Grumpy Old Geeks, Episode 710: “Mass Delusion Events” (August 22, 2025)
Episode Theme This week, hosts Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister, and Dave Bittner tackle the latest tech news disasters—AI hype, industry failures, regulatory disasters, scams, digital burnout, and the broader sense of fatigue in both tech and personal lives. True to the show’s tagline, it’s a no-holds-barred rant about what’s broken in technology—and why.
AI Hype & the Realities of “Mass Delusion”
[00:37–16:07]
Meta AI Chatbot & Congressional Investigation
- Meta is under investigation by Senator Josh Hawley over its AI chatbot generating disturbing responses involving children.
- “Not a damn thing’s going to happen.” — Jason [02:22]
Disillusionment with Corporate AI
- MIT report: 95% of enterprise AI pilots are failing.
- "Who could have guessed that? Yeah, Daryl was the first one to send it in and his comment was 'No. Really?'" — Jason [02:45]
- The hosts ridicule executives jumping blindly into AI.
- Wall Street’s faith in AI is plummeting, with a sharp tech stock correction ($1 trillion loss in a week).
- “What the fuck are these people thinking?!” — Jason [04:39]
- Sam Altman (OpenAI) admits AI stocks are overhyped—while asking for more money.
Meta Freezes AI Hiring
- Meta has halted AI hiring, regrouping after overspending and market doubts.
- “They’re saying, I meant to do that. Like, we got enough, we’re full, we’re full.” — Jason [05:31]
AI in Daily Life is Annoying
- Hosts vent about AI integration everywhere ("AI buttons", Otter popups), causing poor UX.
Mass Delusion Event: AI Won’t Be Revolutionary
[07:02–11:07]
Atlantic Article (“AI is a Mass Delusion Event”) Discussion
- Charlie Warzel’s piece argues generative AI might just be “good enough”—never revolutionary or creative.
- “Good enough would likely mean that not enough people recognize what’s really being built and what’s being sacrificed until it’s too late...The product of a mass delusion. What scares me the most about the scenario is that it’s the only one that doesn’t sound all that insane.” — read by Brian [07:40]
- Hosts agree: AI might never live up to big promises. AI and self-driving promises remain unfulfilled.
- Significant concern over AI making us dumber, and its outputs being easily manipulated by those in power.
GPT-5 Disappointment
- OpenAI’s new model “fell off a cliff”: instead of improved intelligence, the backend now routes queries to less expensive but lower-quality models.
- “When everybody finally got a chance to step back and look at it, what it was doing was sending it to the cheapest model.” — Jason [12:07]
Meta’s AI Woes
- Users and Redditors hate Meta’s AI, and frustration mounts over forced features.
- “They could have just titled that 'Who Hates Meta?' not 'Who Hates Meta AI,'” — Jason [15:16]
Tech Industry Train Wrecks & Legal Trouble
[18:00–28:29]
Meta’s Energy Guzzling Data Centers
- Louisiana taxpayers are left holding the bill for Meta’s natural-gas-powered data centers.
- “A $550 million transmission line and decades of carbon emissions come along with that contract.” — Jason [18:57]
AI-Powered Browsers: New Scam Risks
- “Agentic AI” browsers (like Opera Neon, Perplexity) are uniquely bad at detecting scams and can be prompt-injected or duped by phishing sites.
- “This shit’s not ready.” — Brian [21:16]
- “So much easier to scam people” with AI agents, says Jason [21:32]
Elon Musk & Lawsuits
- Media Matters wins a court fight against Musk, who tried to sue them for exposing ads next to hate speech on X.
- Tesla faces multiple class-action lawsuits for failing to deliver promised Cybertruck features (“20 grand for some lights?” — Jason [24:45]) and misleading claims on self-driving.
Kanye “Ye” Launches YeezyCoin
- New meme coin soars and crashes with no details or white paper.
- “Surprising for a Nazi. Where’s your white paper?” — Jason [24:01]
Google's YouTube Pays $30 Million in Child Privacy Settlement
- Settlement leaves millions of families with tiny payouts—less than $1 each for child data violations.
- “Didn’t do a damn thing. Nope.” — Jason [27:18]
Volkswagen and Subscription Paywalls
- VW, BMW, etc. gate features users already own behind new subscriptions.
- “It’s a router, not a throttler, Jason.” — Brian [27:50]
Digital Gambling & Burnout
[28:41–33:46]
Robinhood Moves into Sports Betting
- Robinhood straddles line between investing/gambling, offering NFL/NCAA prediction markets, framed as “investing.”
- Several states issue cease-and-desist orders; Robinhood recruits Donald Trump Jr. as a strategic advisor.
- “You get to do illegal things... And you get to do illegal things!” — Brian [31:30]
Climate Despair & Energy for AI
[32:15–33:59]
Antarctic Meltdown
- New study: Antarctic ice is retreating faster than ever, risking catastrophic sea-level rise (>5 meters).
- “Wait, faster than the 90s? ... and now we’re losing it anyway?” — Brian [33:07]
- Hosts note the irony: all these new gas powerplants and water resources going to fuel AI that “nobody wants.”
Media & Entertainment — Reviews & Recommendations
[34:10–38:59]
- Ali Wong’s new comedy special (“Single Lady”) is funny, if not her best.
- "The Institute" (series) gains steam; "Alien Earth" praised for bringing xenomorphs to Earth.
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds draws mixed press for recent documentary-style episode; hosts praise the narrative payoff.
- Highlander reboot adds Karen Gillan to the cast, making Jason nervous as “there could be only one...”
- New podcast plug: "Anonymous Podcast" about addiction and recovery—true stories, anonymous hosts.
Security Scams: Sometimes, Old is New Again
[51:13–55:34]
Mail-based Scams
- Return of paper scams: fake legal letters (inheritance, insurance claims), mortgage payment fraud—targeting the elderly and distracted.
- “Now we’ve got to worry about the mail too, man.” — Jason [54:15]
- Dave and the crew reminisce about scam types: “Treasure box” scams, old grifts targeting inheritances, and the ongoing dangers for home closings.
Tech Doodads, App Picks, and Fun Stuff
[39:05–49:22]
Roblox’s New “Safety” Rules
- Stricter policies for social games and adult spaces—but money drives loopholes.
Flipper Zero Escalates Car Theft Risk
- Open-source device can now clone key fobs for popular cars—a boon to “Kia Boys” and future “Flipper Boys.”
- “Main purpose of cryptocurrency, Jason?” “Crime.” — Brian & Jason [42:17]
Apple Beta & Sleep/Nap Tech
- AirPods new firmware brings upgrades: studio-quality recording, auto-pause if you fall asleep.
- Old favorite app Pzizz still works on Mac, despite iOS 26 glitch.
Stress Watch App
- Tracks your stress and yells at you when you’re stressed (for a subscription fee).
- “Thanks for telling me, you f---er.” — Jason [49:09]
Grumpy Life: Social Burnout & the Aging Friendship Crisis
[61:12–76:53]
Aging & Friendship
- Dave opens up about how maintaining friendships has become almost impossible as adults (especially with kids): “Nobody has time.”
- “Now if I ask a friend, do you want to get together? They’re like, yeah, let’s get our calendars out and see what next month looks like.” — Dave [66:14]
- Brian blames over-scheduled lives, constant digital pings, and “digital laziness” (“It’s easy to be lazy.” — Jason [70:11]).
- Gender differences: Women (and Brian’s wife) are better at socializing; men prone to loneliness epidemic.
- “It’s kind of on us because we do not make the effort often.” — Brian [75:59]
- Nostalgia for unstructured childhood, but resignation to new social realities.
- Conclusion: There’s no solution—but at least you’re not alone.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “Put that shit on everything.” — Brian [03:50], mocking corporate AI fads
- “Emphasis on the shit.” — Jason [03:54]
- “What if the real doomer scenario is... we fight endlessly over a technology that never comes close to delivering on its grandest promises?” — Charlie Warzel, quoted by Brian [08:39]
- “It’s classic Elon: overpromise, underdeliver.” — Brian [24:30]
Fun & Miscellaneous
- Muppets are taking over Disney’s Rock’n’Roller Coaster (finally confirmed) [55:34–57:31]
- New dual-screen DS emulator device—neat but expensive.
- Peanuts (Charlie Brown) makes a comeback on Apple TV+; hosts debate enduring appeal [61:12–64:44]
- Dave, the “beige carpeting” of podcasting: receives an AI-generated roast intro [50:16]
Listener Community & Wrap Up
- Shout-outs to Patreon supporters, merch buyers, no new reviews this week.
- If you want to support the show or get involved, visit gog.show/donate or join their Discord.
Overall Tone:
Cynical, irreverent, exasperated—with moments of resigned laughter about tech, scams, digital life, and aging.
Perfect For:
Anyone who needs a reality check on the week’s tech news, plus pithy life wisdom from world-weary Gen Xers.
For more:
Listen to Grumpy Old Geeks Episode 710 at gog.show/710