things in your head that only you have witnessed, that's your data. Everything else can be automated. This is episode 4 of Practice Ground-exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026. SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: New episodes every two weeks. GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THE BOOK: https://naporepublic.substack.com/

  7. May 28

    Jason Mayden: I'm Creating for Centuries, Not Seasons | Practice Ground Ep 3

    Jason Mayden is an industrial artist and designer who's spent his career creating products as "future ancient artifacts" - objects meant to be studied by future civilizations.  He works with Nike and world-class athletes, but his real work is cultural architecture: documenting brilliance, reclaiming heritage, and ensuring his people's contributions can't be erased from history. In this conversation, we explore why he creates for centuries instead of seasons, how AI amplifies rather than replaces human intuition, and why love remains the only technology that truly matters. We discuss:  • [3:45] Why fear of embarrassment kills more creativity than failure ever will  • [18:20] Creating products as "future ancient artifacts" worthy of being remembered  • [12:35] How Black people adorn themselves as an ancestral act of showing regality • [32:15] Using AI as a prototyping tool to amplify intuition, not replace it  • [25:40] Why Nipsey Hussle's philosophy shaped his approach to staying true  • [38:50] The daily gratitude practice that keeps him grounded  • [42:10] Why love and human connection will outlast any technology  Jason's work isn't about being relevant right now—it's about being remembered forever. He's bridging past and future, creating with conviction, and proving that the most important technology we'll ever have is our ability to feel, give, and receive love. This is episode 3 of Practice Ground - exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026. FOLLOW JASON MAYDEN: • https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmayden/ https://www.instagram.com/jasonmayden/ SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: New episodes weekly GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THE BOOK: https://naporepublic.substack.com/

  8. May 14

    Juergen Hahn: Can Algorithms Do Critical Thinking? (And How AI Changes Education)

    Juergen Hahn has spent decades debugging complex systems - from chemical plants to the human body. He's published 128+ papers, mentored 40+ graduate students, and pioneered data science approaches for autism diagnosis. He's also my former professor from Texas A&M. In this conversation, we explore whether algorithms can ever do critical thinking, what happens to education when GenAI can answer everything, and why asking the right questions might be the only skill that matters in the automation age. We discuss: Why AI models are "just interpolating data" [15:30]What makes critical thinking impossible for machines [22:45]The Challenge of Autism Research and Impact-Driven Work [30:13]Reflection and Adaptation in Research and Entrepreneurship [36:29]How education must change when students have instant answers [38:20]The Role of Gen AI in Learning and Problem Solving [44:45]Why leaving room for doubt is a strength, not weakness [51:10]The one skill Juergen believes won't be automated [55:30] Nearly 20 years after he taught me how to think about complex systems, Juergen's still asking better questions than most people have answers. This is episode 2 of Practice Ground - exploring how we find meaning as we go deeper into the automation era. These conversations are shaping a book coming in 2026. SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: New episodes every two weeks. GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THE BOOK: https://naporepublic.substack.com/

  9. Apr 29

    Sara Baumann: Are We Losing Our Senses in the Automation Era?

    Sara Baumann left a successful career in occupational therapy to become a full-time artist (and she's never looked back). In this conversation, we explore why passion beats monotony, how we're literally losing our senses in a digital world, and what makes human creativity irreplaceable as AI gets better at everything. We discuss sensory deprivation as a creative practice, why she'll never be "the last one on the ship" with new technology, and what it means to find meaning through work you're actually passionate about.

  • 9 Episodes

About

Practice Ground explores how we find meaning as automation reshapes work, creativity, and daily life. Host Nifemi interviews artists, engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and builders about the practices they use to stay grounded in a world that moves faster than we can process. These conversations are shaping a book on meaning in the automation era, coming in 2025. New episodes every two weeks.

Information

  • Creator
    Nifemi Aluko
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Nifemi Aluko
  • Show Website
    Practice Ground