A.I.’s Messy Moment + Listeners Respond to Jonathan Haidt + Shrimp Jesus

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This week, we look at a mess of corporate drama in artificial intelligence. Stability AI has announced that its founder and C.E.O., Emad Mostaque, is leaving the company. Meanwhile, Microsoft hired away two of the co-founders and much of the staff of Inflection, without actually acquiring the company itself. Both moves surprised tech insiders. Then, we talked with listeners who had something to say about our interview with Jonathan Haidt on smartphones, social media and young people. And finally, we examine the true motives behind “Shrimp Jesus” and other hugely popular images on social media that were generated with artificial intelligence.

Today’s guests:

• Jordan Lucero, a high school student

• Maya Rayle, a graduate student

• Jack Campbell, a college student

• Brendan Kelley, a high school digital coach

Additional Reading:

• The indie A.I. companies are falling apart

• How Spammers, Scammers and Creators Leverage A.I.-Generated Images on Facebook for Audience Growth

Credit…Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Martin Diebel/Getty Images

Credits

“Hard Fork” is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton and produced by Davis Land and Rachel Cohn. The show is edited by Jen Poyant. Engineering by Alyssa Moxley and original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano and Rowan Niemisto Fact-checking by Caitlin Love.

Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Nell Gallogly, Kate LoPresti and Jeffrey Miranda.