--- title: "AI: The Medium is the \"Massage?\"" subtitle: "Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Message, and other highlights from this week's episode of Modem Futura" author: "Andrew Maynard" date: 2025-02-18 original: https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/ai-the-medium-is-the-message mirror: https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/ai-the-medium-is-the-message.html --- # AI: The Medium is the "Massage?" *Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Message, and other highlights from this week's episode of Modem Futura* By Andrew Maynard · February 18, 2025 · [Original post](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/ai-the-medium-is-the-message) --- *[Image: Image: Midjourney (using version 6.1) — [view image](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/630a850e-36b6-44a8-8e2d-04f29588887f_2912x1632.png)]* There’s a point in this week’s episode of Modem Futura where I fall into a literary trap head first! Sean was talking about Marshall McLuhan’s 1967 book on media and messaging — a book which I am embarrassed to say I haven’t read — and on handing me a copy, I read the title out as “The Medium is the Message.” Of course, anyone familiar with the book will know that it’s titled “The Medium is the Massage” — and I’d been “massaged” into misreading it! Embarrassment aside, I was quite taken aback by the connections between McLuhan’s 1967 observations and what’s currently playing out with AI. We explore a number of other topics in the podcast before we get to *The Medium is the Massage*, which is why you might find the time stamped and linked topics below helpful. But this was such a serendipitous and revelatory conversation that you might want to listen to (or watch) the whole episode: available below, and all the other places you find podcasts (including [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-the-medium-is-the-message/id1771688480?i=1000693353682), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s) and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P63eIzbLIMM)) *[Podcast: [AI: the Medium is the Message](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-the-medium-is-the-message/id1771688480?i=1000693353682&uo=4) on Apple Podcasts]* You can also jump right in to the conversation at these entry points: [00:00](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s) Pre-show banter [00:53](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=53) Zoom backgrounds [06:17](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=377) Intro to the episode [07:43](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=463) Update: Writing a dissertation with OpenAI’s Deep Research [10:48](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=648) The power of AI + human [13:10](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=790) AI and the Artisanal Intellectual [15:30](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=930) Elon Musk and OpenAI [17:20](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1040) The AI capabilities vs implementation gap [21:40](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1300) The move toward reasoning AI models becoming the primary models [24:40](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1480) Marshall McLuhan and The Medium is the Message [25:40](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1540) The Medium is the *Massage* [27:50](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1670) Technological affordances and adjacent possibilities [31:50](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1910) Technological playgrounds vs playpens [32:50](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=1970) Permissionless Innovation [36:45](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=2205) Connecting the global village [42:30](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=2550) Human ingenuity [46:30](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=2790) Is technology robbing us of our identity? [48:40](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=2920) We had to bring in Socrates (and a great quote on the evils of technology) [51:40](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3100) When does tech history stop repeating itself? [53:00](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3180) Neil Postman on five things to know about technological change [55:15](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3315) Revisiting permissionless innovation [57:00](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3420) Is there something fundamental to being human that is intransient? [1:00:20](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3620) The value of being an amateur rather than a professional [1:03:00](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3780) Are professionals constrained to playpens of the imagination? [1:05:20](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=3920) Oppenheimer and having and open mind [1:06:55](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BUDBDn47vCoOJa67rAn6s?t=4015) The future of being human and enabling creative thinkers And finally, a reminder that you can watch is recording this week’s episode on YouTube: *[YouTube video: ]* As always, if you’re enjoying these conversations on *Modem Futura*, please don’t forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts so you get new episodes delivered as they’re released. And, of course, every rating or review helps us get better at what we’re doing — thanks in advance 😊 --- *This Markdown file is a text-only version of “AI: The Medium is the "Massage?"” by Andrew Maynard, from The Future of Being Human (). The original post at is the canonical version. Images, video, audio and interactive elements are indicated inline and available in the original. © Andrew Maynard.*