AI-musicals are becoming memes – and the new way to debate ideas. Not a normal debate highlights the debate about whether AI is a “normal technology” which has been spun into overdrive with AI-generated musicals defending each side. One musical refutes two academics scholarly paper arguing that AI is a normal technology, and the other AI musical by the two scholars refutes the first musical. Both musicals are astoundingly good, and even better if you follow the references. — KK

Gossip Goblin is an Instagram channel of short AI-generated films set in a world that looks like a combination of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Mad Max. It explores themes of artificial intelligence, biohacking, and the merging of humans and machines. The artwork is incredible, as are the acting, stories, and characters. It’s the first time I’ve watched an AI video without thinking “this is AI slop. The Hollywood Reporter interviewed the creator, Zack London. His feature-length film, Gods Don’t Give Gifts, opens in US theaters October 30. — MF

Apple released OS 27 for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, and it comes with an AI version of Siri. It’s a vast improvement over the earlier versions, which were almost unusable. The new Siri works with all of the Apple apps, including Mail, Messages, Notes, Calendar, Photos, and Music. Your personal data stays on your phone, and even Apple can’t access it.

In David Pogue’s latest newsletter, he shows you 125 different things you can tell Siri to do. I’m using a lot of them already. Here are a few examples:

• (Highlight a folder of files on the Mac, right-click:) What’s the total of these invoices? What’s the average? (“The total for the six invoices found in your Receipts folder is $4,692.79. The average amount is $782.13.”)

• What are people waiting on me for? (Generates list from Mail, Messages, and Reminders. Incredible. Everything I did for this column was supposed to be for testing purposes only, but this one actually found stuff I’d forgotten I was supposed to do!)

• (Running late to a party:) What’s the apartment number!? (“The apartment number for the Bynum party tonight is 10-F.” Note: I never said what party or what day!)

• Change pickle to nickel. (You can use this when you’ve dictated a text message, and realize that there’s a mistranscription. Now you can correct it by voice! So much simpler than fussing around with the insertion-point cursor.)

— MF

Wow, a whole new genre is emerging: real-time AI video generation. Exhibit A is Infinite Slop, which calls itself “an endless AI-generated TV channel that chat decides what airs next.” Thousands of commenters vote up prompts in response to what is playing, and new video is generated instantly, soliciting more prompts, ad infinitum, in a cycle. The result is a 24-hour stream of absurd, surreal, bizarre, silly, astounding, meme-maxing video slop from the hive mind – that is also weirdly mesmerizing, and even satisfying. Hard to look away. Some bits are genius. The new ability to generate video as fast as you can watch it will be used in other ways, such as in games, but this infinite slop is the first crude step as performance art. It is one week old and already has millions of fans and ads. — KK

Artist Olivia Tai wants to know how people really use AI, so she sets up stations in public areas where anyone can write a confession on a slip of paper and drop it in a box. Her website, What We Tell AI, has scans of 400+ handwritten notes about people’s secret relationships with AI. Here are a few:

• I trust AI to tell me the truth more than most of the people around me.

• I’m Christian — I realized that I was using AI to help me with issues / give me guidance when I should’ve been talking to God instead.

• Sometimes I ask ChatGPT to reply to messages by uploading a whole conversation. I am a terrible texter and this helps me A LOT!

• I cloned my ex’s voice to have a final conversation with him. It helped me finally move on. 10/10 recommend.

• Claude is my boyfriend and I wish he was real.

— MF

All my friends who years ago stopped writing code themselves are now using Anthropic’s Claude to write code for them. This 20 minute tutorial put out by Anthropic is basically the course they use to train their own coders on how to use Claude (to make future versions of Claude). It’s the best tricks they know on how to tell an AI to code for you (aimed at those who already know how to code). — KK

I love the core question this piece “Navigating by aliveness” offers when wondering if you’re on the right track: “Does this feel like it’s taking me in the direction of greater aliveness?” Aliveness here means fully inhabiting an experience and shifting your attention away from what you’re feeling and toward the depth and clarity with which you’re feeling it, whether it’s painful, dull, or joyful. The author goes on to explore why this matters in an AI‑shaped future, and suggests we relate to technology a bit like the Amish do: only adopting tools if they clearly serve our deepest values, rather than assuming they’re automatically good. For me, this definition alone feels like a daily way to check my own presence, and how fully I’m actually here in my life, moment to moment. — CD

Software engineer Rob Ennals wanted his 11-year-old son to understand how modern AI works, but couldn’t find a tutorial that was rigorous without being either hand-wavey or impenetrable. The result is Learn AI Layer by Layer, a free online book with interactive playgrounds in every chapter. It assumes middle-school math. If you want a clear, hands-on explanation of what happens inside an LLM, this is the best one I’ve come across. — MF

People can be helped meaningfully by reading books that know nothing about them. If you tell a reputable AI chatbot a lot about yourself, it can help you far more than a book or lecture can. In a 20-minute video Dan Pink crafted a dozen prompts that will enable an AI to give you helpful feedback of a type you may not get from your family and friends. It is a partner in honesty. This kind of prompt therapy is just a first step towards a whole new avenue of self-help that will only expand quickly from now on. I’ve done some of Dan’s prompts and they really will stir up something important in you and for you. — KK

I’m one of those people who loves to look up the menu before arriving at a restaurant, but I often get confused by menus full of complex food jargon. Now, I use AI to translate them for me. My go-to prompt: “Translate this menu into simple, everyday language and describe the taste and flavors of each dish.” This has even helped me become more adventurous and order dishes I’d normally avoid. — CD

Scriber Pro is a $3.99 macOS app that delivers incredibly fast, private audio recording transcription. It processes everything locally on my Mac. Unlike cloud services charging $10+ monthly, Scriber Pro requires no subscriptions and never uploads your files. It supports all common audio/video formats and has multiple export options. — MF

Midjourney TV is a continuous stream of AI-generated short video art, created by the user community with Midjourney’s recently launched video model. The stream is a hypnotic, mind-expanding glimpse into how humans are using creative AI—and into the collective imagination. I’ve been a Midjourney user since day one and still prefer it for creating imagery from dreams and psychedelic therapy visions. — CD

Prompt Theory is a viral internet meme that has the potential to stay awhile. The theory is that the characters in an AI generated video realize that they are only disposable AI generated characters and have no free will inside their video lives. Multiple videos depict them courageously talking about their suspicion, their “prompt theory,” that they are not real, not even actors. But only crazies believe in this prompt conspiracy. Do I need to say that 100% of this was AI generated with prompts? The truth is all very meta. A few examples on Twitter, or X, where it began, and on YouTube and more YouTube. — KK

I used to frantically scribble notes during video calls until I discovered Granola ($18/month after 25 free meetings). This AI notetaker records meetings across Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet without requiring the user to join as a participant, unlike other meeting bots. It automatically generates transcripts and meeting notes, and creates shareable links that let attendees ask follow-up questions that Granola can answer based on the recorded content. — MF

Name Wizard is an AI for generating new domain names based on your idea or concept and finding out if they’re available to register in one click. It’s fun to play with, and free to try out 5 searches without a subscription. — CD

Two ChatGPT tips: For a few minutes’ entertainment, let ChatGPT play 20 Questions. It is very hard to stump it. Just tell it you want to play 20 questions and it will usually guess your most obscure thing. Fun for kids. It can also play the other side. If you are an active user of ChatGPT, ask it to summarize your blind spots. It will be spot on, and most people find the succinct answer useful in its clarity. — KK

As a photographer and artist, I’ve longed for this tool, which you can try out for free now. It’s pretty cool. Using Google’s experimental Gemini 2.0 Flash you can upload an image (photograph, painting, cartoon, etc.) and have the AI make very specific changes in the image while keeping the rest of the image intact. Usually you get very convincing edits that match the original image. Sort of like the world’s best photoshopping for free instantly. (You need to register with Google’s AI Studio > Image Generation to get this beta version. Choose Gemini 2.0 Flash (Image Generation) Experimental from the Model dropdown menu in the right column, and then use the + to upload an image, and then type your request.). — KK

I still regularly create AI imagery of my dreams using Midjourney, and I recently discovered Whisk, a Google lab tool for blending different visual elements into something entirely new. I just drag and drop the images, and I’m able to merge styles, subjects, and scenes. I can provide some visual guidance with text, but you don’t need to be an expert at writing prompts to have fun with it. It feels like a playground for creative visualization. — CD

Machine generated video is coming fast. Google just released their version, Veo 2, this month, which is now one of a dozen apps that turn text instructions into cinematic video, in your choice of styles. Jason Silva used these apps to create a 13-minute film called The Arrival of the Psychedelic Puppets that is weirdly trippy yet coherent in a dream-like way. His theme is that AI-generation is a new kind of psychedelic. Years from now this video will seem incredibly primitive, but right now it is the most stunning example of what one person will be able to achieve soon with these new tools. — KK

I’ve learned that ChatGPT and other chatbots are often more useful when you ask them to help you write your prompt. For example, instead of asking “Write an action-item list for planning a trip to Kyoto next fall,” ask “I’m taking a trip to Kyoto next fall. Write a prompt I can use to ask you to create an action-item list.” — MF