In this episode, Ed Zitron sits down with famed MIT economist Daron Acemoglu to talk about the economics of the tech ecosystem, the ridiculousness of generative AI's promises, and the realities of tech's growth-at-all-costs ecosystem.

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In this episode, Ed Zitron sits down with famed MIT economist Daron Acemoglu to talk about the economics of the tech ecosystem, the ridiculousness of generative AI's promises, and the realities of tech's growth-at-all-costs ecosystem.
Newsletter: wheresyoured.at
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Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build. 

Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build. 
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Better Offline

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build.



Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build.
 
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Rot Economics with MIT's Daron Acemoglu

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/edff8680-1404-4df3-a526-b1b6012522e5/transcript

On Friday July 19, millions of Windows PCs entered a doom-loop that rendered them non-functional thanks to an update sent by a little-known company called CrowdStrike - and in this emergency Better Offline dispatch, Ed Zitron walks you through exactly what happened, why it's so bad, and why both CrowdStrike and Microsoft executives should face criminal prosecution for such a catastrophic managerial failure. These are the dark consequences of the growth-at-all-costs movement.

Newsletter: wheresyoured.at

Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline 

Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at

Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

LINKS: https://tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks

On Friday July 19, millions of Windows PCs entered a doom-loop that rendered them non-functional thanks to an update sent by a little-known company called CrowdStrike - and in this emergency Better Offline dispatch, Ed Zitron walks you through exactly what happened, why it's so bad, and why both CrowdStrike and Microsoft executives should face criminal prosecution for such a catastrophic managerial failure. These are the dark consequences of the growth-at-all-costs movement.
Newsletter: wheresyoured.at
Reddit: <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline">http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline </a>
Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at
Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social <a href="https://www.threads.net/@edzitron">https://www.threads.net/@edzitron</a>
LINKS: https://tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks

CrowdStruck

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e4619a23-3915-487c-8f4a-b1b40171b306/transcript

In a paper released earlier this year, three academics from the University of Glasgow classified ChatGPT's outputs not as "lies," but as "BS" - as defined by philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt in "on BS" (and yes I'm censoring that) - and created one of the most enjoyable and prescient papers ever written. In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by academics Michael Townsen Hicks, James Humphries and Joe Slater in a free-wheeling conversation about ChatGPT's mediocrity - and how it's not built to represent the world at all.

LINKS:

Paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5

Michael Townsen Hicks: https://www.townsenhicks.com/

Joe Slater: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/humanities/staff/joeslater/

Newsletter: wheresyoured.at

Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline 

Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at

Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

In a paper released earlier this year, three academics from the University of Glasgow classified ChatGPT's outputs not as "lies," but as "BS" - as defined by philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt in "on BS" (and yes I'm censoring that) - and created one of the most enjoyable and prescient papers ever written. In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by academics Michael Townsen Hicks, James Humphries and Joe Slater in a free-wheeling conversation about ChatGPT's mediocrity - and how it's not built to represent the world at all.
LINKS:
Paper: <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5">https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5</a>
Michael Townsen Hicks: <a href="https://www.townsenhicks.com/">https://www.townsenhicks.com/</a>
Joe Slater: <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/humanities/staff/joeslater/">https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/humanities/staff/joeslater/</a>
Newsletter: wheresyoured.at
Reddit: <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline">http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline </a>
Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at
Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social <a href="https://www.threads.net/@edzitron">https://www.threads.net/@edzitron</a>

The Academics That Think ChatGPT Is BS

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/311c5960-c289-4604-8da6-b1b1013820bc/transcript

When the money gets nervous, so should you. In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through a remarkable report from global investment bank Goldman Sachs where multiple economists call BS on the AI movement - and why it's time for the rest of the world to follow suit.

LINKS: https://tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks 

Newsletter: wheresyoured.at

Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline 

Discord chat.wheresyoured.at

Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social https://www.threads.net/@edzitron 

When the money gets nervous, so should you. In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through a remarkable report from global investment bank Goldman Sachs where multiple economists call BS on the AI movement - and why it's time for the rest of the world to follow suit.
LINKS: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks">https://tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks </a>
Newsletter: wheresyoured.at
Reddit: <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline">http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline </a>
Discord chat.wheresyoured.at
Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

Pop Culture

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/dfb072b3-5193-483a-828c-b1af012be1d3/transcript

Rot Economics with MIT's Daron Acemoglu

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