Deprecated Human

About Deprecated Human

The Deprecated Human Podcast is a weekly show exploring the growing gap between what the AI industry promises and what people actually experience. Examining how narratives about technological capability are reshaping work, value, and human potential. Each week, the show releases episodes centered on a central theme. Hosted by Jess Lowry, a design strategist with over two decades of experience applying human-centered design across organizations, the podcast brings in diverse voices to explore each topic from multiple perspectives.

Publisher

Jess Lowry

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 May 2026

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

21 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Build Differently: A Conversation with Anna Ackermann and Nithima Ducrocq

   What happens when valuable work loses institutional funding—but the people who need it haven't disappeared? After working together at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Anna Ackermann and Nithima Ducrocq saw successful digital-development programs disrupted by funding cuts despite continued demand. Rather than treating the work as finished, they used what they learned to create She Shapes Digital, an initiative that helps women turn ideas about responsible technology into tangible projects. Their conversation explores: Why confidence often develops through action rather than preparation How a small project can create experience, relationships, and career optionality Why another credential may not provide the feedback that real-world experimentation can How losing a prestigious title or employer can disrupt professional identity Why entrepreneurship does not have to mean venture capital, enormous financial risk or working 60 hours a week How community makes it safer to begin before an idea feels perfect They also examine responsible technology: the recognition that technology is not neutral and that every product creates consequences beyond its intended function. Many technology workers are asked to build within goals and business models they did not choose. An independent project can provide an opportunity to reconsider which problems deserve attention, who should participate in defining them, and what success should mean. Podcast Guests: Nithima Ducrocq is an impact tech founder and consultant, and co-founder of She Shapes Digital. She has spent over 10 years working across startups, NGOs and global organisations including UNDP, WFP and MSF. She has founded two ventures, including a women's health platform that reached 100,000+ users, and has worked as a digital innovation consultant across Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Through She Shapes Digital, she helps women turn their ideas for a better tech future into real projects. Anna Ackermann has a background in digital rights and advocacy. Soon, she wanted to develop solutions for the problems she studied and entered the innovation ecosystem at UnternehmerTUM, Europe's leading start-up hub, where she worked on social entrepreneurship and early-stage venture building. At the United Nations she then guided 30+ teams and 1000+ individuals through innovation programmes and women-focused workshops, before founding She Shapes Digital. Upcoming Creator Studio:  https://maven.com/she-shapes-digital/from-idea-to-impact-studio (https://maven.com/she-shapes-digital/from-idea-to-impact-studio) Follow She Shapes Digital on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-shapes-digital/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-shapes-digital/) She Shapes Digital Website:  https://www.sheshapesdigital.com/ (https://www.sheshapesdigital.com/) Not sure if the cohort is for you? Check out this 1-hour free Idea Clinic: https://maven.com/she-shapes-digital/o/3a7c5a (https://maven.com/she-shapes-digital/o/3a7c5a) Podcast Host: Jess Lowry Jessica Lowry is the founder and Sociotechnical Systems Designer at ⁠⁠ENID Studio⁠⁠ (https://enid.studio/), a collective of practitioners who help changing businesses redesign how people, work, and technology fit together. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in research, design, and strategy, she uses participatory methods to improve services, operations, and governance while helping organizations adopt AI responsibly. Connect with Jess: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jess Lowry LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeslowry/) Help Continue the Investigation Become a member at ⁠⁠⁠⁠DeprecatedHumanPodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ (http://deprecatedhumanpodcast.com/) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Deprecated Human Newsletter on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/deprecated-human-podcast-7484623446212235265) Become a Sponsor Partnership can go beyond conventional advertising. Sponsors can support independent research, public podcast episodes, community programming, exclusive member experiences, useful resources, and offers that provide tangible value to members. Learn more: ⁠https://deprecatedhuman.life⁠ (https://deprecatedhuman.life/) Share Your Story If you have experienced prolonged unemployment, involuntary retirement, or the disappearance of the work you once did, message me if you are interested in joining me as a guest. ⁠Share your story⁠ (https://deprecatedhumanstory.zite.so/)

2. 

   28 Sept 2026

   Learning Forward: A Conversation with Sam Barrow

   What happens when technology changes faster than people and organizations can absorb it? In this episode, Jess speaks with educator, facilitator, and operations expert Sam Barrow about what organizations misunderstand when they introduce new technology. Sam explains why telling employees to “experiment with AI” is not a strategy. Without shared goals, practical training, reliable sources, and clear guardrails, new tools can produce duplicated work, inconsistent information, and more capable individual contributors who are less effective as a team. Their conversation also challenges the idea that a job is simply a collection of tasks waiting to be automated. Human work includes judgment, empathy, cultural understanding, risk assessment, and the ability to recognize what another person needs—even when they cannot articulate it themselves. After Sam’s department was eliminated in 2023, she applied for hundreds of jobs while teaching, consulting, and working with individual clients. She is now building an income stream around helping people solve practical problems: learning workplace software, digitizing business processes, developing operating procedures, and gaining confidence with unfamiliar technology. Her experience offers job seekers an important alternative to chasing every new tool or waiting for an employer to recognize their value. Sometimes the better question is not, “Which job can I apply for?” but, “Who has a problem I already know how to help solve?” This episode explores why tools will keep changing—but the people who help others learn, adapt, and apply them well will remain essential. Podcast Guest: Sam Barrow Sam Barrow is an educator and operations business expert with over 20 years of experience delivering individualized training for adults from all walks of life. She works with nonprofits and small businesses to find the right mix of process, people, and technology to meet the organization's needs. Her work helps individuals and organizations make complicated systems easier to understand, learn, and use. Interested in learning with Sam? Sam is offering listeners a 10% discount on their first three individual skills training sessions. Booking Link: https://calendly.com/sbarrowroyer/skills-training (https://calendly.com/sbarrowroyer/skills-training) Promo Code: HUMANFIRST Podcast Host: Jess Lowry Jessica Lowry is the founder and Sociotechnical Systems Designer at ⁠⁠ENID Studio⁠⁠ (https://enid.studio/), a collective of practitioners who help changing businesses redesign how people, work, and technology fit together. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in research, design, and strategy, she uses participatory methods to improve services, operations, and governance while helping organizations adopt AI responsibly. Austin Women in Technology (AWT) mentor. Jess is also a founding member of ⁠⁠Referral Reef⁠⁠ (https://referralreef.com/), a community of consultants who trade warm referrals, provide support, and get paid to do it. Connect with Jess: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jess Lowry LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeslowry/) Help Continue the Investigation Become a member at ⁠⁠⁠⁠DeprecatedHumanPodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ (http://deprecatedhumanpodcast.com/) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Deprecated Human Newsletter on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/deprecated-human-podcast-7484623446212235265) Each edition connects the personal stories shared on the podcast with the larger forces changing how we work. This isn’t another hustle-culture newsletter about optimizing yourself for a broken system. Become a Sponsor Partnership can go beyond conventional advertising. Sponsors can support independent research, public podcast episodes, community programming, exclusive member experiences, useful resources, and offers that provide tangible value to members. Learn more: ⁠https://deprecatedhuman.life⁠ (https://deprecatedhuman.life/) Share Your Story If you have experienced prolonged unemployment, involuntary retirement, or the disappearance of the work you once did, message me if you are interested in joining me as a guest. ⁠Share your story⁠ (https://deprecatedhumanstory.zite.so/)

3. 

   21 Sept 2026

   Thinking Slow: A Conversation with Nic Schroeder

   What happens when decades of experience, continuous learning, and more than 900 job applications produce only 13 callbacks? In this episode of Deprecated Human, Jess speaks with multidisciplinary designer, developer, and educator Nic Schroeder about how dramatically the path to paid work has changed, and why slowing down our thinking is a human superpower. Earlier in Nic’s career, opportunities frequently emerged through relationships. He could speak with someone about a problem, demonstrate what he understood, and help shape a role around the value he could provide. Their conversation examines why a low response rate is no longer meaningful evidence of someone’s ability or employability. They discuss the limitations of automated hiring, the pressure facing new graduates and international students, and why securing income may require looking beyond traditional employment. Nic’s career began in fine art before moving through graphic design, web development, user experience, automotive, and digital marketing. Today, he works independently with small businesses and mentors graduate students preparing to enter an unstable labor market. Jess and Nic also explore what design contributes beyond visual execution: understanding behavior, interpreting complexity, and asking whether technology should be created—not merely whether it can be. Drawing on Daniel Kahneman’s distinction between fast and slow thinking, they consider how AI accelerates pattern recognition while increasing the importance of human judgment, context and meaning-making. The episode offers a practical invitation to job seekers: look beneath your previous title, identify the problems people trust you to solve, and consider more than one route to turn those capabilities into income. A job is one way to be paid for your experience. It is not the only one. Podcast Guest: Nic Schroeder Nic Schroeder is a multidisciplinary designer, web developer, and independent contractor with approximately 20 years of experience across digital design, user experience, automotive, and marketing. His career has taken him from fine art and early web technologies to digital commerce, design strategy, and client work for small businesses. Nic also mentors graduate students at the Savannah College of Art and Design, helping emerging designers connect their research, interests, and capabilities to meaningful work. Connect with Nic: ⁠Nic Schroeder on LinkedIn⁠  ⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/njschro/) Check out Nic’s work: Design Portfolio: https://njschro.github.io (https://njschro.github.io) Podcast Host: Jess Lowry Jessica Lowry is the Founder and Socio-technical Systems Designer at ⁠⁠ENID Studio⁠⁠ (https://enid.studio/), a collective of practitioners that enable organizations to redesign work, services, and governance for an AI-enabled future through participatory design and human-centered digital transformation. Austin Women in Technology (AWT) mentor. Jess is also a founding member of Referral Reef (https://referralreef.com/), a community of consultants who trade warm referrals, provide support, and get paid to do it. Connect with Jess: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Jess Lowry LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeslowry/) Continue the Investigation Become a member at ⁠⁠DeprecatedHumanPodcast.com⁠⁠ (http://deprecatedhumanpodcast.com/) Deprecated Human investigates how layoffs, AI, hiring technology, and changing workplace systems are redefining expertise, security, and human value. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Deprecated Human Newsletter on LinkedIn⁠⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/deprecated-human-podcast-7484623446212235265) Each edition connects the personal stories shared on the podcast with the larger forces changing how we work. This isn’t another hustle-culture newsletter about optimizing yourself for a broken system. Become a Sponsor Partnership can go beyond conventional advertising. Sponsors can support independent research, public podcast episodes, community programming, exclusive member experiences, useful resources, and offers that provide tangible value to members. (https://deprecatedhuman.life/partners)

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Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.