Generative AI 101

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Google DeepMind: A Mini Origin Story Aug 06, 2025

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What do you get when you mix a chess prodigy, a neuroscience detour, and a borderline obsession with solving intelligence? Google DeepMind. In this episode, host Emily Laird goes into the mind (and muscles) behind modern AI, aka Demis Hassabis. From teaching AIs to dominate in Go and StarCraft to solving protein folding and launching the Gemini models, DeepMind isn’t just flexing, it’s reshaping the future. If your chatbot had a Nobel Prize and a gamer tag, it’d be this.
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Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Google DeepMind.

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Kimi K2 & the Continuation of the Great AI Arms Race Aug 05, 2025

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Meet Kimi K2! Join host Emily Laird as she explores the trillion-parameter powerhouse from Shanghai-based Moonshot AI that's throwing elbows at GPT-4.1, Gemini, and Claude 4. With a Mixture-of-Experts brain, a freakishly long memory (128K tokens), and the power to write code, run commands, and basically do your job better than you, this isn’t your average chatbot. It’s a business-savvy, open-source disruptor priced like street food but cooking with Michelin fire. Oh, and it’s backed by Alibaba and Tencent. Translation: the AI arms race just got very real—and very Chinese.
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Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Kimi K2.

Perplexity's Comet Browser & the Rise of AI Browsers Aug 04, 2025

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Chrome is toast (ok, probably not). Or at least, it might be if Perplexity’s Comet Browser has anything to say about it. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down how Comet is trying to outsmart your current browser by acting like a hyper-organized, AI-powered sidekick that shops for you, books your flights, and maybe even watches The Bachelor. But before you burn your bookmarks, we’re also talking sky-high pricing, early beta chaos, and the looming "AI Browser Wars" that have Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI on high alert. This isn’t your dad’s browser, it’s Jarvis, if Jarvis were a little unstable and cost $200 a month.

Learn More about the Perplexity Comet Browser
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Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Perplexity's new Comet browser.

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Meta's Billion Dollar UpScale Jul 30, 2025

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Meta just dropped $14.3 billion to buy half of Scale AI and hired their CEO like it was a fantasy football draft. In this episode, host Emily Laird unpacks why Mark Zuckerberg raided Scale AI’s pantry for top talent, including Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman, and what it means for Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab. It’s part billion-dollar power play, part Avengers-style recruitment, and a giant signal that in 2025, labeled data and elite researchers are Silicon Valley’s new gold.
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Meta's new acqui-hire of Scale AI.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Zuck to the Future: Meta's Superintelligence Lab Jul 29, 2025

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Meta just rage-quit its own AI strategy and rolled out the Superintelligence Lab, because nothing says "totally under control" like consolidating teams under Zuck himself. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down Meta’s big bet on AGI, its new Avengers-style AI dream team (including Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman), and the Manhattan-sized data centers designed to power it all. With billion-dollar budgets, 9-digit salaries, and a dash of sci-fi ambition, is this Meta’s masterstroke or Metaverse 2.0 with fancier buzzwords? Spoiler: Yann LeCun still isn’t sold.
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Meta's new Superintelligence Lab.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

OpenAI’s Agent: What It Is, What It Does, and Why It’s a Big Deal Jul 28, 2025

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OpenAI’s Agent isn’t here to make small talk. It’s here to get stuff done, like your caffeinated intern who never sleeps, never eats, but still can’t log into your Gmail. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down what the Agent actually is, how it turns ChatGPT into a hands-on digital assistant, and why Sam Altman is calling this “the feel of AGI” while also slapping a giant experimental label on it. You’ll learn what this thing can really do, where it crashes into walls, and why it might be the messiest, most exciting step yet in the AI arms race.
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about OpenAI's new Agent release.

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AI: The Ozempic of Corporate America Jul 23, 2025

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Corporate America’s on Ozempic, and the side effect is mass layoffs. In this episode, host Emily Laird slices into the juicy mess of the AI-powered corporate slim-down brought to you by a fantastic article by the WSJ. Turns out your boss doesn’t hate you, he just read a memo that said a chatbot is cheaper. From Amazon’s Andy Jassy preaching lean teams like it’s a TED Talk for sociopaths, to Walmart quietly firing 100,000 people while raking in billions, we unpack how generative AI is becoming the CFO’s new best friend. Less staff, more spreadsheets, and absolutely no chill.
The Wall Street Journal Article (subscription required, sorry!)
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about AI & jobs and no I'm not getting off this soapbox anytime soon.

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Andy Jassy & the AI Workforce Purge Jul 22, 2025

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just dropped a memo that’s equal parts pep talk and pink slip warning: AI is amazing, and it’s coming for your job. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down how Amazon is unleashing AI agents like digital Avengers to automate the mundane, boost efficiency, and quietly make some roles...disappear. We unpack what it means to “adapt or become the next Blockbuster,” why passive-aggressive robots are the future of your Slack channel, and how to become an AI-literate teammate before your digital coworkers outpace you.
Check out the Jassy Memo (seriously, read it, sport).
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Andy Jassy's memo and a leaner future workforce.

The AI Job Market Has Entered the Chat Jul 21, 2025

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Forget robot overlords. For now, AI still needs us to clean up its messes, cast its voices, and make sure it doesn’t accidentally go full Bond villain. In this episode, Emily breaks down the New York Times article on 22 new jobs AI could give you instead of just taking yours. From AI ethicists who play moral compass to personality directors deciding whether your chatbot sounds more like Oprah or Steve Harvey, we’re looking at new roles built around trust, integration, and taste. Your next job might involve babysitting a bot, fine-tuning its vibe, or making sure it doesn’t start pitching crypto scams. The future of work is weird, but it’s hiring.
Check out the New York Times article (seriously, read it).
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about AI and future job predictions!

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

AI Pro Tips Series: Prompt Like a Pro Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

Sick of AI giving you answers with all the flavor of corporate hold music? In this episode of our AI Pro Tips series, Emily Laird cracks open the secret sauce of prompting: ruthless specificity. Forget vague instructions! Think of AI like a rookie line cook: you want steak and fries, not leftovers from the walk-in. From prepping your prompts with chef-level detail to demanding feedback as sharp as a sushi chef’s knife, we’ll show you how to turn your AI sidekick from phoning it in to plating up brilliance. Want your AI to finally get it right? Give it a real shopping list. Bon appétit, data nerds.
Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now you have some AI tips to try this week!

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

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