AI, honestly.
Welcome to AI with Sach
A podcast about what's true in AI, from the people building it, questioning it and living with it.
I'm Sacha Gucciardo, and I host the show from Montréal, in English and in French. I sit down with people who speak from evidence or lived experience: an Element AI co-founder on whether AI could be conscious, a TIME100 AI honoree on the content moderators behind AI, an AI auditor, a Catholic bishop, and the founders, researchers and workers in between. Start with an episode below, or pick a theme.
MontréalEnglish & FrançaisSince 2024
Amogh Chaturvedi
Og Ramos
Philippe Beaudoin
Avinash, Ajith
Bishop Thomas Dowd
Anick Beaulieu
Cédric Beaudoin
Jean-Sébastien
Thomas Fortoul
Charles Demontigny
Kauna Malgwi
Mike Todasco
Alexandre Guilbault
Shea Brown
Allison Cohen
Fatih Nayebi
Suzanne Talon
Youssef Mrini
Alain Filotto
Céline Castets-Renard, Jade Benson-Poitras
Benoit Aubert
Nabil Beitinjaneh
Natalija Pavic
Olivier Blais
Anne Nguyen
Timothy
Josh Gray
Benedikt
Jag
JC Btaiche
Guillaume PetitclercStart here
The Invisible Labor Behind AI: A Content Moderator’s Fight for JusticeA former Facebook content moderator describes the hidden human labor and trauma behind AI, and her fight for fair treatment of African tech workers.Kauna MalgwiFormer Facebook content moderator (via Sama, Nairobi), leader of the Nigeria chapter of the Content Moderators Union, TIME100 AI 2024 honoree
Could AI Be Conscious? A Field Experiment with Philippe BeaudoinPhilippe BeaudoinAI researcher, co-founder of Element AI, former Google engineer, author of Field Notes on Something, and founder of the startup WaverlyA Bishop’s Take on the Age of Intelligent MachinesBishop Thomas DowdCatholic Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (based in Sudbury); former Ericsson telecom employee and early webmasterBuilding Trust Through Responsible AI with Shea Brown (BABL AI)Shea BrownCEO of BABL AI and former astrophysics professorThemes
All themes →01Adoption Is PeopleAI projects rarely fail on the technology. They fail because nobody changed how they work, nobody was consulted, or the problem was never defined.
02Who Gets Left BehindAutomation hits the bottom rungs first, and workers across white-collar jobs and entry-level roles lose the way they learned. Guests ask who pays, who trains and who decides.
03Bias, Rules and ProofBias hides in postal codes and training images, and law and audits are catching up. The guests explain what regulation and verification actually look like.
04Hidden Human CostsBehind every model are data labelers, moderators and communities who were left out. The people who pay are rarely the ones in the room.
05Human Connection in AIAs AI companions, content and agents multiply, guests ask what only people can do: pray, listen, meet, build trust.
06Build What's NeededFounders and investors share how to validate before building, iterate on real pain, and stay modular while AI shifts under them.
02Who Gets Left BehindAutomation hits the bottom rungs first, and workers across white-collar jobs and entry-level roles lose the way they learned. Guests ask who pays, who trains and who decides.03Bias, Rules and ProofBias hides in postal codes and training images, and law and audits are catching up. The guests explain what regulation and verification actually look like.04Hidden Human CostsBehind every model are data labelers, moderators and communities who were left out. The people who pay are rarely the ones in the room.05Human Connection in AIAs AI companions, content and agents multiply, guests ask what only people can do: pray, listen, meet, build trust.06Build What's NeededFounders and investors share how to validate before building, iterate on real pain, and stay modular while AI shifts under them.Latest episodes
All episodes →Watching Users So You Don’t Have To: Human Behavior, YC, and AIAmogh ChaturvediCo-founder, Human Behavior (Y Combinator batch; Stanford dropout)The Real Difference Between Data, ML, and AI EngineersOg RamosEngineer, data consultant and tech tinkererBuilding Cactus: AI That Actually Helps SolopreneursAvinash, AjithCo-founder and technical lead, Cactus (Y Combinator batch) · Co-founder, Cactus (Y Combinator batch); previously co-founder of Turing LabsDesigning the Future of Human Connection — Anick Beaulieu on AI, Creativity & C2 ExperiencesAnick BeaulieuCEO of C2, the experiential studio behind C2 MontréalInvesting in AI and Impact: Building Resilient Startups in QuebecCédric BeaudoinSenior Associate, impact and technology investing, Investissement Québec (IQ)L'IA au service de la Cybersécurité avec son Co-fondateur Jean-SébastienJean-SébastienCo-fondateur de Fireraven, startup montréalaise de cybersécurité pour l'IA; ancien co-fondateur et CTO de Quotes-n-Go
Your host
Sacha Gucciardo
Sacha checks before he speaks: real conversations with people who speak from evidence or lived experience, hard questions asked fairly, and a clear opinion, labeled as his.