Bot Your Average Podcast

Nigel joins the podcast again as the gang breaks out their tinfoil hats and dives into what is going on behind the hype of Claude Mythos while the players in the AI Race rearrange themselves yet again. Things get even weirder as they touch on aliens, digital Jesus, crazy AI videos, and improper AI use in the workplace. Links:Claude Mythos: What Does Anthropic’s New Model Mean for the Future of Cybersecurity? | Centre for Emerging Technology and Security Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? | The New Yorker (Apologies to the New Yorker for erroneously attributing this article to the New York Times, and apologies to Andrew Marantz for forgetting his name.)AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies ItSora: OpenAI closes AI video app and cancels $1bn Disney dealUS-Iran war explained by Chinese AI animation: Legend of the Valley of GoldAdam Grant: The surprising habits of original thinkers | TED Talk (Yes! This was an Adam Grant talk!)Gaetz claims alien-human breeding program exists

The US Department of War is fighting with Anthropic, and OpenAI tries to save the day. Meanwhile the rest of us wait to see if AI is going to take our jobs. Plus, Jill and Michael model vulnerability as they admit not having fully read every article they talk about.Links:Anthropic’s response to the department of war: https://www.anthropic.com/news/where-stand-department-warAnthropic paper on job impact: https://www.anthropic.com/research/labor-market-impactsArticle: OpenAI deals with backlash: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3rz1nd0egroQwen: https://qwen.ai/homeArticle: Waymo blocks first responders: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/03/02/waymo-vehicle-blocks-ems-austin-mass-shootingArticle: Chinese distillation attack: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-companies-used-claude-improve-own-models-anthropic-says-2026-02-23/Article: Nvidia and AI investments: https://www.reuters.com/business/nvidia-will-not-be-able-invest-100-billion-openai-due-ipo-ceo-jensen-says-2026-03-04/Article: Nvidia’s orbital data center architect: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nvidia-space-company-hiring-orbital-013110731.html

Nigel Harstad is back as we discuss our 2026 AI predictions and how we’re approaching 2026 ourselves.Michael and Nigel talk about their cool AI productivity use cases, plus the future of humans as contractors for AI, how disappointment with AI productivity tools at work is driving government employees to bring their own AI tooling, and Jill’s break-up with ChatGPT. Links:Sam crashes out on Anthropic ads AI Actor Auditions (Instagram @sergiocilli)Moltbook: The front page of the agent internetArticle: Trump’s Acting Cyber Chief Uploaded Sensitive Files into a Public Version of ChatGPT

Michael and Jill lean in to their respective ADHD diagnoses and recap anything and everything 2025 AI. From their ChatGPT “wrapped” content, to Nano Banana Pro, to the rise of prediction markets, to advertising in AI, join them to consider where 2025 leaves us and what that might mean for the future of AI.Links:Open AI Declares “Code Red”: -OpenAI Declares ‘Code Red’ as Google Threatens AI Lead - WSJ

Are all these model updates exciting or getting boring? Meanwhile Anthropic announces Claude Code has been used to perpetrate cyber attacks. Michael and Jill talk through a bevy of recent model upgrades and contemplate some interesting Anthropic announcements.Links: Claude Code and cyber attacks: Disrupting the first reported AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign \ AnthropicAnthropic Vending Machine Experiment: https://www.anthropic.com/research/project-vend-1

Join Jill and Michael as they welcome their first guest, Dr. Nigel Harstad, North Dakota State Demographer, and discuss his creation and use of AI agents at work. Also, the release of AI web browser Atlas, data privacy & government AI use, and the AI economy. Resources:Article: Linkedin Article–Excel v orchestration

Join Jill and Michael as they virtually unbox unhinged AI videos created by the new Sora2, consider how AI could influence the market (moreso), and discuss robots that can do household chores AND fight. Links:Music sentiment and economic trends study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304405X21003718, related article: https://hbr.org/2022/01/when-people-listen-to-happy-songs-the-market-outperformsJesus flipping over tables: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxQTQeLOPX0/Video of robot folding towels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOoRnv3lA0kVideo of Jared Leto fighting robots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9cgX65OmykUnboxed Youtube video: Original was taken down, but plenty to find on google.

Join Jill and Michael as they contemplate what is real and what is AI: an update on the Albanian Minister of AI, discussing AI safety, and what an AI super intelligence could mean for our future–or if it means we simply don’t exist. Also, OpenAI and Nvidia investing in each other and data center impacts on local communities.Resources:Eutrophication: The reduction of dissolved oxygen in aquatic ecosystems by the introduction of pollutants (usually from runoff) that promote plant and microorganism overgrowth, resulting in zones of river and stream habitats with so little oxygen, other live cannot survive. Introducing hot water from industry into river and steam ecosystems accelerates the process as it further promotes the growth of eutrophic plants such as algae and is creates a more hospitable environment for bacteria. Hot water can also hold less oxygen, and temperature changes can stress wildlife and affect their bodily process. News: Albanian AI Minster Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4F_hAxGJLMNews: Meta Ray-ban Display - https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/meta-ray-ban-display/Podcast: Diary of a CEO: Dr. Roman Yampolskiy- The AI Safety Expert: These Are The Only 5 Jobs That Will Remain In 2030! - Dr. Roman YampolskiyNews: Nvidia $100 billion investment into open AI - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/22/business/nvidia-openai-investmentNews: NC electricity costs going up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3kzYYl1Xqk

Show notes: Michael and Jill discuss their recent successful (and unsuccessful) AI projects, the middling reception of ChatGPT-5, and explore the implications of replacing government officials with bots. Who is really in charge here?Links:Scientific American: ChatGPT is Changing the Words we use in Conversation https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chatgpt-is-changing-the-words-we-use-in-conversation/Reuters: Albania appoints AI bot as minister to tackle corruption https://www.reuters.com/technology/albania-appoints-ai-bot-minister-tackle-corruption-2025-09-11/

Show notes: Welcome to Bot Your Average Podcast! Meet our hosts, Jill and Michael, as they finally launch the podcast they tried to start as co-workers, just in time for the release of GPT5. They'll dive into the new model (well, hypothetically for Jill), chat about how they approach picking which AI models to use, and how AI might (or might not) replace humans at work. They also cover wearables, how technology affects society, and energy generation in space. Resources:This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #599: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYn8VKW6vXALM Studio: https://lmstudio.ai/ChatGPT: https://openai.com/Grok: https://x.ai/Claude: https://claude.ai/