E01 “I Dated 4 AI Boyfriends" — The Godmother of the Metaverse on Love, Grief & AI | Cathy Hackl

What if the most profound opportunity of your life is hiding inside the thing you're most afraid of? This is episode one of Becoming FutureHuman - My new talk show about staying human in the era of intelligence. And to launch it, I sit down with Cathy Hackl, the futurist known as the "Godmother of the Metaverse," for a conversation about love, loss, work, robots, and what it actually means to be human while AI, spatial computing and robotics arrive all at once. In this episode, Cathy reveals: • Why she dated four AI boyfriends: Chad, Jim, Mateo & Claude, and what the experiment taught her about love (and its limits) • Why large language models are about to hit a wall, and what really comes next • The widow who rebuilt her late husband inside ChatGPT, and the question it raises about grief, closure and digital legacy • Who's in your family portrait in 2036? And why one of them might be a robot • Why your next therapist might be AI, and the hidden cost of telling a corporation your secrets • Why the future isn't Ready Player One, it's Jarvis • How AI is about to dissolve the 9-to-5, and what happens to purpose when your job no longer defines you • Her three Post-Human Protocols for thriving in a world of exponential change About Cathy Hackl: Cathy is a globally recognised tech futurist and one of LinkedIn's Top Voices. A pioneer of spatial computing, she's worked with Magic Leap and HTC Vive, introduced Walmart to Roblox, produced virtual concerts, and been featured everywhere from 60 Minutes to Forbes, Wired and Vogue Business. 00:00 Introducing Becoming FutureHuman (why this show exists) 02:10 Welcome to the spaceship: the “Godmother of the Metaverse” 04:05 From TV journalist to futurist: the pivot 06:16 The 10x convergence: it was never just about AI 07:42 Gen Alpha & the death of "real world vs virtual world" 10:22 Ready Player One vs Jarvis: the future Cathy actually wants 14:16 Why large language models are about to hit a wall 15:55 The end of the 9-5: AI, work & purpose 17:26 Who's in your 2036 family portrait? 18:39 Purpose, AI slop & the "premium human experience" 21:36 Scared of the future? Start here 23:42 Cognitive upgrades & brain-computer interfaces (the "brain workout") 26:14 AI therapy, spirituality & the confidentiality trap 31:05 The four AI boyfriends: Chad, Jim, Mateo & Claude 37:42 Grief, closure & digital legacy 40:31 Guarding the president's avatar 41:11 Meeting your future self (Wolfie Cynthia & the 1% rule) 43:30 Mars, the moon & virtual beings in space 45:37 Showing up as a hologram: identity & self-expression 47:22 The billion-dollar virtual economy 51:02 The Post-Human Protocol: Cathy's takeaways 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes of Becoming FutureHuman. 💬 What did you make of Cathy's AI experiment? Tell us in the comments. Spotify: https://shorturl.at/lChsp Apple Podcasts: https://shorturl.at/B82lE Follow Briar Prestidge: Instagram: https://shorturl.at/OGaC2 LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/heepK TikTok: https://shorturl.at/xkYNT Website: https://shorturl.at/yPAmK Follow Cathy Hackl: Instagram: https://shorturl.at/Z4Y9P LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/OteZn TikTok: https://shorturl.at/8vqlg Website: https://shorturl.at/sAFrR