Savannah Street Interviews On AI Fear And Hope

We walk the streets of Savannah asking strangers how AI is changing work, trust, and everyday life, then we follow the answers into deeper questions about authenticity, fear, and power. From cooks to teenagers to healthcare and science voices, we keep circling one idea: AI can boost productivity, but it can’t automatically replace human meaning or human responsibility.

• whether a robot can replicate “heart” in cooking  
• teen concerns about deepfakes, scams, AI recognition, and job loss  
• why younger people may crave authenticity and in-person connection  
• environmental worries about AI at scale and data center resource use  
• AI as a tool that needs restrictions and clear government mandates  
• workplace reality of “time saved” turning into more work  
• fairness questions about pay when AI raises productivity  
• healthcare use cases that speed workflows but reduce human contact  
• limits of AI in lab science where theory fails in practice  

You can just go to cybernomics.io and there’s a podcast section.

Josh's LinkedIn

Transcript

Will AI Take Your Job

SPEAKER_10 0:00

Jeffrey and Brian, and we're in Savannah, Georgia, just you know asking people what they think about AI. The question today is how worried are you that AI is gonna take your job?

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Uh not so much worried about in the kitchen, maybe, you know, but uh you know what I'm saying. I think as far as cooking, you gotta put your heart into it. You know what I'm saying? I don't think AI got one of those.

SPEAKER_10 0:20

So if if for instance, we don't have AI that can like go into the kitchen, there aren't any robots really, at least not you know, everywhere. Yeah. But do you think that a robot would ever be able to replicate that that heart that you talk about? Nah.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

It takes heart to put, you know what I'm saying? You gotta put your heart in some of the stuff, you know, as far as the cooking, it won't, it doesn't, it doesn't have one of those.

SPEAKER_10 0:43

Alright, Jeffrey. Well, that's that that's a it's a respectable stance. I think that that's a lot of um the sentiment of a lot of people right now is that AI can't do what human beings can do, right? So that's kind of where you're at. Any thoughts over here?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

I feel the same about it. You know, um the robot really won't be able to do what we do, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_10 1:07

What about in like a hundred years?

SPEAKER_00 1:12

A hundred years? Uh I I ain't gonna speak on that because that might not be.

SPEAKER_10 1:17

I'm not gonna be here either. There's nobody nobody's gonna be able to verify this. Maybe a couple of babies that are uh that are listening to this right now. Alright, fellas, thank you so much. Alright, have a good one. I think unks were cooks in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_11 1:34

Oh yeah, those unks put their feet in it. Yeah, they cook is gonna be so good.

SPEAKER_10 1:40

And I agree with them. I don't think that AI, maybe one day, like there's gotta be something about a human cooking an omelet that a robot can't do. What do you think?

SPEAKER_12 1:51

You know what? I'm gonna have to agree with that one because will robots be able to put love into the meals that they cook.

SPEAKER_10 2:02

Well, here's the thing you have to define love in order to have the robots replicate it, and we can't even define it ourselves.

SPEAKER_12 2:08

Touche, touche. Well, we'll see. Who knows? They are the future.

SPEAKER_10 2:12

To the baby listening to this, tell us keep a record in a hundred years, report

Teen Fears About Scams And Jobs

SPEAKER_10 2:18

back. Word on the street, cybernomics. Julia, Julia, and Maya. Is that real? Like you're both Julia? Interesting. So I'm guessing you're not sisters. No, we're both. Unless Okay, okay. Uh otherwise your mom would be very fond of the name Julia. Okay. What do you think about AI?

SPEAKER_15 2:36

I think AI is a tool that honestly now in nowadays can be really helpful, but also it's something I think to be feared of, honestly, and like especially looking forward and for students and for and for work, I believe it's something that should be feared, honestly.

SPEAKER_10 2:54

You think we should be afraid of AI? Do you agree?

SPEAKER_14 2:56

Um, well, I don't think we should be afraid of AI, but I think that the possibilities are scary to you or like to other people, such as like AI recognition. I personally think that's a little terrifying because 50 years ago we wouldn't have even imagined like a f a telephone, and now like 50 years this is how we've evolved.

SPEAKER_10 3:18

So it's scary because it's unknown, is that fair to say?

SPEAKER_15 3:21

Yes. I would sort of. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 3:24

Alright, so Julia and Julia, that's like uh two out of three. Are you gonna make it three out of three? Are you afraid of AI?

SPEAKER_13 3:30

I'm like afraid of it, but like I don't know, like I think it can be like scary, like of all the scammers and stuff, like you know.

SPEAKER_10 3:37

Okay, so I hear if I'm hearing the three of you, uh one of the things is you can probably make AI do things that human beings can't do, and that's scary. So like scamming, probably things like deep fakes. Exactly. Okay. So are you afraid of more like AI taking your jobs or anything like that?

SPEAKER_15 3:55

Yeah, actually, that's that's something actually what I was uh thinking about, like being why we should be afraid, also because of the jobs and stuff that like humans technically can't do, and AI has the capacity to create things, which is like something which I find this is what it would be scary.

SPEAKER_10 4:12

That's scary. Okay, so if they said that AI won't take your jobs, would you be happy? Would you give it a thumbs up?

SPEAKER_14 4:18

I would be happier, yeah. But yeah, if if it was environmentally friendly, then exactly.

SPEAKER_10 4:25

Alright, how old are you guys?

SPEAKER_14 4:26

Seven.

SPEAKER_10 4:28

Oh, fifteen and seventeen. Alright, thanks guys.

SPEAKER_12 4:32

I think it's great that we asked them. Turns out they're children. I think it's good to ask teenagers how they feel about AI because they are the future.

SPEAKER_10 4:45

We're now walking through. You know what? As a matter of fact, I don't even want to joke. This is one of the haunted haunts hauntedest places in Savannah, Georgia. And I don't know. Not too fond of it, but it's so cool, I'm not gonna lie. It's like something right out of a horror movie. You okay?

SPEAKER_12 5:04

Yeah. Energy is different.

SPEAKER_10 5:06

Oh yeah. It's weird. Excuse

Authenticity And Government Oversight

SPEAKER_10 5:12

me. We're with an AI podcast and we're going around asking people about AI. Can we ask you a few questions?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Uh if are you brave enough? Yeah. She has very strong opinions about AI.

SPEAKER_10 5:21

Alright, so you were I'm guessing you're mama? I am mom. Okay, alright. Or big sister. I don't know. So so I was talking to somebody else um and they redirected me to their kids. So this is two for two. Okay. So uh okay, how how old are you guys?

SPEAKER_02 5:38

14, 15.

SPEAKER_10 5:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

And what are your names? Reagan, Macy.

SPEAKER_10 5:43

Alright, Reagan and Macy. And your mom says that are you sisters? No, friends. Best friends. Okay, so which one is yours?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

And she's mine.

SPEAKER_10 5:53

Alright, okay. So what do you think about AI in general?

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Um, I think it's bad for the erg.

SPEAKER_10 6:03

Okay, and do you agree?

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Yeah, I don't like it.

SPEAKER_10 6:07

Okay, all right, so you can maybe settle a bet. We were kind of going back and forth on why younger people may not like AI. And our Yeah, I I would have thought that younger folks would have embraced it, but I I'm a 90s kid, right? So robots were cool to us. So our thesis is that uh the younger folks, because you have technology all the time, like you're using it all the time, that it's not that impressive. And so it's just an inconvenience. Like, is that true or no?

SPEAKER_02 6:35

I mean, I've always kind of told everybody I would much rather have been born in an earlier generation because I just get so bored of my phone. I'd rather be like living in the moment and my friends are all always on their phones, and I always have hated it.

SPEAKER_10 6:49

Okay, so technology's really not that cool, is what I'm hearing.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Um to me at least. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_10 6:56

Okay, so what's your reason for not liking AI?

SPEAKER_02 7:00

I just don't think it's good for the earth. I think we're already at a bad place. I don't know.

SPEAKER_10 7:04

Uh define it's good. Define, okay, so tell me, I I hear that a lot, right? Okay, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 7:10

So I think a couple of things. I do think the younger generation is more drawn to authenticity, face-to-face contact, in-person shopping, tangible things that they can touch because they've grown up in front of a screen. And so online shopping is their norm versus going into a mall and touching fabrics and seeing people face-to-face contact is more rare for them. So they're naturally gonna be drawn to something that we would consider more nostalgic, right? Um, I think they are very, very good at picking up fake, even to our eyes, where we wouldn't recognize it, right? We would think it's photoshopped. They immediately like they're very quick to pick up fake.

SPEAKER_10 7:47

So it's creepy to them, a little bit creepy.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

I do think they are probably more tuned into the environment and the impact. I think the older generation or maybe gen or millennials probably need to be more concerned about job stability because it's gonna wipe out jobs way faster than what by the time some of these guys graduate college with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt in the tech industry, there's no jobs available for them. So I think really our concern as parents should be worried about our younger generation. Do they have a future in jobs? And they're more worried about authentic connections, they can spot fake a mile away.

SPEAKER_10 8:24

So how much of that do you agree with?

SPEAKER_01 8:27

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_10 8:29

Okay. So if you were to address all of those issues, if it was good for the environment, it didn't wipe out jobs, do you think that AI would do more good or would it do more bad?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

I think in the middle, maybe? I think it has the potential for both. I think it it it's just like a knife, right? And the tools of a chef, it's amazing, and the tools of a murderer, it's terrible. And so I think it depends on the way you use it. There's powerful opportunities for it, but it needs restrictions. It needs government mandates. It has to.

SPEAKER_10 9:00

Okay, so last question. If this gets political, it sounds like it's starting to go into that, into that territory. Do you do would you have more confidence in AI if there was a government or an administration in power that you trust?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

I wouldn't say that there is a government that I trust.

SPEAKER_10 9:17

Oh, okay, plot twist. Yeah. All right, so Okay, so it comes down to government oversight and the people who have their fingers on the nuclear button.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Yeah. Well, I think no matter what party, whether you're independent, Republican, or Democrat, there's going to be people that you don't trust even within your own party. There are things that we don't see, there are files that are we'll never have access to, that are just that are not disclosed, that at any point in time it's way more powerful than what we can even imagine. I do think there needs to be government laws and mandates around it because that's the way that our country functions. But no matter how many times we say that, we know that we're one button away from mass destruction. So excellent.

SPEAKER_10 9:56

Well, thank you so much. I I I've already been greedy with your time. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Yeah, best of luck with what you guys are doing. It's awesome. Good luck with your podcast.

SPEAKER_10 10:03

All right, thank you. Cybernomics.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Actually, I'll give you love to follow it and listen.

SPEAKER_10 10:09

So we are anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Yeah, awesome. Thank you guys. Listen to your podcast. Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_10 10:16

I appreciate your time. Bye-bye.

AI At Work More Output Or More Life

SPEAKER_10 10:20

They're just afraid of practical things like losing their jobs, unemployment. Again, you know, is something that keeps coming up. God creates man, man creates AI, man destroys God, AI destroys man. Women destroy AI, women inherit the earth. Or AI and women cohabitate.

SPEAKER_06 10:39

Exactly.

SPEAKER_10 10:41

Hi. Good, how are you? We're with Cybernomics. We're an AI podcast. Um, and we're just going around asking people to give us their thoughts about AI. Could we ask you a couple of questions?

SPEAKER_04 10:54

Uh okay.

SPEAKER_10 10:56

What's your name?

SPEAKER_04 10:57

Robin.

SPEAKER_10 10:58

Robin, I'm Josh. This is Katana. I've been talking to a lot of people today, and they all kind of have this fear that AI will take their jobs. What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 11:07

I think there is some truth to that. I have two sons that are in IT um programmers, and uh the he the one explained to me that that is true, but that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Now, I personally have never used AI for anything. My husband, on the other hand, uses it all the time, so he probably would have done a better interview.

SPEAKER_10 11:29

What does he what does he use it to do? Do you know?

SPEAKER_04 11:32

He's right there. He oh hi for forms and I don't know, he could tell you just different things that he he uses it for. But I know he uses it a lot and he really likes it.

SPEAKER_10 11:43

You think if I go over there and talk to him, he'll talk to me? I do. Yeah. He's not. Hi, sir. Hi. How are you going to do? Good, how are you? So we're with Cybernomics, Cybernomics Radio, and it's an AI podcast. So we're just going around asking people, you know, what do you think about AI? And your wife was saying that you use AI, and I was wondering, what do you use it to do? She thinks I know what I'm doing, I don't know what I'm doing with AI.

SPEAKER_08 12:08

Here's a secret here. Fake it, I don't really know how anything about AI. Neither do I. And I do it for a living. My son is a computer, so he told me that it's like a a a child that thinks it knows it all, that's what AI is. Yes. And well, teenager that knows all is what he said. You agree with that?

SPEAKER_12 12:26

For the most part, yeah. A lot of people depend on AI to finish their work for them, but it's like, no, think about it. We created you, so what do you have to do? Go over it.

SPEAKER_10 12:36

What do you think about AI from um a religious standpoint? I would rather not comment on that. If you were to use AI to help you do something every single day, what would it be?

SPEAKER_08 12:46

I just create forms. Um, I just use it for like, you know, documentations and things like that. Something on a computer that would take tedious work that would allow me to like continue to get more done, but yet not let it be the brains for me.

SPEAKER_12 13:00

I love that for you. So with it doing very tedious work, how many hours do you get back from that? And what do you do with those hours?

SPEAKER_08 13:09

Uh have to do more work. Oh no. That's very interesting. You know, that's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 13:15

It doesn't really change.

SPEAKER_08 13:16

What what because, like, for example, today I I made a um an agenda um form for an older gentleman because they don't know how to do it, they don't have so I didn't and I really that wasn't my job. He's supposed to do that, but I did it for him, printed it out and gave it to him so that he could he could have that. But I I had something else to do. So I was doing my work, but I just did that for him because the older generation, they don't know how to use AI. And I'm and I told my wife, I said, AI to me is like going from um basic math to algebra. If you take the time to learn it, it's going to make you much more tenfold productive, but you have to take the time to learn it and you can't close your mind down. And that is actually how uh in uh religious, that's what it's really about. It's like taking the time to learn it. It's not controversial to me, it's just that I don't want to affiliate. I I can't really do that with this one, with just being here.

SPEAKER_10 14:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 14:09

We understand.

SPEAKER_10 14:10

Well, what's your name again, sir? David. David. Yeah. David, nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_08 14:14

Nice to meet you, bro. Thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_10 14:15

Thank you. You have a good day.

SPEAKER_08 14:18

Oh and oh wait, where'd they go? We're gonna put that one away because we we're gonna combine, we have a cart down there, and we generally wouldn't do an interview with the new arts because we don't want to associate with anything else. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the reason the only reason I did your interview is because they are putting that away. Okay. And we won't do an interview, like I don't we tell them not to do interviews because people manipulate that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no.

SPEAKER_10 14:41

So we don't want that. But I we were actually putting that away because the heat. Yeah, it's getting hot. Well, I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_12 14:45

Yeah, we really appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Why I said I love that for him, because I was hoping that AI would have done most of his work and that he can use the extra three hours that would it take that would take to do his work to spend it with his family, you know, or something like that.

SPEAKER_10 15:00

Yeah, and you know what, I gotta be honest, that kind of caught me off guard because I thought that people will say I spend that extra time with my dog or with my cat. But I'm remembering that when I started using AI and people weren't really using it in the office, I really wouldn't tell them that that thing that took me five minutes, they'll think that it took an hour, and I and you know, I could use that time to do something else. But if the company knows that you're using AI and why you're using it and that you're using it, then they're just gonna make you do more work, huh?

SPEAKER_12 15:30

Yeah, and that's the sad part about humans.

SPEAKER_10 15:34

How do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_12 15:35

That sucks.

SPEAKER_10 15:37

Well, I mean, if your boss told you, hey, you're gonna use AI, you can use AI, it's like, yay, that's great.

SPEAKER_12 15:44

Okay, then you better pay me more because what comes with it then?

SPEAKER_10 15:46

That's a really good point, right?

SPEAKER_12 15:48

Because then if you're buying AI for us, which is right, something that I agree with, but you're giving me more workload, then it makes no sense.

SPEAKER_10 15:58

Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair.

SPEAKER_12 15:59

The reason why we have AI is to help us so that we can become happy at home too. I think about it, balance. Yeah, and I bet the exact kids were like, no, we're worried about jobs. Oh, not the kids, but the mom and the kids, I guess.

SPEAKER_10 16:16

Right. So when we go into a company and we talk to an office administrator, for example, and we're we're saying to them, Hey, have you thought about using AI? They probably have, but not favorably.

SPEAKER_12 16:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 16:28

Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. I saw a whole group of people over there. Did you see that way back there? It was like a do you want to like a bachelorette party?

SPEAKER_11 16:37

Sure, do you want to go back?

SPEAKER_10 16:38

Yeah.

Environment Healthcare And Lab Reality

SPEAKER_11 16:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 16:45

Oh, this is that same thing.

SPEAKER_10 16:47

Hello. Just curious, what do you guys got going on here?

SPEAKER_06 16:51

Uh, so it's just uh a picnic. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 16:55

Okay. Yeah, just saying it. Okay. I'm the odd one out. Oh, really? Okay. Well, so you could totally say no to this, but we're we're an AI podcast. We're with an AI podcast, and we're just going around asking people what do they think about AI. So we ask you a couple of questions? Is that or is that intruding on your time?

SPEAKER_06 17:15

No, uh, you don't want it.

SPEAKER_10 17:19

You don't want you don't want you don't want to answer.

unknown 17:21

What are they doing?

SPEAKER_10 17:23

We're just we're just asking people about what do they think about AI. AI? Yes.

SPEAKER_07 17:29

I don't know.

SPEAKER_10 17:31

No, that's good. Controversial is good. Why is why why do you think it's controversial?

SPEAKER_05 17:36

Honestly, I feel like AI it's helpful. People won't admit how helpful it is, but I'm not gonna lie, I don't understand the whole water thing. Well does anyone understand the whole water thing? Okay, so what does that have to do with AI? Educate me, please.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

So what she was trying to tell me, because I had to ask her, what she was trying to tell me is basically it's almost like how littering is a problem for global warming, but it's not the main problem for global warming. And she related that to how AI and the data centers are like a problem with the water, like it's not necessarily a super pressing issue right now, but if we keep going on this same trajectory, it will be. It's gonna add up, it's gonna add up over time, especially if we go more and more into AI use.

SPEAKER_05 18:25

Okay. I will say I enjoy how lazy I get to be with AI, but I can also say a lot of people are not using their brains enough anymore because of AI. So I can admit on both.

unknown 18:38

I agree.

SPEAKER_05 18:39

I don't know if it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_10 18:40

Do you use AI at work? I'm a nanny, so no. So you're not afraid that AI is ever gonna take your job. Is anybody here afraid that AI will be able to do it?

SPEAKER_07 18:48

I'm a little like it's not a good idea. It's definitely being used to prioritize what patient is being looked at first. So if this patient has cancer, they're gonna be reading that exam before someone that has benign findings.

SPEAKER_10 19:01

So you're a nurse, I'm guessing, or a doctor.

SPEAKER_07 19:03

Imaging.

SPEAKER_06 19:04

Um, imaging tech, yes.

SPEAKER_10 19:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 19:07

With um, because I work in healthcare and I feel like with what I do, I feel like AI could possibly like take over. But you still miss that like human interaction too. So I feel like that would be something that would be like a big part taken away. Especially dealing with older people, they don't want to talk to a robot, they want actual like human contact. Yeah. Yeah. Because I'm like that representative. I want to talk to a real person.

SPEAKER_12 19:31

What if AI does help you and take your job? Well, you know, like what if you work next to it? How does that make you feel?

SPEAKER_06 19:39

I kinda would what I do now, because I work for the VA with primary care, so they kind of already do like some of the stuff we do has AI with it. So I kind of already do work closely with AI, and it does help like me pull up like patients faster, find stuff faster, but at the same time, I still need my coins, so I don't want it to So what if they made you what if they asked you to just do the stuff that's more human related and let the AI do all the boring stuff?

SPEAKER_10 20:06

Would you be okay with that?

SPEAKER_06 20:08

No, because then I feel like I'm not being fulfilled either in that position. Like it gets to do all the like I get to do the easy stuff, but I'm gonna get tired of that eventually too. I'm like, this is not fulfilling me. Right, right.

SPEAKER_10 20:21

Okay. Make sure status check. Alright, we're still running. Any other thoughts?

SPEAKER_03 20:27

Um I feel like I'm a scientist slash engineer, and I feel like it's helpful when it comes to theoretical stuff, but there's certain stuff a machine don't know what can actually happen. Like it can never replace lab work because a lot of stuff is possible in theory that's not possible in real life.

SPEAKER_10 20:48

So I'm glad you said that. AI lives in like a simulation where everything is very theoretical and it's not grounded in it's everything is perfect. But if they were to work out those kinks, right, and have AI again, I'll ask you the same question that I asked her. It took away all the boring stuff, so you got to focus on the things that only human beings could do. Would that be valuable?

SPEAKER_03 21:09

I don't know if that's possible in my field, to be honest. And I say that because again, even when I sit in class and learn about all of the stuff through theory, you don't know what's actually possible until you try it. AI can't necessarily go and try it. You know what I mean? They can pull sources and like kind of study literature that's already out there, but they can't go in the lab and test it out themselves. I had to change my project several times because I thought, oh, this is for sure gonna work. I should be done in two months. And then three years later, I'm on a completely different path because it wasn't possible. But in the literature it said it should be possible, but it wasn't when I tried to put it in practice.

SPEAKER_10 21:51

Okay, fair enough. Anything no? Any other no thoughts? All right, what's your name?

SPEAKER_06 21:56

Paula.

SPEAKER_10 21:57

Oh Paula, thank you, Paula. Thank you, Erin, Rudy, thank you, Rudy, Mara, thank you, Mara, and the nanny.

SPEAKER_05 22:06

Blessings.

SPEAKER_10 22:06

Blessings. Where are you from?

SPEAKER_05 22:07

South Africa.

SPEAKER_10 22:08

South Africa. Okay, I couldn't pinpoint it. It was nice to meet you all. Thank you so much. Oh, I'll give you my card. You can just go to cybernomics.io and there's a podcast section. Audio. Mm-hmm. It's just audio. There's some some I have some YouTube videos, but it's primarily audio.

SPEAKER_07 22:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_10 22:29

Yep. Alright. Thank you so much. Have fun.

Final Reflections On Human Value

SPEAKER_07 22:34

You'll go this way?

SPEAKER_10 22:35

Did anything did anything surprise you in that one? Um great question by the way.

SPEAKER_12 22:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes and no. It's just when now that we're meeting people that are in the medical field, I'm like, oh, even more interesting, right? Because you like in Doctor Strange, when he got his when he was in that accident and his hands went bye bye. Right? Like as a doctor, you need these to do whatever.

SPEAKER_10 23:03

Right. So you've got the hands, but you still you even if you have the hands, you still need the human brain to direct the hands.

SPEAKER_12 23:09

Yes, exactly.