The creepy AI era is here

2 weeks ago 6

Jacob Kastrenakes

Jacob Kastrenakes is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.

Would you like Siri more if it had a face? Ever since Elon Musk added a weird anime girlfriend to Grok, I’ve been wondering if there’s a not-so-distant future where all of our AI assistants are much more clearly personified. Grok makes it feel deeply uncomfortable, but I’m not so sure it has to be that way: we’re basically just talking about Cortana.

This week on The Vergecast, we’re talking all about AI, how powerful it can be in the home, and the uncomfortable feelings were getting talking to these new, more capable assistants. The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk about her early tests of Alexa Plus, which is finally AI-powered and much more conversant as a result. Then, we talk about Grok’s new AI waifu feature, which got mad at me for being married.

We also have a special guest this week: Waveform cohost David Imel, who joins the show to talk Sony’s surprise drop of the RX1R III, a $5,099.99 full-frame compact camera that people have been waiting a decade for. It’s incredible small for the power it offers, but it makes some very strange tradeoffs along the way. Finally, the Thunder Round is back, sounds effects and all. Get ready.

If you want to know more about the stories we talked about on the show, you can check out the links below.

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