1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're either fake or they're being paid. It's one 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: more thing I'm strong. 3 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 2: And before we get to whatever that is, I think 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,040 Speaker 2: I know the answer to this question. I don't know 5 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 2: if I can set you up for it. I don't 6 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 2: know if I would be the right way to set 7 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 2: you up for it. I know what your answer is, though, 8 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 2: that one of your least favorite sensations is stickiness. Sticky. 9 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 2: And so Jensen, who's our fill in newsperson, while Katie 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 2: is out, made these delicious treats she brought in, and 11 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 2: they're great. They're like a some sort of bread, cinnamon 12 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 2: bread with caramel and nuts and apple apple. Yeah, but 13 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 2: they're cutt into little finger squares. Everybody's picking them out 14 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 2: of there with their fingers and you get caramel on 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 2: your fingers and my hands are sticky and I can't 16 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 2: get rid of it. Sticky? Why is? And then I 17 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 2: was thinking about why is sticky so annoying? From an 18 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 2: ever polutionary standpoint? Is there some reason an interesting would 19 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 2: human beings just naturally be appalled by being sticky? You know? 20 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: It was funny. Appalled is exactly the right word. I 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: was playing golf not long ago with a buddy of 22 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: mine and we're in his golf cart and and he's like, 23 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: my god, my steering wheel is sticky? How did this 24 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: get sticky? Why is this sticky? What happened? And he's 25 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: wiping in his hands and he's just he's appalled. It's 26 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: not like, oh that's weird, it's wet. No, it's like, 27 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: oh my god, why is it sticky? 28 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 2: So how did he something? Maybe did I don't know, 29 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 2: did dinosaurs leave sticky residue or I don't know what 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 2: it was, but we didn't. We didn't coexist with the dinosaurs. 31 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 2: That I couldn't be. 32 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just gonna let that go. I'm pedantic, 33 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: but I'm not that potantic. Could it be that something's 34 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: on you and it's staying on you? 35 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 2: I don't know, you know way that like if you're wet, 36 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 2: it'll dry, disease, the plague something. I'll bet there is 37 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 2: some disease that being sticky was. You didn't really want. 38 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: That, the creeping crud. 39 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't like sticky. 40 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: You're right, Sticky steering wheel the worst, Yeah, because you 41 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: have to keep touching it. 42 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 2: Why is that sticky? Eh? Boy? 43 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: So a couple of stories and I can't decide. You know, 44 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: I was gonna go big on the radio show with them, 45 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: but they're both fairly lengthy. One his excuse me, I 46 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 1: believe I will be coughing for the rest of my life. 47 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: One of them is at from the New York Times 48 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: talking about these influencers. Both of both of these stories 49 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,119 Speaker 1: are about quote unquote influence culture, whether it's on Instagram, 50 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: which is huge, or TikTok or x or whatever. And 51 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: they mentioned a couple that, of course I've never heard of, 52 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: because I'm mostly repulsed by all of that and it 53 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: seems phony and shallow and stupid to me. But they 54 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: mentioned that a couple of these people's Lil Mikayla and 55 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: mia Zelu, have millions of followers and are generating serious 56 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: income despite the fact that they don't exist. They're entirely 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: created by AI. 58 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 2: Oh wow. When Nancy Pelosi whoever came up with this 59 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 2: idea first, and that might have been two months ago, Uh, 60 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 2: was really smart. Why didn't I do that as soon 61 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 2: as our friend Craig showed us how to do the 62 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: AI thing, I should have created an influencer. Yeah, good 63 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 2: looking dude who can play the guitar or whatever, and 64 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 2: then built a thing around him. 65 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: Right, but is like super conservative or whatever. Yeah, maga 66 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: guitar gym here with another you know, whatever the hell 67 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: he's heard a red, white and blue cowboy hat, I 68 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: assume anyway. So, for instance, Nancy Pelosi was at the 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: Outside Lands Music's festival taking selfies and took a selfie 70 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: with a popular influencer as two point four million followers 71 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: me vibing to Gracey Adams and I look up and 72 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: it's literally speaker, Pelosi said. The influencer goes by Lowel 73 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: Michaela as she captured the photo in which the two 74 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: are seen smiling. Catch, of course, is that she isn't real. 75 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: She's one of a slew of influencers created through aio 76 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: have gained popularity in recent years despite the fact that 77 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: they don't exist. Me A Zulu Zelu Zelu, a blonde haired, 78 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: blue eyed AI influencer with one hundred and sixty seven 79 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: thousand followers, recently made headlines for attending Wimbledon. A recent 80 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: report by the online creation platform cap Wing found that 81 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: a computer generated celebrities are amassing millions of followers and 82 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: millions of dollars in revenue for the teams behind them. 83 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 2: This has got to be scaring the hell out of 84 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 2: actual influencers that whoa is this over? Already? Is the 85 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 2: era of the influencer? Did it come and go? 86 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: This? Quickly? Listen to this shit? Would you? A Brazilian 87 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: AI influencer with more than eight million Instagram followers who 88 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: serves as the voice of the Brazilian retailer magalou rakes 89 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: in thirty four thousand dollars per post, while low Mikayla, 90 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: who again doesn't exist, makes about seventy thirty thousand, well, 91 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: seventy four thousand dollars per post. Hey, I just got 92 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: a cute little handbag. It's absolutely amazing. Goes with all 93 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: my outfits. I was out clubbing blah blah blah, and 94 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: here it is seventy four thousand dollars per for this 95 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:54,919 Speaker 1: quote unquote influencer who doesn't exist. 96 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 2: You know what, it'd be good as a fake little 97 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 2: kid that tries out toys like the babies the baby 98 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 2: I saw one the other day. This one was impossible 99 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 2: to not like. You'd have to have a heart of 100 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 2: stone to not like because it was baby me. 101 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: I think that's entertainment for idiots. I'd reject the entire. 102 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 2: Genre, but there's nothing cuter than babies laughing. And there 103 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 2: were these were babies telling jokes to each other and 104 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 2: they were laughing, and the laughing. 105 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: Baby might get me. 106 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 2: The laughing babies was one hundred percent dead on. And 107 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 2: I mean, you can't not enjoy a baby laughing. But 108 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 2: these babies were telling each other like corny jokes and 109 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 2: just dying laughing. Oh, I enjoyed that. But if you 110 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 2: could create a fake baby who's trying out baby products, 111 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 2: oh that's a gold mine. 112 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: So this little Mikaila thing was introduced in twenty sixteen. 113 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: Maybe the original AI influencer has appeared on magazine covers, 114 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: released music, and served as the face of campaigns for 115 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: Calvin Klein and Prada, all while purporting to be a 116 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: Brazilian American teen from Downey, California. She now identifies as 117 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: twenty two, created by a tech company called Dapper Labs, 118 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: which specializes in creating video games and collectibles. Whatever the 119 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: hell that means. 120 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 2: You want to hear one of the jokes that the 121 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 2: baby's told. The baby told the other babies that. 122 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: They laugh, I absolutely do. 123 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 2: Yes, Baby's sitting there at the straight face talking to 124 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 2: his baby friends. Oh boy, our dog ate all the 125 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 2: scrabble pieces the other day. We had to take him 126 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 2: to the vet. No word yet. 127 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 3: Oh and is that's all right, mister president. That's a 128 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 3: pretty good joke that that that is. I'm going to 129 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 3: tell that to my wife as soon as we're done here, 130 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 3: and she. 131 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: Would laugh like a little baby. So the other story 132 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: I want to tell you, which is kind of similarish, 133 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: Jeff Blair was writing about it National Review and it's 134 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: it's about left wing influencers. But he points out there's 135 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: absolutely this on the right. In fact, there have been 136 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: some cases of it that came to the fore on 137 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: the right. So many of these people who are like 138 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: lots of followers, super influential, post all the time about 139 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: politics and stuff, are being paid by organizations like there's 140 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: this organization called Chorus that pays as much as eight 141 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: thousand dollars a month to these people to just constantly 142 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: hammer left wing talking points online. And Jeff writes, you know, 143 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: here's a link to who these people are. He says, 144 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: I haven't heard of any of them. But he says, 145 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: I'm also not hip to like who's really moving and 146 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: shaking among twenty year old college girls online. But yeah, 147 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: these people are making thousands of dollars a month. All 148 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: they have to do is submit all of their content 149 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 1: to a shady progressive organisation called Chorus for preclearance and 150 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: message approval, while employing the appointed I'm sorry, well, employing 151 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: the appointed talking points of the day, and funneling all 152 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: bookings through their secret paymasters. The contracts reviewed by Wired 153 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: dot Com prohibit standard partnership disclosures, declaring that Creators will 154 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: not publicize the publicize their relationship with Chorus, or tell 155 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,839 Speaker 1: others that they're members of the program without Corus's prior 156 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: written consent. They also forbid Creators from disclosing the identity 157 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: of any funder. Then they get into, of. 158 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 2: Course, you'd make that part of the deal. We're going 159 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 2: to give you ten thousand dollars to spout this as 160 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 2: a twenty one year old about this political position. But 161 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 2: part of the deal is you're not allowed to say 162 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 2: we're paying you well. 163 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: Of course, right, yeah, yeah, And they get into in 164 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: some of their documents, how hey, it's really great that 165 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: we exist as a nonprofit because we don't have to 166 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: disclose any of our contributors blah blah blah. Non but 167 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: and you can't disclose any of this either. 168 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 2: I watch out for that. I don't understand. One of 169 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 2: the reasons I don't understand how the only influencer thing 170 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 2: works is don't you just assume that they're getting paid 171 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 2: by whatever that thing is. They're telling you it's so great. 172 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 2: That's where they're telling you it's so great. Not always, 173 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 2: but a lot of the time. 174 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: So yeah, a lot of the time. And it does 175 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: happen on both sides of the aisle. And anyway, he says, 176 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: and I'm gonna I'm gonna read this just because there's 177 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: certain figures on the right who I find abhorrent to readers. 178 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: There's an invisible world out there, a hidden hand, and 179 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,079 Speaker 1: it is driven by money, the dark matter of politics. 180 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: We caught a fleeting glimpse of how foreign money is 181 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: spent on the right at least once over the last 182 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: few years with the Tenant scandal. Recall that there Russian 183 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,960 Speaker 1: intelligence use Canadian cutouts to recruit Lauren Southern Timpoole and 184 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: moral horror show Benny Johnson, among others, to record commentary 185 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: pieces about topics the Russians selected and scripted to advance 186 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: Russia's geostrategic interests among the MAGA right, that was but 187 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: one scandal discovered due to the carelessness of its practitioners. 188 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: Let's stick to the sort of unpleasant insectoid analogy that 189 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: began this piece, and therefore recall the rule of pests. 190 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: If you see one inside your house, rest assured he 191 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: brought company with him. There is far more and worse 192 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,199 Speaker 1: that you can't see, lurking hidden within your walls or 193 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: your floors, a world going on underground. 194 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 2: That's a pretty clever way look at it. 195 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, and then you know what, there's one more part 196 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: that I think is really good. It would be easy 197 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: enough to laugh at Democrats, to dismiss this humiliation as 198 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: yet more evidence that they are an unpopular group of 199 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: sad frauds who need to pay for their online influencers 200 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: the way maladjusted losers frequent brothels. But I ask myself 201 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: where all that Katari and Chinese money goes? And I 202 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: ponder the message coordination of so many rytoid influencers, and 203 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,319 Speaker 1: I begin to wonder. I wonder who on my side, 204 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: or anyone I've taken on good faith in fact secretly 205 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,599 Speaker 1: practices the world's oldest profession. 206 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 2: A haha, good question. 207 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: My only question is, so when do I get my 208 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: prostitute myself? Do you want us to say variety of 209 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 1: loathsome regimes? 210 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 2: What do you want us to say? For how much? 211 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 2: Every day we're talking about how great Brundei is all 212 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 2: of a sudden, but we're not. Remember cars. 213 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: When my youngest was studying combination of law and foreign 214 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: policy and that sort of thing and foreign relations, I 215 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: told her, look, you go to work for loathsome regimes 216 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: because they pay better. Put your scruples aside, take the 217 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: sad Russian money, and tell everybody online how Putin's really 218 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: standing up for Christianity. 219 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 2: The dog ate scrabble pieces took him to the vet. 220 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 2: No word yet you get it? 221 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: That is so funny. Well, I guess that's it.