Fit To Think - The Philosopher API 🎙️ Episode 2: Autonomous AI, Deepfakes, Empathy Crisis, Leadership

As a rare Blood Moon casts its glow over North America, host Souhimbou Kone—the Tech-Soldier Warrior-Founder—returns with a powerful solo episode exploring some of the most urgent conversations shaping our world today.

In this episode, we dive deep into the ethical, psychological, and societal implications of three accelerating forces:

🔹 Autonomous AI:
Can we truly control what we no longer understand? With algorithms now making critical decisions in law, finance, healthcare, and warfare, Souhimbou explores the blurred line between human agency and artificial autonomy. Are we still in control—or are we becoming the tools?

🔹 Deepfakes & Digital Deception:
From faked political speeches to manipulated media, deepfakes are eroding our trust in reality. What happens when seeing is no longer believing? Learn how to build your digital discernment and reclaim your cognitive sovereignty in an age of synthetic lies.

🔹 The Empathy Crisis & Digital Brain Rot:
We swipe. We scroll. But are we still feeling? Drawing from neuroscience and real-world leadership insights, Souhimbou calls out the loss of human connection in a hyperconnected world—and reveals how authentic empathy might be the greatest leadership skill of the future.

🧠💥 Whether you’re a digital native, a tech leader, a creator, or someone simply trying to stay grounded in the noise—this episode is your mental workout. It’s not just about staying informed. It’s about staying human.

🎧 Tune in and discover:

• How to lead with integrity in the age of AI
• Why “Comply With Innovation” is a mindset for the future
• How to defend your mind, your mission, and your meaning in a rapidly evolving world

📘 Mentioned in this episode:
 Making Integrity Great For Once – available now on Amazon.

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 🗣 Tag @SouhimbouKone and share your biggest takeaway with #FitToThink

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#FitToThink #ThePhilosopherAPI #TechLeadership #AIethics #EmpathyCrisis #Deepfakes #DigitalBrainRot #MentalFitness #CyberCulture #ComplyWithInnovation

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Chapters

• 1:33 Autonomous AI. Are we still in control?
• 7:11 Deepfakes: The Depth of Reality
• 12:47 Digital Brain Rot & The Empathy Crisis
• 23:01 The Fit To Think Philosophy

Transcript

CyberSouhimbou (00:04)
We live. Let's go. This is your boy Cyber Suhimbukun. Pyum Pyum. You already know how we do this. This is the Fit to Think podcast. The Philosopher API. You know, I'm Suhimbukun. Techno-soldier, warrior founder. And we're about to get it in. is episode number two. The big two. And let's get started. Let's jump straight in because I know you're excited. I'm excited.

We have a lot of content to cover. So let's jump right in. So welcome to Fit to Think. Huh? Are you fit to think? That's the question. So Fit to Think is the podcast where we explore the intersection of technology, philosophy, personal growth and societal impact. So I'm your host. As I said before, you see, you see my face, you hear my voice, get used to it.

And today we're going to dive into some of the most pressing, exhilarating and terrifying conversation happening on the planet right now. Right. So from autonomous AI pushing the boundaries of agency to deep fakes blurring the line of reality bars and the urgent need for empathy in modern leadership. this episode is a solo episode taught Expedition through the heart of our evolving

digital landscape. So whether you are commuting, coding, whether you're at the gym, walking, know, working, pause for a moment. Let's think a little deeper. right. So segment, uno, un, one, autonomous AI. Are we still in control? So let's, let's jump right in. Are we still in control? Let's kick things off.

who was dominating global headlines right now, Autonomous AI. Earlier this year, Sim Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, testified before Congress urging lawmakers to regulate AI before it outruns us. So take a matter for a second. The people building the machine are asking us to put a leash on it. But let's get personal. So think about how many choices in your life

are quietly being made by algorithms, not by you, by algorithm. What you see on Instagram, the biggest example, what you see on TikTok, what price you pay for flight, which resume gets rejected before the human eyes can even see them. In the military, who are we trained for decision making under high intense pressure, split second high stake choices, but what happened when machine start making those choices for us?

In Israel and Ukraine specifically, we've seen drone swarms that autonomously can locate and attack targets. I'm talking about individual little soldier being chased around by autonomous swarms of drones. This is like hide and seek in real life. It's crazy. So in courtrooms across the US, judges, can you think about this? Judges are being advised by algorithm on sentences.

This is crazy. These decisions aren't just data driven, right? They are ethically loaded. So then we must ask, where is the oversight? Who's accountable? The Philosopher API challenges us to inject integrity into innovation, not just because it's good, but because it's necessary for our society to function. So here's a reflection prompt for you to consider. What daily decision in your life are silently

being outsourced to algorithm. Where can you take back control? Even just a little bit. So Yuval Noah Arari recently warned the world, we are approaching a time where AI will not just assist decision making, it will make decision in real time. And when that happened, the line between tool and agent, between what we use and what uses us gets blurry. So why should this matter to you?

Because we are already seeing hints of it. AI is increasingly involving in critical decision. Think about self-driving cars. They're not just assisted driver. They're making split second choices about who lives and dies in accident. Who's ultimately responsible? The programmer? The car manufacturer? The owner of the AI itself? No, seriously, think about this. In a self-driving car,

That's in a scenario where the car is not just assisting the driver, the car is autonomously driving from point A to point B and there's an accident. Who's ultimately responsible? Is it the programmer, the car manufacturer, the owner, or the AI itself? Like what decision making process do we undertake to ascertain this decision? AI is writing legal contracts.

automatic war drones, deciding loan approval, filtering job candidates, and the most chilling part, sometimes you don't even know how you made those decisions. I want you to pause and ask yourself for a second, if you don't understand a decision that affects your life, are you still in control? Are you still free? This isn't just a theoretical, conceptual concern. We've seen black box algorithms using criminal justice cases where AI predicts recidivism,

rate to determine sentencing if the algorithm is biased if algorithm is biased right and and like essentially perpetuate and amplify existing social inequalities we may not even know why right this is where leadership ethical conscious leadership comes in we need leaders who don't just comply with innovation by guiding with vision values humility

This is the ethos behind the Philosopher API. This is a framework for thought, rudeness, integrity and understanding. The Philosopher API is about embedding ethical consideration into the very core of technological development. It's about asking fundamental questions like, is this technology fair? Is it just? What are the unintended consequences? It's a call for a more thoughtful and responsible approach to innovation.

Here's a challenge. Can you be a leader in your own digital life? Can you challenge the default, read the terms, and ask why automated? When is it appropriate to opt out? For instance, many social media platforms use algorithms to curate your feed. Are you seeing a balanced perspective or are you trapped in an echo chamber? Take control of your information diet. Seek out diverse sources.

and question the algorithm. That's my recommendation. So section number two, segment number two, deep fakes and the depth of reality. So let's talk about deception. Not just the old school kind of white lie, black lie, gray lie. I mean, synthetic deception. AI generated lies so realistic they can rewrite history in real time. Let's shift gear into something that's both fascinating and disturbing.

Deep fakes. Just last month, there was a deep fake video circulating of President Biden announcing a military draft. Ha ha ha. That's not funny. It wasn't real, but millions saw it before it could be taken down. Let that sink in for a second. In less than 90 seconds, an AI can fake a war announcement, destabilize market, and divide a nation. This isn't sci-fi. It's happening now. What happened when proof

no longer means truth when our eyes and our ears are no longer enough this is digital gaslighting at scale we're now entering a new era where emotional manipulation is automated scalable and nearly undetectable joe's rogan voice was deep fake to sell supplements honestly i think that part is actually a little funny no disrespect to joe rogan joe rogan voice has been deep fake to sell supplements

I don't condone any deepfake but personally I thought that was little funny. It's my opinion. Politicians are being shown saying things that they never said and with a few clicks you can make a completely fake video of anyone doing anything. This is wildly disturbing. The implications are staggering. Imagine a world where video evidence is no longer reliable. Court cases could be thrown into chaos. Political discourse could be completely destabilized.

trust in institution could erode entirely and we covered this in the first episode of Vuflats for API so here's another scarier part even when we know it's fake our brain still feel like it's real the subconscious mind is like how when you imagine something your brain can't tell whether it is true or fake this is this is the kind of like echo chamber that deep fakes are tapping into

and feelings beat facts. And that's how misinformation wins. Our brains are wired to trust what we hear and what we see. So deepfake exploits this vulnerability and created cognitive dissonance that make it difficult to discern truth from falsehood. So what do do now? How do we as leaders, thinkers, creators, and citizens fight back? First, we reclaim our power to pause.

Don't share it before you verify it. Don't believe anything because it looks slick. Don't believe anything that just feels sensational. Right? And don't let the algorithm hijack your critical thinking. So we must approach news, digital media, social media, article, radio, even podcasts. Right? Like you need to check this podcast, but look at me up, making sure you know I'm a real person. Right?

Because how do we know somebody's not deep faking my voice right now? Right? This is like how authentic and real we have to really think about this. We have to really start doing our homework on any and little content that we encounter. So we need to cultivate healthy skepticism. We need to become more concerning and discerning consumer of information. We need to teach ourselves and others how to critically evaluate the media we consume. Like literally.

So in future episode, I'll walk through a technique to build, you know, a digital BS detective. But today, I just want you to remember this. If reality become negotiable, integrity become non-negotiable. We have to decide what our minds stand for. This is not just about protecting ourselves from being a fool. It's about preserving the very fabric of our society. Without a shared understanding of reality, meaningful dialogue and collective action become impossible.

But this is the end to the right critical awareness. The philosopher API access just not to just consume content, but to challenge it. Who made this? Why? Whose agenda does it serve? How is this going to perpetrate when I share it? When I like this video, am I not going to receive more contents that look like this? Is this really what I want on my feed? Am I on the right side of the internet? Like this is kind of a thing.

we need to access ourselves anytime that we contain media and this is very hard right especially when we are scrolling you know doom scrolling which we're going to talk about momentarily so here is your digital armor triple check sources before sharing if you stop making that a habit before you share anything like triple check the sources before you share especially make sure you follow diverse voices excuse me and above all

Educate yourself and your circle because it means information spread fastest to the people that we trust All right makes sense. That's what those other people that we trust. So as I stated before This is something that we're gonna talk about. So segment number three is Digital brain rot and the empathy crisis, right? I said again digital brain rots and the empathy crisis. Let me take a sip of my mushroom extract juice

If you know you So CBS News call it Digital Brain Rod. This is a real condition where chronic phone use actually changes how your brain works I'm not making this stuff up MRI scans showed smartphone addicted individual have to engage multiple brain regions just to focus on a single task Yep, I'm gonna say it again MRI scans showed

Smartphone addict individuals have to engage multiple regions of the brain just to focus on a single task and do your homework just like we talked about a few paragraphs ago. Triple check this before you believe it, before you share it, before you adopt it. Go do your homework and look up MRI scan related to smartphone addict individual and see what pops up. Run through a few different articles and make up your own

digital opinion. But we scroll, we doom scroll, we swipe for dopamine and wonder why we so anxious, why we so stressed. This chronic phone use literally reshapes our brain. MRI scans show that overuse of smartphones reduces gray matter in regions associated with emotional regulation, memory, and attention. It's not just mental fatigue. It's

neuroplasticity going wrong, neuroplasticity descending in the opposite direction. This is wild. Excuse me. And with brain fog comes something even scarier. The erosion of empathy. Right? And I'm an empath. So this, this hits very home for me. So we traded long conversation for short text as a society, right? We as a society have traded long conversation.

for short tests. Eye contact for emojis. We watch suffering on screen, skull passing, and then wonder why we feel numb. But listen, this isn't a guilt trip. This is a wake up call. We're not just experiencing an attention crisis. We experience an empty famine. There's literally a famine on empty, which is the ability to connect to other people, emotion, suffering.

whatever they are going on. This is literally the makeup what it means to be a human person. Being able to connect with other individuals. Empathy. We are literally experiencing a famine when it comes to that. The consequences are everywhere, right? For example, remote workers feeling isolated. I'm going through that right now. Teens battling loneliness in the most connected generation ever. This is one of the first generations where people have access to trillions even more people across the globe.

but teens, adults, children, grandmas are feeling more and more lonely than all of the generation before. Why? This is why. Leaders are struggling to build culture through Zoom call. And personally, I'm going through the same thing. I'm really leading a team of about nine professional, including me, which is 10, and it's been a struggle to create the kind of

culture and authentic and long lasting connection when all of our meetings are on one specific day over Teams. We don't see each other in person all the time and throughout the week everybody is busy living their own life so it's very very hard to build meaningful long lasting personal connection that are going to translate into grandiose professional translation. Sorry.

So real leadership today demand deep listening, slowing down, holding space, asking question, not just to respond, but to understand. Like today, I had a moment with a team member who have not connected with for a while. And this team member was kind of apologetic, you know, and then hi, I had to take a step back and match the energy because my stance was a little more accusatory.

before we spoke. But when I spoke with them, I checked my stance and I made sure I matched their level of energy and where they were coming from. Now from a sense of accusing them, for now I've been able to to be there, for now I've been engaged for the last past week, but I took a sense of understanding where they are and focusing on how we're going to move forward. This is the kind of leadership that's needed. Again, real leadership to the demands

deep listening, slowing down, holding space, asking questions and taking information, not just to respond or to confirm our own biases. Like I had to do my own. My personal bias was that this person was losing interest into a project that we were doing and all that they were taking advantage of the fact that we don't have to meet in person and they were kind of like just writing the project.

to get the credits of a class. That was my personal bias, which I had to check based on the new information that I've gained. And I make sure I was able to make a switch in my philosopher API, for lack of a better term, which is the best term right here, right? I have to make sure I check my own API on how I viewed this situation with this team member that has not been engaged. And as they are apologizing about the lack of engagement,

I'm being receptive of their apologies and not pushing them away, making sure I'm not coming across as dry, disrespectful, or even numb. And this is not easy because the whole time we're having this conversation, I'm undergoing a lot of emotion changes that I'm modulating in real time. This takes a deep amount of introspective awareness and this is what's needed for leadership today. And this has to be consciously done.

This is not something that we can just automate like an AI, like pun very intended. So your mission today, before today ends, have one real conversation. Look at someone in the eye, ask them how they are doing, not to fix, not to judge, just to listen and connect. Right? So we become a society of fragmented attention. We constantly bombard it with notification.

update and distraction. This makes it difficult to focus on deep work. There's a book on that. It's called Deep Work. Literally. And this is a heat book that I read that really helped me and I'm going to keep rereading. It's become very difficult for us to focus on deep work which is defined as four hours of uninterrupted laser focused work on a specific productive task that move the needle forward.

That's my definition of deep work. Be free and feel free to do your homework and find out your own definition of deep work. But that's how I define deep work based on my understanding and my experiences and everything else. So again, it's becoming increasingly difficult for us to focus on deep work, to engage in meaningful conversation and to simply be present in the moment. This leads us to the empathy crisis, the same tools meant to connect us at Dowling.

our ability to relate. Remote work is wonderful but is also isolating with text instead of talking, with skin instead of listening. Empathy requires presence, attention and the ability to truly listen to another person experience. When we are constantly distracted by our devices, we lose our capacity for these essential human connections. But here's the hard truth. Leadership without empathy is just control.

I'm going to say it again. Leadership without empathy is just control. If you're founder like I am, a manager, teacher, parent, empathy is no longer a nice to have. It's the only way forward. We don't need louder voices. We need better listeners. A leader who lacks empathy cannot empower trust, build strong teams, or create a positive and productive environment. In today's interconnected world, empathy is a crucial

leadership skill aka soft skill. So I challenge you today before you swipe again check in with someone and I'm gonna make sure I do the same. Ask how they are doing. Listen. Whole space. And when I say whole space just brace yourself from going on autopilot when the person is talking and just waiting for your sound to respond. When I say whole space you mean literally really just listen

just for the sake of literally just listening. So whole space, this is how we rebuild trust in an age of filters, bots and burnouts. So I challenge you to make a conscious effort to disconnect from your devices and I'm gonna do the same and connect with the people around you. Make an appointment, schedule a time to meet somebody, make a date, schedule an in-person meeting.

Have a real conversation with somebody. Listen without interrupting and try to understand their perspective. Just for the sake of understanding their perspective. Not to try to add it to yours. Not to try to see how it compare to yours. No. Listen without interrupting and try to understand their perspective. Just for the sake of understanding their perspective.

Okay, closing segment, the fit to think philosophy. So every episode of fit to think isn't just about reacting to news. It's about reflecting on what it means to be human in the midst of all of this thing. From autonomous AI to brain fatigue, everything around us speeding up, but wisdom requires slowness, integrity requires awareness and leadership and courage, and the courage to do what's given when right or wrong and no one is watching. Let me start.

From autonomous AI to brain fatigue, everything around us is speeding up. But wisdom requires calm, steady, slowness and holding space. That should be a new hashtag. Hold space. Integrity requires awareness. Leadership requires courage. The courage to do what is right when no one is watching. And I want you to leave this episode not just informed,

But transform. Start thinking like a philosopher. Leading like a warrior. Acting like someone who matters. Because you do. So this is the call to action. If this episode made you pause. Whole space to think or feel something. Don't keep it to yourself. Share it. And before you share it. Do your homework. Right? Triple check what I talk about. Do your own research. If you think it sounds right.

then yeah, it resonate with you then cool. If not, it is what it is. Tag someone, leave a review, join our community, know, follow me on Instagram, Himby Topboy also on TikTok, Himby Topboy, find me on Facebook, Suhimbu Super Soldier Code, yeah that's me. If you're ready to go deeper, check out my book, Make it Integrity, Grateful Wants, available on Amazon. You'll be able to find the link in my podcast description or just by looking me up.

Suhimbukone Amazon, then you find the book. So this has been a journey, right? You just completed another rep environmental gym. This is the gym of the mind. You know what mean? So every week on Fit the Thing to podcast, we're not just here to consume information, we're here to transform it. Right? So two weeks ago, there was a blood moon. That was a cosmic metaphor for shadow, clarity, change. Our world has been eclipsed by artificial intelligence, social disconnection and digital deception.

bars. But you, you are here because you still care. You still think. Keep thinking before it's illegal. You still believe in something deeper. The Philosopher API is a living system. It's a fusion of code and conscience, discipline and compassion, intelligence and empathy. I believe the future belongs to those who can lead with clarity, listen with depth, and act with courage.

And so I leave you with this. Don't just be a consumer of tech. Be a guardian of wisdom. Don't just be loud. Be present. Don't just automate your life. Integrate it. Don't just comply with innovation. Lead it. Shape it. Live it. If this episode really challenged your thinking, brought some sort of value with you, share it. Text it to a friend. Post a clip. Tag me on IG and TikTok. Himbe Tapboy. You already know.

Leave a five star review if this message, so this message can read the right people. And again, grab a copy of my book. You can get it as an ebook. You can get a paperback and paperback. What's the other format? Strong, whatever. Making integrity great for once. The newsletter is coming soon, but next episode next week during that inner circle. DM me a topic that you want covered because this isn't my podcast, it's ours.

we do this together. Again, remember this is the gym for the mind and that was our second set, second episode. Until next time, stay fit to think and always comply with innovation. And this is your boy, Tech Warrior, the Tech Soldier Warrior Founder, Super Sohembu Dokone, the Super Soldier, that's me. So thank you for your time and I'll see you next episode.

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