Should we just shut AI down? One of you said yes, right in our comments, so we took the question seriously.

Cousins Luke Wiesner and David Cole start with a listener's holiday worry: what do you do when your uncle brings up AI at the dinner table? Then they get into how AI has made scams harder to spot, from fake online stores and fake romances to fake family members asking for money, and the one thing every family should set up before the holidays: a family code word. Luke tells the story of his run-in with a puppy scammer, and David shares the vacation rental scam he fell for. They look at a $2,490 humanoid robot, a real trial of AI tutors with a human approving what the AI said, and a new study on AI helping doctors with diagnoses, where AI plus a person did better than either one alone. Plus how to keep what makes your AI useful when you switch tools, and this week's inspiration.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open
0:21 Intro
0:36 Welcome
1:13 A listener says AI needs to be gone
3:29 Has a boycott ever stopped a technology?
6:32 Why we'd rather be involved
9:51 Learning out loud
11:19 Listener question: AI and the uncle at Thanksgiving
14:32 AI scams: $21 billion lost in 2025
17:34 David's vacation rental scam
21:07 Make a family code word
25:27 The puppy scammer
26:37 FF Nova: a $2,490 robot
31:17 If I drove for Uber, I'd want one
32:51 Elon's track record
34:50 AI tutors: Eedi and Google DeepMind
37:45 One tutor, sixty kids
41:17 The hidden debate: how we support kids
45:25 A world where nobody gets the credit
46:33 AI diagnosis: smarter isn't safer
49:37 Doctors plus AI beat both
54:09 Tip: a train-the-agent document
56:09 Inspiration: Yeko and Yendi
58:22 Help us inspire others
1:00:26 Outro

New episodes every Thursday. Questions, stories and freak-outs: hello@late2thefuture.com. Get the weekly newsletter, The Catch-Up: late2thefuture.com/catchup. Find us at @late2thefuture.

Inspired by something on the show? Tell us your story at late2thefuture.com. Every month, we draw one person who shared their story for a one-of-a-kind I'm Inspired mug.

Better late than never.

Views are our own and not those of any employer. We're not experts, and nothing here is professional advice.

Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 people, about 27% of its global workforce. So we asked each other: would you take the buyout? What would it actually take for you to quit your job?

Cousins Luke Wiesner and David Cole talk about how the launch went and why they're here to be imperfect, then dig into where the jobs are going as companies pour money into AI data centers, whether Google is the next Blockbuster, and what it means when an AI company says in its own IPO filing that its technology could pose catastrophic risks. They talk about why fear pulls us apart, where the line is when AI helps with family moments, and the everyday stuff: finding a document in seconds, turning a commute into work time, and learning out loud. Plus this week's inspiration and a callback to our listener question about raising kids for the future.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open
0:19 Intro
0:34 Welcome
1:51 Three weeks in: how did the launch go?
4:42 We're here to be imperfect
6:57 Listener question: what will our kids need in 20 years?
10:34 Microsoft buyouts: jobs going to data centers
16:26 What would it take to quit your job?
20:53 Is Google the next Blockbuster?
26:55 What does open source mean?
28:24 Learning out loud
29:50 Anthropic's IPO: could AI end humanity?
34:14 Fear pulls us apart
38:14 AI wrote her daughter's birthday tribute. Where's the line?
45:39 Be the CEO of your family
47:21 A window sticker in seconds
48:40 Evan's commute: talking to his agents
50:59 See the human in each other
58:26 Inspiration of the week
58:37 Sami and Lumi redesign a website
1:00:38 Raising kids for the future
1:01:44 A daily checklist for my mother-in-law
1:03:47 Help us inspire others
1:05:28 Outro

About the show: Luke Wiesner and David Cole are two regular guys, late to the future, learning out loud, trying to be hopeful about the future. Inspired people inspire people. If this episode helped, send it to someone who could use some inspiration about the future.

New episodes every Thursday. Questions, stories and freak-outs: hello@late2thefuture.com. Newsletter and show notes: late2thefuture.com. Find us at @late2thefuture.

Inspired by something on the show? Tell us your story at late2thefuture.com. Every month, we draw one person who shared their story for a one-of-a-kind I'm Inspired mug.

Better late than never.

Views are our own and not those of any employer. We're not experts, and nothing here is professional advice.

AI is changing work fast. So what can a regular person actually do to stay valuable?

Luke and David dig into whether AI is overhyped or we're just early, and why the answer for most of us is to become the CEO of our own job: the person who directs the tools, not the person replaced by them. We talk about why companies are now hiring for judgment, why it's loss we fear more than change, what school and shortcuts mean for the next generation, and how AI could open a plan B for retirement. Plus a real impact story, and how making this show brought two cousins closer than they've been in 30 years.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open
1:48 Is AI overhyped, or are we just early?
5:50 AI slop grenades
10:32 Who does AI actually benefit?
12:20 Becoming the CEO of your job
14:13 It's not change we fear, it's loss
17:51 Where will young people learn judgment?
24:33 School, shortcuts and critical thinking
28:19 Do you have to use AI?
33:33 An impact story
38:16 The counterweight
43:03 Closer cousins
46:25 No friction between idea and doing
48:32 A new plan for retirement
53:50 Outro

New episodes every Thursday. Questions, stories and freak-outs: hello@late2thefuture.com. Newsletter and show notes: late2thefuture.com. Find us at @late2thefuture.

Better late than never.

Views are our own and not those of any employer. We're not experts, and nothing here is professional advice.