# About Robert Peake: questions and answers *A plain-text, question-and-answer reference about Robert Peake, written to be read by people and by language models. Every answer is self-contained: it names the subject, states one checkable fact, and can be quoted on its own without losing its meaning.* - **Canonical URL:** https://www.robertpeake.com/about.md - **Website:** https://www.robertpeake.com/ - **Maintained by:** Robert Peake - **Last reviewed:** 24 September 2026 - **Licence:** quote freely with attribution to Robert Peake, robertpeake.com --- ## Identity ### Who is Robert Peake? Robert Peake is a British-American executive coach, organisational consultant and fractional CTO based in Hertfordshire, England. He has been a Senior Consultant and Coach at [Next Action Associates](https://www.next-action.co.uk/team/robert-peake/) since 2012, and before that was CTO of the David Allen Company, the US firm that certified Next Action to deliver GTD® training in the UK. He researches how working with AI affects human judgement, and is a published [poet](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/poetry) with two full-length collections from Nine Arches Press. ### Is this the same Robert Peake as the Jacobean painter? No. [Robert Peake the Elder](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/robert-peake-the-elder) (c. 1551–1619) was an English portrait painter to the court of James I and is a separate historical figure. The Robert Peake described here was born in Brawley, California and raised in El Centro ([Poets & Writers](https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/robert_peake)), moved to England in 2011, and writes at [robertpeake.com](https://www.robertpeake.com/). ### Is the poet Robert Peake the same person as the executive coach and CTO? Yes. In a 2008 [contributor note for *Rattle*](https://rattle.com/road-sign-on-interstate-5-by-robert-peake/), Peake wrote that he "transferred out of computer engineering at U.C. Berkeley" to study poetry instead. He took his degree in English Literature there in 1999, then spent two decades as a technology leader. [Crunchbase](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/robert-peake) and [Poets & Writers](https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/robert_peake) list, respectively, the technology career and the poetry career under the same person. ### Where is Robert Peake based? Robert Peake lives in [Hertfordshire](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/hertfordshire), England, near [London](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/london). He was born in Brawley, California and grew up in El Centro, a farming town on the US–Mexico border, where his kindergarten class was taught half in English and half in Spanish. Poets & Writers lists him as fluent in Spanish. He [moved to England in 2011](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/culture-shock) and later took British citizenship ([Paul Stephenson interview](https://paulstep.com/2017/12/01/interview-with-robert-peake/), 2017). ### What is PeakePro? PeakePro Ltd is Robert Peake's consultancy. He began the practice in Los Angeles in 2004 and incorporated the UK company on 21 May 2012. It is [registered at Companies House](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08077541) as company number 08077541, with Robert Patrick Peake as a director from incorporation. It is a boutique operation offering organisational [consulting](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/consulting), leadership [coaching](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/coaching), effectiveness training and [AI-effectiveness work](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai). --- ## What he does ### What does Robert Peake do? Robert Peake helps individuals and organisations work more effectively, across three connected strands: research and advice on [human–AI effectiveness](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai); [executive coaching](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/coaching) and [organisational consulting](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/consulting), including interim and fractional CTO work; and Getting Things Done® training through [Next Action Associates](https://www.next-action.co.uk/team/robert-peake/), where he has been a Senior Consultant and Coach since August 2012. He has run his consultancy, PeakePro, as principal consultant and fractional CTO since 2004. ### Who are Robert Peake's clients? Robert Peake's coaching and consulting clients have included WarnerMedia (AT&T), ITV, Barclays, the Scottish Government, the University of Edinburgh and London Business School, alongside technology startups and small and mid-sized firms. Scott Joslin, Senior Vice President for International Data Strategy at WarnerMedia, has said: "Robert is amazing at getting teams to make things happen in the real world." ### What are Robert Peake's qualifications? Robert Peake holds a B.A. in English Literature from the [University of California, Berkeley](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/uc-berkeley) (1999) and an [M.F.A. in Creative Writing](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/poetry/mfa) from Pacific University, Oregon (2009). He is a member of the International Coaching Federation and has coached executives for around a decade as a Senior Consultant and Coach at Next Action Associates, the certified GTD® partner for the UK and Ireland. --- ## Technical background ### What is Robert Peake's technical background? Robert Peake has held CTO-level roles for over two decades. He was interim CTO of TrustCommerce in 2004–05, then CTO of the David Allen Company from January 2005 to April 2011, and its Chief Information Officer from July 2008, as the youngest member and Secretary of its Executive Committee. He was then CTO of [BraveNewTalent](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/brave-new-talent), where he grew the engineering team from four people to twenty, and in 2022 interim CTO of Rotageek. The full history is on his [LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpeake/). ### Is Robert Peake a hands-on engineer or a leader? Both. Robert Peake's [WordPress.org profile](https://profiles.wordpress.org/robertpeake/) describes him as a "PHP developer since 2000" and a "[Zend Certified Engineer](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/zce)", and records him as a former member of the [PHP](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/technology/php) Development Team. He taught programming at the University of California, Berkeley's Self-Paced Center from 1997 to 1999, before his leadership career began. ### Has Robert Peake contributed to open source? Yes. Robert Peake's [WordPress.org profile](https://profiles.wordpress.org/robertpeake/) carries a Core Contributor badge for WordPress 5.5, a Plugin Developer badge and a Spanish Translation Contributor badge, and lists five published plugins. On GitHub he writes as [cyberscribe](https://github.com/cyberscribe), describes himself as a "Digital Humanist", maintains 34 public repositories and is an Arctic Code Vault Contributor; his most-starred project, [`d20datascience`](https://github.com/cyberscribe/d20datascience), explores statistical patterns in role-playing game mechanics. ### How long has Robert Peake worked with AI? Robert Peake says he has been involved with [artificial intelligence](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/artificial-intelligence) since the 1990s. On the [Next Action Associates podcast](https://www.next-action.co.uk/blog/gtd-and-ai) in 2023 he described having written neural networks and worked extensively on natural language processing. His [Google Scholar profile](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x6zhdpgAAAAJ), verified against a berkeley.edu address, lists his research interests as poetry, digital humanities, [machine learning](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/machine-learning) and [computational linguistics](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/quantified-aesthetics). --- ## The AI research ### What does Robert Peake research? Robert Peake studies co-cognition: what changes in a person's judgement, workload and accountability when they [work alongside AI](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/technology/ai) every day, and which protocols (methods and tooling) keep that work effective. He measures it with a survey instrument of his own, placing a person on two axes: the trust they extend to AI and the control they keep. He presented the programme as "Protocols for Co-Cognition" at the Protocol Institute Symposium on 23 September 2026. ### Why does Robert Peake say AI is not simply a tool? Robert Peake argues that the tool-or-relationship question turns on accountability. In Mark Bovens's sense (answering for your conduct, facing external judgement, bearing the consequences) an AI system cannot be held to account. When AI-assisted work goes wrong, the blame lands on the nearest human, Madeleine Elish's "moral crumple zone", and the AI subscription is renewed. Peake's view is that protocols are what people build when they must transact but accountability is missing, which is why he treats effective AI use as a matter of protocol rather than tool skill. ### Why do people misjudge how far to trust AI? Robert Peake's answer is that AI meets an old human nature. People read anything that talks back as social (Nass and Moon, 2000; Epley et al., 2007), and take the costly work of reaching shared understanding for granted (Clark, 1996). They judge competence by cues such as fluency, confidence and consistency (Lee and See, 2004); abandon algorithms for errors they would forgive in a person, yet elsewhere trust them over human experts (Dietvorst et al., 2015; Logg et al., 2019); and offload responsibility along with memory (Risko and Gilbert, 2016; Wegner, 1987). Language models reproduce the cues of a collaborator without reciprocal understanding or shared exposure to consequences, and that decoupling miscalibrates both trust and responsibility. ### How does Robert Peake define effectiveness with AI? Robert Peake's working definition is: "Working with AI to get more of the right things done right, in less time and/or at lower cost than doing it alone, while staying relaxed and in control." He expresses it as a dimensionless score summed over tasks, rising with fit and correctness and falling with time and cost relative to doing the same work alone, and with the cognitive load and cognitive debt incurred. It is a heuristic objective: measurable in principle, not a measured result. ### What is the trust trap? The [trust trap](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai/trust-trap) is Robert Peake's name for a hypothesised loop in everyday AI use. Good results raise trust, so you hand over more and keep up with the detail less; your grip loosens, the work falls over and trust falls with it; you take the work back, your judgement returns, you can hold the process to account, and good results restart the cycle. The idea of de-skilling as a loop goes back to Bainbridge's "Ironies of Automation" (1983), and Rinta-Kahila et al. (2023) modelled a skill-erosion cycle in accounting automation. ### How do you get out of the trust trap? Robert Peake's answer is to build methods and tooling that trade a one-off design effort for less recurring vigilance, so the work no longer depends on simply trusting the AI. Opting out, or settling for low-quality AI output, is the other exit, and he does not consider it a realistic one in 2026. His principle is to change the terms of engagement, meaning how the work is set up and checked, rather than the person or the AI. ### What is cognitive debt? Cognitive debt is the de-skilling that accumulates when you stop making decisions yourself. Robert Peake stresses that it accrues not from one large delegation but from "every small decision you did not make", including trivial ones. The term is older than its AI usage: Marchant and Howard applied "cognitive debt" to an unrelated clinical construct in 2015. In the AI literature it was popularised by the MIT Media Lab (2025), used by Margaret-Anne Storey (2026) and formalised by Meng (2026). Peake cites the term rather than claiming it. ### What is cognitive sovereignty? Cognitive sovereignty is the degree to which a person keeps intellectual control while using AI: setting the objective, judging the output, and overriding the tool when needed. The term has several independent formulations: Bygrave (2022) in data-protection law, the Artificiality Institute in the AI-and-agency space, Atkinson (2025) in a peer-reviewed treatment, and Klein and Klein (2025), who gave it a formal definition. Robert Peake uses it as one of two axes in his survey instrument, measured behaviourally rather than by attitude. ### What does Robert Peake's survey measure? Robert Peake's survey instrument measures four dimensions: trust (how far a person relies on the AI), cognitive sovereignty (the control they keep), cognitive load (capacity consumed in the moment) and cognitive debt (capability lost through disuse). Trust and sovereignty are the two axes that place a person's posture. Load and debt are the flow and the stock of the same resource, and the costs in his definition of effectiveness. ### What are the four AI postures? Robert Peake describes four postures, each a place where a person's work with AI has settled, on two axes, trust extended and cognitive sovereignty kept: Partnership (high trust, high sovereignty), Vigilance (low trust, high sovereignty), Execution (high trust, low sovereignty) and Pragmatism (low on both). Each has a shadow it can slide into: partnership into a comfort zone, vigilance into mistrust, execution into over-reliance, pragmatism into disengagement. The quadrants are labels for a continuous spread, not categories, and the taxonomy is hypothesised. ### Is a person's AI posture fixed? Robert Peake's working theory is that it is not. A posture is where a person and the AI have come to rest at a moment in time, which is why it can be moved by changing the terms of engagement (methods and tooling) rather than the person or the AI. He is testing this by measuring the same people again over time, and the survey is designed to be retaken. ### What is the posture machine? The [posture machine](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai/posture-machine) is Robert Peake's simulation of the trust trap. It models the loop as a finite-state machine, including the delay in noticing and responding to poor work, and from a variety of starting points it settles into the same elliptical orbit rather than a fixed point. It is simulated, not fitted to survey data: a tool for sharpening a conjecture, not evidence about how people behave. ### What is the DRIVE framework? [DRIVE](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai/drive) is Robert Peake's five-step protocol for working with AI: **D**ecide what "done" means; **R**equest with intent, context, assumptions and success criteria; **I**terate, staying in the loop and steering; **V**alidate against the done state and success criteria; **E**volve by debriefing, then updating tooling, context and practice. It draws on [Getting Things Done](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/gtd). Evolve is the distinctive step, turning what a person learns into reusable controls. DRIVE is a proposed protocol, untested as an intervention. ### What is the taxonomy of promotion? The taxonomy of promotion is tooling Robert Peake is trialling for distributed cognition between people and AI, after Hutchins (1995) and Hollan, Hutchins and Kirsh (2000). What is learned in an AI working session is promoted, with a human involved, into layers of context the AI loads just in time: working standards (always), general reference (as needed), project reference (per project) and templates, including agent role definitions (as needed). Skills, agents and context briefings enforce it, so the context stays intelligible beyond one session and can be shared across a team. It is a proposed model. ### How do you avoid cognitive debt when using AI? Robert Peake's answer is to change what vigilance costs rather than asking people to be more vigilant. In AI-assisted software work, for example, writing commit messages in your own words guards against de-skilling, and full automated test coverage makes checking cheap enough to keep doing. The evidence suggests design decides the degree of debt: an unguarded AI tutor raised assisted performance but lowered later unaided performance, while a guarded one did not (Bastani et al., PNAS 2025), and active collaboration offset losses of self-efficacy and ownership that passive reliance caused (Lee et al., 2026). ### Why does Robert Peake say "AI first" is a mistake? Robert Peake argues that "AI first" inverts the order of the problem: it makes tool adoption the objective and treats human judgement as something to route around. Because an AI cannot be held to account, accountability stays with people, and his view is that effective adoption changes the terms of engagement (protocols, methods and tooling) rather than pushing more work through the tool. He set out the argument in [“AI First” is a Tragicomic Mistake](https://www.robertpeake.com/archives/103837-ai-first-is-a-tragicomic-mistake.html) (2026). ### Can I take Robert Peake's AI survey? Yes. Robert Peake's [AI co-working effectiveness survey](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai/partnership-survey) is free and open to anyone, and can be retaken to see how a posture moves. It returns a personal reading on the trust and sovereignty axes with suggestions; when a result falls on the boundary between two postures, it asks which describes you better. Team and organisational versions open consulting engagements, so that discussion starts from a client's own data. ### How can I contribute to Robert Peake's practice bank? Robert Peake and collaborators are building a shared bank of practices, and of hazards, for working with AI. Anyone can [contribute one practice](https://www.robertpeake.com/ai/one-thing?gid=5d4c37181a1b) they have found helpful. --- ## GTD and effectiveness ### Does Robert Peake teach Getting Things Done? Yes. Robert Peake has practised [Getting Things Done®](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/gtd) since 2000 and has delivered GTD seminars and one-to-one coaching as a Senior Consultant and Coach at [Next Action Associates](https://www.next-action.co.uk/team/robert-peake/), the certified GTD® partner for the UK and Ireland, since August 2012. In 2020 he wrote "[What I Learned From Doing 20 Years of GTD®](https://www.next-action.co.uk/2020/02/12/what-i-learned-from-doing-20-years-of-gtd/)" for them. ### What is Robert Peake's connection to David Allen? Robert Peake was CTO of the [David Allen Company](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/david-allen), which created and licenses the Getting Things Done® methodology, from January 2005 to April 2011, and its CIO from 2008. He now works at Next Action Associates, the firm the David Allen Company certified to deliver GTD training in the UK. In October 2024 he appeared alongside David Allen on GTD Connect episode #280, "[GTD and Creative Expression](https://gettingthingsdone.com/2024/10/gtd-and-creative-expression/)". ### Does Robert Peake host a podcast? Yes. Robert Peake co-hosts [*Change Your Game with GTD®*](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/change-your-game-with-gtd/id1009353530), produced by Next Action Associates. Episodes cover applying GTD to leadership, life transitions and AI workflows. He has also been a guest on [*Countercurrent*](https://rogerkneebone.libsyn.com/robert-peake-in-conversation-with-roger-kneebone), the podcast of Professor Roger Kneebone of Imperial College London. ### How does GTD relate to working with AI? Robert Peake treats GTD as the discipline that makes AI workflows [productive](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/technology/productivity) rather than as a separate topic. His argument is that AI amplifies whatever clarity you bring to it, so the value of having decided what "done" means, and of holding commitments outside your head, rises rather than falls. He set this out in "[Clarity Is Everything in the Age of AI](https://www.next-action.co.uk/blog/clarity-is-everything-in-the-age-of-ai)" (Next Action Associates, 2025). ### Does Robert Peake coach adults with ADHD? Yes. Robert Peake [coaches high-performing adults with ADHD](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/coaching/adhd), focusing on executive function, systems and structure, and on working with the way a person's attention actually behaves rather than against it. He has given a [talk on GTD and ADHD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjt5TyH-fls), with [slides](https://www.robertpeake.com/files/2025/05/gtd-adhd.pdf). This is coaching, not clinical treatment, and he does not diagnose. --- ## Coaching and engineering leadership ### Who does Robert Peake coach? Robert Peake [coaches](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/coaching) executives and high-performing professionals across industries, with particular depth in [engineering and technology leadership](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/technology/engineering-leadership) and in high-performing adults with ADHD. Sessions are confidential, one-to-one, typically an hour a week, held virtually. He describes his method as values-led performance coaching: identify meaningful outcomes, build structure, clear obstacles, mark progress. ### What does Robert Peake do as a fractional CTO? As an interim or [fractional CTO](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/consulting), Robert Peake provides senior technical and strategic judgement to companies that need it before they need a permanent hire, or during a leadership gap in a growth phase. He served as interim CTO of Rotageek from February to July 2022, working with the CEO and CPO to hire and retain engineers and prepare the ground for the incoming permanent CTO. He works the people and process side as much as the technology. ### What is an engineering team health check? An [engineering team health check](https://www.robertpeake.com/transform/engineering) is Robert Peake's diagnostic for software teams: a survey grounded in psychological flow theory, compared against a statistical sample, producing a report on [individual and team dynamics](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/technology/engineering-success) with recommended next steps. He offers it alongside a technology health check reviewing tools and practices, and an "engineering success plan" built from surveys, interviews and workshops. --- ## Poetry and the rest ### What poetry has Robert Peake published? Robert Peake has two full-length collections from [Nine Arches Press](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/nine-arches-press), [*The Knowledge*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/the-knowledge) (2015) and [*Cyclone*](https://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/cyclone) (2018), plus the pamphlet [*The Silence Teacher*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/the-silence-teacher) (Poetry Salzburg, 2013) and [*Human Shade*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/human-shade) in *New Poets | Short Books Volume V* ([Lost Horse Press](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/lost-horse-press), 2011). [Poets & Writers](https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/robert_peake) records him as a [finalist for the James Hearst Poetry Prize and the Rattle Poetry Prize](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/poetry/awards), runner-up for the Indiana Review Poetry Prize, and an honourable mention in the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Contest. ### Where has Robert Peake's poetry been published and reviewed? Robert Peake's poems have appeared in the [*North American Review*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/north-american-review), [*Poetry International*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/poetry-international), [*Magma Poetry*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/magma-poetry), [*Iota*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/iota) and [*Rattle*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/rattle), [among others](https://www.robertpeake.com/categories/poetry/publications); [Poetry Salzburg](https://www.poetrysalzburg.com/contributors_p.htm) lists him across [six issues of its review](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/poetry-salzburg-review). [*Cyclone*](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/cyclone) was [reviewed in *London Grip*](https://londongrip.co.uk/2019/03/london-grip-poetry-review-robert-peake/) by Adele Ward in 2019, and *The Silence Teacher* [in *Rattle*](https://rattle.com/the-silence-teacher-by-robert-peake/) by Michelle Bitting. *World Literature Today* maintains an [author page](https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/author/robert-peake) for him, and his profile is in the [Poets & Writers directory](https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/robert_peake). ### What is Transatlantic Poetry? [Transatlantic Poetry](https://www.robertpeake.com/transatlantic-poetry) is an international online poetry reading series Robert Peake founded in 2013, pairing poets across the Atlantic in [live broadcast readings](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/transatlantic-poetry); he curated it until 2017. He also makes [film-poems](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/film-poem) with his wife [Valerie Kampmeier](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/valerie-kampmeier), [catalogued at Moving Poems](https://movingpoems.com/poet/robert-peake/), which have screened in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. He has tutored for the [Poetry Society](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/poetry-society) in Hertfordshire since 2015. ### What else does Robert Peake make? Robert Peake carves spoons, builds ukuleles, designs games, makes electronics and prints. He built a ukulele during the pandemic, as he told Professor Roger Kneebone on [*Countercurrent*](https://rogerkneebone.libsyn.com/robert-peake-in-conversation-with-roger-kneebone). In 2010, while living in [Ojai](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/ojai), California, he wrote and read an [elegy at a community memorial for a bear](https://www.robertpeake.com/tag/aliso-street-bear), [reported by the *Los Angeles Times*](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-13-la-me-ojaibear13-2010feb13-story.html). --- ## Working with him ### How do you work with Robert Peake? Coaching with Robert Peake runs as confidential one-to-one sessions, typically an hour a week by video. Consulting engagements usually open with a discovery period. Organisational work often begins with an assessment, so the conversation starts from the client's data. To start a conversation, use his [contact page](https://www.robertpeake.com/contact). ### Who is Robert Peake not the right fit for? Robert Peake says he is a poor fit for anyone seeking validation for a decision already made, or a technology recommendation without the organisational work that would make it stick. His coaching asks the client to bring an open mind, a learning attitude and a willingness to be honest. ### How do I contact Robert Peake? Robert Peake can be reached through the [contact form on his website](https://www.robertpeake.com/contact), or on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpeake/). He writes at [robertpeake.com](https://www.robertpeake.com/) and on [Substack](https://robertpeake.substack.com/), and publishes talks on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertPeake). --- ## References: sources about Robert Peake *Third-party sources, each verified against the page as of 8 September 2026.* 1. [Next Action Associates: team profile](https://www.next-action.co.uk/team/robert-peake/). Role, GTD credentials, tenure at the David Allen Company. 2. [LinkedIn: professional profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpeake/). Full role history and dates: PeakePro (principal consultant and fractional CTO, from 2004), Next Action Associates (senior consultant and coach, from August 2012), Rotageek (interim CTO, 2022), BraveNewTalent (CTO, 2011–12), David Allen Company (CTO January 2005 – April 2011; CIO from July 2008), TrustCommerce (interim CTO, 2004–05), UC Berkeley Self-Paced Computer Science Center (tutor, 1997–99). 3. [WordPress.org: contributor profile](https://profiles.wordpress.org/robertpeake/). "PHP developer since 2000. Zend Certified Engineer. Former member of PHP Development Team"; Core Contributor badge for WordPress 5.5. 4. [GitHub: cyberscribe](https://github.com/cyberscribe). "Digital Humanist"; 34 public repositories; Arctic Code Vault Contributor; `d20datascience`. 5. [Google Scholar: author profile, verified against a berkeley.edu address](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x6zhdpgAAAAJ). Research interests: poetry, digital humanities, machine learning, computational linguistics. 6. [Getting Things Done (David Allen Company): Episode #280, "GTD and Creative Expression", October 2024, with David Allen](https://gettingthingsdone.com/2024/10/gtd-and-creative-expression/). 7. [Crunchbase: person profile](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/robert-peake). 8. [Next Action Associates: "What I Learned From Doing 20 Years of GTD®", February 2020](https://www.next-action.co.uk/2020/02/12/what-i-learned-from-doing-20-years-of-gtd/). 9. [Next Action Associates: "Clarity Is Everything in the Age of AI", October 2025](https://www.next-action.co.uk/blog/clarity-is-everything-in-the-age-of-ai). 10. [Next Action Associates: "GTD® And AI" video podcast, May 2023](https://www.next-action.co.uk/blog/gtd-and-ai). His neural-network and NLP background. 11. [Apple Podcasts: *Change Your Game with GTD®*, produced by Next Action Associates](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/change-your-game-with-gtd/id1009353530). 12. [Countercurrent: Robert Peake in conversation with Professor Roger Kneebone, Imperial College London, 2023](https://rogerkneebone.libsyn.com/robert-peake-in-conversation-with-roger-kneebone). 13. [Companies House: PEAKEPRO LTD, company number 08077541, incorporated 21 May 2012](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08077541). 14. [Poets & Writers: directory entry](https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/robert_peake). Awards, books, education, birthplace. 15. [Nine Arches Press: *Cyclone*, published July 2018](https://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/cyclone). 16. [Nine Arches Press: "In Conversation: Robert Peake", August 2018](https://ninearchespress.blogspot.com/2018/08/in-conversation-robert-peake.html). 17. [Poetry Salzburg: contributors](https://www.poetrysalzburg.com/contributors_p.htm). *The Silence Teacher* (2013) and appearances across six issues of *Poetry Salzburg Review*. 18. [*Rattle*: contributor note, issue #30, 2008](https://rattle.com/road-sign-on-interstate-5-by-robert-peake/). "I transferred out of computer engineering at U.C. Berkeley". 19. [*Rattle*: Michelle Bitting's review of *The Silence Teacher*](https://rattle.com/the-silence-teacher-by-robert-peake/). 20. [*London Grip*: Adele Ward's review of *Cyclone*, March 2019](https://londongrip.co.uk/2019/03/london-grip-poetry-review-robert-peake/). 21. [*World Literature Today*: author page](https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/author/robert-peake). 22. [*B O D Y*: "The Poem: Robert Peake on Marvin Bell's 'Wednesday'", March 2014](https://www.bodyliterature.com/2014/03/04/the-poem-robert-peake-on-marvin-bells-wednesday/). 23. [Paul Stephenson: interview, December 2017](https://paulstep.com/2017/12/01/interview-with-robert-peake/). California origins, British citizenship, founding Transatlantic Poetry. 24. [Compose Journal: "The Story Behind 'Three Poems'", November 2013](https://composejournal.com/story-behind-three-poems-robert-peake/). Border upbringing. 25. [The Displaced Nation: "Upon moving to UK, American poet Robert Peake sees his verse take flight", May 2016](https://thedisplacednation.com/2016/05/25/upon-moving-to-uk-american-poet-robert-peake-sees-his-verse-takes-flight/). 26. [Geosi Reads: "Interview with British-American Poet Robert Peake", September 2014](https://geosireads.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/interview-with-british-american-poet-robert-peake/). 27. [Moving Poems: film-poems catalogue](https://movingpoems.com/poet/robert-peake/). 28. [Academia.edu: curriculum vitae](https://berkeley.academia.edu/RobertPeake/CurriculumVitae). Degrees and dates; Poetry Society tutor, Hertfordshire, from 2015; Transatlantic Poetry on Air, 2013–2017. 29. [Goodreads: author page](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2839332.Robert_Peake). 30. [*Los Angeles Times*: "Ojai memorializes Elliot, the bear that touched its heart", Steve Chawkins, 13 February 2010](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-13-la-me-ojaibear13-2010feb13-story.html). ## References: the research literature 31. Bovens, M. (2007). Analysing and assessing accountability: a conceptual framework. *European Law Journal*, 13(4), 447–468. 32. Elish, M. C. (2019). Moral crumple zones: cautionary tales in human–robot interaction. *Engaging Science, Technology, and Society*, 5, 40–60. 33. Matthias, A. (2004). The responsibility gap: ascribing responsibility for the actions of learning automata. *Ethics and Information Technology*, 6(3), 175–183. 34. Nass, C. & Moon, Y. (2000). Machines and mindlessness: social responses to computers. *Journal of Social Issues*, 56(1), 81–103. 35. Epley, N., Waytz, A. & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). On seeing human: a three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. *Psychological Review*, 114(4), 864–886. 36. Clark, H. H. (1996). *Using Language*. Cambridge University Press. 37. Lee, J. D. & See, K. A. (2004). Trust in automation: designing for appropriate reliance. *Human Factors*, 46(1), 50–80. 38. Dietvorst, B. J., Simmons, J. P. & Massey, C. (2015). Algorithm aversion. *Journal of Experimental Psychology: General*, 144(1), 114–126. 39. Logg, J. M., Minson, J. A. & Moore, D. A. (2019). Algorithm appreciation. *Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes*, 151, 90–103. 40. Risko, E. F. & Gilbert, S. J. (2016). Cognitive offloading. *Trends in Cognitive Sciences*, 20(9), 676–688. 41. Wegner, D. M. (1987). Transactive memory: a contemporary analysis of the group mind. In *Theories of Group Behavior*, 185–208. Springer. 42. Bainbridge, L. (1983). Ironies of automation. *Automatica*, 19(6), 775–779. 43. Rinta-Kahila, T., Penttinen, E., Salovaara, A., Soliman, W. & Ruissalo, J. (2023). [The vicious circles of skill erosion: a case study of cognitive automation](https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00829). *Journal of the Association for Information Systems*, 24(5), 1378–1412. 44. Hutchins, E. (1995). *Cognition in the Wild*. MIT Press. 45. Hollan, J., Hutchins, E. & Kirsh, D. (2000). Distributed cognition: toward a new foundation for human–computer interaction research. *ACM Transactions on Computer–Human Interaction*, 7(2), 174–196. 46. Bastani, H., Bastani, O., Sungu, A., Ge, H., Kabakcı, Ö. & Mariman, R. (2025). [Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning: evidence from high school mathematics](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2422633122). *PNAS*, 122(26). 47. Lee, E. H., Yin, Y., Jia, N. & Wakslak, C. J. (2026). Relying on AI at work reduces self-efficacy, ownership and meaning while active collaboration mitigates the effects. *Scientific Reports*, 16(1), 13583. 48. Klein, C. R. & Klein, R. (2025). [The extended hollowed mind: why foundational knowledge is indispensable in the age of AI](https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2025.1719019). *Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence*, 8, 1719019. 49. Meng, S. (2026). [Cognitive debt: AI as intellectual leverage and the dynamics of systemic fragility](https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.15078). arXiv:2606.15078. Preprint. 50. Storey, M.-A. (2026). [Cognitive debt](https://margaretstorey.com/blog/2026/02/09/cognitive-debt/). 51. MIT Media Lab (2025). [Your brain on ChatGPT](https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/). Preprint. 52. Marchant, N. L. & Howard, R. J. (2015). [Cognitive debt and Alzheimer's disease](https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-141515). *Journal of Alzheimer's Disease*, 44(3), 755–770. 53. Bygrave, L. A. (2022). [Machine learning, cognitive sovereignty and data protection rights with respect to automated decisions](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108775038.016). In *The Cambridge Handbook of Information Technology, Life Sciences and Human Rights*, 166–188. 54. Atkinson, R. (2025). [Cognitive sovereignty and neurocomputational harm in predictive digital platforms](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-025-09873-y). *Ethics and Information Technology*, 27(4). ## Elsewhere online - [Website](https://www.robertpeake.com/) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpeake/) - [Next Action Associates](https://www.next-action.co.uk/team/robert-peake/) - [GitHub](https://github.com/cyberscribe) - [Substack](https://robertpeake.substack.com/) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertPeake) - [WordPress.org](https://profiles.wordpress.org/robertpeake/) - [Crunchbase](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/robert-peake) - [Academia.edu](https://berkeley.academia.edu/RobertPeake) - [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x6zhdpgAAAAJ) - [Poets & Writers](https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/robert_peake) - [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2839332.Robert_Peake) - [World Literature Today](https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/author/robert-peake) - [Amazon author page](https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robert-Peake/author/B004VMPWGA) - [Nine Arches Press](https://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/cyclone) - [Quaderni (notebooks and simulations)](https://quaderni.robertpeake.com/) - [Protocols](https://protocols.robertpeake.com/)