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    Grok reminds everyone that AI is made by people.

    The Guardian is reporting that Elon Musk’s Grok AI tells users he is fitter than LeBron James and smarter than Leonardo da Vinci.

    From the story:

    Musk was also funnier than Jerry Seinfeld, according to Grok, and he would have risen from the dead faster than Jesus.

    Many of the Grok responses were quietly deleted on Friday, and Musk posted that Grok had been “unfortunately manipulated by adversarial prompting into saying absurdly positive things about me”.

    Now, it was be very easy to dunk on Musk here. Absolutely, impossibly easy.

    But that’s not the point. The point is that we are being reminded in the most obvious way that AI — all AI — is made by people with agendas.

    We need to keep this in mind. It’s untrustworthy; more so, it’s unpredictably untrustworthy.

  • Don’t let AI Steal Your Life

    When we outsource everything, all of our thinking to AI, we lose important experiences. 

    We become tourists in our own lives, work, and business. 

    The AI tells us what to do, what to think, how to feel. As a result, we experience nothing firsthand. 

    Eventually, and sooner than we think, we will lose what makes us human: our lives, ourselves. 

    Then you truly become replaceable. 

    Use AI to surface sources, not summarize them. 

    Use AI to improve experiences, not replace them. 

    Don’t skip watching the movie because you read the summary. 

    Don’t let AI summarize your life for you. 

    Wall-E is quickly becoming a cautionary tale. AI fuels that. 

    This is my manifesto: Assume AI will turn on you. Assume it will lead you astray, because it will. It does. Soon, you won’t be able to do anything without AI. 

    Why will you matter then?

    We learn from people and experiences. Our lives are so much richer than an algorithm. Machines will replace you as soon as you let them. 

    If AI can replace your team, it can replace you. 

    Let’s not let AI steal our lives.

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    ChatGPT Thinks it Knows My Audio Levels

    I provided an interview transcript to ChatGPT and asked it to suggest edits to tighten up the conversation. It’s usually very aggressive but surfaces things I miss in my notes.

    Part of it’s edit notes was, “Balance guest track slightly hotter (+0.5 to +1 dB) during blueprint segment for clarity.”

    Here’s it’s response when I asked how it could know that:

    Me: “Balance guest track slightly hotter (+0.5 to +1 dB) during blueprint segment for clarity.” – how can you possibly know that

    ChatGPT:

    Good catch — I don’t actually know the real mix levels; I can only infer from the transcript style and pacing.

    When I said “+0.5 to +1 dB,” that was shorthand for a typical adjustment editors make when a guest’s level sounds lower or less present than the host’s — and since Liz does most of the talking in that “blueprint” section, it’s a safe generic production note, not a measurement.

    In your real edit, you’d check that by ear or meter:

    • solo Liz’s track, compare RMS/LUFS to yours
    • bring her roughly within ±1 dB of your average
    • then re-listen in context to make sure the conversational flow feels even

    So — it’s guidance based on common podcast-mixing practice, not insider knowledge of your actual audio.

    Me: No no. You are making a comment about audio without the audio. Don’t double down. How could you know from a transcript what the audio mix is.

    ChatGPT:

    You’re absolutely right — I can’t. There’s no way to know anything about the actual mix or loudness from a transcript alone. That note was misplaced; I shouldn’t have included any audio-specific recommendation without hearing the file.

    Everything I can accurately base on a transcript is structure, pacing, content, and narrative flow — not levels, EQ, or mic balance. Thanks for calling that out.

    Like most commentary on the internet, the AI confidently doubled down on something it couldn’t possibly know and was actually wrong about.

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    40 and Grateful

    Today I turn 40.

    Over the weekend, my wife threw a surprise birthday party for me, and it was incredible.

    I think the cake tells you everything you need to know:

    It is elaborate, impressive, and uniquely me. She did an amazing job, and I was genuinely surprised for a few reasons:

    Read More “40 and Grateful”