Niteshift

Mon, Jan 5, 2026 22:00 PM

Info

Hosts: Mike Sargent

Topics:

Language & the Future — How language shapes imagination, reality, and what feels inevitable -
Word of the Year — How words are nominated, debated, and voted on as cultural snapshots -
Luddites Revisited — Why the original Luddites were anti - exploitation, not anti
AI & Labor — How technology has historically been used to deskill and control workers -
Large Language Models — What AI can and cannot do, and why it lacks true semantic understanding -
Stochastic Parrots — How AI systems reproduce bias embedded in historical data -
Critical Thinking — The danger of outsourcing thought to machines -
Language, Power & Capitalism — How corporate interests shape meaning and knowledge access -

Synopsis:

THEME:

Life Is Like Science Fiction:

Language, AI, and the Future of Thinking

In this episode of Niteshift, Mike is joined by linguist Kelly Wright for a wide-ranging conversation about language, technology, and the future of human thought. Using the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year as a starting point, the discussion moves into how language evolves, how AI reshapes meaning, and why historical misunderstandings—like the legacy of the Luddites—matter more than ever in the age of artificial intelligence. Together, they examine whether AI is being positioned as a tool or an authority, how bias and power shape language models, and what happens when technology becomes the interface through which we think.

Guests:

Kelly Wright — Linguist and data processor for the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year selection -

Playlist:

Niteshift Blues -
Immensity - Aurtigards
The Dance - The Crimson Wing_ Mystery Of The Flamingos
Mira's Tail - Fourth Dimension Ubique
Archive - Dark Room
La Plus Jolie (Midsummer Remix) -
Lemongrass Time Tunnel -
Rocking Sheet - Jay Attack
Bengali Culture - Radney Lee
Frank Demegni - Sun Machine
Marga_Sol_ - _Vanila_Sky
Evol - Tevlon Music For Cocktails (Beach Life)
Feelin‚ Good 4:20 Pussycat Dolls -

Info / Links:

Key Takeaways
- Language change is difficult to predict, even with large datasets
- AI language models simulate meaning but do not understand truth or context
- The term “Luddite” has been historically distorted to discredit labor resistance
- Technology is not inherently anti-human, but it is often deployed that way
- AI reflects the biases and exclusions of the data it is trained on
- Critical thinking and literacy are becoming dividing lines in the AI era

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