AI Unfiltered

This week Ian and Michael discuss the growing flood of AI-generated films, music, books, and artwork, prompted in part by a recent AI-produced entry at the Tribeca Film Festival. What begins as a conversation about synthetic creativity soon turns into a broader discussion about the economics of AI, the value of human-made art, and the fact that many of these systems are built on the uncompensated work of countless artists, writers, and musicians. Along the way we wonder whether audiences actually want endless machine-generated content, or whether the internet is simply becoming increasingly crowded with it. A mildly sceptical look at creativity in an age when producing more content has never been easier. (This description was written with the help of AI)

This week Ian and Michael discuss the increasingly uncomfortable feeling that much of the internet is no longer populated by people but by bots talking to other bots. From there the conversation wanders into reality television and its occasionally tenuous relationship with reality, before moving on to language learning through books, films, and sheer persistence. As usual, the topics may not appear to have much in common, but questions of what is real, authentic, or merely convincing seem to crop up rather more often than expected. Plus a few tangents into video games and German pastries, and a new instalment of Emma Williams' Artificial Reflections.(This episode features AI-generated content and speech)

This week Ian and Michael discuss the growing backlash against AI, from public frustration with generative tools to mounting opposition against the ever-expanding fleet of data centres needed to power them. Along the way there is the usual mixture of scepticism, speculation, and mild exasperation. The question, ultimately, is whether the backlash can change the trajectory — or whether we're all just living in a future data centre that hasn't been fully built yet. (This description was written with the help of AI)

This week, Ian and Michael ponder whether we're in too deep and to invested in AI for the bubble to burst, the death of privacy, an AI generated version of the late Val Kilmer starring in a new movie, and the implications for the creative arts in an AI-generated world.

This week Ian and Michael discuss “cognitive surrender” — the increasingly common habit of accepting whatever an AI chatbot tells us without much scrutiny. From there the conversation moves into critical thinking, the uneasy role of AI in recruitment and hiring, and the broader question of whether convenience is eroding our willingness to verify information for ourselves. We also revisit one of the podcast’s recurring themes: AI chess algorithms. A mildly sceptical look at what happens when outsourcing thought becomes just a little too easy. (This description was written with the help of AI - because outsourcing thought is indeed just a little too easy...)