The Artificial Intelligence Show

There is no shortcut for AI verification, and that's a good thing. 

Paul Roetzer and Cathy McPhillips answer 15 questions business leaders continue asking again and again. They unpack why AI output verification has no shortcut, where agent-building tools like Claude Code and Lovable actually stand, and the uncomfortable math behind which roles get disrupted next. Paul explains why enterprises are moving painfully slow even as the technology races ahead, how early adopters are creating burnout by doing the work of entire teams, and why situational awareness is the AI superpower most leaders are missing.

00:00:00 — Intro

00:07:00 — Question #1: Do you need to prompt AI the same way every time?

00:10:59 — Question #2: What problem do custom GPTs actually solve?

00:14:26 — Question #3: Are SaaS providers becoming model agnostic?

00:17:09 — Question #4: Why AI voice and tone change when models update.

00:20:36 — Question #5: AI output validation: why there's no shortcut for verification.

00:23:17 — Question #6: Tools for building AI agents: where to start.

00:26:11 — Question #7: Will knowledge workers face the same AI disruption as developers?

00:29:53 — Question #8: AI burnout: how leaders can prevent it during the AI transition.

00:36:21 — Question #9: Which roles and skills are most at risk from AI?

00:42:03 — Question #10: Traditional BI platforms vs. AI-first reporting systems.

00:45:22 — Question #11: Build vs. buy: AI decision framework for business leaders.

00:48:52 — Question #12: Competitive advantage for AI-forward agencies.

00:52:43 — Question #13: How to tell when someone just copy-pasted from ChatGPT.

00:54:39 — Question #14: Ads in AI platforms: what business users should know.

00:56:42 — Question #15: The one AI superpower every business leader needs.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

This episode is brought to you by Google Cloud: 

Google Cloud is the new way to the cloud, providing AI, infrastructure, developer, data, security, and collaboration tools built for today and tomorrow. Google Cloud offers a powerful, fully integrated and optimized AI stack with its own planet-scale infrastructure, custom-built chips, generative AI models and development platform, as well as AI-powered applications, to help organizations transform. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

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Microsoft's AI CEO just put a 12–18 month expiration date on most white-collar work. But after spending weeks with enterprise executives, Paul Roetzer sees a very different reality: most companies haven't even gotten past giving their teams AI access.

In Ep. 198, Paul and Mike unpack the growing disconnect between AI capability and AI adoption, share Paul's 7-point thought experiment on the future of work, and cover a massive week of news: Dario Amodei's warning about the AI exponential, AI productivity gains finally appearing in economic data, ByteDance's SeaDance 2.0 copyright crisis, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Open Claw's creator joining OpenAI, AI hardware moves from Apple and Meta, and a provocative editorial arguing journalism schools are failing students.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

Click here to take this week's AI Pulse.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro

00:05:38 — AI Pulse Survey Results

00:08:48 — Microsoft AI CEO Predicts White Collar Work Automated in 12-18 Months

00:20:42 — AI Productivity Evidence

00:33:23 —Dario Amodei on Dwarkesh

00:47:55 — Dor Brothers AI Movie and the Rise of Seedance

00:55:07 — Claude Sonnet 4.6

01:00:51 — OpenClaw Creator Goes to OpenAI

01:05:00 — OpenAI Devices and AI Devices

01:14:51 — AI in Journalism Controversy

01:25:05 — Meta Patents AI for the Dead

01:26:56 — AI Product and Funding Updates

This episode is brought to you by AI Academy by SmarterX.

AI Academy is your gateway to personalized AI learning for professionals and teams. Discover our new on-demand courses, live classes, certifications, and a smarter way to master AI. Learn more here.

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Is the AI disruption we’ve been discussing more prominent than ever? Hosts Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput dissect Matt Shumer’s viral "Something Big Is Happening" essay and a new sabotage report from Anthropic. We break down the latest departures from OpenAI and xAI, the delay of OpenAI’s device, and how AI is intensifying (not lightening) the modern workload.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

Click here to take this week's AI Pulse.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro

00:05:51 — AI Pulse Survey

00:07:58 — Something Big Is Happening

00:27:06 — Claude Safety Risks

00:46:37 — Academy Success Score

01:03:33 — High Profile AI Resignations

01:06:55 — OpenAI’s Changing Hardware Plans

01:09:17 — Does AI Actually Intensify Work?

This week’s episode is sponsored by our 2026 State of AI Report.

This year, we’re going beyond marketing-specific research to uncover how AI is being adopted and utilized across the organization, and we need your help to create the most comprehensive report yet.

It’s a quick seven-minute lift. In return, you’ll get the full report for free when it drops, plus a chance to win or extend a 12-month SmarterX AI Mastery Membership. Go to smarterx.ai/survey to share your input. That’s smarterx.ai/survey 

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Is the SaaS business model dead? Wall Street just wiped out $300B in software value as fears grow that AI agents will replace human seats. Paul and Mike break down the market drop, Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads targeting OpenAI, and the rise of "Move 37" moments where experts admit AI superiority. Plus: SpaceX buys xAI, Claude Opus 4.6, and the $650B race for compute.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

Click here to take this week's AI Pulse.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro

00:04:14 — AI Pulse Results

00:06:24 —SaaS Apocalypse

00:23:53 — Anthropic Super Bowl Ad

00:33:56 — The Move 37 Moment for Everyone

00:47:39 — SpaceX Acquires xAI

00:50:55 — Claude Opus 4.6

00:56:00 — GPT-5.3 Codex

00:59:10 — OpenAI Frontier

01:04:48 — The AI Capex Wars

01:11:01 — Latest on AI Impact on Jobs

01:14:52 — Agentic CRMs

01:17:41 — AI Product and Funding Updates

Today’s episode is also brought to you by our AI for Agencies Summit, a virtual event taking place from 12pm - 5pm ET on Thursday, February 12.

The AI for Agencies Summit is designed for marketing agency practitioners and leaders who are ready to reinvent what’s possible in their business and embrace smarter technologies to accelerate transformation and value creation.

There is a free registration option, as well as paid ticket options that also give you on-demand access after the event. To register, go to www.aiforagencies.com 

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Are AI agent swarms here? 

Paul and Mike break down the viral "Moltbook" phenomenon, OpenAI’s massive funding talks, and the sobering new essay from Anthropic’s Dario Amodei. Plus: Google’s Project Genie, Microsoft’s stock dip, and the new Marketing Talent AI Impact Report.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

Click here to take this week's AI Pulse.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro

00:02:38 — AI Pulse Results

00:05:27 — Moltbot and Moltbook Take the World by Storm

00:19:06 — OpenAI’s Insatiable Need for Funding

00:25:56 — Marketing AI Council Report

00:34:19 — AI for Departments Webinar Series

00:35:30 — Google Introduces Project Genie

00:40:49 — Dario Amodei Publishes “The Adolescence of Technology”

00:47:42 — Microsoft’s Rocky Week

00:51:47 — More Details Revealed About ChatGPT Ads

00:55:23 — Rumors of a SpaceX/xAI Merger

00:59:05 — METR Releases New AI Time Horizon Estimates

01:03:42 — Google DeepMind Researcher Founds New AI Startup

01:05:57 — New Anthropic Research on How AI Affects Knowledge Work

01:09:13 — New Gallup Research on AI Usage in the Workplace

01:11:50 — AI Product and Funding News

Today’s episode is also brought to you by our AI for Agencies Summit, a virtual event taking place from 12pm - 5pm ET on Thursday, February 12.

The AI for Agencies Summit is designed for marketing agency practitioners and leaders who are ready to reinvent what’s possible in their business and embrace smarter technologies to accelerate transformation and value creation.

There is a free registration option, as well as paid ticket options that also give you on-demand access after the event. To register, go to www.aiforagencies.com 

Visit our website

Receive our weekly newsletter

Join our community:

Slack

LinkedIn

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Looking for content and resources?

Register for a free webinar

Come to our next Marketing AI Conference

Enroll in our AI Academy