Gen Z Diplomat Podcast

About Gen Z Diplomat Podcast

The Ayush Prakash Podcast is the public channel of the Center for Innovating the Future, a strategy innovation lab based in Toronto. Across 150+ episodes since 2021, I've sat down with neuroscientists, philosophers, astrophysicists, psychologists and builders to work out what these technologies are actually doing to us, and which claims are being made without evidence. innovatingfuture.com

Publisher

Ayush Prakash

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

26 Oct 2021

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

171 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Tristan Glatard: Can AI Help With Mental Health?

   AI could expand access to mental-health support, but a convincing conversation doesn’t establish that a chatbot is safe. Tristan Glatard explains why mental-health AI needs evidence, evaluation and human supervision, and how its potential extends from conversational tools to predicting treatment responses and identifying crises. Tristan is Scientific Director of the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. His background is in computer science. In this conversation, he examines where AI could help patients, where general-purpose chatbots need limits, and why privacy, patient perspectives and clinical oversight matter. In this conversation: What mental health means across the lifespan How AI could help match patients with treatments Why mental-health AI includes wearables and predictive tools The difference between healthcare chatbots, wellbeing apps and general-purpose AI The case for support when a human therapist isn’t available Whether people disclose more to chatbots, and what remains uncertain Why wellbeing tools need evaluation How hospital researchers balance opportunity, safety and health equity Why crisis detection and data privacy matter How patients should shape the use of AI in their care Who evaluates and supervises AI support conversations A surprising finding from Tristan’s ongoing image-analysis research What discovery, collaboration and good work mean to him Chapters: 00:00 AI and Mental Health at CAMH 01:29 What Do We Mean by Mental Health? 03:41 How Technology Can Help Personalize Treatment 05:48 AI Beyond Chatbots: Wearables and Prediction 08:58 The Case for an AI Companion 13:15 Do People Open Up More to Chatbots? 15:03 Where AI Mental-Health Support Breaks Down 16:56 Balancing Opportunity, Safety and Health Equity 20:00 Crisis Detection and Data Privacy 22:12 The AI Healthcare Conversation We Need 26:28 Who Supervises AI Support? 30:19 A Surprising Research Discovery 33:03 What Keeps a Researcher Going 35:40 What Gives Tristan Hope 37:30 Where to Follow Tristan’s Work Connect with Tristan: Website: https://www.camh.ca/en/science-and-research/science-and-research-staff-directory/tristanglatard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanglatard/ Podcast: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ILhje5HSua1FEOlTyFAhG Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3qXL37W Connect: Website: https://ayushprakash.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakash-ayush/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/ayushprakashofficial Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981182135

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Anna Jahn: Why Canada Can’t Build AI Sovereignty Alone

   A Canadian frontier model alone won’t give Canada control over its AI future. Anna Jahn explains why AI sovereignty also depends on data, energy, compute, talent, and governance, and why countries may need to combine their strengths to reduce dependence on the biggest AI powers. Anna is Executive Director of the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University. She previously led public policy and inclusion work at Mila. In this conversation, she examines who holds power over AI now, why Canadian research strength hasn’t produced the same economic strength, and what a credible Canadian approach could look like. In this conversation: Why researchers, the public, government, and industry talk past one another Whether democratic policymaking needs to match the pace of AI Why voluntary company safeguards aren’t enough The tension between promoting AI adoption and protecting the public Why a domestic frontier model is only one part of AI sovereignty How Canada could work with other middle powers Why Canadian AI talent often builds companies elsewhere What Anna wants to hear from Mark Carney about AI Montreal’s opportunity to offer a different vision for AI What it would take for Canadians to trust and benefit from the technology Chapters: 00:00 Who Gets a Say in AI Policy? 02:19 Can Governments Keep Up With AI? 05:17 Who Is Responsible for AI Safety? 08:03 AI Adoption vs. Public Protection 11:15 Why One Model Won’t Deliver AI Sovereignty 14:07 Why Canada Struggles to Commercialize AI Research 16:49 What a Middle-Power AI Alliance Could Look Like 21:55 What Canada Needs to Do First 24:44 Is Montreal Still a Leading AI Hub? 27:38 Should Montreal Try to Become Another Silicon Valley? 29:34 What AI Success Would Look Like for Canadians 32:28 What Gives Anna Hope 33:32 Where to Find Anna’s Work Connect with Anna: Website: https://mediatechdemocracy.com/en/team/anna-jahn/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-jahn-8a318241/ Podcast: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ILhje5HSua1FEOlTyFAhG Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3qXL37W Connect: Website: https://ayushprakash.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakash-ayush/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/ayushprakashofficial Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981182135

3. 

   28 Aug 2026

   Nick Nadeau: The AI You’re Talking To Is a Bootleg of Human Expertise

   Nicholas Nadeau argues that the AI most people use is a bootleg of human expertise: a confident statistical average built from scraped public data, without the judgment, consent, or unpublished knowledge that makes an expert worth consulting. Nicholas is the CTO and Co-Founder of Onix. He holds a PhD in human-robot interaction and previously served as CTO of humanoid-robotics company 1X and data company SmartOne.ai. Onix is building private AI systems grounded in the approved work and judgment of individual experts. In this conversation: ■ Whose answer you receive when you ask AI a question ■ Why frontier models blend textbooks, social media, and internet noise ■ What gets lost when AI attempts to imitate a human expert ■ Why an expert's most important knowledge may never have been published ■ How privacy and on-device AI can improve personal usefulness ■ Whether expert AI will replace professionals or increase their capacity ■ What young founders should understand about risk, stamina, and relationships ■ Why smart investors must contribute more than capital ■ How personal AI could eventually connect with robotics ■ The question Nicholas asks himself every day: should Onix exist? CHAPTERS 00:00 Whose Answer Is AI Giving You? 04:02 Transactional AI vs. Wicked Problems 06:03 What AI Misses About Expert Judgment 11:51 Dark Data and the Knowledge Experts Never Publish 17:28 How Onix Began 22:42 Advice for Young Founders 28:45 Smart Money and Choosing Investors 32:45 Onix Beyond Health: Robots and Human Expertise 36:59 Will Expert AI Replace Humans? 41:20 Would Nicholas Let His Children Use AI? 46:45 The Question That Keeps Him Up at Night 48:49 What Gives Him Hope 50:45 Where to Find Nicholas and Onix CONNECT WITH NICHOLAS Website: https://nicholasnadeau.com Onix: https://onix.life LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ILhje5HSua1FEOlTyFAhG Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3qXL37W CONNECT WITH AYUSH Website: https://ayushprakash.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakash-ayush/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/ayushprakashofficial AI FOR GEN Z https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981182135

Who has been a guest on Gen Z Diplomat Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Amy Love
• G Scott Graham
• Dr Ran Anbar
• Joshua Shea
• Tiffany Zehara

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

4.6 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

81

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

60

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Books guests

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

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