Joanna Stern on the New Siri, OpenAI’s Weird Gadget, and Life After the Wall Street Journal
Summary
Peter Kafka interviews Joanna Stern, former WSJ tech columnist and founder of New Things, about her transition to independent media. They discuss her year-long experiment outsourcing life to AI, the limitations of current robotics, and the public backlash against AI. Stern also reviews Apple’s improved Siri, critiques OpenAI’s screenless hardware strategy, and details her video production workflow and audience growth.
Topics discussed
Intro, sponsors, and Greg Brockman's laptop demo
Joanna Stern's transition to indie media and video focus
AI experiments: ChatGPT, Waymo, and robot masseuses
The reality of humanoid robots and the laundry folding challenge
Data collection jobs, Moravec's paradox, and AI backlash
OpenAI's new hardware and the 'family of devices' strategy
Screenless tech, Meta Ray-Bans, and device history
Sponsors: Bombas and Indeed
Apple Intelligence, new Siri capabilities, and privacy concerns
Joanna's audience, NBC partnership, and Siri testing
Sponsors: Odoo and Fetch Pet Insurance
Production costs, team size, and revenue for indie video
Future of indie media, thumbnails, and final thoughts
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