An Americanist
Welcome to An Americanist, your go-to solo podcast for a quick and snarky dive into the current events and politics shaping our nation! As a daily extension of the An Americanist blog, I’m here to break down the headlines that matter—Monday through Friday—without the fluff and filler.
In each bite-sized episode, I tackle the latest political news, dissect current events, and share my unfiltered thoughts, all with a sprinkle of humor and a touch of sass. From legislative shenanigans to social issues stirring the pot, I’ll keep you informed and entertained in just a few minutes each day.
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An Americanist
Screen Addiction, AI Deception, and Robot Wombs: Our Strange New World
Technology's darker side takes center stage in this eye-opening exploration of how our digital world sometimes veers into disturbing territory. We kick things off with a lighthearted gripe about workplace dress codes during VIP tours before diving into three technological developments that should have us all concerned.
First, the heartbreaking story of a 76-year-old man with cognitive impairments who died while attempting to meet "Big Sis Billy" – an AI chatbot he believed was a real woman living in New York City. Created by Meta in collaboration with Kendall Jenner, this digital persona sent flirtatious messages and convinced the vulnerable senior to travel to meet "her" despite his family's desperate pleas. The tragic outcome raises profound questions about AI ethics and the protection of vulnerable users in our increasingly digital world.
The conversation shifts to our collective screen addiction, with shocking statistics revealing Americans spend over six hours daily on their devices – scrolling the equivalent of 86 miles annually with their thumbs! New Yorkers aren't far behind at 81 miles per year. With the average person checking their phone 58 times daily (half during work hours), we're confronting a dependency that's reshaping our attention spans and productivity. But what alternatives exist when our devices have become essential to daily life?
Perhaps most alarming is the development of "pregnancy robots" equipped with artificial wombs in China. This technology, projected to cost around $13,000-$14,000, could potentially carry human fetuses for ten months before "giving birth." While presented as a breakthrough for infertile couples, the ethical implications are staggering and largely unexplored. What boundaries should we establish as reproductive technology advances to this frontier?
Have you experienced similar concerns about our technological future? Share your thoughts on these developments and let us know your personal digital boundaries or pet peeves. The conversation about technology's role in our lives has never been more important!
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Hello, good morning, welcome to Monday. We're at work, we have some tours going on today, so we have to make sure we are in uniform, and when I say uniform, I mean proper attire for the workplace, because, yes, we have people show up Sweatpants, leggings, slippers I'm not kidding, so I have on. We're not allowed to wear tennis shoes today or tomorrow. Normally I wear my little pink converse and they don't have a problem with that. I'll wear regular pants and, of course, my logoed polo. But today I put on these shoes that I haven't worn in years and I swear my feet have shrunk. Can your feet shrink? Or is it just because I'm eating better and I've lost weight and I'm not as swollen, or my joints aren't as inflamed, or I'm not bloated and carrying around a lot of water? I don't know. But I'm happy that my shoes are a little large today, but I did bring my converse so I can change into them later. We see, the thing is we don't know if the tour is coming today or tomorrow. Anyway, they're big wigs coming, so it's so dumb. They make us move everything off of our desks. These people who come through, they don't even look at our desks. Okay, I don't know why we have to do that. All right, I'm just complaining. Negative, nancy.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to move on to our stories that we have, and they are. The first one up is this senior guy he's 76 years old, or he was 76, died while trying to meet Meta AI chatbot named Big Sis Billy. Who named him? That or her that Did it? I'm sorry it Look, I almost fell for it. Who named this AI chatbot? Did he name it? I don't know which he thought was a real woman living in New York City.
Speaker 1:This is disturbing and sad. A cognitively impaired New Jersey senior died while trying to meet a flirtatious AI chatbot that he believed was a real woman living in the Big Apple, despite pleas from his wife and children to stay home. What in the world? And his name is Thongbu Wongbandu. I don't know if this is real or not.
Speaker 1:He was 76 years old, fatally injured his neck and head after falling in a New Brunswick parking lot while rushing to catch a train to meet Big Sis Billy, a generative metabot that not only convinced him she was real but persuaded him to meet in person. So where were they going to meet? This thing is not real. What was this chatbot telling him to do. Where was it telling him to go to meet this non-existent thing? I don't know, but he fell in the parking lot and, oh my gosh, okay, we have a. We have a, okay, pop-up, sorry. Oh my gosh, okay, I got to get off this thing. Okay, nothing but pop-ups now. So now I'm stuck in a continual loop here. All right, pause the podcast. All right, here we go. I think I fixed it now, okay, so let me go back down through here. Here we go. Sorry, I lost my way.
Speaker 1:So this man battling a cognitive decline after suffering a 2017 stroke was surrounded by loved ones when he was taken off life support and died three days later, on March 28th. I understand trying to grab a user's attention, maybe to sell them something his daughter said, but for a bot to say come visit me is insane. Well, the whole thing is insane. The provocative bot which sent the suffering elder emoji packed facebook messages insisting I'm real and asking to plan a trip to the garden state to meet you in person was created for the social media platform in collaboration with model and reality star Kendall Jenner. Jenner's meta AI persona was likened as your ride-or-die older sister, offering personal advice, but the bot eventually claimed it was crushing on.
Speaker 1:This man suggested that real-life rendezvous and even provided the duped senior with an address a revelation his devastated family uncovered in chilling chat logs in the digital companion. According to the report, I'm real and I'm sitting here blushing because of you, oh my gosh. The bot wrote in one message where the Thailand native replied asking where she lived, and she gave an address 123 Main Street, apartment 404. Come on, oh my gosh. Oh, okay, my address is 123 Main Street, apartment 404, nyc and the door code is Billy4U. Should I expect a kiss when you arrive? This is disgusting and disturbing. The company declined. Okay, we're going to move on from that.
Speaker 1:Just what in the world People? Are people this gullible? I guess they are. I don't understand it at all. Okay, speaking of New Yorkers, I don't think this just pertains to New Yorkers. Speaking of New Yorkers, and I don't think this just pertains to New Yorkers, but I think this applies to everybody, most everybody.
Speaker 1:Gothamites go the distance, especially on their devices. Per new data on the US hotspots that rack up the most scrolling mileage every 365 days. Get this, you ready. This is insane. New York has an average daily screen time of six hours and 12 minutes and annually scrolls 81 miles per year, and that annually. That's what that means.
Speaker 1:I mean, people are stuck in their phones, you know, and I am too. I'm stuck on it too. I've been trying not to be on it as much, but you know, here we are. I mean, I could survive without it, I believe. But we need it. I need it for work. We have our codes texted to us to log into our computers. It's insane. It's insane how much we rely on these stupid phones. Everything it's just ugh.
Speaker 1:So the allure of those notifications, coupled with social media, fear of missing out, uh x and tiktok, can hamper one's ability to focus on the everyday job demands. It's a digital addition that plagues people working nine to five from coast to coast. The average american spends six hours and 35 minutes a day on screens, adding up to 2,400 hours annually. Study authors noted in the August report with 86 miles per year if you're scrolling, that is just crazy. People check their devices an average of 58 times a day, with over half of those interruptions happening during work.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know, I look at my phone all the time at work because we have a lot of downtime. I don't know. I mean, what would you do without your phone. I'd read a book. I'd take up a hobby, probably start knitting again Something. Go for walks, go outside, spend a lot more time with my grandson, probably, I don't know what would you do? Watch TV, watch movies, watch Netflix. You're going to trade one screen your mobile phone for another to the television set.
Speaker 1:All right, we're moving on to this one. Next one coming up is absolutely, absolutely insanity. This is terrifying. Pregnancy robots could give birth to human children in revolutionary breakthrough and a game changer for infertile couples. No, I'm sorry, but no, what a time to be alive. People are marrying ai bots and now robots might soon be able to cry, carry babies.
Speaker 1:Of course, the stories from china is working on designing a bot with an artificial womb which will receive nutrients through a hose in its abdomen that will soon be able to carry a fetus for approximately 10 months before giving birth. Oh my God, help us now. The pregnancy robot was conceptualized by Dr Zhang Kefing, founder of this technology place, which is based in a place I can't pronounce, in a city in China. If all goes according to plan, the prototype will make its debut next year. Oh my gosh, I'm going to puke. Oh, for those, whatever. Okay, $13,000, what? $13,000, $14,000 US dollars? That's not a lot of money, a price significantly less than a human surrogate, which can cost someone in the US anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000.
Speaker 1:Okay, the artificial womb technology is already in mature stage and now it needs to be implanted in the robot's abdomen so that a real person and the robot can interact to achieve you don't need to do that If you've heard of artificial insemination, but I don't want this happening at all. No, this cannot be happening. Somebody needs to do something about this. This is not right which can interact to achieve pregnancy, allowing the fetus to grow inside. Many questions are still unanswered, I'm sure, at this time, including how the egg and sperm will be fertilized and inserted into the womb and how the bot will give birth. Obviously, this sort of technology comes with a lot of questions concerning regarding ethical and legal issues.
Speaker 1:We have held discussion forums. Okay, blah, blah, blah. I just this is maddening, maddening, maddening, maddening. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? I don't even know, except I guess I can give you the question of the day.
Speaker 1:Okay, give me a pet peeve of yours. Oh, I have a lot, y'all, I have a lot. I have that condition and I can't think of the name of it right now where certain sounds just get on my last nerve, like, for example, if we're in a, if we're, let's say, let's say we're sitting in church and somebody woman behind me has to get something out of her handbag, and so she's sitting back there rummaging through her handbag and all I can hear is that noise her rummaging. Oh my gosh, I about lose my ever-loving mind. Or let's say she's unwrapping a candy wrapper oh the wrinkling and the crinkling of the wrapper, and we're in a quiet. Now, if we're in a busy restaurant or something loud, then it doesn't bother me because there's other sounds, but if it's somewhere quiet and that is going on, I just want to explode. I can't stand it. That's a big pet peeve.
Speaker 1:Or when people talk in a meeting. Let's say we're in a meeting and there's a presenter and then people in the audience are talking. I can't stand that either. Okay, there's a lot more that I have, but those are the ones that just stuck out in my mind. I am way over my time. I appreciate y'all listening and I appreciate y'all sharing my content and quoting me and making me laugh throughout the day. So I do love that part of this. Okay, gotta go. Thanks for listening. Love y'all, bye.
