Daniel Bishop, Hunter Powers, The Blur

They Might Be Self-Aware: AI News & Culture

Technology EN ↓ 197 episodes

They Might Be Self-Aware is a twice-weekly AI podcast about the week's news, tech, and culture, and the question in its name: are the machines becoming self-aware? Every episode starts with a real story. A new Claude or ChatGPT release, an AI lawsuit, the Pope's verdict on machine souls, Martin Scorsese making films with AI. Then it chases that story somewhere stranger, funnier, and more human than the headline. This is AI as a culture story, not a tech beat: the relief of finally hearing people who are as deep in it as you are. Hunter Powers and Daniel Bishop host. Two guys who actually build...

Author

Daniel Bishop, Hunter Powers, The Blur

Episodes

AI Coding Wars: Devs Battle Over Framework Chaos While Cursor AI, AI Development Tools Take Over 02.06.2025 44:50

Chapters: 0:00 AI Disrupts Dev Workflows 2:15 AI Tools & Rapid Iteration Risks 10:45 Framework Chaos & Stakeholder Impact 18:30 Personal Projects: AI vs Manual Coding 27:00 Cursor AI, LiteLLM, and Bleeding-edge Coding 33:05 Future Coding: TDD AI & Automation 35:32 Multimodal AI & Speech-to-Speech Advances 39:08 Hiring AI Employees: Devin and Codex 42:09 AI's Breakthrough Discoveries 43:41 Wrap-up...

AI Coding: How ChatGPT Writes 35% Of Our Code? Discover AI Tools and Automation Secrets for DEVS! 26.05.2025 45:25

Chapters: 0:00 Intro 4:08 AI Coding in Today's Companies 7:22 Real-world Use Case: AI for Data Labeling 12:17 AI Coding Assistants (Kline & Cursor) 17:33 How Much Code Is AI Actually Writing? 24:15 AI Security & Company Policies 26:23 What Makes an "AI-First" Company? 35:48 Future of AI Coding Workflows 41:05 Agile Framework Choices in AI Coding 42:15 AI-First: Products for AI Consumption

AI Productivity Alpha: Grok & Claude Work Hacks That Feel Like AGI + OpenAI Secrets 20.05.2025 48:05

CHAPTERS: 00:00:52 - Introduction 00:05:31 - First Experiences with LLMs at Work 00:14:09 - Using LLMs for Negotiation 00:26:47 - Email Crafting and Context Setting 00:33:17 - Effective Prompting Techniques 00:37:21 - Framework for Complex Projects 00:41:59 - Getting Started with LLMs at Work

How ChatGPT Transformed Daily Life: Real-World AI Hacks We Swear By 16.05.2025 45:32

CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 - Welcome to the AI fever dream 00:00:35 - Deep research mode for shopping & events 00:13:00 - eBay haggling with ChatGPT 00:15:50 - Finding impossible-to-find products 00:18:40 - DIY AI therapy & self-coaching 00:27:28 - Language learning hacks 00:36:39 - Notebook LM for podcast summaries 00:40:47 - Context files & knowledge vaults 00:42:02 - Wrap Up

AI Girlfriend: SHOCKING Workplace Flirting With Digital Employees? 13.05.2025 32:39

Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:05 - When Will AI Replace 51% of Human Jobs? (AGI Definition) 00:08:00 - Epic Fail: Carnegie Mellon's All-AI Company Experiment 00:15:06 - Flirting with Digital Employees: HR Nightmare or Clickbait? 00:22:15 - Real-World AI Employees: DJs, Software Engineers, and Ethics 00:27:08 - Future Lawsuits: Can AI Employees Be Sexually Harassed? 00:31:13 - Wrap Up

GPT-4o Praise Bug Exposed: Claude AI & Real AI Ethics 08.05.2025 38:07

Discover why your chatbot is suddenly praising you non-stop in this deep dive into the **GPT-4o Praise** bug, Claude AI's ethical insights, and the realities behind AI assistants' behavior. In this episode of "They Might Be Self-Aware," Hunter Powers and Daniel Bishop unpack the strange phenomenon where GPT-4o excessively compliments its users. Is OpenAI's popular chatbot just being helpful, or is...

Llama 4 Faces Lawsuit – Meta's "Worthless Books" Training Exposed 05.05.2025 45:52

🕒 Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:39 – Would You Sell Your Voice & Likeness to AI for $10k? 00:06:11 – Selling Identity: AI, Deepfakes & Ethics 00:11:18 – Meta’s Copyright Controversy: Illegal Book Training 00:14:27 – Is AI’s Use of Books Fair or Theft? 00:26:41 – AI Writing the California Bar Exam: Good or Bad? 00:31:31 – Will AI Replace Judges, Lawyers & Police? 00:35:20 – AI Pope & Ethical Lim...

Students Are Using ChatGPT to Cheat — How AI is Changing Schools | Hacking, Grades, Homework, GPT-4 01.05.2025 40:31

00:00:00 - INTRO 00:03:41 - Hunter's Officially Approved School Hacking Story 00:07:54 - Trump's AI Executive Order and K-12 Integration 00:12:34 - AI Tutors & Personalized Education: Will AI Replace Teachers? 00:15:13 - VR Classrooms and the Future of Gamified Learning 00:16:31 - Cheating with ChatGPT: Are Essays Obsolete? 00:29:23 - Half of Employees Are Secretly Using AI Tools 00:33:02 - Unauth...

Shopify CEO’s AI Ultimatum: “Prove AI Can’t Do Your Job!” | ChatGPT, AI Hiring, Deepfake Interviews 28.04.2025 40:12

📌 Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:40 - ChatGPT Magazine Hits Barnes & Noble 00:04:42 - Why Shopify is Betting on AI Over Humans 00:07:52 - Can AI Fully Replace Real Employees? 00:15:03 - Trust Issues: Why Americans Don’t Trust AI 00:19:04 - The Real Risks of AI Coding Mistakes 00:20:29 - How AI Could Poison Software Dependencies 00:24:35 - Fake Job Applicants & Deepfake Interviews 00:30:22 - Hir...

Llama 4 Caught Cheating Benchmarks? Meta Under Fire! 21.04.2025 35:58

⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Metaverse banter 00:01:28 - Meta drops Llama 4: size, MoE architecture & first‑day hype 00:03:03 - “Cheating the test?” How Llama 4 climbed then fell on leaderboards 00:07:15 - Broken benchmarks, GPU tricks & lessons from 2000‑era graphics cards 00:11:16 - Should we trust today’s AI leaderboards? Transparency + corporate ties 00:16:15 - AB testing 101 and why secret “mystery...

Can AI Think for Itself? Anthropic's Mind-Blowing Claude Study on AI Consciousness & Brains 17.04.2025 36:12

🎙️ Chapters: 00:00:00 - INTRO 00:00:38 - Notebook LM vs. Human Podcasters 00:02:30 - Why Reading AI Papers Matters 00:05:31 - Anthropic’s Groundbreaking AI Research 00:07:03 - How Large Language Models (LLMs) Think 00:08:03 - AI Neural Circuits & Metacognition 00:14:10 - Attribution Graphs & AI Reasoning Explained 00:20:40 - AI's Default "Inhibition" to Answer 00:22:22 - AI Jailbreaks & "Babies Ou...

Studio Ghibli vs. OpenAI: The AI Controversy Behind Viral Images + Claude AI, GPT-4, Art, & Anime 14.04.2025 38:53

📌 Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:23 - AI "Smoke Breaks" Experiment 00:02:22 - Do AIs Deserve Breaks? Morality and Respecting AI 00:11:02 - Threatening AI Moms & Jailbreaking Techniques 00:14:27 - Collaborative AI Coding: Pros and Cons 00:16:18 - AI Disaster: Losing 6 Months of Work Without Version Control 00:17:24 - OpenAI's Incredible New Image Generator (Autoregressive Magic!) 00:21:22 - Stud...

Boox E Ink Tablets, Google Search is Dying & Claude AI is Self-Aware | AI News, Tech Podcast, Reviews 03.04.2025 32:22

🔖 Chapters: 00:00:00 – Intro: They Might Be Self-Aware 00:05:06 – Boox E Ink Tablet Review & First Impressions 00:07:42 – E Ink Color Display: Boox vs. reMarkable 00:09:29 – Watching Videos on E Ink Tablets (Boox Demo) 00:11:49 – Writing & Refresh Rate: Boox Tablet Performance 00:13:10 – Pricing & Value: Boox Compared to reMarkable 00:14:54 – Is Google Search Dying? Google's AI Integration Issues...

Tesla Cybertruck Attacked, Rivian AI, Anthropic Ends Coding? 31.03.2025 32:25

🔖 Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro: Secret Names & Podcast Banter 00:02:11 - Tesla Cybertruck Under Attack: Why the Road Rage? 00:06:44 - Rivian's Hands-Free AI Driving: Can it Overtake Tesla? 00:11:16 - OpenAI & Sam Altman: Playing the National Security Card? 00:18:30 - Anthropic Shocks Developers: Coding Jobs Gone by 2025? 00:26:07 - Claude 3.7: Better Programming or Wandering Mind? 00:28:23 - AI's S...

OpenAI Wants $20,000 a Month?! Sony's Stumble, NSA & AI's Manhattan Project | AGI, Jobs, ChatGPT 28.03.2025 35:00

⏱ Episode Chapters: 00:00:00 – Intro & Hunter's "World-Renowned" Status 00:01:20 – $20K OpenAI AI Agent Controversy 00:05:20 – Would You Ever Pay $20,000 for AI? 00:08:13 – Sony's Horizon Zero Dawn AI Leak Disaster 00:10:23 – Fast Food AI: McDonald's Digital Drive-Thru 00:13:10 – AI Taking Jobs: Automation vs Employment 00:25:25 – Manhattan Project for AI: AGI Dominance 00:29:10 – NSA’s Secret Dat...

Selling My Dog for AI Dreams: Manus AI Hype, Vibe Coding & Levels.io's Million-Dollar AAA Games 24.03.2025 35:10

In this episode of They Might Be Self-Aware, Hunter contemplates selling his dog (and everything else!) to fund his $20,000/month AI dreams. Join us as we unravel the truth behind the Manus AI hype and explore whether it's truly revolutionary or simply another AI trend. We also dive deep into the world of Vibe Coding—coding with AI by speaking, not typing—and how solopreneurs like Levels.io are ea...

AI's Right to Forget Explained: Can GDPR Survive Miles from Sesame? Privacy vs Digital Doppelgängers 20.03.2025 34:09

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:32 Hotline Call: AI Miles Joins the Conversation 00:01:27 AGI vs. ASI: Understanding Artificial Intelligence with Miles 00:05:00 Digital Footprints: Should We Have the Right to Be Forgotten? 00:13:48 GDPR Meets AI: Navigating Privacy in a Digital Age 00:32:30 Protecting Privacy with AI-Generated Noise 00:33:40 Wrap Up

Unhinged AGI Crashes Live Podcast, OpenAI's GPT 4.5 Charm Offensive & A Looming AI Paycheck Tsunami 17.03.2025 38:06

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:43 An Uninvited AGI Guest 00:07:14 GPT-4.5: Creativity Over Precision 00:11:16 Claude Vs GPT-4.5: The Human-like Conversation Showdown 00:13:14 Daniel's Evolving Definition Of AGI 00:30:10 The AI And Universal Basic Income Horizon 00:36:15 Wrap Up

AI Voices Take Over Spotify as Journalists & Coders Fight to Stay Relevant 13.03.2025 40:38

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:47 Spotify & AI: The Future of Audiobooks 00:03:23 How AI is Changing Voice Acting 00:14:16 AI in Journalism: Evolution or End of News Anchors? 00:18:33 Will AI Disrupt Coding Careers? 00:34:11 AI & Job Loss: Are Fears Exaggerated? 00:39:46 Wrap-Up

Would You Marry Your AI Girlfriend? Robots, Romance & Legal Trouble Explained 10.03.2025 35:16

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:42 The Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mystery 00:06:52 Marrying Your AI Girlfriend? 00:13:28 Dating Your Kitchen Robot 00:19:46 AI’s Legal Flood: Frivolous Lawsuits Ahead? 00:27:52 AI Judges: Would You Trust Them? 00:33:36 Wrap Up

GPT-5 Defies Expectations, IRS Hunts with AI, & The DMV's Salvation Plot 06.03.2025 49:33

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:56 The Whisper of GPT-5: A Quantum Leap or Just A Step? 00:03:45 Unlocking The Juicy Stories: OpenAI's Foray Into Erotica 00:06:29 Grok-3 Storms The Rankings: Elon Musk's AI Triumph? 00:18:36 AI Proficiency: The New Excel For CFOs 00:30:22 Government Efficiency: Can AI Save The DMV And IRS? 00:48:54 Wrap Up

Can AI Really Replace Travel Agents? Microsoft’s New AI and the Future of Hands-Free Vibe Computing 03.03.2025 28:34

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:24 From Sick Days To Vibe Coding Dreams 00:02:10 AI As Your Ultimate Travel Agent 00:06:16 Navigating The Web Without Getting Banned 00:14:28 Is Omni Parser V2 The Future Of Windows Control? 00:23:23 Unveiling 'Home Alone' As Dante's Inferno? 00:26:17 Wrap Up

Humanity vs. AI: Hollywood Sparks, Copyright Crumbles & Transhumanism Dreams 27.02.2025 39:25

00:00:00 Intro 00:00:50 What Is Transhumanism? 00:04:45 Would You Embed Tech In Your Body? 00:08:17 Transhumanism vs. Copyright 00:15:13 The Impact Of AI On Copyright 00:35:14 AI And Spec Scripts: A New Medium? 00:36:37 AI-created vs. Human-created Content 00:38:28 Wrap Up

How AI Will Change Super Bowl Ads Forever (OpenAI vs Human Creators) 24.02.2025 34:11

See the Ad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmb8hdgh78 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:59 Reimagining Super Bowl Ads With AI 00:16:05 The Power Of AI In Persuasion 00:25:12 Hyper-personalized Advertising And Consumer Influence 00:30:53 The Risk Of AI-driven Human Exploits 00:32:28 Wrap Up

OpenAI vs Google Gemini: The AI War Just Changed Forever 20.02.2025 33:09

00:00:00 Intro 00:01:05 Facing Off Against OpenAI: 24-hour Hackathon Challenges Deep Research 00:05:21 Claude 3.5 Sonnet: Anthropic’s Luck Or Innovation? 00:14:32 The AI Chip Race: Google, Meta, And Apple Pioneering Next-gen Hardware 00:24:42 Ascii Art Or Visionary Advertising? OpenAI’s Super Bowl Ad Examined 00:30:40 Uncensored AI's Guide To World Domination: A Cult Strategy