{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"NET Society","title":"Ep99 The Midjourney Archeology Dept","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/e612e8b5\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3553,"description":"Aaron and Chris take the mic for a two-person edition of Net Society, opening with Seedphrase’s seven-trait CryptoPunk sale and a debate over rarity, taste, and NFT financing. They unpack the case for a crypto recovery, from clearer regulation to stablecoins and real-world assets finding practical uses. From there, Anthropic’s culture and a controversial AI pain experiment spark a debate over consciousness, anthropomorphism, and whether AI safety could become a justification for mass surveillance. They explore AI systems rediscovering physics and ask whether agent-run organizations could deliver on the original promise of DAOs. A detour into Göbekli Tepe, the Lion Man, and lost civilizations becomes a case for putting AI to work on archaeology, followed by a discussion of university expansion and immersive learning. The conversation then turns to realistic AI avatars, video Turing tests, and the visual cues people need to trust a machine. They wrap with Marfa, plotters, and how AI coding tools could bring makerspaces back, alongside a critique of generative art’s attachment to signature styles.\n\nMentioned in the episode\nSeedphrase sells the only seven-trait CryptoPunk through GONDI [https://x.com/gondixyz/status/2105705149515899044]\nSan Francisco Fed research on stablecoins and demand for US Treasuries [https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2026/09/stablecoin-issuers-growing-appetite-for-treasury-securities/]\nDaniela Amodei and Holden Karnofsky’s stuffed-animal advisory council [https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/business/anthropic-co-founder-daniela-amodei-and-husband-used-stuffed-animal-advisory-council-for-workplace-conflicts-report/]\nThe AI “torture chamber” debate [https://x.com/AISafetyMemes/status/2101183174659490199]\nAI-Newton: research matching the discussion of AI rediscovering physics [https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01538]\nGöbekli Tepe and early monumental architecture [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1572/]\nThe Lion Man: a...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/CC4s2d8mVIQsuiN_U5XIqmdWsznh6Oio3A_cwsaT-8I/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS84ZDBk/Y2Q3ZWU5MjQwZDI5/MmIxYzgxMjM2OGNj/ZjE0Yi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}