In a world were computer algorithms decide what is best for us, two groups of people will exist: those who program the algorithms and those who do what the algorithms tell them to do.

On this episode of The Private Citizen we will look at AI algorithms and what the developing dependence on them means for our future.

I am still trying to release two episodes a week. I admit I am currently struggling with this. I hope I will find a way for me to make this possible.


This podcast was recorded with a live audience on my Twitch channel. Details on the time of future recordings can usually be found on my personal website. Recordings of these streams get saved to a YouTube playlist for easy watching on demand after the fact.


Artificial Intelligence & the New Caste System

With the advent of what marketing people call “artificial intelligence” (ie. algorithms that derive information from large amounts of data) comes a reorganisation of our society into two castes: Those who program these algorithms and run the companies and agencies that use them (technocrats, bureaucrats and the financial elite) and those who do what the algorithms tell them to do (consumers, politicians, activists, the media and everyone else).

And of course, there will be a group of people who refuses to adhere to this system who will rebel and fight against it – hopefully the listeners of this podcast will be amongst the first in this important group.

Producer Feedback

Butterbeans told me on Strava, of all places:

Not exactly the right forum for this, but I thought episode 130 was great, Fab!

Over on the forum, Petit-Michel wrote a nice post about his approach to understanding climate science that I want to highlight here. I think it is worthwhile and we should all collaboratively work on this. I will endeavour to create a separate post for this and keep the producers of the show updated on its progress.

If you have any thoughts on the things discussed in this or previous episodes, please join our forum and compare notes with other producers. You can also contact me in several other, more private ways.

If you are writing in from Russia, you might want to use my whistleblower contact form.

Toss a Coin to Your Podcaster

I am a freelance journalist and writer, volunteering my free time because I love digging into stories and because I love podcasting. If you want to help keep The Private Citizen on the air, consider becoming one of my Patreon supporters.

You can also support the show by sending money to via PayPal, if you prefer.

This is entirely optional. This show operates under the value-for-value model, meaning I want you to give back only what you feel this show is worth to you. If that comes down to nothing, that’s OK with me. But if you help out, it’s more likely that I’ll be able to keep doing this indefinitely.

Thanks and Credits

I’d like to credit everyone who’s helped with any aspect of this production and thus became a part of the show. I am thankful to the following people, who have supported this episode through Patreon and PayPal and thus keep this show on the air:

Sir Galteran, Rhodane the Insane, Steve Hoos, Butterbeans, Michael Small, 1i11g, Jonathan M. Hethey, Michael Mullan-Jensen, Jaroslav Lichtblau, Dave, Sandman616, Jackie Plage, ikn, Bennett Piater, Rizele, Vlad, avis, Joe Poser, Dirk Dede, IndieGameiacs, Fadi Mansour, Kai Siers, David Potter, Cam, Mika, MrAmish, Robert Forster, Captain Egghead, krunkle, RJ Tracey, Rick Bragg, RikyM, astralc, Barry Williams, Jonathan, Superuser, D and Florian Pigorsch.

Many thanks to my Twitch subscribers as well! I am also thankful to Bytemark, who are providing the hosting for this episode’s audio file.

Podcast Music

The show’s theme song is Acoustic Routes by Raúl Cabezalí. It is licensed via Jamendo Music. Other music and some sound effects are licensed via Epidemic Sound. This episode’s ending song is Why Are We Waiting by Sleepaway Camp.