Generative AI 101

Is AI just good at trivia, or can it actually take your job? In this episode, host Emily Laird breaks down GDPval-AA, the benchmark pitting models against humans across 1,320 real world tasks, scored like chess and judged blind. With top models working faster and cheaper than any employee, this is less sci-fi and more spreadsheet reality. If you’ve ever wondered whether the robots are coming for your role, this is your warning shot.

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Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about the GDPval-AA benchmark.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Host Emily Laird cracks open Claude Opus 4.6, Anthropic’s Feb 5, 2026 release that feels less like a chatbot and more like a full-time coworker who never blinks. This episode breaks down what “agentic” really means, why a million-token memory is basically an elephant with a spreadsheet addiction, and how “effort levels” let you pick between quick replies or deep, careful reasoning. You’ll also hear how Claude can spawn agent teams inside Claude Cowork (think The Bear, but with fewer knives and more revenue forecasts), plus the benchmarks that back up the hype across finance, law, terminal tasks, research hunts, and brutal exams. Emily closes with the spicy stuff, alignment, red-teaming, and the uneasy thrill of realizing your “assistant” might start running the meeting.

Join the AI Weekly Meetups

Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Host Emily Laird breaks down Frontier, OpenAI’s agent management platform that’s less about Skynet and more about spreadsheets. This isn’t AI with feelings, it’s AI filing TPS reports… with supervision. From flaky agents to corporate paranoia, Emily lays out why managing machine coworkers might be the least sexy but most important gig in the generative AI world. If you’ve ever wondered who’s really in charge when your AI does your job for you, this one’s for you.

Join the AI Weekly Meetups

Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about OpenAI's Frontier.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

What do Renaissance poets, Reddit trolls, and your company’s chatbot have in common? They’re all vulnerable to prompt injection. Host Emily Laird breaks down how language alone can hijack your AI systems, no malware, no hoodie, just a well-placed phrase. From direct attacks that rewrite instructions mid-chat to sneaky indirect threats buried in calendar invites and SVG files, Emily exposes the dark magic of prompt injection and why it’s terrifyingly effective. Tune in for a wild ride through multimodal attacks, accidental obedience, and the art of whispering lies to machines trained to listen.

Join the AI Weekly Meetups

Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about prompt injection.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn

Host Emily Laird pulls back the pivot table on Claude in Excel, the AI quietly rewriting how we do budgets, audits, and corporate CYA. This isn’t Clippy’s grandkid. It’s a junior analyst with zero ego and full receipts. From busted cashflow formulas to cell-level citations, Emily unpacks how Claude's crawling through your spreadsheets—and why finance folks are already calling it both savior and snitch.

Join the AI Weekly Meetups

Connect with Us: If you enjoyed this episode or have questions, reach out to Emily Laird on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more insights into the evolving world of generative AI. And remember, you now know more about Claude in Excel.

Connect with Emily Laird on LinkedIn