Storytelling with Impact

Are We Still Human If Robots Help Raise Our Babies? – Sarah Blaffer Hrdy at TED2025

July 5, 2025/in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Family, Humanity, TED Talk/by Mark Lovett

We were all babies at one point in time, and as we couldn’t care for ourselves, that responsibility fell to one or more adults. Typically our parents, but in some cases other relatives. In any event, our upbringing was a matter of human-to-human contact. But what about in the future? With AI and robotics advancing rapidly, will non-humans begin playing a role in raising future generations?

In her brief talk at TED2025, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy reminds us of the process that’s been in place for many thousands of years, and poses this exact question. As an anthropologist and primatologist, as well as a Professor Emerita, Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis, Sarah has unique insights on this issue.

Artificial intelligence is going to change the nature of human work. But will it change human nature?

An interesting point that Sarah brings up is that neuroscientists have detected activity in brain regions associated with social understanding in young babies when interacting with people, demonstrating early social wiring in their brains. Which had me wondering whether that would still be true with a robot.

Soon, robots will be programmed to provide a wider range of services, ranging from bottle-feeding to keeping babies safe, warm, cleaned, and even educated.

To be honest, this is one talk that I feel should have been five minutes longer. It felt as if the question was posed, some background offered, but little attention paid to the answer. For me, this highlighted the fallacy of “less is more”. In this case, less was definitely less, to the point that the message fell short.

Transcript

I guess you’ve already figured out, like it or not, artificial intelligence is going to change the nature of human work. But will it change human nature? That’s going to depend on what we do with it.

Right away, the mother and the grandmother in me wants to know, “Ooh, hey, can we program robots to help us care for our sleep-depriving, time-consuming babies?” That’s before the evolutionary anthropologist in me cautions, “Whoa. Shouldn’t we first ask why such costly, costly, slow-maturing babies evolved in the first place?”

For that, we need to go back, oh, six million years, to when humans last shared a common ancestor with other apes. Babies back then, like this common chimpanzee baby today, would have to be held in skin-to-skin contact, never out of touch, not for a minute of the day or night for months after birth, nursed for years.

It just seemed natural to assume that among the bipedal apes in the line leading to the genus Homo, babies could similarly expect single-mindedly dedicated maternal care.

Until, that is, anthropologists figured out how hard it would have been for bipedal apes with only stone-age tools to survive and escape extinction in the face of climate change and other Pleistocene perils.

To stay fed and manage to still rear their helpless, helpless, slow-maturing babies, mothers needed help. Unless male and female group members other than the mother, allomothers, had helped to care for and provision babies, there is no way we humans could have evolved.

Fortunately for us, as brains were getting bigger and distinctively human prefrontal cortices were taking shape, our ancestors were increasingly sharing food and sharing care of children. Neural circuits crucial for mutual understanding co-evolved right along with shared care.

Fast forward to the ever-faster changing modern world. Mothers still labor to help support their families, as mothers always have. But many no longer live in mutually supportive communities, with kin far away and even with dads helping more, allomothers were in short supply.

Good daycare, even if available, unaffordable. No wonder parents everywhere use devices to keep their babies monitored and entertained. Already, 40% of US two-year-olds have their own tablets. Soon, robots will be programmed to provide a wider range of services, ranging from bottle-feeding to keeping babies safe, warm, cleaned, and even educated.

But given the role of engagement with others in the emergence of mutual understanding, is this a good idea? Think back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Still living and rearing children as people in this iconic photograph, taken about half a century ago among African foragers. Babies then, to stay safe, still needed to be held by somebody.

But that somebody did not have to be their mother. Right after birth, others might reach for the baby. This mother who has just given birth allows others to gather around. She’s passed her baby to her own mother to massage its scalp. If one of these allomothers happens to be nursing, the baby’s first sweet taste of milk will come from her.

Soon, babies will be monitoring nearby others, deciding who responds, figuring out how best to engage and appeal to them. By six months, the sharp little milk teeth are peeking through their gums, their appeals might be rewarded with kiss-fed treats, maybe honey-sweetened saliva or premasticated meat.

And babies soon are learning to reciprocate, starting to share. Babies everywhere will just spontaneously offer food to somebody else, anybody, really. Active agents in their own survival, babies are flexible about who or what they attach or consider as family.

Something to keep in mind if robots are programmed to respond even more rapidly and reliably than preoccupied parents do. And as they get older, they will spontaneously point to things, or hold something out, as if saying, “What do you think of this? What should I think of this?”

Eager to engage with other minds and learn what they’re thinking. They care. They care very much who notices them do something nice, like a toddler rushing to pick up something someone has dropped and hand it back. They care not just with what others think, but with what others think about them, their reputations.

As developmental psychologists were learning just how “other-regarding” human babies are, neuroscientists using new baby-friendly technologies made a surprising discovery. With a soft, wired cap slipped on the baby’s head, neural activity was detected in the medial prefrontal cortex, long before most neuroscientists even assumed it was active yet. As babies process eye gaze, actions, deciding who to trust, emulate, and love.

Little humans process their physical world in much the same way other apes do. Nothing much different there. It’s in these social realms where they really differ. Inter-subjective sensibilities starting to emerge early in life, right along with targeted social smiles.

Brain circuitry that evolved to help babies elicit care and survive, prepared our ancestors to mature into adults able to communicate and cooperate in new ways, whether constructing shelters or processing and sharing food, or eventually, one day, collaborating with widely dispersed others in order to send robots to Mars.

Tens of thousands of years from now, assuming Homo sapiens aiensis is still around, whether on this planet or some other, I have no doubt that they will be bipedal, symbol-generating apes, technologically proficient in ways we can’t even dream of yet.

But will they still be human in the way we think of humans today? Interested in the thoughts and emotions of others, eligible for mutual understanding? That’s going to depend on how, by whom, or what they are reared.

Thank you.

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Shahram Izadi: The Next Computer? Your Glasses @ TED 2025

April 18, 2025/in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, TED Talk/by Mark Lovett

Now that the 2025 version of the TED Conference has concluded, I’ll be posting a series of articles that will highlight some of the best talks. And their new tagline, “Ideas Change Everything”, inspired me to come up with a similar phrase, which is, “Personal Stories Change Everything”, so watch these talks through a lens of improving your own storytelling prowess.

In this talk from Shahram Izadi, titled, The Next Computer? Your Glasses, we get a glimpse into a future technology that brings the power of AI into our daily lives by way of eye-ware. Adopting the metaphor of seeing the world anew, this demo exceeded my expectations, and it had me wondering how our view of the world might change in the coming years.

Shahram Izadi is a British-Iranian computer scientist known for his contributions in extended reality, augmented reality, computer vision, human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. ~ Wikipedia

Are you ready for this technology upgrade? And what if everyone were wearing these glasses? If the purpose is simply to provide information, it wouldn’t seem to be problem, but what if these glasses came with face recognition capability? Maybe there will be security protocols in place to prevent that, but anyone with the technological prowess could (I imagine) bypass such limitations.

It’s interesting to ponder how all our experiences, and thus our personal stories, could be transformed by the wave of AI technology that is soon coming our way. Our smartphones are becoming AI aware already. So they can perform tasks for us, which is cool, but every interaction will be tracked by the applications we’re using. Are you okay with that? I’m on the fence at the moment.

If you enjoyed this article…

Transcript

Shahram Izadi: For our entire lives, we’ve been living for a computing revolution. Many of you here in this room have contributed to it, with leaps forward in compute, connectivity, mobile technologies, and now AI. For my part, I’ve dedicated my entire career to augmented reality, fusing the real world with computing experiences.

I started this journey about 25 years ago for my PhD. It might sound groundbreaking, but check out these early prototypes. The technology was really primitive back then, but the potential felt limitless when we were experimenting in that university lab.

What I didn’t know at that time was that many of the fundamental innovations for my work would come from AI researchers in a different lab. While I was helping computers see the world, these AI researchers were helping computers reason about the world.

Since then, large language models and multimodal reasoning have enabled richer language and image understanding. These models are now fast enough for live conversations where the AI can act on your behalf and, most importantly, with your permission.

And augmented reality and virtual reality has moved computing from the rectangular screen to the 360 immersive display to now even the world itself becoming the display. We now refer to this broad collection of experiences as extended reality or XR.

Until now, these innovations have occurred separately and in silos. Well here comes act two of the computing revolution. AI and XR are converging, unlocking radical new ways to interact with technology on your terms.

Computers will become more lightweight and personal. They will share your vantage point, understand your real-world context and have a natural interface that’s both simple and conversational.

Countless people and companies are innovating in this space, including many on the TED stage this week. We’re excited to contribute to this momentum with Android XR. It’s an operating system we’re building with Samsung that brings XR hardware together with Gemini, our AI assistant, to augment human intelligence.

It can support a broad range of devices, from headsets to glasses to form factors we haven’t even dreamed of yet. OK, let me show you where we’re heading by inviting my colleague Nishtha to the stage. Welcome, Nishtha.

(Applause)

Nishtha Bhatia: Hi.

SI: These ordinary-looking glasses are packed full of technology. A miniaturized camera and microphones give the AI the ability to see and hear the world. Speakers let you listen to the AI and play music or even take calls. And these glasses also have a tiny, high-resolution in-lens display that’s full color that I’m holding in my hand. It’s very, very small.

These glasses work with your phone streaming back and forth, allowing the glasses to be very lightweight and access all your phone apps. And if you’re wondering, I’m actually wearing the glasses too. They’re actually helping me see all of you in the audience because they have prescription lenses inside them. But they’re also displaying my speaker notes for me as well.

(Laughter)

For this demo, you’ll see what Nishtha is seeing on the screen behind her. And this is the very first time we’re showing these glasses in public. So this is going to be a live demo of conceptual hardware, early software. What could go wrong? Nishtha, best of luck. No pressure.

NB: Amazing. Alright, let’s just make sure that these glasses are shown on the screen behind us. OK.

[Glasses screen off]

Awesome.

(Applause)

NB: Now I’m going to launch Gemini.

Gemini: Hello there.

NB: Hi, Gemini. Can you start us off with something fun and creative, and write a haiku for what I’m seeing right now?

G: Sure. Faces all aglow. Eager minds await the words. Sparks of thought ignite.

SI: Some anxious but happy faces as well, yeah. As you can see, the AI sees what Nishtha sees, hears what she hears and is responding in real time. But that’s just table stakes. I think everyone in this audience has seen demos like this before. Let’s actually step it up a notch with something we call Memory. For a rolling contextual window, the AI remembers what you see without having to be told what to keep track of.

NB: So you guys may have noticed I snuck a peek back at the shelf a moment ago.
I wasn’t paying attention, but let’s see if Gemini was. Hey, did you happen to catch the title of the white book that was on the shelf behind me?

G: The white book is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.

NB: That is absolutely right. So let’s try something harder. I keep losing my hotel key card. Do you know where I last left the card?

G: The hotel key card is to the right of the music record.

NB: Great.

SI: For someone as forgetful as me, that’s a killer app. OK, this AI is inherently multimodal. So it’s using visual data and natural language to digest complex queries in real time while remembering your past context. Nishtha, let’s see some more.

NB: Yeah, let’s bring this book back. So I don’t really have time to read it right now. But I wonder if Gemini might be able to help me summarize what’s going on. Like, I don’t know. What does this diagram mean? It looks complex.

G: This diagram is labeled “The Habit Line” and illustrates the process of habit formation. It shows how automaticity increases with repetitions until a habit is formed.

NB: OK.

SI: Now imagine being able to communicate and understand any language. The AI can shift its output to speak different languages with dialects and accents that feel human and natural.

NB: Yeah, let’s go to this sign over here. Can you translate this to English for me?

G: The sign states: “Private property, no trespassing.”

SI: OK, let’s prove this is a live demo. Does anyone in the audience have a suggestion for a different language to translate to?

Audience: Farsi.

SI: Farsi. We tried Farsi, it failed last time, but let’s try it again.

NB: Do you want to try Farsi?

SI: Because I do speak Farsi. It’s my mother tongue, so thank you.

NB: Gemini, let’s just give this a shot. Can you translate this sign to Farsi for us?

G: (Speaking Farsi)

SI: Great, awesome. It speaks Farsi.

NB: That’s amazing. So, as Shahram mentioned, you all may have seen translation demos like this before, but what’s new now is that in addition to just saying things in a different language, I can also speak to Gemini in another language. I know Hindi, so let’s give this a shot.

(Speaks Hindi)

G: (Speaks Hindi)

NB: So Gemini said you all look focused and excited, and it has a better accent than I do.

(Laughter)

SI: Alright, now let’s see how the AI can connect the physical world with your digital content and take action.

NB: Yeah, let’s get some music going in here. OK, Gemini, why don’t you play us a track from this record?

GB: Sure, here’s “Bad Dreams” by Teddy Swims.

(Music)

SI: Perfect. In a few seconds, the AI recognized the album, looked up the tracklist and took action using the phone apps. OK, Nishtha, it does look like the demo gods are with us. Maybe with you more than me. Let’s do one last demo I know you’re keen to give.

NB: Yes, this is my first time in Vancouver, and I love going on walks. So why don’t you navigate me to a park nearby with views of the ocean?

G: OK, I am starting navigation to Lighthouse Park, which has magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

NB: Honestly, with these directions and a 3D map, I should be all set, and hopefully I won’t look like a tourist. Thank you all.

(Applause)

SI: Thank you, Nishtha, that was awesome. OK, we’ve seen glasses. Now let’s turn our attention to the other side of the spectrum: headsets. You’ve seen these types of devices before, but when we first brought AI to a headset, it completely caught me by surprise.

For this demo, we’re going to use the Project Moohan headset that Samsung is launching later this year. Compared to glasses, headsets give you an infinite display for getting work done or immersing yourself in a movie, or maybe a TED Talk at some point. Let me bring up my colleague Max to show us even more. Hey, Max.

Max Spear: Hello.

(Applause)

SI: And the same thing is going to go here. You’ll see exactly what Max is seeing behind on the screen. Go for it, Max.

MS: Let’s do it. You’ll notice we start grounded in the real world. And I’m going to control the entire system with my eyes, hands and voice. But where things get really interesting is when we invite Gemini in as this conversational companion that can come with us anywhere.

G: Hello.

MS: Hey, Gemini, can you bring up my trip planner for me, please?

G: Of course. Opening up your trip planner.

MS: Cool, but I left these windows really disorganized. Can you help with that?

G: Of course I can help with that.

SI: No clicks, no keyboards. It’s just a conversation. And the AI is taking action. OK, some more audience participation. Someone shout out a name of a place you want to visit.

Audience: Melbourne.
Audience: Cape Town.

SI: Let’s go to Cape Town.

Max: OK, sounds fun. Can you please take me to Cape Town?

G: Certainly. Let me help with organizing the windows.

SI (Laughs)

MS: Awesome. And can you also take me to Cape Town?

(Laughter)

G: I can certainly do that. Let me take you to Cape Town.

MS: And we’re very organized as we go there, perfect.

SI: As you can see, the AI is taking Max’s requests, figuring out how best to answer it, opening up the Maps app. And from there, he can actually explore anywhere in the world in this 3D view.

MS: OK, this is pretty incredible. Viewing the world from this angle, I can even zoom in to city levels. But what’s really interesting is having an AI here who can see what I see. Can you tell me more about the significance of this place?

G: I can indeed provide information about Table Mountain. Table Mountain holds a profound significance, deeply rooted in both its natural splendor and its rich cultural history. It has long been a spiritual and cultural symbol for the Indigenous Khoekhoe and San people.

MS: OK, very good, Gemini. I’ll come back to this later. It also does look like a table, that’s handy.

SI: OK, Max, let’s bring this closer to home. How about exploring winter sports, seeing that we’re in Vancouver.

MS: OK, let’s get some inspiration for Shahram. Can you please show me 360 videos of this?

[Powder snowboarding]

G: Sure, here are some 360-degree powder snowboarding videos.

MS: OK, I’m kind of new to snowboarding, so hopefully this video will help me learn. Although this looks already way more intense than I think I’m ready for. What was the name of that trick?

G: That’s a backside 540 with a grab.

SI: The AI knows exactly what Max is looking at, even in rich video content, and can answer any question in real-time. Max, are you sure this is Whistler?

MS: You know, Shahram, I actually have no idea. I’ve never been here before, but let’s find out. What run do you think this is?

G: It’s probably one of the ungroomed runs in summit bowl or the top section of West Ridge on Mount Bachelor, as they are close to the summit and face north towards Three Sisters and Broken Top, the prominent mountains visible in the background.

MS: OK, Mount Bachelor, Oregon, got it.

SI: OK, let’s have a little bit of fun now. Let’s have AI narrate this video. Somebody in the audience, shout out a fun narration style like, nature documentary or something like that.

Audience: Morgan Freeman.

SI: We can’t do actors, but we’ll get to that at some point. Any other suggestions?

Audience: Movie trailer.
Audience: Horror movie.

SI: Horror movie. That’s going to be — it might be gory, but let’s go for it.

MS: Slightly dark, but let’s do it. Can you please describe what you’re seeing as if you’re an overly enthusiastic character in a horror movie?

G: Oh, darling, this is simply marvelous. A desolate mountain scape. How delightfully ominous. Prepare for a chilling dance with the unknown. Where every gust of wind whispers tales of icy terror and lurking shadows.

MS: OK, Gemini, that’s great. Return to more positive things another day.

SI: OK, Max, I know there’s one last demo, and you’ve been apparently practicing your farming skills?

MS: Yes, Shahram, I’ve been excited to get back to my rural roots and also embrace one of my favorite things, which is playing games. But it becomes a whole new, next-level experience when you have an AI by your side, both to help keep you company as you play, but also to help you learn how to play these kinds of games in the first place. So, for example, what do you think I should do next here?

G: It looks like this is early in the game in “Stardew Valley.” You need to earn money, so try planting some seeds. First, use your hoe to till the soil, and then plant your seeds. It looks like you have some parsnips. Since it isn’t raining, you’ll also need to water them with your watering can.

MS: Seems like a lot, and maybe robots will do this for us one day, but for now, I’m going to have to return back to my farm later. For one last thing, can you please give a playful two-sentence summary of all the ground we covered today?

G: We soared from organizing a digital realm to traversing snowy mountains, and even found time to farm some virtual parsnips. Quite the adventure today.

MS: Quite the adventure, indeed. Thanks, Gemini.

(Applause)

SI: Fantastic, thank you Max. We’re entering an exciting new phase of the computing revolution. Headsets and glasses are just the beginning. All this points to a single vision of the future, a world where helpful AI will converge with lightweight XR. XR devices will become increasingly more wearable, giving us instant access to information.

While AI is going to become more contextually aware, more conversational, more personalized, working with us on our terms and in our language. We’re no longer augmenting our reality, but rather augmenting our intelligence.

Thank you so much.

My Concluding Thoughts

In my experience, most of the personal stories I’ve encounter live in the analog world. Yes, the internet plays a role from time to time — social media & dating apps, etc. — but it’s more of a sideline.

AI, however, is a different sort of digital beast. One that is increasingly infiltrating every corner of our daily endeavors. And I’m wondering how that will change our perception. If this TED Talk is an indicator of future trends, the shift could be big.

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Carole Cadwalladr: This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like @ TED 2025

April 14, 2025/in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Society, Technology, TED Talk/by Mark Lovett

Having spent my career in the computer industry, I’ve long been fascinated by digital technology. For most of those years, my experience was positive. Every invention, every new plateau of features and performance only increased my wonderment and appreciation. The internet’s potential was so mind-boggling.

And that positive viewpoint continued into the early days of social media, but began to sour as those platforms devolved into the hot mess they are today. (that topic is worthy of a very long article, but I’ll spare you for now)

When artificial intelligence came to my attention around 5 years ago it seemed interesting, but to be honest, I didn’t see how it would benefit me. After all, my passion is helping people tell impactful personal stories — stories based on an experience or an idea — so I didn’t see AI as a meaningful tool. But 2 years ago their potential became more apparent. The way in which they could assimilate information made search engines look like Ford Model Ts.

But my enthusiasm became a bit tarnished as I explored the technology further. Not only were all those LLMs (Large Language Models) being trained on massive amounts of intellectual property that was never paid for, they were also sucking up increasing amounts of personal data. And as many other software programs and apps wove AI into their code, that trend continued to accelerate.

Is the greatest technological invention becoming the greatest threat to humanity?

That’s what I started to wonder, as it seemed to me from recent reports that any sense of morality in the AI space was being pushed aside in an effort to “win” the race for dominance. The icing on the cake came when the Silicon Valley oligarchy bowed down to the oligarchy residing in Washington D.C.

So I was keenly interested in hearing Carole Cadwalladr‘s take on this situation when she spoke at the 2025 TED Conference. Carole was an important figure in exposing the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, so she was no stranger to the potential for tech to subvert democracy and cause great harm to society.

The Russian and American presidents are now speaking the same words. They are telling the same lies. We are watching the collapse of the international order in real time, and this is just the start. Coups are like concrete. When they stop moving, they set. It is already later than we think.

Her talk was a chilling reminder of other times in history when the power-elite ignored the rights and needs of the many to satisfy their own maniacal need for wealth and power. When there is no check-and-balance — which is the case in the United States, as the current administration will make no effort to protect citizen’s rights — things always go from bad to worse.

Follow the data. It’s always the data. It’s the crack cocaine of Silicon Valley. You know, the first thing that Elon Musk did was to send his cyber troops into the US Treasury to get access to the data. That is not a coincidence, it’s a hack.

Time will tell how this story will play out, but my big concern is that the personal stories of millions (if not billions) will be adversely affected by some of the ways in which AI is being utilized. With honor and integrity in short supply, this is one topic worth paying close attention to. The next 2-3 years will be most critical.

I’ve worked with a lot of speakers who have important stories to tell on a range of subjects, from the science of climate change to their efforts intended to bring peace to the world or how to improve the education system. As you listen to her story, think about how your expertise could enlighten an audience and inspire them to think differently about an important topic.

If you enjoyed this article…

Transcript

I’ve been feeling a lot of panic and fear about this talk, and not just from the normal reasons of public speaking, although that’s there too. But it’s also because I want to say something meaningful, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the enormity of what is happening right now.

And there’s a particular set of circumstances which have also been feeding into my confusion and denial. And that is because the last time that I stood on this stage, it led to a three-year legal battle, culminated in London’s High Court, in which it felt like I was on trial for my life, because I was. My career, my reputation, my finances, even my home was on the line.

All because I came here to warn you that I didn’t think democracy was going to survive the technology that you’re building, however incredible it is. In fact, I was the person who almost didn’t survive. And pretty much everything that I was warning about is now coming true.

I can’t sugarcoat it. It’s a bit of a headfuck.

I have a lot of emotions about coming here, and TED also, I suspect, is feeling them too. But what actually I finally realized yesterday is that the denial and the confusion that I’ve been feeling is maybe what you’re feeling too.

I felt powerless for a really long time. So if that’s what you’re feeling, I get it. But we have to act now. My alarm system is ringing again.

There are things that we can do. In my case, I survived, and you will too. But it’s by learning how to fight back. This is my guide, and it has to start with naming it.

It’s a coup. I know you probably don’t want to hear that, and especially here, but we can’t fight it if we can’t see it, and we can’t see it if we don’t name it.
(Applause)

The Russian and American presidents are now speaking the same words. They are telling the same lies. We are watching the collapse of the international order in real time, and this is just the start. Coups are like concrete. When they stop moving, they set. It is already later than we think.

This image – some of you in this room might know these people. I call it “Tech Bros in Hostage Situations.” It’s a message to you. This is Putin’s playbook. He allows a business elite to make untold riches in exchange for absolute loyalty. Some people are calling this oligarchy, but it’s actually bigger than that. These are global platforms.

It’s broligarchy.

(Laughter and Applause)

There is an alignment of interests that runs from through Silicon Valley to what is now a coming autocracy. It’s a type of power that the world has never seen before.

Follow the data. It’s always the data. It’s the crack cocaine of Silicon Valley. You know, the first thing that Elon Musk did was to send his cyber troops into the US Treasury to get access to the data. That is not a coincidence, it’s a hack. That data is now feeding AIs that are choosing who to sack and who to replace – sorry, eliminate fraud and waste.

(Laughter)

When we broke the Cambridge Analytica story about the harvesting 87 million people’s Facebook data, people freaked out, rightly. This is chicken feed compared to that, but it is the blueprint. It’s always the data.

Protect your private life. Which is why it’s so important you start thinking about your private life. The broligarchy doesn’t want you to have one. This is the old headquarters of the East German secret police. They kept detailed files on almost one in three of their citizens. That is nothing compared to what Google has on every single one of us, and hundreds of other companies. The entire business model of Silicon Valley is surveillance. It harvests our data in order to sell us stuff. We are already living inside the architecture of totalitarianism.

(Applause)

It may not have been deliberate, but we now have to start acting as if we live in East Germany, and Instagram is the Stasi.

Politics is downstream from culture. So I actually learned this from somebody who I think of as one of the great philosophers of our age: Steve Bannon.

(Laughter)

He actually stole it from somebody else. But it’s not politicians who have the power. He knows that. It’s why he’s a podcast bro these days. But culture now is just what’s next on your phone. And that’s AI. Culture is AI now. And forget the killer robots. If you want to know what the first great AI apocalypse is, we’re already living it. It’s total information collapse.

And if you take one thing only away from this talk, it’s:

Politics is technology now. And that’s why everybody in this room, you can’t look away. It’s why your CEOs have been taken captive and are paraded on TV like hostages. But you, you have a choice.

Individuals are stronger than institutions. So Trump, he calls the press the enemies of the people, and he probably doesn’t even know that he’s quoting Stalin. So, what happened to me is a playbook, and it’s now coming for all sorts of other people.

It was actually a friend of this guy who came after me, Nigel Farage, it’s a Brexit funder. I’m not going to go super into the details. But 19, sorry, 19 press freedom organizations called the lawsuit against me a SLAPP. That means it’s a strategic litigation against public participation. A really long-winded way of saying it’s using law as a weapon to shut people up, not just journalists, but other public people too, and it works.

I just want to tell you about one aspect of the litigation which I found terrifying, and that was the data harvesting. There’s this quote, you may know it, Cardinal Richelieu: “If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.” In my case, the first forensic searches of my phone and laptop yielded 40,000 pieces of data.

This is my messages, my emails, my voice memos, my personal life. And the whole thing about this, the attack which came for me was really personal, because the thing about this litigation isn’t is only one part of the playbook. It was also this sort of massive online campaign of abuse which is just day after day after day after day after day because my most unforgivable crime was reporting while female. It was a digital witch burning.

And I believe that this man came after me personally, not because the Guardian and not Ted, it was because I looked like the weakest link. But he was wrong.

(Applause)

30,000 people rose up to support me. They contributed almost a million pounds to a legal defense fund because they saw a bully trying to crush me, and they would not let it stand. And it always makes me emotional when I think about that. I just heard somebody was saying the camera person, I don’t know where they are, contributed.

This whole talk is actually my gratitude towards everybody who did that. But it’s also why I know about what we have to do next. You know, Trump is suing news organizations and every day they’re settling. These are big corporates with corporate interests. Not everybody can stand up to power, but there are people who are doing it, and we can support them. We have to have each other’s backs right now because we are the cavalry now.

There are facts & we can know them. You know, this is really important to me, but I spoke to a UK libel lawyer before this talk. I want to say that there is an awful lot of facts set down in a High Court judgment. And we’re actually taking the case now to the European Court of Human Rights. We’re testing the UK on its laws around freedom of expression.

So look after facts, you’ll miss them when they’ve gone. This is Wayback Machine, give them money. They’re trying to preserve the internet as it’s being deleted day by day.

(Applause)

History is our best chance of getting out of this. You know, you probably know this phrase, “Do not obey in advance.” That’s Tim Snyder, who’s a historian of authoritarianism. We now are in techno-authoritarianism. We have to learn how to digitally disobey. That can be as simple as the drop-down box: Don’t accept the cookies, don’t give your real name, download Signal, the encrypted messaging app. Don’t bomb Yemen. Don’t add the editor of The Atlantic to your group chats.

(Laughter)

Don’t experiment on children. Ah, don’t experiment on children. You know, social mores change. We don’t send children down coal mines anymore. And in years to come, allowing your child to be data harvested from birth will be considered child abuse. You didn’t know, but now you do. Privacy is power.

And we have more of it than we think. I had this little epiphany yesterday in which I realized actually the moments when I felt most powerless were the moments that I felt I was actually most powerful. It was because my journalism had impact.

We have more power than we think. They want us to feel powerless, that’s the plan. There is so much though that we can learn from people who’ve been through this before. Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition, he always talked about a beautiful Russia of the future. He painted a vision. There is a beautiful internet of the future, free from corporate capture and data tracking. We can build it. It is going to take a movement, but we can learn from movements that there have been before us.

This is my colleagues and I on strike in December because my news organization, The Guardian, decided to sell our corner of it, The Observer, the Sunday title. And it was a battle we really didn’t need at this time, and we didn’t actually win. But, you know, you can’t win every battle, but you definitely won’t win if you don’t fight.

So I’m gonna, I want to leave you with this. This is ChatGPT writing a TED Talk in the style of Carole Cadwalladr. And it is creepily plausible. But what it doesn’t know, because AI is actually as dumb as a rock, is that I am going to turn to Sam Altman, who is coming here, a Ted speaker, and say that this does not belong to you. ChatGPT has been trained on my IP, my labor, my personal data.

(Applause)

And I did not consent. You know, The Guardian has effectively got rid of more than 100 journalists. We actually leave the building next week. And shortly afterwards, it signed a syndication deal with OpenAI. Or as I think of it, it married its rapist. But I do not consent. And while we still have copyright laws in my country – government, UK government is trying to tear them up at the moment in order to suck up to Silicon Valley and Trump – but while we have them, use them. Because what is happening to my industry is happening to yours too. And it’s more than theft, it’s a violation. Data rights are human rights.

(Applause)

In 2019, I came here and I called out the gods of Silicon Valley. I was wrong. Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, you are not gods. You are men, and you are careless.

(Standing Ovation)

You think that by allying yourself with an autocrat, you will be protected. That’s not how history works. It’s not even how oligarchy works. This is Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He was an oligarch until he was sent to Siberia to prison for 10 years after Putin tired of him. You are sucking up to a tyrant who is trying to destroy the laws who made your businesses possible. You are collaborators. You are complicit in a regime of fear and cruelty.

But the rest of us, we all here, we have a choice. I chose to come back to Ted because I’m reclaiming my story, my words.

(Applause)

We are not powerless. The 30,000 people who supported me proved that. We are not powerless because we know who we are, and we know what we stand for. And my question to Silicon Valley is: Do you?

Thank you.

(Standing Ovation)

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Understanding Narrative Transportation Using Claude AI

April 11, 2025/in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Language, Narrative, Nonfiction, Storytelling/by Mark Lovett

In the past four posts we looked at Embracing Narrative Transportation as a technique to enhance the impact of personal stories. I enjoy writing articles about storytelling, of course, but I’ve been utilizing AI (Artificial Intelligence) throughout the past year as a way to expand my research capabilities.

I have to say, it’s amazing to watch these Chatbots in action. They are fast, and comprehensive in their reach, but they don’t replace humans as they still don’t have human experiences that we have, but they are able to locate and analyze information much faster than any human can. And that capability will improve dramatically in the future.

So I decided to see what some of the latest chatbots had to say about the topic of Narrative Transportation with regards to crafting impactful personal stories. In part five, I asked Claude AI what it thought. Similar to the previous post I did using Perplexity AI, I began with an opening prompt, then asked two questions.

Although it’s another long article, if you’re interested in the intersection of AI and storytelling, it’s a worthwhile read. I also invite you to use AI as a tool to help you research topics that are part of your personal narrative.

Prompt

I’m trying to understand the topic of Narrative Transportation in depth, as it relates to storytelling in general, but more specifically, how we can use Narrative Transportation to create impactful personal narratives.

Response

Creating Impactful Personal Narratives

Narrative transportation is a fascinating psychological concept that describes how we become mentally “transported” into stories. It’s that immersive experience where you lose track of your surroundings as you’re absorbed into a narrative world.

The Mechanics of Narrative Transportation

Narrative transportation happens when several elements come together:

Attention: Your focus shifts from the real world to the story world
Emotional involvement: You develop feelings for characters and situations
Mental imagery: You create vivid mental pictures of what’s happening
Temporary suspension of disbelief: You accept the narrative reality

When these elements work together effectively, you experience reduced critical thinking about the narrative content and increased emotional response—essentially, you’re “carried away” by the story.

Creating Impactful Personal Narratives

Applying narrative transportation to personal storytelling can be quite powerful:

Vivid sensory details: Include specific sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures to help others imagine your experience more vividly
Emotional authenticity: Connect your experience to universal emotional themes (struggle, triumph, loss, discovery) that resonate with listeners
Character development: Position yourself as a relatable protagonist with clear motivations, flaws, and growth
Narrative arc: Structure your story with a beginning (context/setup), middle (conflict/challenge), and end (resolution/insight)
Imagery and metaphor: Use figurative language to create mental pictures that stick with your audience
Pacing and tension: Create moments of anticipation and release to maintain engagement
Reflection and meaning: Connect your personal experience to broader insights about human nature or universal truths

Prompt

I’m very interested in the concept of Psychological Realism (Believability) as relates to how impactful stories are crafted – how does someone achieve this goal?

Response

Psychological Realism in Storytelling

Psychological realism is crucial for creating impactful narratives that deeply transport readers. It’s that quality that makes characters and situations feel authentically human, even in fantastical settings.

How to Achieve Psychological Realism

1. Complex, Consistent Character Psychology

Mixed motivations – People rarely act for single, simple reasons
Internal contradictions – Our desires often conflict with each other
Psychological consistency – Actions should align with established personality, even when surprising
Evolution, not transformation – People change gradually, not overnight

2. Authentic Emotional Dynamics

Emotional specificity – Move beyond basic emotions (sad, happy) to nuanced states (wistful, ambivalent)
Proportional reactions – Match emotional responses to the significance of events
Emotional consequences – Show how experiences shape future perceptions and choices
Subtext – Include what’s left unsaid but still influences behavior

3. Relatable Decision-Making Processes

Contextualized choices – Decisions make sense within a character’s background and circumstances
Flawed reasoning – People use imperfect information and cognitive biases
Values in conflict – Show characters navigating competing priorities
Moments of hesitation – Include the uncertainty that precedes meaningful choices

4. Authentic Relationships and Interactions

Layered relationships – Real connections have history, power dynamics, and unspoken rules
Realistic dialogue – People rarely say exactly what they mean or speak in perfect paragraphs
Social dynamics – Incorporate how others influence thoughts and behaviors
Evolving relationships – Show how connections change over time and through circumstances

5. Psychological Depth in Narrative Voice

Interior access – Give glimpses into thought processes, not just observable actions
Unreliable narration – Consider how perception is subjective and limited
Psychological detail – Include small observations that reveal character
Interiority – Show the gap between public presentation and private experience

When narratives achieve psychological realism, readers find themselves deeply transported because they recognize the authentic humanity in the story, creating that powerful connection that makes the experience stick with them long after the story ends.

Prompt

Let’s change topic. I’m also interested in how the Coherence of Narrative Elements can improve the impact of a personal story.

Response

Coherence of Narrative Elements

<Narrative coherence is essential for creating impactful personal stories. When all elements work together harmoniously, your story becomes more immersive and meaningful.
Key Elements of Narrative Coherence
1. Thematic Unity

Central theme alignment: Every element (characters, events, details) reinforces your core message or insight
Symbolic consistency: Recurring symbols or motifs that build meaning throughout the narrative
Purpose clarity: Each included element serves the story’s ultimate purpose

2. Structural Integrity

Logical progression: Events connect causally rather than just chronologically (“this happened, which led to this”)
Proportional development: More significant moments receive more attention and detail
Pattern recognition: Creating recognizable structures that help audiences anticipate and process information
Balanced pacing: Alternating between tension and release to maintain engagement

3. Character Consistency

Motivation clarity: Actions that clearly connect to established character traits and goals
Authentic growth: Character development that evolves naturally from experiences
Relationship coherence: Interactions that reflect established dynamics between people

4. Emotional Resonance

Emotional throughlines: Consistent emotional currents that evolve but remain connected
Emotional payoffs: Setting up emotional investments that receive meaningful resolution
Congruent tone: Maintaining an appropriate emotional atmosphere that matches content

5. Contextual Integration

Setting-character harmony: Environments that reflect and influence the people within them
Cultural consistency: Social dynamics and worldviews that remain internally coherent
Historical continuity: Accounting for how past events shape present circumstances

Practical Applications for Personal Narratives

When crafting your personal story:

Identify the central insight or transformation that gives your story meaning
Select only details and events that contribute to this central thread
Create connections between seemingly disparate experiences
Establish patterns that help others see the meaningful structure of your experiences
Frame turning points as natural progressions rather than random occurrences

A coherent personal narrative doesn’t just describe what happened to you—it reveals why those experiences matter and how they connect to form a meaningful whole. This coherence is what enables others to extract value and insight from your story rather than just hearing a series of events.

My Conclusion

This concludes our journey of diving into the topic of Narrative Transportation from the perspective of artificial intelligence. If you read all five articles you’ll notice a fair amount of overlap, though each platform has a way of using it’s own language, and they each came up with a few concepts that the others didn’t cover.

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Understanding Narrative Transportation Using Perplexity AI

April 10, 2025/in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Language, Narrative, Nonfiction, Storytelling/by Mark Lovett

In a previous post I discussed Embracing Narrative Transportation as a way to enhance the impact of your personal stories. And while I enjoy writing articles about storytelling, I’ve been exploring AI (Artificial Intelligence) to broaden my research capabilities.

So I decided to see what some of the latest chatbots had to say about the topic of Narrative Transportation with regards to crafting impactful personal stories. In part four, I asked Perplexity what it thought. I took a different tack this time, beginning with an opening prompt, followed by two questions that looked into what happens when narrative transportation is used in a negative manner.

Prompt

I’m exploring the concept of Narrative Transportation as it relates to individuals telling impactful personal stories. Using the most authoritative sources, please provide a 2,000 word article, an outline of the narrative that identifies the primary elements, and a list of any other topics that you feel are related to the subject.

Part I – Narrative Transportation and the Power of Personal Storytelling

Introduction

Narrative transportation, a psychological concept, describes the immersive experience of being absorbed into a story. This phenomenon, first articulated by Richard Gerrig in 1993 and later expanded by Melanie Green and Timothy Brock, has profound implications for how individuals process, relate to, and are influenced by narratives.

When individuals are transported into a story, they experience emotional engagement, vivid mental imagery, and a temporary detachment from reality. This state can significantly impact attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, making narrative transportation a powerful tool for personal storytelling.

The Mechanics of Narrative Transportation

Narrative transportation occurs when individuals become deeply engrossed in a story. This process involves:

Focused Attention: The audience’s full cognitive resources are directed toward the narrative.
Emotional Engagement: Strong feelings toward the characters or events enhance immersion.
Mental Imagery: Vivid visualizations of the story’s world make it feel real.
Reduced Counterarguing: Immersed individuals are less likely to critically evaluate or argue against the narrative’s content[1][2][3].

The combination of these elements allows stories to bypass analytical scrutiny and resonate deeply with audiences. For example, when a personal story aligns with the listener’s experiences or values, it fosters empathy and identification, enhancing its persuasive power.

Applications in Personal Storytelling

Personal storytelling leverages narrative transportation to create impactful connections. By sharing relatable experiences with vivid details and emotional depth, storytellers can:

Foster Empathy: Listeners identify with the protagonist (often the storyteller), imagining themselves in similar situations[2][3].
Shape Attitudes: Stories can subtly influence beliefs by presenting relatable characters overcoming challenges.
Drive Behavioral Change: Narratives that model positive actions (e.g., health behaviors) inspire similar actions in listeners[2][4].

For instance, a cancer survivor sharing their journey may inspire others to adopt healthier lifestyles or seek timely medical advice.

Key Elements of an Effective Narrative

Effective narratives that leverage transportation typically include:

Characters: Relatable protagonists evoke empathy.
Temporality: A clear beginning, middle, and end structure events over time.
Causality: Logical cause-and-effect relationships between events enhance realism.
Conflict and Resolution: Challenges faced by characters keep audiences engaged and provide meaningful takeaways[3][4].

Challenges and Limitations

While narrative transportation is powerful, its effectiveness can vary based on:

Story Quality: Poorly constructed stories fail to engage audiences.
Audience Factors: Individual differences such as transportability (the tendency to be transported) or familiarity with the story’s themes affect immersion.
Medium of Delivery: Written, audio, or visual formats may influence how narratives are received[3][4].

Related Topics

Several related concepts expand on narrative transportation:

Narrative Persuasion: How stories influence attitudes and beliefs.
Self-referencing: How personal connections with narratives enhance persuasion.
Sleeper Effect: The delayed impact of narratives on attitudes over time.
Extended Transportation-Imagery Model (ETIM): A framework exploring how imagery enhances narrative effects[4][5].

Outline of a Narrative Using Narrative Transportation

Introduction

– Introduce the protagonist (e.g., “Meet Sarah, a young teacher passionate about education”).

– Set the stage (time, place, and context).

Conflict

– Present a challenge or crisis (e.g., “Sarah faces burnout after years of teaching in underfunded schools”).

Journey

– Describe how the protagonist navigates obstacles (e.g., “She discovers mindfulness practices that transform her perspective”).

Resolution

– Show how the conflict is resolved (e.g., “Sarah reinvents her teaching methods and finds joy in her work again”).

Takeaway

– Highlight key lessons or insights for the audience (e.g., “Mindfulness can help anyone overcome life’s challenges”).

Related Topics

Here are additional topics connected to narrative transportation:

Empathy in Storytelling: Exploring how stories build emotional connections.
Role of Emotion in Persuasion: Examining how feelings enhance narrative impact.
Digital Storytelling: How technology transforms narrative delivery.
Health Communication through Narratives: Using stories for public health campaigns.
Cultural Variations in Story Reception: Understanding how cultural contexts shape narrative effects.

By understanding narrative transportation’s principles and applying them effectively in personal storytelling, individuals can craft compelling narratives that resonate deeply with their audiences.

Sources

[1] Narrative Transportation Theory | Overview & Applications – Study.com https://study.com/academy/lesson/narrative-transportation-definition-application.html

[2] Examining narrative transportation to anti-alcohol narratives – PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5267340/

[3] Transportation Theory Applied to Health and Risk Messaging https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-261?print

[4] Transportation theory (psychology) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_theory_(psychology)

[5] Narrative transportation: How stories shape how we see ourselves … https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065260124000145

[6] I felt like I was in a story: Narrative transportation as a leisure … https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00222216.2024.2432338?src=exp-la

[7] Narrative Transportation: What It Is and Why Every Storyteller Needs … https://daredreamer.com/narrative-transportation/

[8] Narratives in transport research: A thematic and functional analysis https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198223000015

[9] [PDF] Narrative Transportation: How Stories Shape How We See … https://www.mcm.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/06110300/2024/Pdfs/Green___Appel__2024__Advances_Preprint.pdf

Part II – Using Narrative Transportation Incorrectly

Prompt

How would an unethical politician or leader combine the principles of narrative transportation with lies, insults, hate, fear, and misinformation to influence the general public — locally or internationally — in order to build a loyal following?

Response

An unethical politician or ruler can exploit the principles of narrative transportation to manipulate constituents by crafting compelling, emotionally charged stories that combine lies, insults, and misinformation. This strategy leverages psychological immersion to bypass critical thinking and foster loyalty.

Here’s how such manipulation works:

Techniques for Manipulation

Creating a Hero-Villain Narrative

– The politician casts themselves as the heroic protagonist fighting against a threatening “enemy” (e.g., immigrants, political opponents, or foreign powers). This simplifies complex issues into emotionally resonant conflicts that are easy to follow[1][7].

– Insults and dehumanizing language are used to vilify opponents, making them seem dangerous or unworthy of trust[6][8].

Leveraging Emotional Appeals

– Stories are designed to evoke fear, anger, or hope—emotions that enhance narrative transportation. For example, fear-based narratives about crime or economic collapse can rally support for extreme policies[3][6].

– Positive emotions like hope or pride are tied to the leader’s promises, encouraging constituents to see them as saviors[7].

Misinformation as a Narrative Tool

– False claims are integrated into stories to distort reality and reinforce the leader’s version of events. For instance, fabricating crises (e.g., election fraud) creates urgency and justifies authoritarian measures[2][6].

– Repetition of lies makes them more believable over time, especially when combined with vivid imagery or anecdotes[4][8].

Reducing Critical Thinking

– Immersive storytelling reduces counter-arguing by engaging audiences emotionally rather than intellectually. Constituents become less likely to question the narrative’s validity[1][7].

– Distracting theatrics (e.g., rallies, viral memes) keep attention focused on the politician’s story rather than substantive policy discussions[6][8].

Exploiting Social Media

– Platforms amplify these narratives through memes, videos, and posts that go viral, spreading misinformation rapidly. Social media algorithms favor sensational content, further entrenching the narrative[6][8].

– Fake news accounts and coordinated campaigns sow confusion and reinforce loyalty by discrediting alternative viewpoints[2][4].

Impact on Constituents

Polarization: By framing issues as “us vs. them,” constituents become divided along ideological lines, reducing dialogue and increasing hostility toward perceived outgroups[1][7].

Loyalty Through Identity: Politically transported individuals see themselves as part of the leader’s story, fostering personal identification with their cause[1][3].

Erosion of Truth: Constant exposure to falsehoods reshapes perceptions of reality, making it difficult for constituents to discern fact from fiction[4][6].

Related Topics

Propaganda Techniques: How leaders use media to control narratives.

Echo Chambers: The role of social media in reinforcing biased narratives.

Fear Appeals in Politics: The psychological effects of fear-based messaging.

Disinformation Campaigns: Strategies for spreading falsehoods at scale.

By combining narrative transportation with lies and misinformation, unethical politicians can effectively “brainwash” their followers into unwavering support while undermining democratic principles.

Sources

[1] [PDF] “A Narrative as Felt”1: The Role of Political Transportation in the … https://scripties.uba.uva.nl/download?fid=c7009796

[2] As the presidential campaign goes viral, so, too, does misinformation https://moody.utexas.edu/news/presidential-campaign-goes-viral-so-too-does-misinformation

[3] Narrative transportation: How stories shape how we see ourselves … https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065260124000145

[4] Who knowingly shares false political information online? https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/who-knowingly-shares-false-political-information-online/

[5] Narrative transportation: A systematic literature review and future … https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.22011

[6] How disinformation defined the 2024 election narrative https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-disinformation-defined-the-2024-election-narrative/

[7] Tales of conflict: narrative immersion and political aggression in the … https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15213269.2019.1611452

[8] Disinformation poses an unprecedented threat in 2024 – NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/disinformation-unprecedented-threat-2024-election-rcna134290

Part III – Narrative transportation gone wrong in the past century

Prompt

Provide ten examples of politicians or leaders using narrative transportation in the pursuit of illegal, immoral, and unethical objectives. Limit your examples to individuals living in the 20th and 21st century.

Response

Here are ten examples of politicians or leaders from the 20th and 21st centuries using narrative transportation to pursue illegal, immoral, or unethical objectives:

Adolf Hitler (Germany)

Hitler used emotionally charged narratives to portray Jews as enemies of the German people, weaving lies and propaganda into his speeches and writings. His “hero-villain” narrative cast himself as Germany’s savior, leading to widespread acceptance of anti-Semitic policies and the Holocaust.

Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)

Stalin created narratives of external threats and internal enemies (e.g., “counter-revolutionaries”) to justify purges, forced labor camps, and mass executions. His propaganda depicted him as a benevolent leader safeguarding socialism.

Mao Zedong (China)

Mao’s Cultural Revolution relied on narratives that framed intellectuals and traditionalists as enemies of progress. Through slogans, speeches, and propaganda, he mobilized youth into Red Guards, leading to widespread persecution and societal upheaval.

Benito Mussolini (Italy)

Mussolini crafted narratives glorifying fascism and Italian supremacy while vilifying communists and socialists. His propaganda campaigns fostered loyalty to his regime and justified aggressive expansionist policies.

Saddam Hussein (Iraq)

Hussein used narratives of national pride and external threats to consolidate power. He portrayed himself as Iraq’s protector against Western imperialism while suppressing dissent through violence.

Vladimir Putin (Russia)

Putin has employed narratives of Russian resurgence and external hostility (e.g., NATO aggression) to justify actions like the annexation of Crimea and crackdowns on political opposition.

Donald Trump (United States)

Trump used emotionally charged narratives about immigration (“build the wall”) and election fraud (“stop the steal”) to polarize constituents, spread misinformation, and undermine democratic norms.

Kim Jong-un (North Korea)

Kim’s regime uses propaganda to craft a narrative of divine leadership, portraying him as a heroic figure defending North Korea from foreign aggression while suppressing dissent through fear.

Hugo Chávez (Venezuela)

Chávez employed anti-imperialist rhetoric, framing the United States as an enemy while presenting himself as a champion of Venezuela’s poor. His narratives masked corruption and economic mismanagement.

Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines)

Duterte used narratives about crime and drugs to justify extrajudicial killings in his “war on drugs.” He portrayed himself as a tough leader protecting citizens from lawlessness.

These leaders leveraged narrative transportation by immersing their audiences in emotionally resonant stories that reduced critical thinking, fostered loyalty, and justified unethical actions.

Sources

[1] Political Broken Promises: Self-Serving Officials and Unrealistic … https://themetropole.blog/2020/04/08/political-broken-promises-self-serving-officials-and-unrealistic-expectations-in-the-history-of-the-nyc-subway/

[2] [PDF] The Role of Transportation in the Persuasiveness of Public Narratives http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/the_role_of_transportation_in_the_persuasiveness_of_public_narratives.pdf

[3] POWER OF THE NARRATIVE: In Fiction, In Politics, In War – LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-narrative-fiction-politics-war-adil-rasheed-phd

[4] [PDF] thesis the effects of narrative transportation and character … https://mountainscholar.org/bitstreams/b461ccba-b842-4470-8a27-777443014738/download

[5] [PDF] Narrative Transportation: How Stories Shape How We See … https://www.mcm.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/06110300/2024/Pdfs/Green___Appel__2024__Advances_Preprint.pdf

[6] Imagined Politics: How Different Media Platforms Transport Citizens … https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0894439317746327

[7] Paved with Good Intentions: Fiscal Politics, Freeways and the 20th … https://www.accessmagazine.org/fall-2009/paved-good-intentions-fiscal-politics-freeways-20th-century-american-city/

[8] Transportation theory (psychology) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_theory_(psychology)

My Conclusion

As you can see, narrative transportation is a power mechanism in storytelling, but that power can be used to benefit humankind, or for self-centered, ego-driven ends. Rest assured, I only work with clients who want the world to be a better place!

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