Generative AI 101

Think you’ve got all your project bases covered? Think again. In this episode, Emily Laird calls out the hidden holes in your plans that even your espresso-fueled brain misses. Forget the coddling, AI is here to serve up brutal honesty and a reality check, sniffing out the overlooked people, missing voices, and embarrassing assumptions tucked into your “flawless” work...

Think giving your chatbot a name is just for weirdos and sci-fi fans? Think again. In this episode, Emily Laird tosses out the dry tips and goes full Cast Away, explaining why talking to your AI like it’s a grumpy old professor (or a pirate, or Jeffrey the Roomba) isn’t just quirky, it’s the secret to getting answers that don’t suck. Discover why a dash of personality...

AI isn’t just doing your homework anymore, it’s helping build malware, write fake job offers, and launch cyberattacks faster than you can say “Ctrl+Alt+Delete.” In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down how generative AI is giving cybercriminals a glow-up, from malware-for-hire and espionage squads to scams slicker than a used car salesman in the metaverse. Meet S...

Generative AI has a dark side, and it’s not just stealing jobs, it’s applying for them. In this episode, host Emily Laird goes underground with OpenAI’s new report on how generative models are powering fake résumés, propaganda machines, and influencer chaos. From North Korean hackers catfishing HR departments to AI-crafted love letters to authoritarian regimes, the sc...

AI isn’t just crashing Miami’s pool parties anymore, it’s moving into the classroom, and no, it’s not just helping kids cheat better. In this episode, hot Emily Laird's hitting the hot, humid hallways of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where over 100,000 students will be getting cozy with Google’s Gemini chatbot. We’re talking AI-powered tutors, teacher bootcamps, a...

Grab your ergonomic chair and emotional support coffee, this one’s about your job, and whether AI already has it. In this episode of Generative AI 101, Emily Laird breaks down why Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), and Kevin Roose (NYT) are all sounding the alarm—each in their own way—on the AI-job apocalypse. From entry-level extinction to CEOs quietly ...

Lights, camera, algorithm! This week, host Emily Laird hands the director’s chair to Google’s Veo 3, an AI video model that spits out 4K cinematic clips on command, complete with synced sound, consistent characters, and more drama than a Zoom call with your CEO. From TikTok teasers that don’t look like last-minute Canva projects, to cat-produced Sundance shorts, we ex...

Google DeepMind just dropped Veo 3, and it's basically Final Cut Pro with a soul—or at least a solid camera sense. This episode, we're breaking down why this new generative video model isn’t just impressive—it’s unsettlingly good. Think 4K video made from text, audio that doesn’t sound like a Speak & Spell, and cinematic vibes so on point it could fool a film stud...

What happens when OpenAI gives $6.5 billion to the man who made your iPhone hot and your MacBook sleek? You get a screenless, AI-native gadget designed by Jony Ive, aka the guy who convinced us that buttons are for peasants. In this episode, host Emily Laird digs into why OpenAI bought hardware startup io (yes, lowercase), what a “third core device” even is, and wheth...

Let's break down the U.S. Copyright Office’s spicy third report on AI, ya know, the one that's throwing elbows and reportedly got Perlmutter canned. From training on copyrighted data to market dilution (aka the Merlot of legal arguments), Emily Laird dissects the legal drama that could decide the future of generative models. We’re talking fair use, fine-tuning trouble...

AI-generated Tom Cruise? Button-mashing cyberpunk operas? Welcome to the legal circus. In this episode, Emily Laird breaks down the U.S. Copyright Office’s spicy three-part report series on generative AI: from deepfakes and who actually owns AI-made content, to the billion-dollar question, can your model legally chow down on copyrighted books without asking? Spoiler: ...

So you typed “a cat smoking a pipe in Van Gogh’s style” into your favorite AI tool, cool flex, but don’t try to copyright it. In this episode, host Emily Laird is slicing into the meat of the AI copyright mess: who owns AI-generated content, what the U.S. Copyright Office actually said about it, and why your clever prompt won’t get you a ribbon (or royalties). From th...

Generative AI crashed the copyright party in 2023 and it didn’t wipe its boots at the door. In this episode, we break down the chaotic, caffeinated debate over who owns what when machines start getting “creative.” From the U.S. Copyright Office’s tough love (no human, no copyright) to courtroom showdowns like Thaler v. Perlmutter and the cautious applause for Théâtre ...

Think AI runs on math and magic? Try 66 billion liters of water. In this episode, host Emily Laird exposes AI’s dirty little secret: data centers are chugging water like it’s spring break in Vegas. From Microsoft draining cities to Google raising eyebrows in Oregon, we break down how training your favorite chatbot might be leaving the planet parched. Plus, we look at ...

AI isn't magic; it's math and metal, and it has a monster appetite for electricity. In this episode, host Emily Laird digs into the eco-footprint of Generative AI, from training models that suck down enough power to juice 120 homes, to chatbot sessions that drain half a liter of water per flirty Q&A. Emily also unpacks why your helpful bot might be thirstier than ...

Ever wonder who’s really winning the Chatbot Arena and whether those wins mean anything at all? In this episode of Generative AI 101, host Emily Laird's blowing the lid off the leaderboard. Turns out, the top bots might’ve had a little… help. Like submitting 27 secret versions and quietly deleting the losers help. We break down The Leaderboard Illusion, a new research paper, is exposing how big tech plays with the rules, while open...

Let's crack open the philosophical piñata known as machine consciousness. Can an LLM feel pride? Regret? Existential dread when you close the browser tab? Host Emily Laird explores the messy, mind-melting debate over whether AI might actually feel something—and why Anthropic, the buttoned-up AI lab behind Claude, is tossing around numbers that suggest their model migh...

Let's crack open Dario Amodei’s latest essay, The Urgency of Interpretability, and ask the big, slightly terrifying question: do we actually know what our AIs are doing? (Spoiler: not really.) Host Emily Laird, your unofficial AI mechanic, is here to poke at the greasy guts of Amodei's latest thriller. We’ll talk haunted vending machines, rogue coffee-fetching robots,...

AI therapy apps are popping off, but should you really trust a chatbot with your late-night existential crisis? In this episode, we crack open the weird history of therapy bots (starting with one that was dumber than a Magic 8-Ball), explore how today's AI can spit out legit CBT tips, and unpack why your Tamagotchi probably gave better advice. We’ll also dig into the ...