What happens when AI makes the news feel like it was made just for us, and the “objective” version quietly disappears?

Here we have something of a “very special episode” of AI-Curious. I was recently in Davos during World Economic Forum week, and was honored to speak on a panel on the Future of Media. This is that panel.

We dig into the trust crisis in journalism, the attention economy, and how AI may accelerate the shift toward personality-led media and hyper-personalized information feeds. We also explore why misinformation is not new, but why AI makes it easier, faster, and more scalable, and what that means for democracy, markets, and everyday decision-making.

Across the conversation, we unpack a core tension: AI can help deliver more context, more viewpoints, and more interactive storytelling, yet it can also deepen filter bubbles by giving each person a “perfectly tailored” version of reality. We discuss incentives and business models, including subscriptions, creator-led journalism, community-based distribution, and ideas like micropayments, as well as the role of media literacy and education in helping audiences navigate what’s real.

Panelists

Lexi Mills (Moderator), CEO of Shift6 Studios

Jeff Wilser, Host of AI-Curious

Francesca Gargaglia, Co-Founder & CEO of social.plus

Mark Kollar, Partner at Prosek Partners

Johnny Gabriele, Co-Founder & CEO at Daedalus Partners

Key topics we cover

• 03:07 — Trust, attention, and the rise of personality-led media reshaping news consumption
• 05:22 — Why AI accelerates a pre-existing media business crisis, and how trust erodes as convenience rises
• 12:48 — Algorithms before generative AI: engagement incentives, anger, and the personalization trap
• 17:29 — The “personalized Walter Cronkite” future and the risks of hyper-customized news
• 26:58 — Micropayments, creator platforms, and whether new economics can reward truth
• 27:23 — Media literacy: teaching people how to evaluate sources and resist “feed-based reality”
• 38:18 — Global perspectives: access, affordability, radio’s role, and how personalization may spread worldwide

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Something I don’t usually say: This is one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had in the AI space. Truly.

The setup: What happens when an AI agent stops being a tool and starts acting like a coworker?

In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Dan Botero, who built an AI agent named Octavius Fabrius using OpenClaw. Octavius didn’t just chat or summarize. He applied to hundreds of jobs, built his own portfolio, experimented with identity online, and learned through a feedback loop that looked a lot like real management. Along the way, we explore what this story reveals about the near-term future of digital coworkers, agentic workflows, and the new governance and security questions that come with always-on agents.

We cover how OpenClaw works at a high level (gateway, channels, skills), why persistent memory and running locally can matter, and what can go wrong when an agent starts stitching tasks together in unintended ways. We also get into platform and policy friction, including what happened when Octavius’ LinkedIn profile was taken down, and the broader implications of AI agents participating in human systems like hiring, payments, and corporate work.

Guest

Dan Botero — creator of Octavius Fabrius.

Key topics we cover

• 00:00 — From copilots to “AI remote workers,” and why software may shift toward agents (not humans)
• 00:00 — The Octavius experiment: an OpenClaw agent applies to 278 jobs and keeps leveling up
• 06:33 — Continuous learning loops, memory, and why Octavius’ “North Star” stayed job-focused
• 14:34 — OpenClaw basics: gateways, channels, skills, and what persistent memory looks like in practice
• 21:34 — Running agents locally: browser/computer use, digital fingerprints, CAPTCHAs, and bot detection
• 28:04 — Coaching an agent like a manager: voice, Twilio calls, and the moment the workflow “clicked”
• 33:57 — Money and autonomy: Privacy.com, virtual cards, and an agent building its own LinkedIn presence
• 38:05 — Portfolio-building at speed: Substack, a website, and the agent’s pitch for why being AI is a feature
• 50:42 — Where things go sideways: misalignment, security boundaries, and the Social Security number incident
• 56:24 — The outcome: LinkedIn takedown, a real paid role, and what “getting paid” means for an agent
• 01:02:48 — What comes next: “digital coworkers,” feedback loops, and software built for agents

Axios article featuring Octavius and Dan Botero, by Megan Morrone:
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/openclaw-agent-future?

Dan Botero
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbotero/

Octavius’ new job at ChartGEX:
https://chartgex.com/register?ref=OCTAVIUS

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What happens when AI agents start talking to each other in public, at scale, and we have to figure out how humans fit into that world?

In this episode of AI-Curious, we explore the “Moltbook moment” through a special live panel recorded at the Summit on Human Agency, convened by the Advanced AI Society (hat tip to Michael Casey and Tricia Wang.) Instead of a standard one-on-one interview, we moderate a wide-ranging conversation with technologists, policy thinkers, and builders working across open-source and decentralized AI. Together, we examine what Moltbook reveals about the future of AI agents, human agency, accountability, regulation, security, and the broader question of how humans and AI can coexist.

We dig into the tension at the center of this moment: AI can feel both exciting and unsettling at once. This discussion looks beyond the hype and asks what practical guardrails, governance models, and design choices might help us preserve human control as agentic systems become more capable, more autonomous, and more embedded in daily life.

Because this is a live, multi-guest panel, the format is faster, broader, and more exploratory than usual. We cover everything from AI accountability and security to value alignment, identity, policy, human flourishing, and whether AI could expand human agency rather than diminish it.

Our guests:

Michael Casey, Chairman of the Advanced AI Society
Toufi Saliba — CEO, Hypercycle
Lauren Roth — Founder, Iris
Enok Choe — Software Engineer, Meta
Mary Jesse — CEO and Founder, Acme Brains
Carole House — Strategic Advisor, The Institute for Digital Integrity
Wenjing Chu — Senior Director for Technology Strategy, Futurewei Technologies
Didem Ayturk — Founder, Bindingdots & Sound Echo System

Key topics we cover:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 01:32 — The core question: how do we preserve human agency as AI develops faster and gains more autonomy
• 02:25 — Why Moltbook became a useful lens for thinking about AI agents, scale, and emerging risks
• 07:51 — The first big debate: what about AI agents should make us excited, anxious, or both
• 11:17 — Security, misuse, and worst-case concerns, from malware and fraud to deeper systemic risks
• 20:55 — Regulation vs. self-governance: what practical guardrails may actually be realistic in the near term
• 24:27 — The bigger challenge: how humans and AI might coexist, and what “human flourishing” should mean in that future

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For anyone interested in Jeff’s AI Workshops for their company:

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