What's Your Problem?

Celebrated novelists, countless students and at least one billionaire have recently been accused of using AI in their writing. The most commonly cited AI detector in these cases is called Pangram.
Max Spero is the co-founder and CEO of Pangram. His problem is this: Can you build tools that reliably detect AI-generated text and images? And a few years from now, will anybody care?
In this episode, Max explains:
Why AI prose so often sounds the same
How often Pangram makes mistakes
How detectors like Pangram compete with humanizer tools
Why the big AI companies may not be interested in detection
The shifting norms around AI-generated writing
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I'm here with a preview of Blockers, a new audiobook from Michael Lewis, the author of Liars Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short and more. In Blockers, Lewis tells the story of a handful of people who dedicated their careers to public service—until the Department of Government Efficiency decided they were a problem. These were people who believed they had a calling—people who kept American's sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules, and figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods—and then discovered they were no longer wanted.
Here's an excerpt from the audiobook. You can buy the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm.
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We’ve all heard that nothing ever gets deleted from the internet. Luke Arrigoni says that just isn’t true. His company deletes thousands of deepfakes every day.
Luke is the founder and CEO of Loti, and his problem is this: How do you turn the Internet into a place where people have more control over their name, image and likeness?
Tens of thousands of famous people pay Loti to scour the internet and take down deepfakes and unapproved endorsements. But in Luke's telling, this is just the beginning. The company will soon allow celebrities to license their likeness for use in AI videos, and it also plans to start offering its services to ordinary people.
In this episode, Luke explains:
The harm that online deepfakes and impersonations can cause
How Loti automates tens of thousands of takedowns per day
Why the law may soon make it easier to fight deepfakes
Why celebrities are beginning to license their likenesses to AI platforms
AI’s role in the future of human creativity
Connect with us:
Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
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Before 1450, books were written out by hand. It was slow and expensive. But Johannes Gutenberg borrowed a ton of money to create a printing press that could crank out Bibles and pamphlets and documents in huge numbers. Science, politics and philosophy were all up-ended.
For example, the Catholic Church seized on the invention to sell special certificates absolving people of their sins – a move that made money, but caused a permanent schism in Christianity.
And Gutenberg too found himself in trouble – when a financier sued the inventor to reclaim his loan, plus interest.
Enjoy this episode from Business History, another Pushkin podcast.
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Everybody’s worried about the risks of AI. So we called up one of the most insightful writers we know on the subject: Zvi Mowshowitz. Zvi writes about AI and AI risks at his substack, Don’t Worry About the Vase. Zvi’s problem is this: How do we prevent artificial intelligence from killing everyone?
In this episode, Zvi explains:
Why it’s often useful to anthropomorphize AI
What this summer’s Hugging Face attack tells us about the nature of AI
 What increasing AI capability means for cybersecurity risk
 Whether and when we should pause AI development
Why powerful pen-weight models may remove the last reliable points of control
Connect with us:
Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
To listen to the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin+
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.