Generative AI 101

Latest Episodes:

GPT-5.6 Sol Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol is not just another smarter model, it is a preview of controlled intelligence as the new product category. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down the real stakes: government-visible model releases, cyber capability, activation classifiers, trusted-access programs, and the uncomfortable fact that frontier models are now being watched while they run. The hype says “better AI,” but the actual story is stranger, colder, and more consequential: access, safety, cost, and control are becoming part of the product itself.

──────────────────

🎯 JOIN THE AI WEEKLY MEETUPS

https://www.uwstout.edu/ai-weekly-meetup

📩 EMAIL REMINDERS FOR THE MEETUPS
https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/2101263/1779703/
💬 CONNECT WITH EMILY LAIRD ON LINKEDIN
http://www.linkedin.com/in/meet-emily-laird
──────────────────

You now know more about GPT 5.6 Sol than you did before you arrived.

What is Recursive Self-Improvement? Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Generative AI 101, host Emily Laird breaks down recursive self-improvement, the feedback loop where AI begins helping build better AI. The reality check: this is not a chatbot fantasy, it is frontier labs using models to write code, run tests, build evaluations, and speed up the next generation of systems. When Anthropic says Claude authored more than 80 percent of merged code in its own codebase, the question stops being theoretical and starts becoming operational. This episode is about what happens when AI becomes part of the production line for AI itself.

──────────────────

🎯 JOIN THE AI WEEKLY MEETUPS

https://www.uwstout.edu/ai-weekly-meetup

You now know more about recursive self-improvement than you did before you arrived.

AI Scams in 2026 Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

AI scams have gone full Death Star, scaling panic with cloned voices, deepfakes, fake romances, and corporate video-call trickery. Host Emily Laird breaks down how fraud became a factory in 2026, from virtual kidnappings to pig butchering bots with the charm of a Tinder date and the soul of a parking ticket. The fix is gloriously low-tech: slow down, call back, use code words, and never let urgency do your thinking for you.

Join the AI Weekly Meetups
Subscribe to Receive AI Weekly Meetup Email Reminders
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 Scams in 2026.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

SpaceX's Historic IPO Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

SpaceX goes public, and suddenly rockets, Starlink, xAI, and AI data centers are all part of the same very expensive storyline. Host Emily Laird breaks down why this IPO is bigger than Wall Street hype, it is a fight over launch, bandwidth, compute, and control of the next tech stack. Come for the rockets, stay for the uncomfortable realization that generative AI runs on land, power, chips, satellites, and a truly obscene amount of money.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Fable 5: Here & Gone Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Host Emily Laird breaks down Claude Fable 5, Anthropic’s powerful new AI model that launched with big agentic promises, then got pulled after a U.S. government export-control directive. This episode explains what Fable 5 could do, why its safeguards mattered, and how a jailbreak concern turned a product launch into a national-security drama. Think Silicon Valley ambition meets Mission: Impossible, except the self-destruct sequence was apparently scheduled for day three.

Join the AI Weekly Meetups
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 Anthropic's Fable 5.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Apple's WWDC 2026 Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

Host Emily Laird rips into Apple’s WWDC 2026 AI pitch, where Siri gets rebuilt, privacy gets a black turtleneck, and your iPhone tries to stop being dumb about the small stuff. From Apple Intelligence and Visual Intelligence to child safety controls and developer tools, this episode asks whether Cupertino finally has an AI plan or just a shinier hologram. The verdict: Apple did not hand us the future, it handed us a floor plan, and Siri is somewhere in the walls holding a soldering iron.
Join the AI Weekly Meetups
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 Apple's WWDC 2026.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

5 Tips to Survive AI in 2026 Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Host Emily Laird delivers a sharp, funny Monday reset on where AI is heading and why it does not have to melt your brain. This episode breaks down five practical tips for working with AI in 2026, from picking one useful task to verifying outputs like your career depends on it. Agents, multimodal tools, data boundaries, and human judgment all get their moment under the fluorescent lights.
Join the AI Weekly Meetups
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 surviving AI in 2026.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

AI Use Case Thursday: Prompting in 2026 Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

Host Emily Laird calls time on 2023-style prompting and shows why the real AI skill now is directing, not begging a chatbot for magic. From giant context windows to “lost in the middle” failures, this episode explains how to brief AI with sharper context, better examples, and less corporate soup. Think less wizard robe, more Spielberg with a chainsaw and a very judgmental production assistant.
Join the AI Weekly Meetups
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 effective prompting in 2026.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Pope Leo vs The Machine Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Host Emily Laird takes on Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas, the Vatican’s sharp warning shot across the bow of the AI age. This episode asks what happens when machines start judging our work, truth, privacy, power, and worth before humans even get a vote. It is part moral gut-check, part tech reality check, and part flashlight in the server-room dark.
Join the AI Weekly Meetups
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 the new Pope Leo vs The Machine.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Claude Opus 4.8 Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Claude Opus 4.8 just dropped, and host Emily Laird is kicking the tires on Anthropic’s new heavyweight model for coding, reasoning, and long-haul AI work. This episode breaks down inference, agentic workflows, million-token context, effort control, and why “reliable AI” may be the new arms race. Think less magic chatbot, more suspiciously calm senior engineer who finally says, “Actually, this plan is broken.”
Join the AI Weekly Meetups
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 the new Claude Opus 4.8.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected