AI News with Ben Affleck, Inclusive Content Creation, and the Future

Welcome to wake up with AI, the podcast where human powered meets AI assisted. Join your hosts, Chris Carillon, Niko Lofakas, and George b Thomas as we dive deep into the world of artificial intelligence. From the latest AI news to cutting edge tools and skill sets, we are here to help business owners, marketers, and everyday individuals unlock their full potential with the power of AI. Let's get started.

Good morning, humans. It's time to wake up with AI with George b Thomas and Niko Lafakas. It is November 20, 2024, Wednesday. 1 week away, from Thanksgiving already, fellas. How are you doing today?

Gabble. Gabble. Chris, how are you doing today? We never asked that, by the way. How how the heck

This is the second time in maybe 30 episodes, so I appreciate that. I'm doing well. Doing well, like everybody else. Man, the year is close to, close to the end. So much has happened, probably in in large part thanks to AI.

So, yeah, trying to keep up, but also enjoying the ride, of course.

Yes. I I too am enjoying the ride. Nico, how about you, brother?

Likewise. Loving it. Got got some really cool updates for this week. I think this past week has been, like, just my next level, like, the next step in what I'm doing with AI. So I'm really excited.

Let's let's dive in then. What do you what do you got today, man?

Well, first and foremost, I I have to apologize to you because I kinda didn't notice it until George brought it up that, yeah, like, we we never do. Pat back at this. Okay. It's such like an automatic thing. So today, I thought since yesterday was such a enlightening day, I thought today I would sort of I would give you guys an illustration of what a day in my life is like when I have to look across the spectrum and try to assess who is at what level and why certain people are talking and being heard.

So the the context for this, yesterday, we were talking about just how advanced things are are getting. And, I mean, we were listening to clips from Mokadot and, who was talking about the stuff who this was just an interview that came out, like, 2 days ago, maybe 3 days ago. And so it's, you know, hot off the press, you could call it. And the advancements that he talked about, you know, obviously, were crazy. Crazy to even think about.

Right? Like, 400 having 400 level IQ within months. So and and so just to to highlight a couple things there. 400 Level IQ in a couple months or in a few months. If a human had that type of capability, it would be something like being able to just, out of nowhere, use nano machines to create an iPhone.

The fact that, you know, it will likely be the case that AI ends up having even greater emotional context and greater emotional understanding than we do in the same way that we have greater emotional context and understanding than animals, simply just due to a barrier of intelligence and interaction. And then the aspect of creativity, of course. Right? And being able to eventually become truly creative, understand abstract reasoning and rationale, and using that in order to extrapolate and create new things. Contrast that against a recent little blurb put out there by none other than mister Ben, you know, Batfleck, mister Ben Affleck.

I I was was dismayed, to say the least, at this comment. You know, it was it's a clip. It's about, you know, it's about 3 minutes long. Would like to to play it because, it's it's just funny given what we were talking about yesterday. I think it's hilarious.

So just for a little bit of context to this and and why I thought this was cool, and then I wanna get your guys' take on this for sure.

I wanna, as we kinda wrap up here, I do wanna come to AI. Jerry, you mentioned it. But, you know, Ben, how do you know, earlier, you guys weren't here. We did a demonstration. My colleague, Andrew Sorkin and I, we created ourselves and our voices.

How do you see it? I mean, is it a benefit, or is it a real threat? Is it possible that a Netflix could say, you know, we're gonna do our own, excuse me, James Bond thing out there with a bunch of actors that are completely recreated for this market or that market?

A, that's not possible now. B, will it be possible in the future? Highly unlikely. C, movies that will be one of the last things if everything gets replaced to be replaced by AI. AI can write you excellent imitative verse that sounds a little bit than it cannot write you Shakespeare.

The function of having 2 actors or 3 or 4 actors in a room and the taste to discern and construct that is something that currently entirely eludes AI's capability, and I think will for a meaningful period of time. What AI is gonna do is gonna disintermediate the more laborious, less creative, and, you know, more costly aspects of filmmaking that will allow cost to be brought down, that will be lower the barrier to entry, that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier to it for the people who wanna make goodwill on things to go out and make it. Look. AI is a craftsman at best. Craftsman can learn to, you know, make stickly furniture by sitting down next to somebody and seeing what their technique is and imitating.

That's how large video models, large language models basically work. A library of vectors of meaning and transformers that interpret the context. Right? But they're just cross pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created.

Not yet. Not yet.

Yeah. Not yet. And and really the in order to do that, look, craftsman is knowing how to work. Art is knowing when to stop. And I think knowing when to stop is going to be a very difficult thing for AI to learn because it's taste.

And also lack of consistency, lack of controls, lack of quality. AI for for this world of generative video is gonna do key things more. I mean, I wouldn't like to be in the visual effects business. They're in trouble because what costs a lot of money is not gonna cost a lot less, and it's gonna hammer that space than it already is. And maybe it shouldn't take a 1,000 people to render something, but it's not gonna replace human beings making films.

It may make your background more convincing. It can change the color of your shirt. It can fix mistakes that you've made. It can make it you know, you might be able to get 2 seasons of house of the dragon in a year instead of 1. And if that happens according to macroeconomics in, you know, cultures where there are basically oligopolies competing, What should happen is with the same demand and the same spend is they they should just make more shows, which should you know, you should have the same spend, and now you can just watch more episodes.

And, eventually, AI will allow you to, ask for your own episode of Succession where you could say, I'll pay $30, and can you make me a 45 minute episode where, like, Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewie? And it'll do it. And it'll be a little janky and a little bit weird, but it'll know their sads. It'll know those actors, and it will, you know, mix remix it in effect. And it will do that.

That's the value, in my view, long term of AI for consumers, which is eventually my hope for AI is that it's an additional revenue stream that can replace DVD, which took 15 to 20% out of the economy of filmmaking, which is and and there should be negotiated rights.

And Right.

Digital rights to say, if you wanted because what do people wanna make? 5 minute, 30 second TikTok videos where they look like the Avengers. Well, great. You can, you know, just like you used to be able to buy your Iron Man costume at the store, you're gonna buy your Iron Man pack and you and your buddies are gonna look like Iron Man and Hawkeye, like, you know, on Twitch. That's that's what's gonna really happen.

So,

like, as a long time from now, like, a year?

That's that's why I wanted to to bring this up with you guys because that's where that's where my head is at. Right? So, like, I get to wake up to to that for whatever reason being a like, YouTube AI headline news. I mean, on, like, 5 of the channels. Right?

So it's like I gotta ignore it because of the fact I and, you know, in almost every case, they're all they're all, like, actually commending Affleck for knowing, like, technical like, having some technical savvy. And in every single case, I'm just like, but he's wrong.

Well, sort of. Right? You you have to remember that it's funny because there's a couple of things that I wanna talk about in this clip. Less about AI, more about humans, to be honest with you. Like, when the clip first started, if you roll back, if you're watching this on Spotify or or, YouTube, if you roll back, Ben fundamentally looks pissed.

Like, the facial microexpressions, that he's even there to have to have this conversation. He he looks uneasy or frustrated. Okay. So just go back and look at that. The other thing is he rattles it off so fast that my immediate, like, BS meter was this has been practiced.

This is not an off the cuff answer. There are no umms, no ahs, no pause to thinking. It's like this Shakespearean narrative that was created to be in that moment with those humans. And so then I'm like, well, like, that doesn't feel real authentic to me. And while it sounds smart to most Like, if you've been waking up with AI, you're like, wait wait a minute, dude.

Like, a a week ago, we talked about a platform that could revolutionize anything related to, like, cartoon or Pixar or, like and and if you if you think a while back, we talked about things where you can actually, like, make yourself be like you. And and and we've even talked about, like imagine being with, like, grandpa George or grandpa Chris or grandpa Nico. They're long gone, but you have the version. This stuff is right around the corner. So if a long time from now is like a year, and if if by craftsman, he means master craftsman, well, that maybe.

Okay. Which by the way, Ben, if you're watching this, I love you. I love your acting. I just I have to agree with Nico on this one. Like, I I don't like that.

It doesn't pass the GBT sniff test.

Well, I think it's important to understand that it exists though, because just like Nico seeing it on the feed, some people are waking up to that clip and that has started to guide. And the reason it makes headlines is because there's an audience related to Ben Affleck, you know, versus our show as an example.

Mhmm.

So putting him out there is gonna get more views and, like, the whole dynamic is so interesting to me, but I think it's important for us not to ignore it for sure because we often have to deconstruct and maybe we have to manage that while we're trying to educate people and know that they might have seen that and that might have shaped some of their thoughts. And there's so many things like that happening right now in terms of I don't wanna say misinformation all the time, but, as far as, like, the rehearsed nature of it, I'm sure, like, Screen Actors Guild and whatever communities are supporting actors are like, hey. You're about to get asked about AI in every single interview you do. Here's some talking points. Right?

Yeah. Now it would be nice if that question wasn't always about replacement. Right? Mhmm. And instead Yeah.

Was framed as how is AI gonna help? Because the whole second half of his answer was fabulous. Like, yes, the speed to creating like the 2 seasons instead of 1. Like, how is it gonna like, if you keep everybody the same instead of worrying about replacing them, now we're just creating more awesome stuff. And if we can just focus on that instead of the other thing

Here's the other part though. Let's go back to the human part for a second. Because by the way, we we probably suck at this too. Us, meaning Chris, Nico, George. We probably suck at this too.

But this to me is a fundamental case of, like, oh, I can see how your shit's gonna get jacked up, but not mine. Because he literally was like, yeah. By the way, if you're in visual effects, sorry. Like and I'm like, woah, bro. Easy.

Like, that's somebody's livelihood, but, like Right. You're feeling the way you're feeling because the question was about your livelihood.

Mhmm.

And, like, there like, there was fundamentally almost a disconnect of, like, what he threw at the audience versus what was thrown at him and the way that he anyway.

See, like, this is the one and and anybody who is out who's out there that was, you know, was wondering, this is the one place, not this one, but any of them real realistically. If you come to me and you ask me and you say, hey. What about, like, AI disruption in, you know, rev ops or in CRM or marketing in general? I'll tell you about AI disruption all over the place. I'll tell you what it's gonna do to my job.

I'll tell you what it's gonna do to any other type of marketing person's job. Yeah. I have no problem talking about what the capabilities of this technology is. Why? So that you understand what's coming.

2 years ago, I talked about the fact that with this technology being just present and being in existence, one of the most important skills that was gonna first be developed, that were first have to be developed by people, is creativity. Because you have to be able to think about how am I going to leverage this. We we're just talking about it, like, even Aflac's talking about it. Anybody who's worked with these tools talks about it. How do I leverage this?

How am I going to empower myself with this? What is it that I'm going to do? Combined so it's it's that, you know, creative thinking combined with critical thinking. So it's not just like how am I gonna leverage it, but what can I do and how impactful can it be? How can I contribute?

In what in what way can I use this to contribute to the rest of what everybody is doing, to what it is that I'm doing, to what it is the organization's doing? Right? But the minutiae like, this is the hardest part for most people to grasp. I don't and I understand I do. I understand why.

Because we spend so much time doing it. Because we spend so much time doing tasks and minutiae and that kind of stuff, we feel that that stuff is super important because, you know, again, because it equates to how much time we spend doing it. Just because that's going away isn't a bad thing. Like Efleck talked about, we will replace it. We will fill that time with more content, with more whatever.

Now, that was the only place at which I took pause because it's like, if anybody else out there is like me, I don't have enough time. I watch videos at Yeah. Quarter plus or half plus, which means like 1.25 or 1.5 depending on how slow the person's talking. I don't really, like, at this point, it's I'm not really sure what a regular speed video sounds like with somebody talking. It probably it's would probably bore me to death as much as trying to read a book.

Okay. I still can't consume as much as I want to in a day. I'm still, like, 10 hours short daily which means, at this point, I'm, like, thousands of hours short on video I should have watched and consumed to be able to get what that information was.

But if I think that I know you a little bit, it's because you're right now living in a world where education trumps entertainment. So you're literally trying to drink from a fire hose of education. See, Ben isn't talking about that human, Niko.

But that's the thing is if I'm spending all my time on that

Yeah. But he's talking

about I

don't have the time to binge.

Sitting on the couch with, like, some chocolate chip cookies, that just got off of their x y z whatever job, and they're like, I don't like life. I don't like my job, and I want to escape. So if I can watch 17 episodes instead of 12, then

Right.

Whee hee. Now here's the thing. I too was like that at that part, I was like, please, by all that is holy, do not give me another season. I'm already having a hard enough time bridging the gap of entertainment and education and trying to at least give myself some outlet. But if you start to force it down my throat, I'm like, I'm afraid I'm just gonna back away and go back into my educational cave and, like, leave entertainment alone for a while again.

But, like, I don't know if the world needs more of that. I I know it needs more of something, but it needs more I don't know if it needs another season or or another 17 episodes. Here here's the thing. What's funny is this kind of ties in to the skill that pays the bills that I wanted to talk about today. Because what is what is theater?

What is acting? What is, any of the things that Ben might do? Well, it's it's content creation. Right? And and we create content in a way, many times it is in our beliefs.

Listen. Let's just talk about that clip that you played. That might not have been the most inclusive clip possible because there's a couple places where people just you took pause. I took pause. There's probably other people that are taking pause.

And so the skill that pays the bill today that I wanna pay attention is AI driven inclusive content creation. Listen. In today's world, making sure that your content, especially as marketers, sales, business owners, resonates across diverse audiences. It's not just a nice to have. It's an essential part of how you need to show up as a business, how you need to show up to the world.

An AI is a powerful tool to help ensure that language, visuals, messaging connect with people from all backgrounds and all perspectives, which I don't know if that clip of Ben did. Sorry, Ben, again. Love you. But imagine you're launching a campaign with great visuals and compelling copy. You're confident, but you you you're not sure.

Will it resonate with every audience that you're trying to put it out to? That's where AI comes in. AI tools can analyze your content, flagging language that might unintentionally exclude or visuals that might lack diversity. It's all about catching these blind spots early on in the process of building this campaign before before you get it launched to the world, and maybe end up with egg on your face. You see, AI helps create content that's not just appealing, but truly inclusive.

By analyzing your language and your imagery, AI suggests more accessible phrasing, identifies areas needing better representation, and helps ensure your message lands well with everyone or at least more of the people that you want it to land with. Think of it as having built in diversity editor, enhancing your creative vision to make sure your work reflects empathy and inclusion. So let's hit the highlights. AI tools scan language, visuals, and messaging to make sure your content is accessible and respectful respectful to all demographics. In other words, to all the humans.

With the AI recommendations, you can fine tune your language and visuals to avoid unintentional bias, ensuring everyone feels respected. An AI driven inclusivity helps your message resonate with a wider audience, build stronger connections, which we all should be doing. That's what the world needs more of. And expanding your reach. Hey, ladies and gentlemen.

That's today's AI skill that pays the bills.

Yes. And if you're interested in seeing George share his, his his breakdown of how he does all the things he just said, let us know, in the comments. We're we're brewing some stuff, including, our next Coffee. Customer platform hug, on December 11th. You know, I think I bring that in because in this ecosystem specifically, some stuff has happened, you know, recently to to deliver a bunch of new AI tools.

And, you know, like everybody else in the beginning, there's a bunch of recaps. So, like, oh, this is what it is. This is how you're gonna use it. Right? I'm excited that for lots of reasons, we have not had that, episode because it's given us time to actually use the tools and learn about what they do and how impactful they can be.

And now, like, hopefully, impart some different learnings, you know, to the community because so much of what George just said about, like, this whole everybody knows about the right message to the right person at the right time. Right? And that's always been the challenge of how you do that. That challenge has never been easier, and it's only gonna get easier with all of these tools that you have available. But back to what what Ben started with, like, whenever Ben Affleck that is in the clip, whenever whenever we start with AI can and can't, like, almost please understand, 98% of that is based on their experiences from them using it or other humans around them using it.

And the outcomes are entirely based on how the human being is using the tool, not at all about what AI is capable of. Right? Because, like, the most fun times for me is kind of breaking it out of that. Like, no. I know you're paying attention to some, like, human based weaknesses here.

Like, what if you didn't have humans? What is the AI capabilities? What's possible? Right? And to watch it go into that, is it is exciting.

But just like I mean, that's as I talk to people, I definitely kinda try to put that in perspective. It's still a tool right now. That, like, that's why the learning curve is so important. Like, understand how to use the tool, and you will get outcomes that will blow your mind on a daily basis. How much fun would that be?

How much fun are you having right now, George?

Tons of man, I'm dude, I'm having tons of fun. Like, I wish there there are days I wish that I had somebody who could just follow me around with a camera all day. Oh, like old school Gary v. People have no clue. People have no clue what my what my life looks like or what I'm doing, the the rate in which I'm able to do it, because every morning, I'm waking up with AI.

Every morning, I'm trying to, like, be the master that is the student. And and, anyway, I'm having a ton of fun, brother.

Yeah. And we're gonna start sharing that in in lots of different ways. What else we got today, Nico? What else is on your mind? I did notice.

I'll say, and maybe this is something we can end on, like, like, that kind of protective response, that defensive response that we've seen that we've seen from, Ben Affleck and others is definitely one approach to kind of, you know, maybe sharing information in in negative ways. But another another I've like, so a conversation I had yesterday is the money and the energy challenges related to AI and, like, OpenAI is is operating on a huge loss. How could that possibly persist? When is the bubble gonna burst? Like, how do we how do you think about that when when that part of the like, this whole limitations, like, conversation, right, at that level?

What are you seeing about that?

I've kind of been telling my brother the same thing because because he's been coming from that same angle in terms of, like, yeah. But how are you gonna deal with infrastructure problems? How are you gonna deal with energy? How are you gonna deal with water? Because water is also like it was considered in the beginning.

People kind of forgot about it because, you know, you compare, you know, a couple GPT prompts to the shower that you take in the morning, and all of a sudden you start to realize, like, using GPT ain't that bad ain't that big a deal. So, yeah, it it's but it's that's not to say that it's not a resource issue. It is. So, you know, I do think about it, but then I also think about the fact that this technology is, again, self depreciating. So over time, you know, software development costs already are dropping through the floor.

Right? So the systems themselves are like, if you watch the tokenization rates, the cost is coming down dramatically. The cost on tokens, per prompt, per prompt or whatever, per million tokens on g p t 3 versus g p t four o. I'm not sure what o one preview is, but I'm sure o one preview is probably 30% cheaper than o, 4 o was. So the the resources needed, I believe, the the the question keeps sort of dying down because I'm assuming that the and it is a large assumption to make, that the efficiency of the applications and the efficiency of the use is getting better at this point is, like, coupling with the, problem of, you know, training.

So in other words, if o one or strawberry can stay where it is power consumption wise while changing test time training to increase its capability, then we're already getting over one energy hump, Right? Of not having to increase in order to get increased performance. And then we can kind of sort I I imagine we reverse engineer from there and figure out, like, okay. Well, maybe there's another knob or lever or something, programmatically that we can play with that will also, like, help propel things forward without having to to increase energy consumption. So even currently while those energy consumption debates are going on, they're still making forward progress.

Right. I just I don't see this technology as ever not being, evolutionary in its own, like, capacity.

You mean Yeah. Almost like us?

Like Yeah.

When we wake up every day and we evolve into the next thing, because we learn and we iterate and we optimize, at least if that's, like, the type of human you are. I mean, because every day you gotta wake up, and I guess it's your choice if you wake up with AI.

That's a wrap for this episode of wake up with AI. We hope that you feel a little more inspired, a little more informed, and a whole lot more excited about how AI can augment your life and business. Always remember that this journey is just the beginning, and that we are right here with you every step of the way. If you love today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review. You can also connect with us on social media to stay updated with all things AI.

Until next time. Stay curious, stay empowered, and wake up with AI.