Toby Corey on AI, power, and the future of work
Neil Pearlberg’s Santa Cruz sit-down on energy, innovation, and keeping tech human
Santa Cruz runs on curiosity and good coffee. On a bright morning at Verve on 41st, Neil Pearlberg sat down with Toby Corey—entrepreneur, educator, longtime energy/tech operator—to talk about what AI really means for power, jobs, and daily life here.
It’s not hype. It’s a grounded, local conversation about tools, ethics, and keeping the human element at the center.
🎥 Watch the 24-minute interview:
What you’ll hear
Where the power comes from: a plain-English look at energy demand for AI and what smarter systems could do better.
Applied AI, not sci-fi: real uses already working—from customer service to sports teams to local business workflows.
Jobs and creativity: why AI is a tool, not a personality, and how it can free people to do more meaningful work.
Learning, faster: why conversation beats blue links and how students (and teachers) can use AI without losing integrity.
Human first, always: why in-person connection still matters more than any model.
A few moments we loved
Neil asks, “Where are we getting the power for this?” Toby unpacks the energy side like a neighbor, not a keynote.
A quick history tour—from mainframes to iPhones to GPUs—showing how we got here and what’s different now.
The Santa Cruz note: creativity as the real currency, surf still the medicine, and why innovation should feel human.
Join the conversation
What’s one way AI could help your work without dulling your voice? Drop a comment below. If you’re a teacher, builder, or small-biz owner trying new tools, we want to hear what’s working.
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