{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"What Works","title":"EP 495: Ann Leckie vs. The \"Well, Actually\" Bros","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/71d536a5\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3704,"description":"Is an AI chatbot, like ChatGPT, a search engine? Does it scour the internet for helpful information so that it can respond to user queries?\nThese questions were at the heart of a small kerfuffle on Bluesky last week between decorated speculative fiction writer Ann Leckie and a few prominent tech thinkers. Honestly, it bummed me out. But I found that the next morning, I had a lot to say about it. So I enlisted my dear husband, Sean, and I talked him through it.\nThis episode is different than the last 6 months or so of episodes. If you have the same taste in podcasts that I do, you'll recognize the format. I've been wanting to try it for a long time, and this was the perfect topic to give it a go. It's far more casual than the last 15+ episodes, but just as rigorous. If you like it, reach out on Bluesky, and let me know! Sean is already asking when we can do it again.\nFootnotes:\nRead the essay version of this episode.\nAnn Leckie's original post\nCasey Newton's post\nAnil Dash's post (in response to someone agreeing with Leckie)\nCourtney Milan's post about the \"card catalog effect\"\nThe Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan with Quentin Fiore\n\"On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜\" by Emily W. Bender and Timnit Gebru\n\nJOIN ME FOR SUMMER SEMINAR!\nSummer Seminar is an intellectual oasis for creative thinkers and curious adventurers.\nIt combines speculative fiction, big questions, and practical application. For Summer 2025, we’re reading Sofia Samatar’s critically acclaimed novella The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain.\nWe’ll pair it with adventures in systems thinking and cultural analysis. And we’ll apply what we discover by reflecting on the systems we create and encounter in our own lives and work.\nSummer Seminar is designed to fit into any schedule and explores critical thinking skills you can apply to any goal or challenge.\nTo learn more, visit whatworks.fyi/summer","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/AmfGeDL96-fhMaeOcqmX7TK_eWrvTLco6OJj2QpZtZI/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NGUx/OWY5ZDg1M2E5MmU3/ZjEwOWVmNDM3MWVh/ZjZlOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}