🎙️ My new podcast's best moments so far
Three episodes in, there has been learning, laughing, and a competitive ongoing contest.
"The AI Artifacts Podcast" incubated for months before my co-host Sarah Luger and I released the first episode in October. As far back as July, we knew we wanted to do a series that cut through the noise of AI hype that’s been unavoidable for the past year. We wanted to spotlight where real value can be delivered while also remaining sober about the choices and real issues that mass adoption raises.
Three episodes in, it has been a great learning experience behind the mic. If you haven’t heard them yet, the first installments have included:
Episode 2: Guest Thomas Huitric talks resources required to deploy AI at scale
Episode 3: Guests David Hojah and Erin Janklow of Parrots, AI for patients with cognitive issues
The mix of commentary there is no accident. We wanted to include technical expertise, startup founders, and our perspective to show what we do know, what we don’t know, and that nothing about the rise of AI, machine learning, and LLMs in 2023 has been happening in a vacuum.
As we were planning this podcast’s first season, I bounced ideas off plenty of friends and former colleagues. One piece of feedback I laughed off more than once addressed how difficult it is to monetize and generate revenue off of podcasting. Fortunately, Sarah and I aren’t in this for the money. "AI Artifacts" is as much for us to learn from as it is for making the best episodes we can put together for the audience. (Though if that opportunity presents itself we obviously won’t be disappointed.)
So far, my favorite moments have included all of these highlights:
Ep. 1: Talking to Sarah about novelty vs. real utility among AI products
Eps. 1-3: Going 1-2 against Sarah in "Two truths and l'AI," where I dig up real news stories and ask her to spot a fake one that’s generated by ChatGPT
Ep. 2: Where Thomas Huitric discussed the water resources needed for training LLMs, but we also raised the issue of how much data will be required to train the next version of ChatGPT
Ep. 2: Speculating about what will come next after The Beatles released their AI-powered track "Then And Now"
Ep. 3: Exploring the very real need among ALS patients and caregivers that Parrots is working to solve with AI
Ep. 3: Digging into the responsibility that comes with user data, particularly in medical contexts like the ones that Parrots operates in
If they weren’t conversations that didn’t interest us first, they wouldn’t be part of the show. We’ve got two great guests lined up for the next two episodes and beyond, who will dig into topics including regulatory environments, creative use cases for AI tools, and more.
Let me know what you think any time, and please check us out and rate us as you’re able on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
Side reads and watches
The Atlantic’s Peter Thiel profile, wherein he is quoted as saying "Why can’t we be elves?"
Director Martin Scorsese’s "Killers of the Flower Moon" (2023), which was the tightest suspenseful three-and-a-half-hours I have spent in a theater in years
Season 2’s finale for "Loki," which I’m still processing but didn’t hit all the notes I hoped it would
That trailer for the new season of "Fargo" with Jon Hamm
Side shoutouts and links to friends
Roger Riddell, whose Chicago-based "Cult House" podcast has been blowing up with his musician and artist interviews, especially his 39th episode with metal frontman Wednesday 13
Alex Segura, who shared some new Dick Tracy (I love some Dick Tracy) art from the new comic he’s working on
Taylor Host, who has been doing a new series of cancer patient talks and perspectives on YouTube for the Jackie Banana Foundation