414: ‘Annoying Friendliness’, With Joanna Stern

The Talk Show With John Gruber

Joanna Stern returns to the show to talk about our new best friends, AI chatbots, and I chime in with how the Voight-Kampff test got it all wrong.

Sponsored by:

• WorkOS: The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS — free up to 1 million monthly active users.
• Squarespace: Make your next move. Use code talkshow for 10% off your first order.
• Memberful: Monetize your passion with membership. Start your free trial today.

Links:

• Joanna on YouTube: “I Spent 24 Hours in the Woods With Talking AI Chatbots”.
• Joanna’s excellent interview with Craig Federighi on Apple Intelligence, which is also on YouTube.
  • My commentary linking to it.
• Ann-Marie Alcántara’s Wall Street Journal piece: “When Did Apple’s Notes App Become an Extension of Our Brains?” (also on News+)
• Larry David on Siri.
• Voight-Kampff Test.
• There’s a social media thing where people are posting ChatGPT’s illustrations from the prompt “Based on what you know about me, draw a picture of what you think my current life looks like.”
  • Here’s mine: I’m all alone in a nice study with lots of books, a leather couch, and a manual typewriter.
  • Here’s Joanna’s: Boy Scouts, basketball, cameras, computers, and lots of bagels.
  • Here’s an alternate from Joanna.
• The Gruber and Coudal families, leaving Barack Obama’s election night rally in Grant Park in Chicago in 2008.

This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.