PODCAST · business
The Droid Duo Podcast
by Gil Appel and David Schweidel
The Droid Duo brings together Gil Appel (GW School of Business) and David Schweidel (Emory's Goizueta Business School) for lively, 30-minute conversations on AI’s impact across business and society. From small business and higher education to copyright, ethics, creativity, and the environment, they mix critical thinking with humor to separate hype from reality. Two scholars, two “droids,” one big conversation about the future of AI.
Episodes
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Ep 15 — The AI Meter Is Running
The $20 AI subscription is a myth: Gil and David break down token maxing (why burning $500K of tokens isn't productivity, 0:21), units nobody understands - 20x Lord of the Rings? (3:23), the three ways you pay for AI (6:13), running open-weight models locally for privacy and certainty (7:46),...
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Ep. 14 — 5 Things Professors Should Do With AI This Summer
Summer is when next year’s course gets built. Gil Appel and David Schweidel walk through five concrete moves for professors adapting to AI before fall: red-teaming assessments (12:52), writing a per-assignment AI policy (16:58), building a custom course assistant with a live demo (27:08),...
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Ep. 13 — When AI Starts Running Society
What happens when AI starts running society? Gil Appel and David Schweidel dig into AI agents governing simulated worlds (and watching them collapse), Robinhood handing trading to AI agents, Florida's lawsuit against OpenAI and the Section 230 fight, Bernie Sanders' AI sovereign wealth fund, and...
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Droid Duo Ep. 12 — Not About the Model: The $5.5B Consulting Pivot
Anthropic and OpenAI spent $5.5 billion in eight days to become consulting firms. SpaceX handed Anthropic the biggest GPU cluster on Earth, and Grok still couldn't win. Gil and David unpack the twin JVs, the Forward Deployed Engineer model, Claude Legal, the SpaceX Colossus 1 deal, Claude's token...
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Title: Ep 11 — AI's Pricing Problem, Allbirds Becomes an AI Company, and Higher Ed's Self-Sabotage
New image models, opaque AI pricing, a shoe company pivoting to AI, and why banning AI in classrooms is the worst possible move. Gil and David on what's hype, what's snake oil, and how business schools need to change — now.
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Droid Duo Ep. 10 — The Meta/Google Verdict & the AI Brand Playbook
A jury just found Meta and Google liable for designing addictive platforms — the first "defective by design" verdict in social media history. A day earlier, Meta got hit with $375M in New Mexico. It's Big Tech's Big Tobacco moment. But here's the twist: just as platforms face a legal reckoning…
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Droid Duo Ep. 9 — The Great Migration: QuitGPT, Checkout Retreats & AI Brand Blind Spots
Millions are ditching ChatGPT overnight, OpenAI is abandoning in-chat shopping, and most brands have no idea what AI is telling consumers about them. Gil and David break down the QuitGPT fallout, how easy switching AI platforms really is, why Instant Checkout fizzled, and what David's new HBR...
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Episode 8: There Can Be Only One: The Great AI Ad Race
Ads have officially entered the chat. After a winter hiatus, Gil and David return to discuss the inevitable commercialization of AI. OpenAI has announced ads for its free tier, but at what cost to the user experience? In this episode, we break down: The Highlander Strategy: Why Google and OpenAI...
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Droid Duo Episode 7 - The Agency Paradox
This episode explores how AI is shifting agency away from individuals and toward platforms, transforming traditional brand loyalty into a "digital feudalism" where exit is nearly impossible. We analyze the regulatory earthquake of the December 2025 Executive Order, contrasting the Biden-era focus...
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Droid Duo Episode 6 — “Google Strikes Back”
After "sleeping" for two years while OpenAI grabbed the headlines, Google has finally flooded the zone. In this episode, Gil (The Pink Droid) and David (The Blue Droid) break down Google’s massive counter-offensive. From NotebookLM evolving into a full media studio to the "cursor-killing" AI…
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S1E5 AI Still Has an IP Problem
Big news. The Droid Duo just became the Droid Trio for the first time. In this episode, Gil (pink droid) and David (blue droid) welcome Juliana Neill Bower, the purple droid. Juliana is a partner at Fox Rothschild and a leading IP and AI lawyer. Together, they unpack what is actually happening in...
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S1E4 - AI Hustle with Google's Pomelli and more
In this episode, we discuss the future of the workplace, how to make yourself AI proof at work, announce the winner of our first competition, and demonstrate how you can use Google's new tool: Pomelli, to have an AI side hustle
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S1E3 - The Agent Revolution: AI Gets Autonomous
Droid Duo Episode 3 - The Agent Revolution: AI Gets Autonomous The Agent Revolution: AI Gets Autonomous Oct 23 • 12:00 ET • 30 min — Live with David Schweidel (Emory Goizueta) & Gil Appel (GW School of Business). Agents are moving from chat to action—planning tasks, calling tools, and shipping...
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S1E2 - Everyone's a Creator: AI Content in Your Pocket
The Droid Duo Podcast second episode - this time we tackle AI content creation
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S1E1 - The Future of Education in the Age of AI — The Droid Duo (Ep. 1)
Two professors, one fast show. David Schweidel (Emory Goizueta) and Gil Appel (GW School of Business) break down how AI is reshaping education: what works now, what to avoid, and what to measure. In this first episode, we tackle the future of education in the age of AI - listen on!
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Droid Duo brings together Gil Appel (GW School of Business) and David Schweidel (Emory's Goizueta Business School) for lively, 30-minute conversations on AI’s impact across business and society. From small business and higher education to copyright, ethics, creativity, and the environment, they mix critical thinking with humor to separate hype from reality. Two scholars, two “droids,” one big conversation about the future of AI.
HOSTED BY
Gil Appel and David Schweidel
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Droid Duo Podcast have?
The Droid Duo Podcast currently has 15 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Droid Duo Podcast about?
The Droid Duo brings together Gil Appel (GW School of Business) and David Schweidel (Emory's Goizueta Business School) for lively, 30-minute conversations on AI’s impact across business and society. From small business and higher education to copyright, ethics, creativity, and the environment, they...
How often does The Droid Duo Podcast release new episodes?
The Droid Duo Podcast has 15 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Droid Duo Podcast?
You can listen to The Droid Duo Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Droid Duo Podcast?
The Droid Duo Podcast is created and hosted by Gil Appel and David Schweidel.
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