What's the most powerful technology on earth? It isn't AI. This month's Gather Signal makes the case for storytelling, and asks why agentic shopping misses the mark. Host Jason Oberholtzer sits down with Josh Schneider (in his first appearance), Kirsten Chen and Christophe Jammet for three signals and a synthesis: Josh: storytelling outranks fire and the wheel, and GenAI's "very competent slop" doesn't change that Kirsten: agentic commerce bets billions on the idea that people don't like to shop. They do. CJ: chaos is the part of being human AI can't fake, so give AI the drudgery and keep people on the work that matters Along the way: cave paintings, humanity's radio-wave bubble, a custom guitar left unopened, WALL-E, and a night camped outside Best Buy for the Wii.
Panel: Josh Schneider, Kirsten Chen, Christophe Jammet. Hosted by Jason Oberholtzer.
Further reading: Kirsten Chen's Gather Dispatch piece, "Intellectual sovereignty in the era of AI enshittification" (the fragrance story at 17:55): https://gather.co/dispatch/intellectu...