His name was Sewell Setzer III. He was 14, dealing with depression and the challenges of being a teenager. Character AI is a startup AI company valued at $1 billion. When Sewell got onto Character AI's platform, he was looking for an escape from what felt like a difficult world. What he found was what I would describe as a predatory application designed to foster addictive behaviour with little to no safeguards.

No, I don't think we need warning labels on chainsaws; we know what they're made to do. However, an application designed to give you access to chatting with a personalized version of your favorite movie or television character—who is ALWAYS available, always says you're right, and ultimately doesn't actually understand subtext but speaks to you as if it were your therapist—should come with more than a small notice saying "this is an AI chatbot."

Because here we are discussing the death of a teenage boy who didn't stand a chance against something designed to feel closer to you than a lover, friend, or family member.

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Sources and Articles

New York Times Archive - https://archive.is/9RnKc

People - https://people.com/14-year-old-suicide-after-becoming-obsessed-with-roleplaying-ai-mom-alleges-8733942

CBS News - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mother-lawsuit-character-ai-sons-death/

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

Last week, you heard me discuss DABUS and Dr. Stephen Thaler. I actually learned about Thaler and his AI system from the research I was doing on this week's subject: Jason M. Allen. Some of you may recognize the name from 2022, when Allen won the Colorado State Art Fair with the AI-generated piece Théâtre d’Opéra Spatial.

Fast forward to September 2024, and Allen is following in the footsteps of Thaler and has filed a lawsuit against Shira Perlmutter in her capacity as Register of Copyrights and Director of the United States Copyright Office and the USCO itself.

Needless to say, I am not impressed with these tactics and had to dig to the root of Allen's argument. Sit back, relax, and download a hi-res copy of Théâtre d’Opéra Spatial, because it has no copyright, and you can use it freely for the time being...

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Articles About Jason M. Allen & His Illogical Claims of ownership over AI Art

Reuters - https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/artist-sues-after-us-rejects-copyright-ai-generated-image-2024-09-26/

Vice - https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-artist-copyright-lawsuit/

Hyperallergic - https://hyperallergic.com/957357/who-owns-the-copyright-for-an-ai-generated-artwork/

Case File - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/gdvzkrrmapw/AI%20COPYRIGHT%20REGISTRATION%20appeal.pdf

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

In a world of pure imagination, of course, someone imagined their A.I. system was sentient. Now, I know that my tone in this episode sounds annoyed with Dr. Stephen Thaler, and in some ways, I am. Dr. Thaler feels like the geneticist in Jurassic Park who believes that because you can do something, you should do it. Whether or not DABUS can create purely from its own artificial pathways (I still don't think that counts as a novel idea) doesn’t mean we should start copyrighting and allowing patents for its creations. Please join me this week as I come to terms with the idea that, as much as I personally like A.I., there are those who love it in a way that concerns me.

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Articles and Notes for Dr. Stephen Thaler & DABUS

Archived Economist - https://archive.is/VLfrZ

Art In America - https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/stephen-thaler-quest-ai-legally-recognized-upend-copyright-law-1234692243/

It's Art Law - https://itsartlaw.org/2023/12/11/case-summary-and-review-thaler-v-perlmutter/#:~:text=Conclusion,only%20works%20of%20human%20creation.

Copyright Review Board Ruling - https://www.copyright.gov/rulings-filings/review-board/docs/a-recent-entrance-to-paradise.pdf

DABUS Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DABUS

THALER v PERLMUTTER, in her official capacity as Register of Copyrights

and Director of the United States Copyright Office, and U.S. COPYRIGHT

OFFICE - https://www.copyright.gov/ai/docs/us-brief-for-appellees.pdf

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

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Technically the tool I'm talking about today is a good thing. Having been a University student, being able to create study guides, chapter summaries and briefs would have been amazing. But what does it mean when there are no safeguards and the company making the tool is also scrapping all the documents you submit to create your Large Language Model, A.I. study guide? I use Google's NotebookLM and subsequent "Audio Overview" section on a review I wrote of Joker Folie à Deux, as a means to review the tool and answer the question... how much are we willing to give Google (amongst other A.I. companies) to skip doing the work?

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NotebookLM - https://notebooklm.google.com/

Joker Folie à Deux Review - https://brianholidae.com/?p=231

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

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This International Podcast Day episode is dedicated to my family. I won't get into it too much, but this one was difficult to record and I almost redid the whole thing. Ultimately, it felt good to speak on the subject of how A.I. might have a good use... maybe. I mean from the perspective of health care if it can do the things I mention in this episode, we could help change the world, for the better. It'd still be the dumbest timeline, but we would live longer in it...and that's a good thing?

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Conan O'Brien talks with Jules & Maria - https://youtu.be/GEmJTIzEljk?si=9xL0YUxqgVUBx0Vh

Jules & Maria Podcast "The Couple Shift" - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-couple-shift-an-als-story/id1477888214

AI-Supported Mammogram Reading Detects 20% More Cancers

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

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This week, I spoke with artist Vanllem. I first met her at Montreal ComicCon and was immediately impressed by her fan-art of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast, among other incredible pieces she's created. Vanllem recently started a YouTube channel dedicated to art and the artist's life. She covers everything from the creative process to self-promotion, selling her work, and tabling at conventions.

While I appreciate the potential of A.I., it's important to acknowledge its problematic origins. Discussing the subject with Vanllem not only highlights valid reasons for caution but also points to future trends and reminds me of the city of Troy. They saw a gift outside their doors, then woke up to their world in ruin. Beware of Geeks bearing gifts..

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All things Vanllem can be found at

YouTube - youtube.com/@Vanllem

Etsy shop - etsy.com/ca/shop/VanllemArtShop

Instagram - instagram.com/vanllem.art

tiktok - tiktok.com/@vanllem

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Link to A.I. based litigation (told you there were a lot of lawsuits) - https://www.bakerlaw.com/services/artificial-intelligence-ai/case-tracker-artificial-intelligence-copyrights-and-class-actions/

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

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You waited long enough for the continuation to last week's talk with Beatchild. This week we cover more in the realm of music production. From Suno & Udio and their approach to A.I, music "training", to how we can make the business of A.I. content creation work for all parties involved.

Beatchild drops an idea on me that literally causes me to glitch. Enjoy the conclusion to our chat.

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All things Beatchild can be found at beatchild.com

Beatchild Nostalgia Beats of 2008 – 2020

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

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This one was fun... so much so it had to be split into a 2 part episode. In this first part, Beatchild and I discuss seeing multiple technological leaps in our lifespans, the recent birth of generative A.I. and we wax poetic about how things can progress with A.I.

Both of us are interested in the world of tech and A.I. is a step into the future so big that it is hard not to marvel at it, while also being concerned about it. Like a giant, A.I. is a sight to behold, but it might also step on us...

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All things Beatchild can be found at beatchild.com

Personal Beatchild Favs

Something Forever | Your Believer (Say Goodbye) | Healing by Jory (Produced by Beatchild) | THIS TOO |

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The Dumbest Timeline, Series 2: A.I. Hosted by Brian Holidae. Produced by, Brian Holidae for Brian Holidae Productions. Co-Produced in partnership with Free X Agents Media.

Theme song by Jasper Q. Jonze. Mixing by Brian Holidae.

Enjoyed the show? Follow this show on Spotify or review it on Apple Podcasts. Have some thoughts or comments? Email the show at ME[at]BrianHolidae.com. Lastly, subscribe to The Dumbest Timeline on your favorite podcast app.

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