Ray Boland and Marenna van Reijsen are two engaged BUas lecturers who like to chat and to challenge each other with their thoughts and readings, not only at the coffee machine. These days AI is a challenging topic. There are a lot of talks and blogs out there, which we also provide links to via our show notes. For this series of podcasts we want to explore AI from a human angle: Can we be happy with AI?
We will not give detailed answers to all our questions as sometimes raising the question is more important than the actual answer. In the end, nobody knows what the future will bring, but at least we can think and talk about future developments.
Talking with each other via a mic was easy. Getting to know the very professional studio at BUas and editing our recordings was more challenging, however. But we managed.
We will relax in the summer and decide if and how we will return to the recording studio. At least for now, it was a great experience and a productive experiment. We would like to give a big hand to all our colleagues in the BUas studio and marketing department.
So enjoy, and please feel free to send your comments to us.
Episode 2: Exploring AI’s potential for happiness in work
In this episode we dive deeper into the role of AI in work, as work accounts for a great part of our time. Can AI help us experience more happiness in our work? Will it lead to less tedious work? What do we think about AI booking agents sending marketing messages to other AI agents? Do we have and do we want to use the data? Will AI create more serendipitous moments at work?
Shownotes:
Developments within the world of AI and discussions around it change very quickly, so it is always worth trying to keep up-to-date with news and analysis in newspapers and journals. John Naughton in The Guardian, for example, often writes perceptively and critically about tech. The Financial Times is also an excellent source of news and analysis from a range of perspectives.
Books, as always, are the best place to visit for thoughtful and reflective insights. A couple of books that we referred to in the series might be of interest for further reading:
Bryan Alexander. (2020). Academia next: The futures of Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press
Salman Khan. (2024). Brave new words: How AI will revolutionize education (and why that’s a good thing). Viking
Franssen, Tim (2024) In onze Tijd, leven in het calamiteiten-tijdperk. Alfabet Uitgevers
Some specific articles we referred to may be of interest for up-to-date(ish) perspectives on specific topics:
Stephen Bush. (April 1, 2025). Anime lessons in the limits of AI. Financial Times.
Jemima Kelly. (March 23, 2025). My date used AI to psychologically profile me. Is that OK? Financial Times
Sarah O’Connor. (March 25, 2025). A white-collar world without juniors. Financial Times.
Podcasts we recommend:
AI Report (https://open.spotify.com/show/5Hpc8qDcawOEf4ulCouPau?si=cb31410208364d4a)
Lex Friedman & Amanda Askell & Amodei Dario from Anthropic (https://open.spotify.com/episode/69V7CtdbB8blcxNPXvpnmk?si=p_fx0472SnSTXMXutnUIFw)
AI-tussenuurtje (https://open.spotify.com/episode/69V7CtdbB8blcxNPXvpnmk?si=p_fx0472SnSTXMXutnUIFw%22%EF%B7%9FHYPERLINK%20%22https://open.spotify.com/show/5yGT1cDSqLtdR6qp6rx6pO?si=8d0bdfa034094cf3)
Music for each episode from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-long-ride-home (https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-long-ride-home)
License code: H2YZ7NQ9OMLRQ3NR
12 Jun 2025
Episode 1: Exploring AI’s potential for happiness
In this episode we explore the use of AI on a personal level. Can it be of help? Is sharing your personal struggles (like many of us used to do in our My Dear Diary) with an AI companion a symptom of loneliness or is something else the matter? Can AI help make us happier and experience more serendipitous moments in our lives?
Shownotes:
Developments within the world of AI and discussions around it change very quickly, so it is always worth trying to keep up-to-date with news and analysis in newspapers and journals. John Naughton in The Guardian, for example, often writes perceptively and critically about tech. The Financial Times is also an excellent source of news and analysis from a range of perspectives.
Books, as always, are the best place to visit for thoughtful and reflective insights. A couple of books that we referred to in the series might be of interest for further reading:
Bryan Alexander. (2020). Academia next: The futures of Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press
Salman Khan. (2024). Brave new words: How AI will revolutionize education (and why that’s a good thing). Viking
Franssen, Tim (2024) In onze Tijd, leven in het calamiteiten-tijdperk. Alfabet Uitgevers
Some specific articles we referred to may be of interest for up-to-date(ish) perspectives on specific topics:
Stephen Bush. (April 1, 2025). Anime lessons in the limits of AI. Financial Times.
Jemima Kelly. (March 23, 2025). My date used AI to psychologically profile me. Is that OK? Financial Times
Sarah O’Connor. (March 25, 2025). A white-collar world without juniors. Financial Times.
Podcasts we recommend:
AI Report (https://open.spotify.com/show/5Hpc8qDcawOEf4ulCouPau?si=cb31410208364d4a)
Lex Friedman & Amanda Askell & Amodei Dario from Anthropic (https://open.spotify.com/episode/69V7CtdbB8blcxNPXvpnmk?si=p_fx0472SnSTXMXutnUIFw)
AI-tussenuurtje (https://open.spotify.com/episode/69V7CtdbB8blcxNPXvpnmk?si=p_fx0472SnSTXMXutnUIFw%22%EF%B7%9FHYPERLINK%20%22https://open.spotify.com/show/5yGT1cDSqLtdR6qp6rx6pO?si=8d0bdfa034094cf3)
Music for each episode from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-long-ride-home (https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-long-ride-home)
License code: H2YZ7NQ9OMLRQ3NR
12 Jun 2025
Episode 3: Exploring AI’s potential for happiness in education
As we are both lecturers, in this episode we explore AI and happiness in the field of education. Will AI become the expert on stage? Can we accept our different roles as teachers? Is the personalized teacher the future? Can we trust EdTech and the big tech companies for now?
Shownotes:
Developments within the world of AI and discussions around it change very quickly, so it is always worth trying to keep up-to-date with news and analysis in newspapers and journals. John Naughton in The Guardian, for example, often writes perceptively and critically about tech. The Financial Times is also an excellent source of news and analysis from a range of perspectives.
Books, as always, are the best place to visit for thoughtful and reflective insights. A couple of books that we referred to in the series might be of interest for further reading:
Bryan Alexander. (2020). Academia next: The futures of Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press
Salman Khan. (2024). Brave new words: How AI will revolutionize education (and why that’s a good thing). Viking
Franssen, Tim (2024) In onze Tijd, leven in het calamiteiten-tijdperk. Alfabet Uitgevers
Some specific articles we referred to may be of interest for up-to-date(ish) perspectives on specific topics:
Stephen Bush. (April 1, 2025). Anime lessons in the limits of AI. Financial Times.
Jemima Kelly. (March 23, 2025). My date used AI to psychologically profile me. Is that OK? Financial Times
Sarah O’Connor. (March 25, 2025). A white-collar world without juniors. Financial Times.
Podcasts we recommend:
AI Report (https://open.spotify.com/show/5Hpc8qDcawOEf4ulCouPau?si=cb31410208364d4a)
Lex Friedman & Amanda Askell & Amodei Dario from Anthropic (https://open.spotify.com/episode/69V7CtdbB8blcxNPXvpnmk?si=p_fx0472SnSTXMXutnUIFw)
AI-tussenuurtje (https://open.spotify.com/episode/69V7CtdbB8blcxNPXvpnmk?si=p_fx0472SnSTXMXutnUIFw%22%EF%B7%9FHYPERLINK%20%22https://open.spotify.com/show/5yGT1cDSqLtdR6qp6rx6pO?si=8d0bdfa034094cf3)
Music for each episode from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-long-ride-home (https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-long-ride-home)
License code: H2YZ7NQ9OMLRQ3NR
Podcast Authority Score: 6 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
13
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
Contact Edge to Knowledge
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Edge to Knowledge?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
