How Artificial Intelligence Can Lift Daily Life While We Stay Grounded with Bruce Randall

Two worlds meet when we sit down with Bruce Randall, an AI strategist and Reiki master who has spent decades in both deep tech and deep meditation. The result is a rare, grounded look at how artificial intelligence can boost daily life and work while we stay steady, curious, and accurate.

We break down what AI actually does behind the scenes, why prompts matter more than people think, and how “trust and verify” protects you from polished nonsense. Bruce unpacks how data choices shape outputs, shares hard-won lessons from enterprise AI and cloud transformations, and offers a simple rule for busy professionals: if it is important, check the source. We move from hype to practical value, showing how AI can nudge better habits, free up time, and build confidence, provided you keep a human in the loop.

Then we zoom out to the fast-moving edges. What does realistic progress look like for robots at home versus surgical robots in theatres? How close are brain–computer interfaces, and what have early Neuralink trials taught us about signals, rejection, and control? We also look at drug discovery, where AI is compressing candidate selection from years to weeks, and what that could mean for patients and the people who care for them.

Threaded through the tech is the inner toolkit: Reiki for awareness, meditation for clarity, and even ambient frequencies to reset the nervous system during a workday. Bruce describes how quiet practice sharpened his judgement and sparked his books, The AI Human Paradox and The Quantum Human Paradox, and why learning the basics of AI in two focused weeks can turn anxiety into advantage.

If you care about using AI without losing yourself, this conversation is your field guide. Listen, take what serves you, and tell us your biggest insight. If you enjoyed the show, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so others can find it too.

Bruce Randall

www.TheAIHumanParadox.com

Books - The AI Human Paradox and The Quantum Human Paradox

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

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License code: ZTXJPK8BA5WMLKSF

My new novel The Red Magus has recently been published in conjunction with the Unbound Press.  An entralling mystical adventure set across time and space, where past and current lives converge.  Find it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Bruce: AI Strategist And Reiki Master
• 7:38 Two Books, One Paradox
• 11:13 Trust And Verify: Limits Of AI
• 17:03 Prompts, Bias, And Better Answers
• 21:18 AI For Habits, Confidence, And Time
• 26:43 Hype, Anxiety, And Getting Up To Speed
• 32:13 Robots, Autonomy, And Realistic Timelines

Transcript

Speaker: 2:30

So welcome everybody to another episode of Beyond to the Soul. Um, I'm your host today, and my name's Natasha, and um I am a lawyer and I'm an energy therapist and I'm an author and of course I'm a podcaster. And today we've got a lovely new guest with us, and his name is Bruce Randall. So, welcome, Bruce. Thank you very much for supporting the podcast.

Speaker 4: 2:56

Well, thank you, Natasha. I'm very pleased to be here today.

Speaker: 3:00

Well, I'm glad to have you because it's a fascinating subject that we're going to talk about. So, Bruce is an AI strategist and a Reiki master, which is quite a mix.

Speaker 2: 3:11

Yes, it is.

Speaker: 3:14

Actually, I suspect it gave you and correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect that it gave you a lot of insight in the way that you you know, the thought process in into designing AI and how that could move forward.

Speaker 4: 3:31

It does, it does, and it sometimes it even surprises me.

Speaker: 3:36

Yeah. I bet, I bet. So Bruce has a 25-year career in technology, and he has led business development operations and served as COs and CEOs of startups, um, securing funding and building teams that brought new solutions to life. And he's worked with major business units to integrate cloud strategy and AI-driven transformation. And he's also spent deep decades in deep meditation practice and is a Reiki master, um, which is really um more an exploration of human consciousness. That is a really interesting mix.

Speaker 4: 4:21

Well, interesting is a kind word for you to use, thank you.

Speaker: 4:25

It's fascinating because it's like artificial intelligence and and our own consciousness, right? And sort of merging it together.

Speaker 4: 4:36

Yeah. Yeah, I I never thought um I would write a book and I even surprised myself. Right? So we're all full of surprises.

Speaker: 4:47

Yeah. And in fact, we were just talking about that. So um Bruce um has completed his book, The AI Human Paradox. But you've got a second um book coming out, haven't you? The Quantum Human Paradox.

Speaker 4: 5:03

I do, yes.

Speaker: 5:04

So what tell us about the books. Tell us about the books and what people can expect.

Speaker 4: 5:12

Well, the AI human paradox is about it, it educates people on what AI is, because there's a lot of misinformation out there.

Speaker 2: 5:21

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 5:22

And it educates people as to what human consciousness is. And then I go into what AI has done with people and where we are today and where we may go with this. And I think for people that don't really understand AI or consciousness, this book gives them a good foundation for that so they can have intelligent conversations on both and understand more of what's happening in the technology world today.

Speaker: 5:56

And do you think do you think, you know, do you think there's a parallel between them?

Speaker 4: 6:03

Well, between the two books?

Speaker: 6:05

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 6:06

Yeah, and I think the uh the quantum human paradox is more about technology changing, and quantum is here right now. And and what people can do in any position, whether they're starting their career, beginning towards the end of the career, or just curious. What they can do to stay up on what's happening and create value with what they do so they understand and they can be the smartest person in the room in a couple of weeks, which I think is pretty impressive.

Speaker: 6:45

AI is fascinating. I mean, I only know the basics of what you hear and also use it at work to a certain degree. Right. It is fascinating, but it's also very it's it scares me because you actually can't, it can mimic voices, can't it? You know, so it could it can actually fool you. And so it sort of it distorts in a way, doesn't it?

Speaker 4: 7:15

Well, it can it can do a lot, and if people don't understand what it can do, it can surprise them.

Speaker 3: 7:23

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 7:24

Now I always say with AI, if it's important, if you're looking up something important, you do trust and verify.

unknown: 7:32

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 7:33

Because you want to make sure the information's accurate. I've been using it for quite some time. And sometimes I ask, I upload a document and ask for the facts, and I read the facts and I say, I didn't see that in the facts. And I ask AI about it, and it says, Oh, I made it up. Well, yeah, made up is not a fact, by the way.

Speaker: 7:56

So yeah, that's what we've found in law, because you can ask it a legal question, but if it can't find the answer, it will actually make up case references and things.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Yeah. Which is unfortunate.

Speaker: 8:09

Yeah, which is caught people out. So it's that's a bit scary, I think.

Speaker 4: 8:15

Yeah, well, that's why I say trust and verify if it's important, because you want to make sure the information you're getting is accurate.

Speaker 3: 8:22

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 8:23

And I had taken a data science course at MIT because I was selling software, and of course, AI was part of that. Started as BI and advanced AI. And I wanted to understand what happened in the back. And what AI does in the back end is it parses the data through algorithms, and depending on on what you choose for the algorithm, if you're doing the data, you can make it come out whatever you want it to come out just by choosing how the data is processed. So it's just like human human processing for a report. If if you have an opinion of one thing, you're gonna the data is gonna lean more to your opinion there. And I met a CIO once that I sent him a research article, and he said, Bruce, he said, before I spend time reading an article, I want to know who wrote it and I want to know who funded it. He said, because that's gonna determine whether I want to read it or not.

Speaker: 9:30

That's interesting. Yeah, I've not really thought about that, really.

Speaker 4: 10:30

And the same thing can happen with AI, depending on how it parses the numbers in the background. And that's why I say that what you put in the prompt, which is the box you ask AI, is very important. And the more specific you can be, the better the answer you're gonna get out of it.

Speaker: 10:50

Yeah. Yeah. It it it it is fascinating. So, how how do you think there's a way that AI can help us as humans with our, you know, our daily mindfulness and our and how we grow as humans? Is it going to change the way that we see ourselves?

Speaker 4: 11:12

I think it can. Um I think AI can help with people because a lot of people have don't have good habits, myself included, where if I want to change something, I have to really work at it.

Speaker: 11:24

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 11:25

And AI can be that reminder to tell us to do that and can you know, tell us why it's important so that when it comes up, we make sure we do it, other than just saying I'll do it later, and never gets done. So AI helps that. It's also an enabler where once you understand how to use it, you know, to your to get what you want, it can enable you to do better work faster at work or at home, depending on what you're doing. And I think that's very important because you know, people don't have a lot of time to do things nowadays. And whenever we can help get ourselves enabled with a technology that can benefit, you know, making a free time or getting things done in a more efficient way, I think that's positive.

Speaker: 12:13

Yeah. I think it can also um make people more confident in their work as well, because they can constantly be double checking that they're on the right path or what they think is right is right. That's almost a verify, obviously. But yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 4: 12:31

Yeah, just make sure that the path that AI gives you is accurate.

Speaker: 12:34

Yes, yeah, exactly. Yeah, it is, it is, it's it's an interesting thing. Do you think AI is, do you think there's any negative for AI and how we as a as humans are are evolving?

Speaker 4: 12:55

Well, I think the negative is based on a person's opinion. Because, you know, we have a spectrum and the universe requires balance, um, even though sometimes it feels like we're not in balance. So what one person thinks is okay, another person thinks is not okay. So it's really a personal decision as to what you think is normal and acceptable to you. And that's why it's really hard to answer that. I think overall, for human, my perspective is that if AI is is working to improve humanity, then everybody wins, no matter what your opinion is, because then everybody starts quality of life or everybody benefits in some way for that.

Speaker: 13:40

Yeah. And how how can people use AI, you know, to sort of um I suppose it does take away the anxiety? I was thinking that people get very stressed and anxious, which is why they go through the mindfulness processes and everything. But how can I suppose it saves time and things like that? But is there another way that it would help with that anxiety, that stress, that mindfulness that was so is so prevalent at the moment?

Speaker 4: 14:14

Well, I think I think that well, I've identified that the reason that people are are anxious with AI and quantum is because there's a lot of hype on both of them out there, and there's no shortage of people saying, you know, the giving their opinions in in podcasts and papers. But you have to, you know, step back and understand what each is and then how it affects you, not what it can do, but how it affects you, you know, and people in their lives. And there's a way to, you know, that you can in in two weeks, you can get up to speed on both and be one of the you know, probably the most intelligent person on the topic in the room.

Speaker 1: 14:59

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 14:59

Or you can you can start talking about it and people start looking at you differently in a better way, because you're coming up with thoughts and ideas that you know other people haven't thought of because you understand you know AI andor quantum and what it what it could do. Yeah.

Speaker: 15:18

And it's moving so quickly, isn't it? It's it's really accelerating beyond belief.

Speaker 4: 15:26

Cloud, I thought cloud moved quick because I was in cloud since the beginning. And and you know, three months in uh in cloud life was a year in human life. That's how fast it was was was growing. It was going four times, you know, four times faster a year than everything else. AI and quantum are measured by the week. So it's it's contents, constant change. But I've been exposed to some things with the technology that I've I've dealt with where I had to see it to believe it, because people told me. But then I had to see it because as much as they told me it was true, it's never been done, and I had to see to to make sure it's been done. So I I foresee in the next twelve twelve months, I I I think we're gonna have some very um very positive uh outcomes from the technology we're developing. And when I say positive, these are humanity type things. It's gonna help all of humanity. And and this is this is where it needs to go.

Speaker 1: 16:36

Yes.

Speaker 4: 16:37

And and I can see it going there. Um, but what you don't see are the you know, the one-offs where they're doing something a little different. And and that will come out, but as long as we stay ahead of them, I think we're gonna be fine.

Speaker: 16:49

And do you you know there's there's often like sci-fi films where the robots or whatever goes, you know, goes off on their own and makes their own decisions.

Speaker 4: 17:00

And you know, is that is that a real fear or is that just well I'll I'll I'll let everybody decide on that because you know we have we have cars, electric cars, and then we have cars that drive themselves. Right? And and they're getting better, but they're not quite perfect yet. And I think with robots, because Elon has a robot company that he's working on, and he says that within X amount of years, everybody will have a robot at home. And it will help you with your household chores, maybe a lawnmower. And and and I scratch my head and say, okay, we've got a ways to go, because I can't I can't see that. I mean, if you know, if you're pushing a lawnmower and the lawnmower stops, what is a robot gonna do? He doesn't know how to fix a lawnmower, right? So I'm like, I have all these questions, I don't have answers yet. So I can see I can see incremental improvements, but I I don't know when it's gonna make it in the house. And at some point it will.

Speaker: 18:02

But you only just have to look at like mobile phones, don't you? In my day, they were like a brick, and now they're you know, and that technology has got come up, it's not quite the same, but it, you know, and now everybody has a phone. It's very unusual if if somebody hasn't got a phone. Usually they're too old, like my mother. She can't pick the phone.

Speaker 4: 18:24

But other than that, everything and then you take it to the next level, and Neuralink puts chips in people's head and puts probes in the brain to help them overcome paralysis. And because of the precision, they had to build a robot to do the surgery because humans weren't weren't exact enough to do it. So, you know, there's there are robots out there that are doing very specific work. So we really have to talk about what kind of robots. Is it a general use robot? Is it a medical robot? You know, what what's the robot we're talking about? And I think they're all advancing, but I just don't think the home robot is quite there yet.

Speaker: 19:07

No. Um interesting that you mentioned the the um uh having yes. Um because I was reading a book recently, and they used and I don't know if it's true, but if it's it's a fictional book, but I don't know whether this bit was true, but they had um they used uh they inserted something into the brain to help with epilepsy. Yes, yes, and um but it was all about the book was all about how um our biology start fuses with the technology the chip, the technology if you like. And is that something that you can see in the future where there's sort of a hybrid, in a way, a hybrid situation where maybe the you know the brain will start to grow over and take on board the chip, or does that make sense?

Speaker 4: 20:07

Well with Neuralink, they were putting probes in the brain, and then some of the probes were getting pushed out. And then they the next one they put more probes in and some would get pushed out.

Speaker: 20:19

Pushed out the brain. The brain would push it out, and rejecting it basically. So that's the horror body sort of thing.

Speaker 4: 20:27

Yeah, but you're getting the brain and the body working with the with the chip and the probes because people that were paralyzed are now able to do some some work. In fact, the first one they did, he was able to use his thoughts to operate the mouse on the computer.

unknown: 20:45

Wow.

Speaker 4: 20:45

And he said, sometimes it moves before I think about it, but it always go to goes to where I want it to go. So that's an example of how the body's working with the technology. And sometimes, you know, before he thinks about it, it moves. So there's got to be some signals that are there that are moving that before it hits his thought. And I think that's what it's picking up.

Speaker: 21:07

Wow, that I find that fascinating.

Speaker 4: 21:10

Yeah.

Speaker: 21:10

So it's like the electrical system of his thoughts or the energy of the thoughts, the chip is anticipating it almost.

Speaker 4: 21:19

Yeah.

Speaker: 21:20

That's extraordinary, isn't it?

Speaker 4: 21:23

Yeah, and that's in my first book. I mean, it's just so much going on that you wouldn't if you don't know. I mean, we're how do you find this out, right? The book is a good way because it educates you on where things are. Um, and there's a lot of things in there that that are occurring that just people don't think about because they don't know.

Speaker: 21:41

Yeah. That I mean, I can see you talking about that, that medical advancements could be absolutely amazing.

Speaker 4: 21:50

Um, Santify, which is a French um pharmaceutical company, he came out last year and said that he wanted everybody in his in his organization to use AI, you know, to enable them. And he said that they can, because of the the assistance of what AI can do, is that they can come up with the top three drugs and then the top drug that's gonna likely get approved. He said it takes a month versus taking three years. So it's really making things more efficient depending on the use, the application, and the industry.

Speaker: 22:29

Yeah. That is that is um when you think about it like that, that's that really is um helping us as a race in a way.

unknown: 22:40

Right.

Speaker: 22:40

Because you think how far, you know, a hundred years of medicine, and then it's gonna be like condensed into goodness knows what timescale.

Speaker 4: 22:52

Sometimes the biggest advances are towards the end of the cycle.

Speaker: 22:55

Yeah, yeah. Very, very interesting. So tell me also, Bruce, how did you get how did you get into Reiki?

Speaker 4: 23:06

Well, I used to I used to be uh an amateur bodybuilder, and I would hurt myself. And I would go to this gentleman, Paul, to give me a massage. He would barely touch me, and he did the best work. And then if he wasn't available, I go to the Swedish massage and the putt knees and elbows in me and it hurt. You know, and I said, Paul, you barely even touched me and you fixed me. What do you do? He said, I do Reiki with the massage. I said, what is that? So I went to Reiki one and Reiki II and Reiki II, I did very well on that. And then I I went to Reiki three, which took me a year to get because it's an old it's an old certification. It just is a lot in it. And and then I I started to meditate which was the next step and I had a number of experiences in meditation. And and that's how I get into it. And then you know this first book came to me in a meditation. And the second one and the second one did also and I'm like what what's going on?

Speaker: 24:09

Yeah. Whether you get sort of clarity and download when you're meditating.

Speaker 4: 24:14

Yeah things just come to me I guess I don't know if it's a download or just something that comes in that I remember.

Speaker: 24:20

Yeah. I sometimes think it rather than a download it's just that you you sort of empty your brain of everything else.

Speaker 2: 24:28

Yeah.

Speaker: 24:29

So you get a bit of clarity.

Speaker 2: 24:32

Yeah clutter.

Speaker: 24:34

Yes. And they always talk about Einstein with his famous formula he got that in a dream but he's been working on it for months and months and months. So I think you know he probably just got clarity suddenly everything dropped into place.

Speaker 4: 24:53

And you know in today's world you know getting to a point where you get clarity is is a difficult it's a difficult thing to find. Yeah.

Speaker: 25:01

Yeah too much clutter and stimulus everywhere. Yeah. I wonder if there'll ever be a meditation chip zone us out and help with the burnout and the um you know like you say the stimulation etc. It could actually really you know things like that could really um it could help with an awful lot of things like now mental health issues all all sorts couldn't it and I've no doubt it will people all apply their well one of the things one of the things that I do when when I work in the office is I have I play at different frequencies because frequencies resonate with us and they tend to help calm the body down and just create that that mood that you're looking for.

Speaker 4: 25:56

And I think that's a good thing that people can do. I think there's there's different frequencies but look you know look at the free I think it's 432 or 972 are a couple that I listen to. Yeah and it's nice it's very nice relaxing you know music.

Speaker: 26:10

Yeah I I find that so interesting as well I'm all about the energy field so I love the vibrational and the frequencies. Brilliant. Well it's a bit fascinating um Bruce and I will put up the names of your books that are coming out soon. So one's already been published hasn't it's is it available the AI Human Paradox?

Speaker 4: 26:32

Well it's available on my website to order I just I just send it into the publisher so they have to set it and so forth and then and then print it. So we're we're getting closer right now. And can people pre-order it from they can on my website yes and it's my website's theaihumanparadox com.

Speaker: 26:52

Excellent okay and your quantum human paradox is not quite that's that's the it in the future.

Speaker 4: 27:01

You know it's it's funny the first book I wrote three times and it took me you know a little over two years. And and this this next book I'm just about done with it and it took me about four months. Yeah. And it said either I'm getting better or the topics are getting easier to do.

Speaker: 27:18

So I'm sure a bit of both yeah a bit of insight somewhere excellent okay well what what I will do is put all your details underneath the episode so if people want to go and have a look okay they can do so but before we I mean we have been talking about spiritual practices that you do but I often ask guests you know what's what's a spiritual practice that you have done and really um swear by basically I know we'd mentioned a couple but well I uh I've always been curious and spiritual and I've always I always I I didn't follow the same path everybody else did.

Speaker 4: 28:02

I thought there was more and I questioned everything. And really where it came home was learning Reiki and then the the meditation because I've I've had a an intervention I've had my life saved with it I've saved a life with it and I've gotten you know inspirations that have come to me to do certain things. And I think the biggest thing is is the meditation because when you meditate you quiet your mind and then you remove the clutter and then you open it up for things to come in or for you to just process. And to me that's that's the biggest impact in my life and I think that's overall probably the biggest impact in my life was doing that.

Speaker: 28:50

And it's so fascinating because doing this podcast and talking to so many different people a lot of corporate people and a lot of people scientific people as well um they do meditate. They do they do that to get clarity and to just just you know where what do I need to do next? What's the next step? And I find that so fascinating you know it's here it's all in here already but we just have to it's very helpful we just have to create space so that we can actually hear it or understand what what we're supposed to be understanding. Brilliant thank you very much uh for for letting us know about that. And um thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. It's been it's been really fascinating. It's an unusual subject for me but it it is a fascinating subject so um I've enjoyed chatting with you.

Speaker 4: 29:52

Well Natasha I've enjoyed it also and uh and thank you very much for inviting me.

Speaker: 29:57

Oh it's my pleasure so if you have enjoyed listening to me and Bruce having a chat about AI and Reiki I'm going to put up all uh details underneath the episode and please like and share and of course you can always support the podcast as well and uh subscribe to it. So uh thank you for listening and I'll speak to you also.