173 Comments
Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I can’t believe you put that thing in front of my perfectly serviceable eyes David and Josh. I now have to go scrub my brain out with bleach. And find some sort of emetic.

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I saw a sketch a few weeks ago and knew I had to also scar the Worms, too. I was not going down alone!

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Good, good. The system is working as intended

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

You are both evil! 😈

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Given the conjunction of the painting with AI I thought I should mention that no AI was used in the process. It’s literally just me with my paintings and a really shitty canvas (and, arguably, subject)

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I don't know what to believe anymore. I really don't.

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PS I just bid. I have a home in place for this.

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Where are you going to mount it

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Parent's lounge, Christmas.

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A turkey for Christmas, perfect

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I made it 4 minutes through the podcast. They sound like inane morning show hosts. Happy, positive, and tad excited, and yet oh so deep in their thinking. Puke.

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Horrific tone. It got caught in a few loops - could be corrected with a change of prompt but seemed like too much hard work. Definitely still has the whole uncanny valley thing going on too - the audio version!

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It was so worth the whole listen. Thanks for posting it!

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

YES

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

Luxon = the glee and giddy freedom of having all that wealth and power with no degree of empathy or sense of community for anyone else on the planet (or even the planet itself). Very enraging and terrifying. Well done.

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👍💯👏Perfect description of Lux-flakes😱 - other people have wealth & power & retain their humanity 🫂

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I don’t want to cause offence to the painter,but if that isn’t an arsehole I’ll stand tapping at the bottom of your stairs 😂but maybe thats because every time I look at him unconsciously that’s what comes to mind🤔

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I also had that same thought. Maybe I need to examine some arsehole's more closely.

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See a proctologist urgently!

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I think it's easy to see it as his head entering the distant end of a fleshy tunnel in which the observer is situated (ie. you're in his ass looking toward the sphincter as he pushes his head in it) - that was my immediate interpretation on first glance - but as I looked more closely it became clearer to me that he was more like a small pokey nipple, or perhaps a cyst of some sort, sitting proud of a large expanse of otherwise normal flesh.

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Oct 1·edited Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

This is a good reminder that...uh....behind every celebrity persona there's a vulnerable human being who sends texts to his friend who converts them into a creepy AI podcast.

Terrifying picture, Josh. Terrifying.

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I thought it was a birth canal. Seeing as the American right wing is ALL UP IN OURS, I didn't think it would likely take long for NZ to start following along in our forced pregnancy doomscape.

(Also, I somehow trust him more now that I know he's a fan of Godspeed You Black Emperor. My music snobbery has decided he's legit!)

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I saw Godspeed play last year at a festival and GOOD GOD it was good.

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I saw birth canal too. Horrific and hilarious!

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As Luxon is personally opposed to abortion, an unwelcome visit to a birth canal might be an appropriate way to read the painting.

GYBE have been a favourite of mine for years, there’s no better writing music than some really intense instrumental post-rock

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I thought Luxon looked like a boil or a wart. Appropriate. He has to be one of our least empathetic prime ministers ever. He's the sort of person who will push in line for coffee and then say "Do you know who I am?" when people suggest he wait. (Apparently this is a true story.)

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A wart. I like that.

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He’s just the fleshiest shiniest dude, with his grin and his inhuman speech - it’s like he’s fresh out a vat. Such a specimen. It’s fascinating!

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

He's a shiny, hard-boiled Humpty Dumpty.

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👍💯Thanks! I kept seeing him as Voldemort but it wasn't quite... Right? Humpty-Dumpty is perfect! 😁 Now, who is going to cause the fall...🤔 Willis? Brown? Bishop? They all seem like they are lining up for the big push before the election 🤷

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Oct 2Liked by David Farrier

My money is on Judith Collins, perhaps with some help from Winston Peters wearing a balaclava so nobody guesses who he is (although the whisky glass in his hand will be a dead giveaway).

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😁I picked Judith way back... They are now so cray cray "crusher collins" looks like the sensible one! But Winnie won't help her as she would crush him before bkfst 😜

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It would be a no-hold barred death match. I'm not into blood sports, but I'd pay to watch that.

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"Fresh out of a vat" love it thanks Josh. I promise to credit you when I share that perfect phrase to my (tiny) shpere of influence. :-)

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Unfortunately the HPV vaccine wasn't available for his Mum. What a shame as It has cut cervical cancer by 80% in many parts of the world.... but we get this genital wart or is that anal?

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

How many creative endeavours are bogged down because of the cost of living? Um, I would say a lot, like practically all of them, not that surprising. Man this made me annoyed.

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Horrible to hear. Look - I am sure an OK tool for summing up a business meeting or Zoom call or something - but yes, as far as podcasting goes: No thank you.

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I didn't even realize the podcast was AI at first until I started reading the article. They sound so real! Also, I am incredibly thankful for your Marcellus "Khaliifah" Williams piece. You are doing amazing work, David.

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Thanks, Riley. And VERY glad you know the context behind the audio - would hate you to think I shared the audio as anything more than a simple "WTF!"

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Oct 2Liked by David Farrier

My husband just had his first colonoscopy and they found cancer (get your screenings people!) and I would rather look at the pictures of his colon again before I look at that picture! Dear god that is disturbing 😂

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I am so glad it was found! This is a good PSA.

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Thank you. Us too! He has a follow up with an oncologist but the doctor was hopeful he caught it soon enough. He said it was good he came in and had it done, after putting it off for over a year 🤦🏼‍♀️

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I’m on the train on my way into my (very depressing) job and just the thought of listening to two AI talking about you David makes me feel even more sick 🤣

Maybe I’ll save that till I’m safely home tonight!

Ahhh this painting is great. I kinda want to try and buy it so I can put it up in my toilet. But then we might never poop again! Although I first thought his head was poking out of a vagina, not an anus! Also reminds me a little of that 90d alien tv show/movie(?), I think it was Coneheads? 😱

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

Hahah yes Coneheads! I see it!

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My first thought was also to try and buy it, but then put it in the bowl of a massive toilet.

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

LOLLOLLOLOLOLOL! Okay, it started out creepy and disturbing, but there was a point where it quickly took a turn into the stupidity of AI. Trying to get rid of a tray of hummus makes you so human and relatable? 😄 How many times did someone say, "a hundred percent!" It basically started repeating the same story with different details each time.

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It definitely gets into uncanny valley stuff quickly, right? Something is just *off*.

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The first thing I noticed is that the audio quality sounds like it was recorded on extremely poor microphones. The male voice sounds like *maybe* an iPhone built in mic, and the female voice sounds like it's done over a pair of cheap bluetooth headphones from AliExpress. Part of me wonders if the training data for the voice generation comes from people's voice memos or something.

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

This was my thoughts exactly! It is so creepy though and is not easing my anxiety about where we are going with tech right now.

It's very Year Zero, David!

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(Disclaimer: I don't listen to podcasts in general, so my perspectives might be skewed.) As I was listening I felt like I could hear the formula processing through. Repetition of the "one hundred percent" (from both sides) and the "yeah yeah yeah" stood out to me. It almost felt like they had a checklist of things "they" were trying to hit and working through them, making whatever effort it took to get from one to the next. It's also obvious, knowing the source material used to generate this, that there was outside content also being used to build the information, so the text messages were not the sole context used to generate it. Maybe that's what a lot of podcast people sound like, and the banter, pauses, and other seemed like it could be realistic, but also just not interesting. And I'm completely sure there are some big named people out there who are no longer doing their own content and are instead spitting it out from these kinds of systems.

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The sad thing is I think this kind of could be more entertaining than a lot of podcasts. The bar is very low out there, which is annoying as this stuff may get a foothold in certain places.

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

That picture of Luxon reminds me of some years ago, when I had a colonoscopy. No sedation, my preference. I watched the screen throughout. Interesting. At the end, as he was withdrawing the flexible 'scope, the friendly gastroenterologist did a little tweak so you could effectively---let's not be shy here---look backwards up your own arsehole. Luxon's surrounds in the picture are strongly reminiscent, but I do think I would have required immediate sedation had I seen *that* on the screen :)

Dr Jo.

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Thanks for recounting your experience. An amazing thing to witness. Brave, and also gave you extra insight into Josh's awful work of art.

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

I think it’s a nipple. Like Luxons face is the nipple bit and the surrounding pink is the areola? I’d even hazard a guess that Luxons actual nipples look like this, and that he’s had luxon affirming surgery to make him more like luxon.

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My wife suggested it looked like an areola as well. Pity her, she’s had to put up with having to look at this thing in the house for more than a month now

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

Your wife is a saint - that painting plus a new baby? That’s a lot. Loving the trade me comments and answers, small wins in an awful hideous time!

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

Thank you. I now want to throw up. Eek!

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Oct 1Liked by David Farrier

Funny you say that, when I sent the trade me link to my husband all I got back was a vomit emoji 😂

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Josh - sorry man I thought it was Luxon poo. Everyone looks the same on the inside right?

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It’s good to remember that all of us are traversed by multiple flesh tunnels.

I mean technically a human is nothing more than a flesh tunnel with a head

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I mean, we're technically a meat-puppet being controlled by what is essentially sapient tapioca.

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I think the number of commensal bacteria outnumber the "human" cells, and we're learning more about how they control us. Perhaps more like sapient yoghurt or beer...

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