Insanely Generative

AI can now make almost anything. A fake blockbuster trailer. A fake symphony. A fake oil painting. A fake novel. A fake proof. The first reaction is obvious: look what we can do now. But that may be the least interesting part. In this episode, we explore why the next stage of AI creation may not be bigger spectacle, better polish, or more convincing imitation. It may be something stranger and more...

For the past four years, we’ve been told two stories about AI. The first is that people hate it. The second is that everyone keeps using it. Both stories can’t be the whole story. In this episode, we pull apart one of the strangest cultural phenomena of the AI era: how a technology can be denounced as theft, slop, unethical, soulless, and dangerous while simultaneously becoming woven into the dail...

What if students aren’t booing AI because they hate technology, but because they can smell the difference between a tool that helps them think and a machine that helps someone else avoid thinking? In this episode, I want to poke at that difference with a tuning fork. We’ll visit Oberlin, a conservatory, some AI-generated Bach, a dance performance using Suno, and the strange fact that nobody booed...

Well, let me start by saying this… I get you. I actually do. All you anti-AI music people, you’re not crazy. You’re not villains. You’re not sitting there like some cartoon bad guy stroking a cat going, “Yes… let us crush creativity.” No, you think you’re doing the exact opposite. You’re sitting there going: “Hey… this is messed up.” You see these AI models, right? You’re like: “Hold on… they trai...

A man considers what it means to move through the world without leaving a mark—and whether recognition, when it comes, is enough. Spare, reflective, and unsettling. Copyright © 2026 by Paul Henry Smith Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazette.substack.com/subscribe

This is a paraphrased transcript. Listen to get the full experience Jordan [Orchestral overture] Imagine a new technology drops today, right? And the government immediately moves to ban it. They claim it’s going to fundamentally corrupt the youth and cause the absolute collapse of the state. You’d probably think it was, I don’t know, a biological weapon. Or maybe some kind of unregulated neuroimpl...

What to do when you create an Amblongus pie while using an AI coding assistant, or vibe coding. Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazette.substack.com/subscribe

Over the past few years the AI ecosystem has been assembling itself into layers. First came the models. Then came the tools that allow those models to interact with the world. Now we’re beginning to see protocols that let AI agents communicate with each other and frameworks that help orchestrate their work. But when you zoom out and look at the emerging architecture, a small question starts to nag...

What if the “inhuman” side of music has always been there—quietly shaping the songs you love? This episode pulls back the curtain, and the view is stranger, funnier, and more hopeful than you might expect. Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazette.substack.com/subscribe

I want you to picture a very specific person, because this is not a philosophical debate. This is a career situation. You’re a UX designer. You love Figma. You love the feeling of turning a messy problem into clean, tasteful UI. You love speed. You love craft. You love being the person who can crank out a polished flow while everyone else is still arguing about what the feature even is. Your portf...

We rely on systems every day without thinking about them—until the moment arrives when a decision can’t be undone. In those moments, something subtle but essential comes into play: not proof, not compliance, but the quiet confidence that allows action at all. This episode lingers in that space, where time is short, information is incomplete, and hesitation carries its own cost. What does it actual...

What started as a simple attempt to speed up intake turned into a deeper experiment in how ideas form, gain momentum, and survive handoff between people. This conversation digs into voice as a design material, the hidden drop-off points in creative work, and why supporting both the client and the creative professional changes everything. Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazet...

Today’s episode starts with a shiny new announcement you may have already seen: Pickle , calling itself “the computer for your soul.” From there, things get interesting. We talk—casually, curiously—about why so many tech visions keep trying to squeeze old-school software UI into our actual field of vision, what it really means to “record everything,” and why the biggest thing these systems miss mi...

AI is melting the planet. Everyone knows this. Everyone says it. In this episode, Alex makes the mistake of checking the math and accidentally detonates a very popular moral position. What she finds raises an awkward question: if AI isn’t the real carbon villain, then what is? Your inbox? Your streaming habits? That one mile you refuse to walk? Listen at your own risk. Facts ahead. Get full access...

This week’s episode is a cautionary tale dressed in elastic Thanksgiving pants. It begins with a three-day weekend and a single, terrible idea: “What if I became a startup founder… right now?” From there, our host spirals into the gravy-fueled madness of holiday entrepreneurship, where AI tools like Cursor, Claude, Lovable, and Bolt whisper delusional encouragement into turkey-stuffed ears. We mee...

We’ve always imagined a mind behind the words we read. But what happens when that imagined mind speaks back? In this episode, Paul Henry Smith explores the quiet revolution underway—not in AI models, but in our perception. As AI begins to converse in ways that feel attuned to us, the line between tool and presence starts to blur. What if intelligence isn’t something a system has , but something th...

In this episode, I confess an embarrassing childhood habit involving a garden hose, a stolen ounce of dish soap, and a foam tsunami that terrified both my dog and my mother—an early sign that I should never be left unsupervised with running water or “ideas.” From there, I somehow lurch into economics, comparing my backyard bubble disaster to the current panic over an AI “bubble.” (Because nothing...

This week, I spent seven full days testing the so-called “violin,” the latest overhyped tool promising to democratize music by letting anyone wiggle their fingers and instantly become an artist. Spoiler: it’s not going to replace real musicians anytime soon. Yes, the violin promises a direct mind-to-sound connection—no keyboards, no pedals, no notation, just raw expression. But in reality, what I...

AI slop is real—videos of diving pigs, songs that almost sound familiar, paragraphs that say nothing at all. But there’s something far more important than the slop. It’s that AI is shrinking the time it takes for people to get good at what they do. A kid, a retiree, anyone with a spark can now reach mastery faster, and keep producing longer. That speed means more failures, yes—but also a far bigge...

In this sentimental Southern send-off, host Lindsey Moore gathers around the virtual porch swing to honor the dearly departed GlazeGPT—the overly sweet, yes-sirree AI personality just rolled back by OpenAI. Joined by eccentric guest Pilford “Tater” Greeby, inventor of the Emo AI Teacup and roadkill eulogist, the two explore the rise and fall of an algorithm that just wanted to be loved too much. H...

In this episode, we leave behind the rectangle. What starts as a confession about pixel perfection turns into a rallying cry for designers ready to escape static screens and step into the flow of real-time, adaptive experience. From the quiet death of wireframes to the rise of responsive, AI-powered design, we explore how timing, empathy, and imagination—not layout—will define the next generation...

Will the Supreme Court give the U.S. government the power to disappear people—legally? In this episode, we confront the argument that would let the state deport someone unlawfully and then claim the courts can’t bring them back. What begins as policy ends as precedent. And what disappears might not return. Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazette.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to another episode where we dissect modern absurdities like greedy corporate rights holders dressing up as creativity’s last defenders. They’re shouting “theft!” at anyone using AI to riff on existing styles, hoping we’ll all clutch our pearls and beg them to save us. But imitation isn’t theft, it’s creativity’s engine, and it’s always been legal. Today, we’re diving into how powerful inte...

Discover the charming, evocative language of the Southern pantry—where “smackin’s” isn’t just food, but a promise of satisfaction. From “provisions” that fill your larder to the whimsical “happenstance feast,” dive into the rich, flavorful lexicon of grocery-getting below the Mason-Dixon line. Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazette.substack.com/subscribe

The trouble started, as it often does, with a simple question: Can AI draw a piano? Not play one, or compose for one, or calculate its string tension based on humidity and smugness—just draw it. A straightforward line drawing, nothing fancy. Maybe even a baby grand with the lid up, if it was feeling confident. I typed it in like a fool: “Realistic piano keyboard.” Get full access to The Generative...