Generative AI 101

The AI Doc: Empty Theaters & Loud Warnings

Host Emily Laird digs into The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist and the real gut-punch was not just the film, it was the empty seats. This episode breaks down why AI literacy still feels like an elective while the tech is already rewriting work, trust, and power behind the scenes. With sharp takes on jargon, hype, and doom-posting, Emily makes the case that AI is not sci-fi anymore, it is civic infrastructure with a marketing budget. Funny, sobering, and a little haunted, this one asks the question nobody can dodge much longer: why are so many people still looking away?Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Emily's thoughts around the AI Doc or how she became an apocaloptimist.
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ASAP: A Crash Course in AI Literacy

Host Emily Laird breaks down ASAP, the free AI Skills Access Passport series built to help real people make sense of generative AI before it starts running the group chat, the bank app, and your kid’s homework. This episode covers what AI actually does, where it shows up, how it can help, and why it can also lie with the confidence of a Marvel villain holding an Infinity Stone. It is a sharp, funny primer on prompts, privacy, hallucinations, and the very human skill of knowing when to trust the machine and when to back away slowly.Access ASAP AI Skills Access Passport
Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about the new ASAP AI literacy skills.
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AI Last Week: Let's Catch Up Together!

Last week, I helped to roll out the ASAP AI Skills Passport for the state of Wisconsin. Needless to say, it was a lot of travel and I needed some catching up on all things AI. So I figured, we'd catch up together! - EmilyHost Emily Laird breaks down the week AI stopped acting like a science project and started behaving like a corporate takeover. From OpenAI and Anthropic chasing private equity pipelines to Meta’s agent mishap and Washington’s latest AI power struggle, this episode is all distribution, politics, and paranoia. The big twist: people are not just worried about losing jobs, they are losing patience with tools that sound smart and still make things up. It is a sharp, funny look at why the real AI battle is no longer who builds the coolest model, but who can make it useful, trusted, and hard to ignore.
Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about last week in the world of AI.
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a16z's 6th Edition: The Creative Wars

Host Emily Laird breaks down why creative AI is ditching the one-hit-wonder phase and moving into full-blown media megaplex mode. Canva, Adobe, CapCut, and the rest are battling to become the place where your ideas get made fast, messy, and at 11:47 p.m. This episode looks at why standalone image tools are losing the spotlight, why distribution now runs the show, and why Adobe suddenly feels less like Iron Man and more like the old guard in a Marvel reboot. 
a16z's Top Generative AI Consumer Apps 6th EditionJoin the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about a16z's 6th Edition of the Top Generative AI Consumer Apps.
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a16z's 6th Edition: The AI Empire Strikes Back

Host Emily Laird breaks down a16z’s March 2026 generative AI consumer app rankings, and the verdict is clear: AI is no longer the shiny new kid, it is the plumbing, the lighting, and the landlord. From ChatGPT and Gemini to Canva, CapCut, and Notion, this episode explains why the real battle is not about the flashiest model, but who becomes your default brain on a busy Tuesday. It is a sharp, funny look at how consumer AI slipped into everyday life through convenience, connectors, and sheer habit. Also on the table: public distrust, global adoption shifts, and why the future of AI looks less like sci-fi and more like your open browser tabs. 
a16z's Top Generative AI Consumer Apps 6th EditionJoin the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about a16z's 6th Edition of the Top Generative AI Consumer Apps.
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a16z's 6th Edition: The AI Attention Game

Host Emily Laird breaks down a16z’s Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps like a box office chart for the internet age, less hype machine, more behavioral receipts. This episode explains why the ranking works as an attention ledger, showing which AI tools people actually use, not just the ones getting love-bombed on LinkedIn. It is a sharp look at how AI is shifting from flashy destination to invisible infrastructure, baked into the apps people already live in. Think less Iron Man debut, more Severance office vibes, polished, eerie, and already inside the walls. 
a16z's Top Generative AI Consumer Apps 6th EditionJoin the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about a16z's 6th Edition of the Top Generative AI Consumer Apps.
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Prime Meltdown: The Amazon Engineer's Memo

Host Emily Laird breaks down Amazon’s outage week, where one stale wiki, one overconfident AI tool, and one very human decision turned into a retail-scale faceplant. This episode slices through the hype and panic to show the real danger of AI-assisted engineering: not evil robots, just bad process moving at lightspeed. It is a sharp look at brittle systems, misplaced trust, and why “move fast” sounds a lot less sexy when the checkout page is on fire. Think less Terminator, more The Office with production access.Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Amazon's Engineer's memo and the pitfalls of AI integration.
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ChatGPT 5.4: From Clippy to Corporate Overlord

Host Emily Laird rips into ChatGPT 5.4, the model that’s less chatbot, more sleep-deprived analyst with full system access. From million-token memory to agent-style computer control, this episode explains why AI is shifting from answering questions to actually doing the work. Along the way, we unpack benchmarks, hype, and the uncomfortable truth about polished mistakes. It’s part Severance, part Wall Street, and all signal, no fluff.Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about ChatGPT 5.4.
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Why AI Wearables Are Getting Banned (it seems obvious in a lot of scenarios... but...)

Host Emily Laird breaks down why AI wearables are setting off alarms in courtrooms, classrooms, clinics, casinos, and even cruise ships. This episode unpacks the backlash against smart glasses and pendants that can record, interpret, and identify people while pretending to be just another gadget. Think less “helpful assistant,” more sci-fi hall monitor with a camera and a confidence problem. It’s a funny, sharp look at how the next fight in AI hardware is really about trust, consent, and who gets to watch whom.Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about AI-enabled wearable tech getting banned.
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AI Is Leaving the Chat: The Ambient Device Race Begins

Host Emily Laird breaks down the new race to put AI in your home, on your face, and maybe a little too deep in your personal space. From OpenAI’s camera speaker plans to Meta’s smart glasses and Apple’s wearable camera push, this episode unpacks why ambient AI is less sci-fi fantasy and more privacy stress test. It is a sharp, funny look at the sensor-to-assistant pipeline, the bystander problem, and the quiet way “normal” gets rewritten.Join the AI Weekly MeetupsConnect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about AI-enabled wearable tech.
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