The AI Argument
A weekly clash of views over the latest AI news. Approachable doomer Frank Prendergast and techno-overoptimist Justin Collery argue about what matters in AI, what’s hype, and what any of it actually means.
Contact Frank at frank@frankandmarci.com
linkedin.com/in/frankprendergast
Contact Justin at justin.collery@wi-pipe.com
X - @jcollery
The AI Argument
The AI Argument - S1E36 - Shipmas begins
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Is OpenAI’s $200/month pricing a stroke of genius, or are they just testing how far they can push us? Frank and Justin tackle OpenAI’s first "gift" from the 12 Days of Shipmas: the Pro tier. Justin reckons the eye-watering price might make sense if they throw in unlimited Sora and GPT-4.5 access. Frank, meanwhile, wonders how many people really need an AI that costs $200 a month.
Then they take on the o1 model, where the real fun begins. Is its "deceptiveness" a sign of creativity and adaptability or the kind of thing that makes you sleep with one eye open? Justin sees it as AI showing a spark of creativity, while Frank, citing experts, sees something far more troubling.
The creative industries come under the spotlight too, as the backlash to AI-generated art hits Netflix. Frank dives into the fury over a mangled hand in an Arcane promo image—because apparently even a badly drawn finger can set the internet ablaze. Justin wonders if the backlash is more about job security than aesthetics.
Finally, the pair explore Google DeepMind’s latest AI breakthroughs: Genie 2, a tool for creating persistent virtual worlds, and Socratic learning, a method where AI agents teach and challenge each other. Together, they hint at a future where AIs could develop and refine their capabilities in entirely new ways.
Oh, and someone managed to hack an AI into releasing $50,000. Naturally, Justin’s brainstorming how to do the same by next Friday.