Possible | Jane Goodall on hope, AI, and the natural world

This week on Possible, I had the honor of sitting down with the inimitable ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall. We laughed, discussed how technology was reshaping conservation efforts, pondered about AI sentience, and we dug into a surprisingly timeless question: What happens when the tools we invent start coaching us on how to be better stewards of life itself?

As I returned home from the recording, it dawned on me that Jane’s career is a masterclass in compound agency. Starting with a small grant and handwritten field notes, to leading a multinational institution leveraging AI, drones, camera traps, and satellite imaging, she’s layered technology atop empathy to enlarge the circle of concern. 

Jane’s story is a great example of superagency—the moment when billions of individually empowered people bend the arc of progress together. AI is simply the next super‑tool in that relay. When we pilot it with Jane’s ethos of attentive listening, the conservation story moves from isolated sanctuaries to globally networked guardianship. It’s how we all go from one chimpanzee troop in Gombe to Roots and Shoots networks in 75 countries. 

Her dedication to the communities she serves mirrors how we should ship AI everywhere: hands‑on, feedback‑rich, community‑owned. Imagine a smartphone app that listens to the forest the way Shazam listens to your car radio. It pings villagers when illegal logging trucks rumble too close or when a rare hornbill announces nesting season. That’s positive‑sum AI: economic resilience for humans, breathing room for biodiversity.

Jane worries (rightly) about AI in the wrong hands, yet she still bets on hope as strategy. I couldn’t agree more: the surest way to prevent a bad future is to steer toward a better one that, by its existence, makes worse outcomes harder to achieve. Jane’s life and work proves that point. 

At the end of our episode, Jane reminded me that mystery is a feature of the universe. We may never parse every squeak and hoot, but with AI at our side, we can improve our understanding and actions at planetary scale, as well as make better decisions aligned with our techno‑humanist compass. 

Until next time,

Reid

Here's the full episode with Jane of The Jane Goodall Institute: https://link.chtbl.com/5fVP86k3

YouTube: https://youtu.be/OueZLluQZ7A

Transcript: https://www.possible.fm/podcasts/jane/

You can subscribe to catch more episodes of Possible here: https://www.possible.fm/podcast/