Season 3, Episode 5: A Crash Course on GPTs and AI (featuring John Otwell) episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 26, 2025 · 1H 14M

Season 3, Episode 5: A Crash Course on GPTs and AI (featuring John Otwell)

from On the Fringe · host Dave and Gavin

(00:00:00) Season 3, Episode 5: A Crash Course on GPTs and AI (featuring John Otwell) (00:01:03) Background about John and a few caveats (00:05:18) The Technical Part starts (00:17:18) AI Gone Wild (00:25:08) What happens to people who are constantly exposed to AI (00:32:58) Differences in American and Chinese companies when it comes to AI development (00:47:00) We're getting more philosophical (00:47:20) Where is AI taking the human race? (00:52:00) Who will the robots replace? (00:57:07) Workin' for the bot (00:58:40) AI and legal liability (01:03:30) Bots and missile defense (01:09:09) What bots WON'T replace This week, we’re talking to another old friend, John Otwell, a software engineer and fellow RPCV, (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) about AI. We thought this was going to be a talk about physical infrastructure and geopolitical struggle and instead it got quite metaphysical quite fast.John knows his stuff and clearly explains what a GPT is and what it does using the human brain as a basis. If you don’t know what a neural network is, how how the brain works, he’s got you covered.He decided to come to Indonesia with Peace Corps rather than attend medical school, and his knowledge of the human brain, cognition, and tech mesh perfectly to give you the first of many pods we will have with him in this philosophical “no man’s land.” (it’s not human after all!)We talk about the essential mystery at the core of human behavior, and the sort of curious ethical questions that float to the surface as more and more things get AI thrown at them.The Robots are already here—in our heads, screens, and our cars. Where else will they be in the near future? Listen in for one-of-a-kind insight from someone who may be putting them there, or on your screen!If you enjoyed the episode, like, comment, subscribe, and share—and let us know! [email protected] small bot in the corner is from freepik.com, can be found here, and was crcreated by upklyak

(00:00:00) Season 3, Episode 5: A Crash Course on GPTs and AI (featuring John Otwell) (00:01:03) Background about John and a few caveats (00:05:18) The Technical Part starts (00:17:18) AI Gone Wild (00:25:08) What happens to people who are constantly exposed to AI (00:32:58) Differences in American and Chinese companies when it comes to AI development (00:47:00) We're getting more philosophical (00:47:20) Where is AI taking the human race? (00:52:00) Who will the robots replace? (00:57:07) Workin' for the bot (00:58:40) AI and legal liability (01:03:30) Bots and missile defense (01:09:09) What bots WON'T replace This week, we’re talking to another old friend, John Otwell, a software engineer and fellow RPCV, (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) about AI. We thought this was going to be a talk about physical infrastructure and geopolitical struggle and instead it got quite metaphysical quite fast.John knows his stuff and clearly explains what a GPT is and what it does using the human brain as a basis. If you don’t know what a neural network is, how how the brain works, he’s got you covered.He decided to come to Indonesia with Peace Corps rather than attend medical school, and his knowledge of the human brain, cognition, and tech mesh perfectly to give you the first of many pods we will have with him in this philosophical “no man’s land.” (it’s not human after all!)We talk about the essential mystery at the core of human behavior, and the sort of curious ethical questions that float to the surface as more and more things get AI thrown at them.The Robots are already here—in our heads, screens, and our cars. Where else will they be in the near future? Listen in for one-of-a-kind insight from someone who may be putting them there, or on your screen!If you enjoyed the episode, like, comment, subscribe, and share—and let us know! [email protected] small bot in the corner is from freepik.com, can be found here, and was crcreated by upklyak

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Season 3, Episode 5: A Crash Course on GPTs and AI (featuring John Otwell)

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(00:00:00) Season 3, Episode 5: A Crash Course on GPTs and AI (featuring John Otwell) (00:01:03) Background about John and a few caveats (00:05:18) The Technical Part starts (00:17:18) AI Gone Wild (00:25:08) What happens to people who are...

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