December 11, 2025 • 8 mins
Michelle Watt looks at the rise of A.I. and what to be wary of around it.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Michelle, what and the Country Crossover joins us this afternoon.
Good afternoon, Michelle.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Afternoon, and our last chat for twenty twenty five. It's
come around very quickly, hasn't it.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
This The year has gone really really quick. And I
don't know how would you summose, summarize the year.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Ah, it's been a tough one, I think for most people,
hasn't it. I mean, originally it was twenty five survive.
I think that definitely was the case. This year, twenty
five survive. Hopefully it definitely wasn't thrived for a lot
of people, and hopefully next year is a little bit different.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And onwards and upwards.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I say, what was it when he said to Jamie
used today fixing twenty six?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You have fixed in twenty six. Let's hope.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Let's hope that happens my new election year next year.
So should be reasonably entertaining. That feels like it's come
around very quickly as well.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Before we start, I'm going to get you some stats fascinating.
Which animal do you think is the most considered the
strongest considering what it can pull in relation to bodyweight?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh, I'm going to say some sort of ant or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Continue, Yep, you're close right. The dung beetle capable of
pulling eleven hundred times its own body weight, the rhinoceros
beetle eight hundred and fifty times, in the leaf cutter
at fifty times. The strongest overall animal is the African
bush elephant, although the gorilla is the strongest primate, capable
of lifting ten times as body weight. The harpy eagle,
the strongest barrier, can lift pray twice its own weight,
(01:38):
and Harry Wilson is the strongest Australian as a number
eight because he had to carry the Wallabies all year.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
That's a good one idea like that. Did you come
up with that on your own?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah? I did. I thought that Mark Kelly every morning
on the Country Support breakfast is or what do you know?
So I just try and produce a random fact for him,
and I come up with that fact about the dung
beetle this morning.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
That's very good. I'd say that's fact of twenty twenty
five for me.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Well, there you go. AI. We're hearing all about AI
and the way it is coming out. Are you concerned
about the way that it's evolving in such a rapid capacity.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
It's interesting, Andy, So I don't think he knew this
about me. But when I studied psychology university, one of
my papers was actually heavily based around AI at the time,
which at the time it wasn't as big as it
is now.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
So AI to me, it's very useful. It's got its place.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Unfortunately, the gate has been opened, Okay, so it's already.
It's out there. It's doing its thing. It's learning at
a rapid pace. So the more information people put into it,
the more it's learning how we operate. And it can
pick out anything from all over the Internet, which is
both useful and also terrifying for a lot of reasons.
But we've just got to learn how to live with
it now, I think, and use it to its best
(02:45):
as a tool for things, but hopefully it's not used
for evil.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, I read about a government scenario over in Europe.
They're planning for two things, nuclear warfare and AI taking
over as such that would ever be a thing.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, it reminds me of all those movies that we
saw well we were kids, about AI robots taking over
all sorts of things like that, and whether that could
actually be a reality.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I mean for me, you know, law of robotics is
that they can't harm humans. That's actually one of the
laws of robotics. But AI could have learned the point
that I guess the biggest worry for people is could
it learned to the point that humans are their own
demise because of all the information that's out there, it
might put that together because remember, AI doesn't have emotion.
It's not human, so it can gather information. It can
(03:32):
make answers based on that information, link things together and
sort of comprehend things, I guess in a way. But
it can't have that emotional input that a human has,
so it doesn't have that. So it could be interesting
in the future, especially as it evolves, whether revolves to that.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Have you just thought of this off the top of
your head.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Oh yeah, I think about this stuff all the time.
AI is a bit of a passion of mine.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
That's really interesting. I swore you would have wrote that down.
That is really well said.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I'm smarter than you think your intelligence.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
For a moment, I mean, our clues that represent you're
just putting them up in lights with facts like that.
That's outstanding.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, it is my own opinion. But just from the
reading I've done, I think Ai. You know, like I said,
it has its place, It doesn't have emotion, whether it
can learn that or not. It will learn how humans
interact with each other because it will be able to
learn that from online and the way people interact with
each other via videos and all sorts of things in
certain situations. But whether it can apply that so precisely
that a human does, or whether it'll apply it black
(04:31):
and white, that's what the future holds.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Social media band in Australia for under sixteens? Is this
going to work?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
For me, I think that floodgate has already opened as well,
and unfortunately Andy, I think also young people are the
ones that grew up with this. You and I had
it enter into our lives later. We didn't have it,
you know, we didn't have it when we were under sixteen.
We had it after that. So we've learned to live
with it, learned to interact with it, whereas kids now
are growing up with it, and I'm not sure if
(05:01):
that's worse or better removing it. We know prohibition doesn't work,
you know, I mean history will tell us prohibition does
not work. So whether this will play out or not.
I don't know. I think these days, younger kids or
younger teenagers especially are a lot smarter than the rest
of us when it comes to technology, and they'll probably
figure out a way to get back on social media.
(05:21):
Does it cause harm, Yes, it does, But I think
a lot of it is to do with education as well,
and educating people about how to limit that harm because
it's going to be there forever, it's not going away.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
But it's a sad reflection in society the way that
we rely on technology, the way we do case some
point their conversation.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Before, Oh definitely.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I think if anything, during the summer holiday break, if
people can remove themselves from those things and have an
actual break from it, it does make a massive difference to
your mental reset. You don't realize until you take it away.
But I think it has its place. It's a useful tool.
It's created a lot of different connections and a way
to connect for people that we didn't have before.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I mean, I used to have pen pals and did.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
We ha pen pears about for school and Standard three
Miss Chapman's class shares from Mega Tafari up in Auckland
and we all write to people from that class at
the time.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, And I mean you wouldn't do that anymore, would you,
because you can go and hunt someone down on Facebook.
But I think the issue with social media for me
is that you don't know if that person is the
real person anymore. And the biggest fear is people stealing
identities also pretending to be someone they're not, and that
is scary because it makes it a lot easier, I think.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Just finally as well, it's the official survey is out
regarding what is the major protein on Kiwi tables this
summer or for Christmas. I suppose they took a thousand
people as a snapshot sample, forty two percent said lamb
would be the hero protein, porker ham thirty percent, and
beef thirteen percent. I question those figures.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
It's interesting, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
I mean it was only a thousand people, so really
that's quite a small survey. It depends on who they
surveyed as well in that, but it's done annually. It's
a bit of a know, it's one of those things
that comes along at Christmas and we get it as
a media release and it's a nice little thing to
talk about. But I think with the cost of living,
it really surprised me that lamb was a head, especially
with the price of red meat at the moment. I
(07:15):
would have thought pork would have been ahead. Actually, but
what are you having on your dinner table?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
It's pretty traditional as far as a Christian, we don't
do lamb as such. We take lamb when we go
on holiday and have a feeder of the likes too,
But like you say, it's just a very expensive protein
now for the consumer to get it is.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And I think traditionally New Zealand's moving away from those
English style Christmas days. I mean, obviously my husband's an Englishmen,
but we don't have turkey, although a few years we
have had it randomly depending on where we are, but
usually it's lamb or something of the likes. This year
it'll be a barbecue or something. I think things get
more casual as time goes on. It's about spending time
(07:53):
with family, you know, it doesn't matter if it's a
sausage on the barbie or a leagu of ham or
a league of lamb.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It doesn't really matter. As long as you're west the
people that you love.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Good on you. Michelle always appreciated your chats this year
on the muster. Have a great holiday season in c
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Likewise, it Merry Christmas to all the listeners. Down and
Gore in South Tago.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Michelle What and the Country Crossover. Up next, Shane Young
talking about how you can want to tractor
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Oh No,
Michelle, what and the Country Crossover joins us this afternoon.
Good afternoon, Michelle.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Afternoon, and our last chat for twenty twenty five. It's
come around very quickly, hasn't it.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
This The year has gone really really quick. And I
don't know how would you summose, summarize the year.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Ah, it's been a tough one, I think for most people,
hasn't it. I mean, originally it was twenty five survive.
I think that definitely was the case. This year, twenty
five survive. Hopefully it definitely wasn't thrived for a lot
of people, and hopefully next year is a little bit different.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And onwards and upwards.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I say, what was it when he said to Jamie
used today fixing twenty six?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You have fixed in twenty six. Let's hope.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Let's hope that happens my new election year next year.
So should be reasonably entertaining. That feels like it's come
around very quickly as well.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Before we start, I'm going to get you some stats fascinating.
Which animal do you think is the most considered the
strongest considering what it can pull in relation to bodyweight?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh, I'm going to say some sort of ant or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Continue, Yep, you're close right. The dung beetle capable of
pulling eleven hundred times its own body weight, the rhinoceros
beetle eight hundred and fifty times, in the leaf cutter
at fifty times. The strongest overall animal is the African
bush elephant, although the gorilla is the strongest primate, capable
of lifting ten times as body weight. The harpy eagle,
the strongest barrier, can lift pray twice its own weight,
(01:38):
and Harry Wilson is the strongest Australian as a number
eight because he had to carry the Wallabies all year.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
That's a good one idea like that. Did you come
up with that on your own?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah? I did. I thought that Mark Kelly every morning
on the Country Support breakfast is or what do you know?
So I just try and produce a random fact for him,
and I come up with that fact about the dung
beetle this morning.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
That's very good. I'd say that's fact of twenty twenty
five for me.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Well, there you go. AI. We're hearing all about AI
and the way it is coming out. Are you concerned
about the way that it's evolving in such a rapid capacity.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
It's interesting, Andy, So I don't think he knew this
about me. But when I studied psychology university, one of
my papers was actually heavily based around AI at the time,
which at the time it wasn't as big as it
is now.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
So AI to me, it's very useful. It's got its place.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Unfortunately, the gate has been opened, Okay, so it's already.
It's out there. It's doing its thing. It's learning at
a rapid pace. So the more information people put into it,
the more it's learning how we operate. And it can
pick out anything from all over the Internet, which is
both useful and also terrifying for a lot of reasons.
But we've just got to learn how to live with
it now, I think, and use it to its best
(02:45):
as a tool for things, but hopefully it's not used
for evil.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, I read about a government scenario over in Europe.
They're planning for two things, nuclear warfare and AI taking
over as such that would ever be a thing.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, it reminds me of all those movies that we
saw well we were kids, about AI robots taking over
all sorts of things like that, and whether that could
actually be a reality.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I mean for me, you know, law of robotics is
that they can't harm humans. That's actually one of the
laws of robotics. But AI could have learned the point
that I guess the biggest worry for people is could
it learned to the point that humans are their own
demise because of all the information that's out there, it
might put that together because remember, AI doesn't have emotion.
It's not human, so it can gather information. It can
(03:32):
make answers based on that information, link things together and
sort of comprehend things, I guess in a way. But
it can't have that emotional input that a human has,
so it doesn't have that. So it could be interesting
in the future, especially as it evolves, whether revolves to that.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Have you just thought of this off the top of
your head.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Oh yeah, I think about this stuff all the time.
AI is a bit of a passion of mine.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
That's really interesting. I swore you would have wrote that down.
That is really well said.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I'm smarter than you think your intelligence.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
For a moment, I mean, our clues that represent you're
just putting them up in lights with facts like that.
That's outstanding.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, it is my own opinion. But just from the
reading I've done, I think Ai. You know, like I said,
it has its place, It doesn't have emotion, whether it
can learn that or not. It will learn how humans
interact with each other because it will be able to
learn that from online and the way people interact with
each other via videos and all sorts of things in
certain situations. But whether it can apply that so precisely
that a human does, or whether it'll apply it black
(04:31):
and white, that's what the future holds.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Social media band in Australia for under sixteens? Is this
going to work?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
For me, I think that floodgate has already opened as well,
and unfortunately Andy, I think also young people are the
ones that grew up with this. You and I had
it enter into our lives later. We didn't have it,
you know, we didn't have it when we were under sixteen.
We had it after that. So we've learned to live
with it, learned to interact with it, whereas kids now
are growing up with it, and I'm not sure if
(05:01):
that's worse or better removing it. We know prohibition doesn't work,
you know, I mean history will tell us prohibition does
not work. So whether this will play out or not.
I don't know. I think these days, younger kids or
younger teenagers especially are a lot smarter than the rest
of us when it comes to technology, and they'll probably
figure out a way to get back on social media.
(05:21):
Does it cause harm, Yes, it does, But I think
a lot of it is to do with education as well,
and educating people about how to limit that harm because
it's going to be there forever, it's not going away.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
But it's a sad reflection in society the way that
we rely on technology, the way we do case some
point their conversation.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Before, Oh definitely.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I think if anything, during the summer holiday break, if
people can remove themselves from those things and have an
actual break from it, it does make a massive difference to
your mental reset. You don't realize until you take it away.
But I think it has its place. It's a useful tool.
It's created a lot of different connections and a way
to connect for people that we didn't have before.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I mean, I used to have pen pals and did.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
We ha pen pears about for school and Standard three
Miss Chapman's class shares from Mega Tafari up in Auckland
and we all write to people from that class at
the time.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, And I mean you wouldn't do that anymore, would you,
because you can go and hunt someone down on Facebook.
But I think the issue with social media for me
is that you don't know if that person is the
real person anymore. And the biggest fear is people stealing
identities also pretending to be someone they're not, and that
is scary because it makes it a lot easier, I think.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Just finally as well, it's the official survey is out
regarding what is the major protein on Kiwi tables this
summer or for Christmas. I suppose they took a thousand
people as a snapshot sample, forty two percent said lamb
would be the hero protein, porker ham thirty percent, and
beef thirteen percent. I question those figures.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
It's interesting, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
I mean it was only a thousand people, so really
that's quite a small survey. It depends on who they
surveyed as well in that, but it's done annually. It's
a bit of a know, it's one of those things
that comes along at Christmas and we get it as
a media release and it's a nice little thing to
talk about. But I think with the cost of living,
it really surprised me that lamb was a head, especially
with the price of red meat at the moment. I
(07:15):
would have thought pork would have been ahead. Actually, but
what are you having on your dinner table?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
It's pretty traditional as far as a Christian, we don't
do lamb as such. We take lamb when we go
on holiday and have a feeder of the likes too,
But like you say, it's just a very expensive protein
now for the consumer to get it is.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And I think traditionally New Zealand's moving away from those
English style Christmas days. I mean, obviously my husband's an Englishmen,
but we don't have turkey, although a few years we
have had it randomly depending on where we are, but
usually it's lamb or something of the likes. This year
it'll be a barbecue or something. I think things get
more casual as time goes on. It's about spending time
(07:53):
with family, you know, it doesn't matter if it's a
sausage on the barbie or a leagu of ham or
a league of lamb.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It doesn't really matter. As long as you're west the
people that you love.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Good on you. Michelle always appreciated your chats this year
on the muster. Have a great holiday season in c
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Likewise, it Merry Christmas to all the listeners. Down and
Gore in South Tago.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Michelle What and the Country Crossover. Up next, Shane Young
talking about how you can want to tractor
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Oh No,
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.