# The dark side of AI companions, and the 1930s LLM Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-fix-6933617/the-dark-side-of-ai-companions-and-the-1930s-llm Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-fix-6933617/the-dark-side-of-ai-companions-and-the-1930s-llm.md Podcast: [The AI Fix](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-fix-6933617) Published: 2026-05-05T14:00:45+00:00 Episode link: https://theaifix.show/99 Audio file: https://audio3.redcircle.com/episodes/7b3b7567-062b-40b5-837f-a65d87dddb30/stream.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ai-fix-6933617/episodes/the-dark-side-of-ai-companions-and-the-1930s-llm Duration seconds: 2852 ## Resource In episode 99 of The AI Fix, guest host Lianne Potter explores the disturbing dark side of AI companions, while Mark meets Talkie, a chatbot trapped in 1930. Also in this episode: Mark takes photos at the end of the world; Lianne builds an incel detector; a bizarre sneaker startup pivot; too much talk about kettles; and Elon Musk and Sam Altman argue over custody of the dog. Episode links: Shoe company Allbirds pivots to AI compute in sign of a totally normal and healthy economy . NSA spies are reportedly using Anthropic's Mythos, despite Pentagon feud . Elon Musk testifies against OpenAI, seeking Sam Altman's ouster . Amazon launches an AI-powered audio Q&A experience on product pages . Introducing talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930 . The AI Fix The AI Fix podcast is presented by Mark Stockley . Grab T-shirts, hoodies, mugs and other goodies in our online store . Learn more about the podcast at theaifix.show , and follow us on Bluesky at @theaifix.show . Never miss another episode by following us in your favourite podcast app . It's free! Like to give us some feedback or sponsor the podcast? Get in touch . Support the show and gain access to ad-free episodes by becoming a supporter: Join The AI Fix Plus! Our Sponsors: * Check out Anthropic and use my code claude.ai/aifix for a great deal: https://www.anthropic.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ai-fix-6933617/episodes/the-dark-side-of-ai-companions-and-the-1930s-llm/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-fix-6933617/the-dark-side-of-ai-companions-and-the-1930s-llm.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.