This year I had the privilege to contribute to the ThingCon conference for the first time. My choice: ask for the insights and ‘Hot Takes’ of the participants. This became the ‘Hot Takes’ booth, where I recorded short, spiffy interviews with everybody who dared to go against the grain and share their pet peeves.
Kars Alfrink: “Utopian AI is possible!”
“Utopian AI is possible. We could for example make Cute Language Models 🤭 ” a lovely and nerdy hot take from Kars Alfrink 🟥 at ThingsCon.org 2025. 🤗
For ThingsCon.org 2025 I organized ‘Hot Takes’, a series of short interviews with attendants and speakers of the conference. The first questions is “What’s your hot take” and I have got so many awesome answers.
I did this as one of my promotional efforts for my company ReverWERK. Are you interested in a unique interactive concept like this? Get in touch!
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino: “Stop mapping and start doing”
“Stop mapping and start doing” is quite literally the call to action of Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino at ThingsCon.org 2025. Designers have the tendency to ‘prepare to start the preparations to prepare to go’ and map out E-VE-RY-THING before they actually start doing interesting work.
I met Alexandra in my Hot Takes booth. People at ThingsCon 2025 could share their Hot Take, beit from the conference floor, or that one pet peeve they have been sitting on for ever.
I loved this take in particular, because people like to replace uncertainty with mapping out undiscovered country, rather than just going there and act on shared experiences and what you find along the way.
Dennis Mansell: AI will replace us through our lack of agency
“AI will replace us through our lack of agency” says Dennis Mansell. If this isn’t a dystopian ‘Hot Take’, I don’t know what is. Dennis clarifies “We won’t even notice and we’ll just be parts and batteries in the future”. As I understood a clear warning against complicit behavior, specifically with the appeal of ease and possibly through AI’s future cognitive superiority.
Dennis was eager to hop into my Hot Takes booth. People at ThingsCon.org 2025 could share their Hot Take, on AI, design, phylosophy, Internet of Things, or just their own pet peeve they have been sitting on for ever.
Although Dennis’ prediction is a little bit dark, I took it as a clear warning against our naive and wondrous attitude towards AI just introducing their agentic to overwrite our agency. At the same time AI instills a culture that primes us to relinquish our space, our opinion, our taste and creativity.
All in all: food for thought, and a good push to keep thinking for ourselves and take agency as a fundamental requisite to preserve humanity.
Another MUST SEE take! Check the comments for the link to the video with Dennis!
All interviews in ONE PLAYLIST
Want to binge all Interviews in one go? Here’s a handy link to the playlist!