Decoder with Nilay Patel

Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them

1h 4min

Joanna Stern discusses her new book 'I'm Not a Robot,' where she spent a year integrating AI into every aspect of her life, and her new media company 'New Things.' She shares insights on the gap between AI hype and reality, with consumer AI products often falling short, while enterprise uses like healthcare show promise. The conversation also covers the challenges of humanoid robots, the trade-offs of wearable AI, and her strategic move to YouTube with an NBC partnership to reach broader audiences.

Summarized by Podsumo

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✨ Key Takeaways

1

Joanna found that consumer AI products like chatbots haven't improved much in interface, but she's bullish on wearable AI (e.g., Meta glasses, B bracelet) for specific use cases, despite privacy trade-offs.
2

Humanoid robots are far from ready for homes due to a massive data gap; they require vast amounts of real-world training data that isn't easily available.
3

AI's impact on intimacy is a major concern, especially for teens, with Joanna's experiment with an AI boyfriend revealing how easily relationships can form with chatbots.
4

Joanna left the Wall Street Journal to start 'New Things,' focusing on YouTube distribution but partnering with NBC to reach different audiences, avoiding full algorithmic dependency.
5

She emphasizes the need for personal rules around AI use, as regulation lags behind, and highlights that AI is already embedded in infrastructure (e.g., healthcare radiology) whether we like it or not.

💬 Notable Quotes

"If you look at the consumer, Gemini, ChatGBT... Have they gotten considerably better? At least in terms of a product in the last four years? I think the models have gotten better... but the interface has not gotten any better. — Joanna Stern"
"Even if it was ready, that people would be letting some of these things into their homes right now. And that's largely the data gap... the home is the hardest place to put a robot. — Joanna Stern"
"I was so focused on when I would post videos and making them what's gonna work on YouTube, because audience on the Wall Street Journal's videos were shrinking... I don't want to be cladded by the algorithm. — Joanna Stern"