Generative AI 101

AGI can do anything you can, write, reason, crack jokes, without being told how. Superintelligence can do all that and make you look like a potato with Wi-Fi. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down the real meaning of these two buzzwords, why even the experts can’t agree, and how the biggest AI players, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Meta, and xAI, are rac...

OpenAI’s GPT-5 isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a whole crew of AIs working together. One’s fast, one’s a deep thinker, and a couple work the cheap shifts, all coordinated by a smart “router” that picks the right brain for the job. It’s breaking records in math, coding, and reasoning, slashing hallucinations, and even scheduling your meetings. The Pro version handles monst...

What do you get when you mix a chess prodigy, a neuroscience detour, and a borderline obsession with solving intelligence? Google DeepMind. In this episode, host Emily Laird goes into the mind (and muscles) behind modern AI, aka Demis Hassabis. From teaching AIs to dominate in Go and StarCraft to solving protein folding and launching the Gemini models, DeepMind isn’t ...

Meet Kimi K2! Join host Emily Laird as she explores the trillion-parameter powerhouse from Shanghai-based Moonshot AI that's throwing elbows at GPT-4.1, Gemini, and Claude 4. With a Mixture-of-Experts brain, a freakishly long memory (128K tokens), and the power to write code, run commands, and basically do your job better than you, this isn’t your average chatbot. It’...

Chrome is toast (ok, probably not). Or at least, it might be if Perplexity’s Comet Browser has anything to say about it. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down how Comet is trying to outsmart your current browser by acting like a hyper-organized, AI-powered sidekick that shops for you, books your flights, and maybe even watches The Bachelor. But before you burn...

Meta just dropped $14.3 billion to buy half of Scale AI and hired their CEO like it was a fantasy football draft. In this episode, host Emily Laird unpacks why Mark Zuckerberg raided Scale AI’s pantry for top talent, including Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman, and what it means for Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab. It’s part billion-dollar power play, part Avengers-styl...

Meta just rage-quit its own AI strategy and rolled out the Superintelligence Lab, because nothing says "totally under control" like consolidating teams under Zuck himself. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down Meta’s big bet on AGI, its new Avengers-style AI dream team (including Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman), and the Manhattan-sized data centers designed to...

OpenAI’s Agent isn’t here to make small talk. It’s here to get stuff done, like your caffeinated intern who never sleeps, never eats, but still can’t log into your Gmail. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down what the Agent actually is, how it turns ChatGPT into a hands-on digital assistant, and why Sam Altman is calling this “the feel of AGI” while also slapp...

Corporate America’s on Ozempic, and the side effect is mass layoffs. In this episode, host Emily Laird slices into the juicy mess of the AI-powered corporate slim-down brought to you by a fantastic article by the WSJ. Turns out your boss doesn’t hate you, he just read a memo that said a chatbot is cheaper. From Amazon’s Andy Jassy preaching lean teams like it’s a TED ...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just dropped a memo that’s equal parts pep talk and pink slip warning: AI is amazing, and it’s coming for your job. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down how Amazon is unleashing AI agents like digital Avengers to automate the mundane, boost efficiency, and quietly make some roles...disappear. We unpack what it means to “adapt or become t...

Forget robot overlords. For now, AI still needs us to clean up its messes, cast its voices, and make sure it doesn’t accidentally go full Bond villain. In this episode, Emily breaks down the New York Times article on 22 new jobs AI could give you instead of just taking yours. From AI ethicists who play moral compass to personality directors deciding whether your chatb...

Sick of AI giving you answers with all the flavor of corporate hold music? In this episode of our AI Pro Tips series, Emily Laird cracks open the secret sauce of prompting: ruthless specificity. Forget vague instructions! Think of AI like a rookie line cook: you want steak and fries, not leftovers from the walk-in. From prepping your prompts with chef-level detail to ...

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...