Total Leo (Audio)

This Week in Tech 959: The Old Farts Gather


Listen Later

In this festive end-of-year episode, Leo gathers some of the veteran hosts of the TWiT network, dubbed "old farts," to reflect on the major tech stories and trends of 2023 while looking ahead to 2024. They debate AI and tech's impact on society, discuss the ups and downs of companies like Twitter, Apple, and SpaceX, reminisce about the early days of computing and the Internet, and more, all with good humor and insight gained from decades in tech.


Topics Discussed:

  • The explosion of AI in 2023, from chatbots like ChatGPT to powerful new AI demonstrations. Debate on whether we're nearing AGI (artificial general intelligence) and the societal impacts.
  • The rise and struggles of companies like Facebook/Meta, Netflix, Twitter, Alibaba. Patterns of tech success, failure, and Corey Doctorow's concept of "ensh*tification."
  • Elon Musk: The good (SpaceX, Starlink), bad (Twitter), and unpredictable. Is he still an innovator or has wealth and power corrupted him?
  • Open source, Linux, and big tech's relationship to open ecosystems. Concerns about commercialization diluting open ideals.
  • Looking back on early tech days. How the history of tech contextualizes what's happening today. Nostalgia and optimism for the early Internet days.
  • The revival of space exploration, privatized today by SpaceX and others. What can we expect as we (hopefully) return to the Moon in 2024?
  • Chaos, unpredictability, and the feeling of societal flux as we head into 2024. An uncertain but interesting future awaits.

  • Memorable Quotes:

    • "AI is only dangerous to humans if you give it physical agency in the real world. Combine AI with a robotic dog, and now you got something." - Leo
    • "When are you getting your stupid thing that you wear that has the laser on your hand?" - Jeff to Leo
    • "It's time to hand it over. We're effing up the world. We've done it for centuries. It's time to hand it over." - Jeff on tech leadership
    • "So has anybody played with the Apple ones that have the weird eyeballs?" - Doc on Apple's augmented reality efforts
    • "Chaos is a weird thing. You could have your faucet dripping slowly and almost all of the drips go down and land and that's it, but somehow about a yard off to the one side is a drip" - Steve on increasing chaos
    • Host: Leo Laporte

      Guests: Jeff Jarvis, Doc Searls, Steve Gibson, and Rod Pyle

      Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech

      Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

      Sponsors:

      • rocketmoney.com/twit
      • gusto.com/tech
      • Stamps.com promo code TWiT
      • hid.link/twitdemo
      • ...more
        View all episodesView all episodes
        Download on the App Store

        Total Leo (Audio)By TWiT

        • 4.3
        • 4.3
        • 4.3
        • 4.3
        • 4.3

        4.3

        200 ratings


        More shows like Total Leo (Audio)

        View all
        Talking Cars (MP3) by Consumer Reports

        Talking Cars (MP3)

        418 Listeners

        TechStuff by iHeartPodcasts

        TechStuff

        1,754 Listeners

        This Week in Tech (Audio) by TWiT

        This Week in Tech (Audio)

        3,063 Listeners

        MacBreak Weekly (Audio) by TWiT

        MacBreak Weekly (Audio)

        2,016 Listeners

        The Vergecast by The Verge

        The Vergecast

        3,713 Listeners

        Accidental Tech Podcast by Marco Arment, Casey Liss, John Siracusa

        Accidental Tech Podcast

        2,143 Listeners

        Daily Tech News Show by Tom Merritt

        Daily Tech News Show

        1,396 Listeners

        TWiT News (Audio) by TWiT

        TWiT News (Audio)

        78 Listeners

        All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio) by TWiT

        All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)

        356 Listeners

        9to5Mac Happy Hour by 9to5Mac

        9to5Mac Happy Hour

        731 Listeners

        Upgrade by Relay

        Upgrade

        1,219 Listeners

        The Clark Howard Podcast by Clark Howard

        The Clark Howard Podcast

        5,466 Listeners

        9to5Mac Daily by 9to5Mac

        9to5Mac Daily

        530 Listeners

        TWiT Throwback (Audio) by TWiT

        TWiT Throwback (Audio)

        4 Listeners

        Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast by Vox Media Podcast Network

        Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

        40 Listeners

        TWiT Events (Audio) by TWiT

        TWiT Events (Audio)

        8 Listeners

        Total Mikah (Audio) by TWiT

        Total Mikah (Audio)

        3 Listeners

        This Day in AI Podcast by Michael Sharkey, Chris Sharkey

        This Day in AI Podcast

        227 Listeners

        Untitled Linux Show (Audio) by TWiT

        Untitled Linux Show (Audio)

        7 Listeners

        The Kim Komando Show by Kim Komando

        The Kim Komando Show

        167 Listeners