42courses Podcast

Is AI making us smarter or lazier? Chris Rawlinson sits down with his old friend Dave Duarte, who spends his days teaching companies how to actually use AI, to compare notes on what's changed in the last couple of months (roughly two decades in AI years).In this episode:- The daily AI habit that makes Chris more curious- Why talking an idea through beats typing it- Why students' homework marks are rising while their exam marks crash- The hackathon rules that get teams making things instead of talking about them- The Rolls-Royce idea every agency billing by the hour should hearFind Dave: https://www.daveduarte.net/Get 3 months of Wispr Flow Pro free: https://wisprflow.ai/roryGet Weekday Wisdom every Tuesday: https://eepurl.com/dfXIM9AI for Marketers course: https://www.42courses.com/courses/ai-essentialsAll 42courses: https://www.42courses.com

Trust is the thing every organisation says it wants and almost nobody can describe.Dan Bennett runs Ogilvy's behavioural science practice globally and curates Nudgestock, the world's biggest behavioural science festival. This year's theme is Trust Issues, so Chris got him on to take it apart: why trust breaks at an identifiable moment rather than quietly drifting away, what aviation worked out about trusting strangers that the rest of us haven't, why conspiracy theories are a trust story, and whether AI has cleverly rebranded lying as "hallucination".Nudgestock 2026 is on Thursday 17 September at The Fireworks Factory in Woolwich, London. Tickets and the free livestream are at nudgestock.com.Ten of the best talks from past festivals are free at 42courses.com/courses/nudgestock

AI is moving faster than anyone can keep up with, and most people are quietly knackered just trying. In this episode we sit down with old friend and fellow educator Dave Duarte to ask the awkward question: what's actually worth learning when every shiny new tool has the shelf life of a banana? Expect philosophy, paperclip machines, surprisingly creepy smart homes, and a genuinely useful framework for staying authentically human while everything else gets automated.Dave Duarte42courses.com

In this episode, Chris and Conor McCarthy explore the move from standard Chatbots to Agentic AI.If you are trying to figure out how to move beyond basic prompts and build systems that actually do the work for you, this conversation is for you. Conor breaks down the confusion between simple workflows and true AI agents, sharing practical examples of how to automate everything from email triage to complex coding tasks.In this episode, we cover:The 3 Levels of AI Interaction: From basic LLMs to "If/Then" workflows, and finally, true Agentic AI.The "Decision" Factor: How to trust AI to make decisions without you watching over its shoulder.Real-World Wins: How to use agents to fix your inbox and optimise marketing ads automatically.The Tech Stack: A look at "Model Context Protocols" (MCPs) and tools like Lindy.ai and Claude Code.Enjoy the show, and to learn more about AI and other subjects that will help you thrive in tomorrow's work, head to 42courses.com

Why does a vacuum cleaner need a transparent case? Why do Pringles need to crunch loudly to taste fresh? And why are we willing to pay a locksmith more if they take longer to open the door?In this episode, we sit down with the legendary Richard Shotton to discuss his brand new book, Hacking the Human Mind. Unlike his previous bestsellers, Richard flips the script this time, analysing 17 of the world’s most successful brands to reverse-engineer the behavioural science behind their dominance.We discuss:- The "Labour Illusion": Why Dyson proudly advertises their 5,127 failures.- The Curse of Knowledge: Why you are probably communicating poorly with your customers.- Sensory Marketing: How the weight of cutlery changes the taste of food.- The AI Trap: New research on why labelling art as "AI-generated" crashes purchase intent by 61%.Whether you are a marketer, an entrepreneur, or just fascinated by human psychology, this is a masterclass in why we buy what we buy.