Weird Things

Latest Episodes:

SpaceX Oopsie and Genetic Frontiers Jul 26, 2024

Show notes

The episode opens with Justin and Brian discussing a New York Times story about a SpaceX Starlink launch that experienced an upper-stage problem. They note that the first stage landed normally on a drone ship, but the second stage did not reach the intended altitude to deploy the satellites properly, and they mention SpaceX describing the event as a very rare glitch and a rapid unscheduled disassembly. The middle of the episode becomes a long speculative conversation about frontier life, space colonization, and genetic modification. They use William Shatner’s reaction to seeing Earth from space, Andrew Heaton’s Oklahoma land-rush family story, and examples like golden rice to argue that people would be slow to accept genetic editing unless harsh reality forced the issue over multiple generations. The latter half turns to AI music, with Justin describing a real-life anecdote involving Robert Rodriguez and Udio, then both hosts discussing AI music tools, their quality, and the lawsuits against Suno and Udio. They compare AI training to temp tracks and musical influence, and near the end they transition into picks, with Brian mentioning House of the Dragon and Justin recommending Fargo season five. Key topics Starlink deployment trouble after an upper-stage anomaly: They discuss a SpaceX rocket where the first stage landed successfully but the second stage failed to reach the proper altitude for Starlink deployment. The conversation includes speculation about whether the payload

Aviation Innovations and Misadventures Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of Weird Things, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through the evolving landscape of aviation technology. They discuss the myriad of companies attempting to develop next-generation aerial vehicles, including those adding excessive propellers to electric helicopters in hopes of making flying cars a reality. The trio delves into alternative aviation technologies, such as gyrocopters and other innovative designs that aim to improve safety and efficiency in air travel. Despite some companies’ unfortunate mishaps, including founders dying during testing, the hosts remain optimistic about the future of aviation, predicting the use of human-rated flying vehicles in cities by the end of the decade. Picks: Andrew Mayne: The Prestige Justin Robert Young: X-Men ’97 Brian Brushwood: Sh?gun

Apple’s AI Ambitions and Privacy Paradox Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young dissect Apple’s approach to integrating AI into its ecosystem with a strong emphasis on privacy. They speculate on the implications of Apple’s strategy to handle AI processing on-device as much as possible, while also offering cloud processing with user permission. The trio discusses the technical hurdles, Apple’s historical stance on privacy, and how these factors influence the development of Siri and other Apple services. They ponder the future of AI in Apple products, including the potential for Siri to become smarter and more useful, and the integration of third-party AI models.

The Curious Case of 3D Printed Knives and AI-Generated Games Jun 28, 2024

Show notes

Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young embark on a technological odyssey, starting with Andrew’s recent acquisition of a Bamboo A1 3D printer. The excitement is palpable as Andrew shares his adventures in 3D printing everything from knives to whirligigs, showcasing the printer’s impressive capabilities. The conversation then shifts to AI, with the trio exploring Claude 3.5 and its ability to generate games and video content on the fly. From creating simple games with just a few prompts to discussing the future of 3D printing and AI in creative industries, the episode is a deep dive into how these technologies are reshaping our world. Picks: Brian Brushwood: The Dark Tower movie Justin Robert Young: Audio AI for generating music Andrew Mayne: Old Doctor Who episodes

AI Showdown: OpenAI vs. Google Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

Andrew and Justin spend most of the episode comparing OpenAI's GPT-4o rollout with Google's AI announcements. They describe GPT-4o as a multimodal system that combines text, image, sound, and voice into one model, and emphasize that OpenAI's live demos felt fast, real-time, and more transparent than Google's earlier staged or prerecorded presentations. They also discuss latency, the shift from separate speech/transcription models to a single model, and how native desktop and mobile apps, along with ChatGPT for Enterprise, fit OpenAI's product strategy. The second half of the conversation broadens into release timing, safety, secrecy, and organizational interpretation. Andrew says OpenAI often holds capabilities back for safety or product timing, that people overread departures and rumors, and that claims about AI hitting a wall are premature given the field's growth. The episode closes with Andrew recommending AMC's Interview with the Vampire and Justin offering OpenAI's YouTube channel as a place to watch the demos. Key topics GPT-4o as a multimodal model: Andrew explains GPT-4o as one model that can handle text, images, sound, and voice together, replacing a pipeline of separate transcription, language, and speech systems. Live demos versus prerecorded demos: The hosts contrast OpenAI's live GPT-4o presentation with Google's earlier Gemini/Astra demos, which Andrew criticizes as controlled, prerecorded, or misleading. Latency and real-time interaction: A recurring point is

AI Controversies and Space Ambitions: A Weird Things Exploration Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

The episode opens with a long discussion of the OpenAI / Scarlett Johansson controversy. Andrew says he had a direct view of GPT-4o voice development, that OpenAI hired actors with disclosures and fair pay, and that there was never an intent to copy Johansson’s voice. The hosts argue that the resemblance was driven by audience expectations shaped by Her and by a familiar voice archetype, not by a plan to mimic her. From there, the conversation moves through AI’s strengths and weaknesses: emotional companionship, chatbot use for counseling and rewriting messages, multimodal video analysis for inventorying property, and hallucinations or odd outputs from models. The latter half shifts into space news and speculation, covering Ed Dwight’s Blue Origin flight, NASA’s Artemis and Starliner problems, commercial launch competition, the X-37 military spaceplane, whale communication and alien contact analogies, Dyson sphere detection, and finally a recommendation for Severance. Key topics OpenAI voice casting and the Scarlett Johansson controversy: Andrew says OpenAI hired real actors, gave disclosures, and had no intent to copy Johansson’s voice. They discuss how people linked the voice to Her and to a voice archetype, and why the public narrative became simplified. AI companionship and emotional dependence: The hosts discuss AI as a personal companion, including pretend girlfriends and emotionally supportive chatbots. They treat it as potentially helpful for some users but also poten

The Philosophical Snake: AI, Robotics, and a Fossilized Surprise Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

The episode opens with the news that philosopher Daniel Dennett has died, and the hosts reflect on how influential his books, especially Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained, were on Andrew's thinking about arguments, thought experiments, consciousness, and where the boundaries of sentience may lie. Brian adds his own examples from dogs and consciousness, reinforcing the sense that Dennett was especially good at exploring philosophical borderlands without always forcing tidy conclusions. The middle of the episode is a long riff that starts with dog-powered historical machines and novelty inventions, then moves into Meta's Llama 3 release and a humorous discussion of Mark Zuckerberg's new public image. The conversation then turns to Boston Dynamics' new Atlas robot, broader robotics manufacturing and patent issues, cheaper robot dogs and quadrupeds from Unitree, and finally a fossil snake discovery from India that may have been about 50 feet long. The episode closes with pick discussions, including Andrew recommending Consciousness Explained and Justin recommending Shogun, while the later discussion also covers Never Split the Difference as a book they found interesting. Key topics Daniel Dennett and consciousness: The hosts discuss Dennett's death, Andrew's admiration for his writing, and his use of examples involving the soul, sentience, severed limbs, and gradual brain replacement to explore consciousness and unclear boundaries. Dogs as workers and dog-powere

AI’s Musical Revolution: From Doom Musicals to Broca’s Brainy Beats Apr 19, 2024

Show notes

The episode opens with a discussion of AI-generated music, starting from a Weird Things intro written by Suno and moving into comparisons between Suno and Udio. The hosts note that Udio produces cleaner vocals but shorter initial clips, while Suno can generate longer clips and be extended. They treat the tools as a major sign of how quickly AI-generated creative content is improving. The conversation then broadens into practical uses for generated songs, especially study aids and mnemonic tools. Andrew demonstrates songs about Roman history and Broca's area, and the group talks about how music can help memory, how cheap and fast generation changes creative work, and how AI may become embedded in everyday life. The latter part of the episode shifts into a long discussion of technology adoption, AI limits and risks, media bias and journalistic self-correction, and then ends with TV picks. Key topics Suno vs. Udio quality and format differences: The hosts compare AI music generators directly. Udio is described as having cleaner vocals, while Suno is described as producing longer clips and being easier to extend. Obscurist Vinyl and AI novelty songs: The show discusses the TikTok account Obscurist Vinyl as an example of AI-assisted novelty music with convincing retro-style packaging and an obscene or raunchy reveal. Music as a mnemonic technology: Brian explains that setting facts to music is an old study technique, and Andrew suggests AI can make customized study songs quickly a

AI Revolution and the Future of Creativity Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

The episode centers on a long discussion of AI's rapid move from novelty to everyday utility. The hosts describe using AI for transcription, editing, text simplification, image cleanup, and coding help, and Andrew demonstrates how tools like Groq and Cursor make inference and programming feel dramatically faster and more accessible than earlier AI systems. The conversation also walks through tokenization and why newer, cheaper models are changing how products are built. A second major thread is the cultural and ethical backlash to AI, especially in creative fields. Brian raises the objection that generative systems are trained on prior human work without permission, and the hosts debate whether that makes AI theft, derivative influence, or just another technology panic. They also discuss regulation, especially in Europe, and close with picks that include TV, film, and AI tools, while arguing that abundance and personalization will reshape music and social media. Key topics Personal AI usage in daily work: Justin describes using AI for transcription, editing, text simplification, art generation, and background removal, and Andrew talks about using ChatGPT and Cursor regularly in coding workflows. AI as a replacement for human labor and consultation: Justin recounts a story about someone planning to retire by setting up AI to do consultations, and Andrew warns that if something becomes easy for one person it becomes easy for everyone. How large language models predict tokens: A

Navigating the Seas of Speculation and Sci-Fi Mar 30, 2024

Show notes

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through a variety of topics, starting with a real-world disaster involving a boat crash and a collapsed bridge. They speculate on the implications of tainted fuel and the role of the National Transportation Safety Board in such incidents. The conversation then shifts to the potential for economic and infrastructural disasters, including the hypothetical use of nuclear weapons to disrupt GPS systems. The hosts also discuss the fragility of modern infrastructure and the importance of disaster preparedness. The conversation takes a turn into the realm of technology and security, with a focus on the challenges posed by AI and deepfakes in authenticating identity. They explore the idea of a secure, emergency communication system to verify callers during crises. Finally, the hosts share their picks, including a book recommendation and thoughts on the Netflix adaptation of ‘The Three-Body Problem’, noting its strengths and weaknesses. Picks: Brian Brushwood: ‘Super Communicators’ book Justin Robert Young: ‘The Attention Factory’ book Andrew Mayne: ‘The Three-Body Problem’ on Netflix

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