Generative AI 101
Welcome to Generative AI 101, your go-to podcast for learning the basics of generative artificial intelligence in easy-to-understand, bite-sized episodes. Join host Emily Laird, AI Integration Technologist and AI lecturer, to explore key concepts, applications, and ethical considerations, making AI accessible for everyone.
Episodes

3 hours ago
How Nvidia Took Over the AI Game
3 hours ago
3 hours ago
Host Emily Laird plugs you into the silicon soul of Nvidia, the company that went from making gamer candy to building the backbone of modern AI. From ‘90s GPUs to liquid-cooled brain racks with names like Bond villains, this episode breaks down how Nvidia rewired the tech industry while everyone else was still reading chip ads on airplanes. If you think Nvidia just makes graphics cards, buckle up. You’re about to meet the real boss level.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 Nvidia.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
AI Workslop: When AI Takes Over the Office
Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
Host Emily Laird breaks out the digital flamethrower and torches the rise of “Workslop”, ya know, the AI-generated sludge clogging inboxes and killing brain cells. From overconfident prompts to Roomba-style reports smearing peanut butter on your productivity, this episode explores why companies are rethinking the bots and giving human insight a promotion. It’s 2026, and critical thinking is the new organic.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 sewage that is AI workslop.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Monday Dec 15, 2025
Chatbots Are Out, Cyborg Coworkers Are In: Welcome to the Age of Superagency
Monday Dec 15, 2025
Monday Dec 15, 2025
Host Emily Laird grabs the mic and declares the chatbot era officially dead. In this wild episode, she breaks down how GPT-5, AgentOS, and offline AI copilots are ditching the assistant role and gunning for actual jobs. From digital employees who run marketing campaigns solo to multi-agent systems plotting NASA missions, it’s less Siri, more Skynet (with a to-do list). Welcome to 2026, where your laptop's smarter than your intern, and your job might be on the line.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 age of superagency.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
ChatGPT Turns 3: From Chatbot to the New WiFi
Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
ChatGPT started as a chatbot and ended up running your digital life like an unpaid IT guy with attitude. In this episode, host Emily Laird traces how ChatGPT grew from a clever app into actual infrastructure, powering businesses, personal workflows, and weirdly specific GPTs like that one that critiques your PowerPoint. We cover everything from GPT-4 Turbo to group chats, memory, SearchGPT, and the rise of the GPT Store. It’s no longer just a tool, it’s the plumbing of the internet. And just like Wi-Fi or the toilet, you don’t think about it until it breaks.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 world domination in only 3 short years… seriously… 3.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
ChatGPT Turns 3: Rise of the Prompt People
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
ChatGPT didn’t sneak in quietly. It crashed through the internet like a caffeinated octopus, messy, fast, and suddenly everywhere. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down how a simple chatbot became a global obsession, pulling in 100 million users in record time and creating a brand-new digital class system with GPT-4 and Enterprise access. We look at how it reshaped writing, work, and weirdly, therapy. From free tools to corporate firepower, ChatGPT became the intern, the assistant, and sometimes the therapist, without ever taking a lunch break.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's global takeover.

Monday Dec 08, 2025
ChatGPT Turns 3: The Origin Story
Monday Dec 08, 2025
Monday Dec 08, 2025
Saturday, January 25, 2025
10:53 AM
Before ChatGPT started writing your emails and explaining physics like a brunch topic, OpenAI was a cash-hungry research lab funded by Elon Musk and a few idealists. In this kickoff episode, host Emily Laird takes you back to the early days when GPT-3 was locked behind an API, DALL·E was dreaming in pixels, and OpenAI invented a “capped-profit” company to keep investors happy without selling its soul. This is the real story behind ChatGPT’s rise, built on cloud credits, venture capital, and a surprisingly good PR move.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 the origin story.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
World Models vs LLMs
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Large Language Models might sound smart, but can they predict what happens when a cat sees a cucumber? In this episode, host Emily Laird throws LLMs into the philosophical ring with World Models, AI systems that learn from watching, poking, and pushing stuff around (kind of like toddlers). Meta’s Yann LeCun isn’t impressed by chatbots, and honestly, he might have a point. We break down why real intelligence might need both brains and brawn—or at least a good sense of gravity.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 world models vs LLMs and that's pretty cool.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
World Models for Beginners
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
World models aren’t a sci-fi subplot, no, they’re how AIs build mini fake worlds in their silicon skulls to test ideas without wrecking your car or your reputation. In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down what world models actually are (spoiler: think The Sims, but the Sim is smarter than your cousin) and why they’re the key to helping AI go from pattern-recognizer to planner-in-chief. From smashing virtual wine glasses to simulating race tracks, it’s all about letting AI fail in private before it acts in public. Because nothing says progress like teaching machines to imagine physics before physics teaches them a lesson.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 world models and that's pretty cool.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedInw

Monday Nov 17, 2025
Yann LeCun: Trading META for World Models
Monday Nov 17, 2025
Monday Nov 17, 2025
Yann LeCun, deep learning pioneer and Meta’s AI heavyweight, is out and he's not leaving quietly. In this episode host Emily Laird unpacks his philosophical split with Meta over the limits of large language models, his obsession with world models, and why he thinks real intelligence means predicting your kitchen layout, not just auto-completing your emails.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 Yann LeCun's next move.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Wednesday Nov 12, 2025
Dear K–12, AI Isn’t Optional Anymore. Love, Emily
Wednesday Nov 12, 2025
Wednesday Nov 12, 2025
Banning ChatGPT in schools is like banning pencils because kids might doodle. In this episode, host Emily Laird takes a flamethrower to the myth that AI’s not in your classroom, because it is, and your students are already using it. Also… you know that. Right? Emily breaks down what real AI literacy looks like, why AI detectors are academic snake oil, and how school districts keep buying shiny tools with no clue what they’re for. There’s a better way, and it starts with ditching denial, hiring help, and actually reading the damn policy toolkit. Spoiler: duct tape and vibes won’t cut it anymore.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 my thoughts on K-12 and AI.
Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Lecturer + Speaker
Transform your business with Emily Laird's captivating presentation on Generative AI. An AI expert and dynamic speaker, Emily breaks down complex concepts with ease and entertainment. Perfect for businesses and organizations eager to discover AI's potential.







