Artificial intelligence has inserted itself into our lives, making important decisions for us every day. Often, we barely notice. But as Joe Allen writes in his new book, Dark Aeon: Transhumanism and the War Against Humanity, the transhumanism merger of humankind with the machine is already here - with billions of people connected everyday using smartphones. The future, however, could be darker than anything we've imagined. Allen joined guest host Richard Syrett (Twitter) to speculate that soon we’ll be hardwiring our brains to artificial intelligence systems. He said those who choose to reject this trend could face hardships akin to the Biblical tribulation; particularly economic hardships. Despite this, however, he believes that isolated areas of the world with pockets of people who reject this emerging trend could become new and flourishing centers of human cultural awakening.

Allen also discussed the idea that AI could accidentally or intentionally lead to the creation of something akin to "disembodied spirits" of non-human origin, as well as the intentional creation of "mind clones" as a precursor to "digital immortality" and uploading your digital "soul" to the cloud. Perhaps more worrying, because it's already in motion, is the emerging "algocracy" as he called it, or a move toward rule by algorithms. This included the future of algorithm based warfare and the use of autonomous systems in military operations, as well as handing off potentially hazardous activities like operating an automobile to the computers in self-driving cars.

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In the second half Syrett took calls from listeners on their continuing concerns about the future of AI as well as the topic of mysterious strangers; including individuals who found healing and comfort in the words shared by these unexpected contacts. Callers also discussed alternative medicine, finding "undetermined non-human" DNA when taking ancestry tests, and other topics.