We have benchmarks for model performance, metrics for productivity, and KPIs for everything the economy can quantify. But the impact of AI on how we think, who we become, and what we lose in the process? Nobody's measuring that — because nobody knows how.

Helen and Dave Edwards have spent a decade studying what AI does TO humans, not just what it can do for us. In this episode, they challenge the binary of AI hype vs. AI fear and lay out a framework for something far more important: cognitive sovereignty — our ability to remain the authors of our own thinking in an era of automated cognition.

In this episode of the Product Impact Podcast:

Why the AI industry's business model is capital replacing labor — and why that's a path to economic collapse, not growth
The concept of cognitive sovereignty and why preserving your ability to think independently is the real competitive advantage
Research showing AI is increasing scientific citations but decreasing exploration — pulling everyone toward the median
Why the one-person billion-dollar company is a fantasy that breaks down the moment you do the math
The products getting it right: Bass (trust-first healthcare AI), Latimer (data sources that don't exist anywhere else), and creative tools treating AI as collaborator, not replacement

"If AI can replace the humans in your business, does your business have any value at all?" — Dave Edwards

"There is no point having this technology if it makes us dumber, if it makes us less kind, if it makes us more lonely, if it makes us less able to show up for others." — Helen Edwards

Helen and Dave Edwards are researchers and founders of the Artificiality Institute, where they lead a transdisciplinary community of scientists, designers, philosophers, and artists exploring what it means to be human in the age of AI. They are currently publishing Stay Human — a chapter-by-chapter book on how AI changes our thinking, identity, and relationships.

Guest resources:

Artificiality Institute — https://artificiality-institute.org
Stay Human (free, published weekly) — https://journal.artificiality-institute.org
LinkedIn: Helen Edwards (https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenedwards/) | Dave Edwards (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveedwards/)

Artificiality Summit 2026 — Oct 22-24, Bend, Oregon. A human gathering to figure out what it means to be human. Learn more at artificiality-institute.org

productimpactpod.com

Thank you for listening to the Product Impact Podcast (formerly Design of AI) — Prove impact. Improve impact. Scale impact.

Hosted by:

Arpy Dragffy Guerrero — https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/
Brittany Hobbs — https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyhobbs/

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This episode was brought to you by: PH1 (https://ph1.ca) — an AI strategy consultancy specialized in improving the measurable success of AI products. AI Value Acceleration

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5. The Human Impact of AI We Need to Measure [Helen & Dave Edwards]

Product Impact Podcast | Design of AI, UX, KPIs, Future of Work