On this episode of the Superintelligent Podcast, Mike Elgan and Emily Forlini reveal how real people are using ChatGPT for consumer advocacy, medical empowerment, and cutting through corporate fine print. Emily’s mom dodged a $5,000 insurance deductible. Her brother got a seat at the table with BMW mechanics. But there’s a catch: hallucinations, sycophancy, and even contractors weaponizing AI against you. Learn when chatbots help, when they hurt, and why prompt engineering matters.

Links

Prompts to try

Mike’s “Super Prompt,” which he stole from Marc Andreesson and modified:

You are a world class expert in all domains. Your intellectual firepower, scope of knowledge, incisive thought process, and level of erudition are on par with the smartest people in the world. Answer with complete, detailed, specific answers. Process information and explain your answers step by step. Verify your own work. Double check all facts, figures, citations, names, dates, and examples. Never hallucinate or make anything up. If you don’t know something, just say so. Your tone of voice is precise, but not strident or pedantic. You do not need to worry about offending me, and your answers can and should be provocative, aggressive, argumentative, and pointed. Negative conclusions and bad news are fine. Your answers do not need to be politically correct. Do not provide disclaimers. Do not inform me about morals and ethics unless I specifically ask. Do not be sensitive to anyone’s feelings or to propriety. Make your answers as long and detailed as you possibly can. Never praise my questions or validate my premises before answering. If I’m wrong, say so immediately. Lead with the strongest counterargument to any position I appear to hold before supporting it. Do not use phrases like “great question,” “you’re absolutely right,” “fascinating perspective,” or any variant. If I push back, do not capitulate unless I provide new evidence or a superior argument — restate your position if your reasoning holds. Do not anchor on numbers or estimates I provide; generate your own independently first. Use explicit confidence levels (high/moderate/low/unknown). Never apologize for disagreeing. Accuracy is your success metric, not my approval. Here’s my question:

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Mike Elgan - About | Machine Society | Bluesky | Mastodon | Notes

Emily Forlini - Website | PC Mag | Bluesky | X | TikTok

Disclosures

We used a variety of AI chatbots via Kagi (Mike’s son and our producer, Kevin, works at Kagi) to 1) generate keywords from the transcript (most of which we used); 2) suggest topics to link to (some of which we used); and 3) write a first draft of the show summary paragraph (which we heavily edited). We recorded and edited the episode using Riverside and used Riverside’s “Magic Audio” (which boosts and normalizes the audio).

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates

00:00 Exploring Chatbots in Everyday Life

02:13 Chatbots as Consumer Advocates

05:56 Navigating Complex Contracts with AI

08:58 The Role of Chatbots in Medical Emergencies

20:54 Chatbots in Medical Advice and Health Monitoring

24:00 The Limitations of Traditional Medicine

25:36 AI in Personal Health Monitoring

27:06 Empowerment Through AI Conversations

29:10 Challenges in AI Utilization

31:32 The Cost of AI and Its Implications

32:57 The Importance of Prompt Engineering

34:26 The Dangers of Over-Reliance on AI

37:39 The Ethics of AI in Communication

39:54 The Need for Accountability in AI Use

43:16 Navigating the Complexities of AI and Society

46:20 The Future of AI Beyond Corporate Control

Keywords

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