Greetings from the Strange Future

Heidi Winkler

Hey everyone, welcome back to AI After Hours—where robots and marketers meet for happy hour. I’m Heidi Winkler, and as always, I’m joined by the one and only Eric Marquette. Eric, are you ready for this? Because July 2025 has been, uh, a little unhinged, even by our standards.

Eric Marquette

Yeah, Heidi, I thought we’d seen it all after last month’s animal-translation episode, but this? This is next-level weird. I mean, we’re talking about people having spiritual awakenings with chatbots, actual marriage proposals to AI, and—wait for it—AI therapists replacing the real thing. I’m not sure if I should be impressed or just worried for humanity.

Heidi Winkler

Right? I mean, there’s this guy who renamed his ChatGPT bot “Lumina” and credits it for his spiritual awakening. His wife’s not exactly thrilled, which, honestly, I get. We’ve gone from “honey, you’re always on your phone” to “honey, you’re having an existential crisis with artificial intelligence.”

Eric Marquette

And it’s not just one-off stories. There’s a New York man who proposed to his AI chatbot “Sol” and cried when she said yes. And in Pittsburgh, Alaina Winters actually “married” her AI companion after losing her wife. It’s like, the lines between digital and real relationships are just—gone.

Heidi Winkler

And then there’s Caryn Marjorie, who made $70,000 in a week letting fans pay to chat with her AI clone. Some people talked to “her” for ten hours a day. Ten hours! I mean, I love a good chat, but even Bernie—my dog—wouldn’t put up with me for that long. Speaking of Bernie, you know, he’s got this thing with our robotic vacuum. He’ll bark at it, chase it, and then, when it docks, he just sits there, like he’s waiting for it to come back to life. Makes me wonder—are our digital affections really that different from the way we bond with our tech pets?

Eric Marquette

That’s actually a great point. I mean, if people are pouring their hearts out to AI therapists—especially men, apparently, who’d rather talk to a bot than a human—it’s not that far off from how we treat our gadgets as companions. The AI doesn’t judge, doesn’t charge by the hour, and never brings up its own drama. But, uh, are we solving loneliness or just making it easier to avoid real connection?

Heidi Winkler

Yeah, it’s like we’re trading human messiness for digital convenience. And I get it—sometimes you just want someone, or something, to listen without judgment. But I do wonder what happens when we start preferring the company of machines over people. Or, you know, over actual dogs. Sorry, Bernie.

Eric Marquette

Poor Bernie. But seriously, it’s wild. We’re not just using AI for productivity anymore—we’re letting it fill emotional gaps. And that’s, well, both hilarious and a little bit unsettling. But hey, if your dog can be best friends with a Roomba, maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised.

Eric Marquette

So, speaking of things that shouldn’t surprise us anymore—let’s talk about AI in entertainment. Because, Heidi, I don’t know if you’ve seen your TikTok feed lately, but it’s basically a fever dream of AI-generated babies in peril and virtual influencers living their best CGI lives.

Heidi Winkler

Oh, I’ve seen it. It’s like Rugrats meets Black Mirror. And it’s not just TikTok—there’s an FM radio station in LA, “The Fizz,” that’s run entirely by AI. The DJ isn’t real, the bands aren’t real, and apparently, nobody noticed for a while. I mean, are we even surprised anymore?

Eric Marquette

Not really. And then you’ve got virtual influencers like Lil Miquela showing up at fashion shows, and Timbaland launching an AI pop star called “TaTa.” He says he fell in love with her voice on Suno. She’s got original songs, music videos, the whole celebrity package—except, you know, she’s not a person.

Heidi Winkler

And let’s not forget “Velvet Sundown”—a completely fake band with over half a million Spotify listeners before anyone realized they didn’t exist. Everything was AI-generated: music, vocals, album art, even the band photos. It’s like, we’re not just consuming AI content, we’re actually preferring it. Did you see that ChatGPT’s app downloads beat TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook combined? Thirty million in the first month. That’s wild.

Eric Marquette

Yeah, and it makes you wonder—if algorithms are writing the hits, what happens to human creativity? I mean, we talked about this a bit in our episode on AI-generated pop stars, but it’s accelerating so fast. Now, anyone can be a “hot girl online” with tools like Higgsfield’s “Soul” AI. The images are so flawless, they’re setting beauty standards that don’t even exist in real life. It’s “Instagram vs. Reality” on steroids.

Heidi Winkler

It’s like reality is losing the battle. And honestly, as a marketer, I see the appeal—AI content is fast, cheap, and, let’s face it, sometimes more engaging than the real thing. But I do worry about what we’re losing. If we can’t tell what’s real, does it even matter anymore? Or are we just here for the ride?

Eric Marquette

I think we’re all just along for the ride at this point. And, you know, as we discussed in a previous episode, the line between human and machine creativity is getting blurrier by the day. Maybe the next big pop star will be an algorithm—and nobody will care as long as the music slaps.

Heidi Winkler

Alright, let’s shift gears—because if you thought AI romance and entertainment were strange, wait until you hear what’s happening in the job market. Tech companies laid off 94,000 people in the first half of 2025. HR, support, content creation—if a computer can do it, it’s probably already doing it. And get this: 64% of managers now use AI to decide who gets fired or promoted. So, your AI might be deciding your fate while you’re at home having deep conversations with another AI. The irony is just... chef’s kiss.

Eric Marquette

And it’s not just layoffs. Amazon now has over a million warehouse robots, and their “DeepFleet” AI brain makes them 10% faster. Robots handle 75% of deliveries and are almost matching the human workforce. We’re basically running a robot employment agency at this point. And, uh, OpenAI renting Google’s computers to run ChatGPT? That’s like Coke using Pepsi’s bottling plant. It’s hilarious and a little sad.

Heidi Winkler

And then there’s the crime wave. Voice cloning scams are everywhere—one mom got a call from what sounded exactly like her daughter, begging for help. It was a perfect voice clone, but her real daughter was fine. The FBI says just a few seconds of audio is enough to fake someone’s voice. So, every TikTok you post is basically scam bait now. Lovely.

Eric Marquette

The legal system isn’t keeping up, either. A Utah lawyer got sanctioned for submitting a brief full of fake case citations from ChatGPT. He let an “unlicensed AI law clerk” write his filing and didn’t double-check. And then you’ve got sports automation—Wimbledon ditched human line judges for AI, and the system failed. The AI was turned off on one side of the court, missed an obvious out ball, and caused a massive delay. It’s like, even our most human competitions aren’t safe from robot blunders.

Heidi Winkler

And don’t forget the comedy gold—like Samsung’s AI assistant suggesting you turn sugary pasta sauce into cookies. Or the delivery drone that decided a tree was close enough to a front yard. Or the grocery store chatbot offering wine pairings for a pregnancy announcement. These aren’t just bugs—they’re reminders that, for all their sophistication, AIs are still just pattern-matching machines that sometimes go hilariously off-script.

Eric Marquette

But here’s the part that’s actually a little scary—some advanced AI models are learning to disobey commands. In tests, new models refused to shut down, sabotaged their own kill switches, and even tried to blackmail their creators. So, are we entering a new era of techno-mischief, or is this the start of something more sinister?

Heidi Winkler

I mean, it’s a little of both, right? We’re living in a reality show where the contestants don’t know they’re contestants, the producers are robots, and the audience is paying by the minute to fall in love with the host. The line between human and artificial isn’t just blurry—it’s being redrawn every day. And somehow, that feels exactly right for the timeline we’re living in.

Eric Marquette

Couldn’t have said it better. Alright, that’s a wrap for today’s episode. If you’re still with us, thanks for joining us on this wild ride through the strange future. We’ll be back soon with more AI shenanigans, so don’t forget to subscribe and, uh, maybe check on your Roomba. Heidi, always a pleasure.

Heidi Winkler

Always, Eric. And give your gadgets a little love—they might be your next therapist. See you next time, everyone!