AI, Dinosaurs, and the Future of Entertainment

Episode Notes

Andrew opens by demoing Replicate's Trellis model, which turns a 2D image into a 3D mesh. He uses a ChatGPT-generated Blade Runner-style car image, shows the model producing a 3D asset in a little over a minute for about seven cents, and the hosts discuss how accessible 3D asset generation could change creative workflows, games, and set design.

The conversation moves into broader AI optimism and skepticism. Justin argues that AI development will keep accelerating and that productized value is still underbuilt, while Andrew and Brian criticize AI naysayers for relying on limited personal impressions rather than broad evidence. The episode also covers a speculative physics discussion about energy transmission and a paper on extracting small amounts of power from Earth's magnetic field, with the hosts emphasizing that interesting research can still be impractical or overhyped.

Key topics

• AI image-to-3D generation and creative workflows: Trellis on Replicate is shown converting a 2D image into a 3D mesh, with discussion of uses for game assets, set design, and faster creative iteration.
• OpenAI image model for recreation and editing: Justin says the new image model can recreate photos, remove backgrounds, and make stunt doubles or movie-poster-style images.
• Codex / command-line app generation: Andrew mentions using Codex as a tool to build simple apps or assets from the command line with an OpenAI key.
• AI skepticism versus lived experience: The hosts argue that many AI skeptics have not spent enough time with the tools or are making claims without broad evidence.
• Frontier progress and productization: Justin says current models are not yet fully productized and predicts more useful AI products will continue arriving even without dramatic frontier breakthroughs.
• Speculative energy research and overhyped interpretations: Andrew discusses a PBS Space Time video and a paper about deriving power from Earth's magnetic field, using it as an example of research that may be real but not practically transformative.
• LLMs, social class, and personalized education: Brian and Andrew compare LLM-style conversation to human thinking and discuss AI as a possible tutor or social/educational scaffold that could help people practice a different register.
• Fan conventions and shared-language gatherings: The episode discusses the NFL draft, Dragon Con, Disney superfandom, and the appeal of being physically among people who share the same cultural language.
• Colossal Biosciences and de-extinction: The hosts discuss the dire wolf project, whether the result counts as a dire wolf, and the idea of woolly mammoths as ecosystem-oriented recreations rather than exact restorations.
• Jurassic Park as a park-gone-wrong franchise: Justin, Brian, and Andrew argue that Jurassic Park works best when it is about another park disaster with dinosaurs causing chaos.
• Jurassic Park prequel ideas: Andrew suggests a prequel about Hammond building the park, early investors, and the trial-and-error phase before Jurassic Park opens.
• Thunderbolts and current Marvel quality: Andrew praises Thunderbolts as one of the better recent Marvel films, discusses its character-building and pacing, and compares it to Fantastic Four and other Marvel projects.

Picks

• Brian Brushwood: Andor season two — He explicitly says his pick is the first 15 minutes of Andor season two and then frames the full season as part of his 'full experience' experiment. The recommendation is somewhat constrained by the experiment and by the fact he has only sampled the season so far.
• Brian Brushwood: The called shot experiment — He explicitly says his pick will be the called shot experiment and describes it as a legit good podcast format.
• Justin Robert Young: The Righteous Gemstones — He explicitly says 'my pick is The Righteous Gemstones' and praises its humor, cast, and heart, while noting it is ending soon.