The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI: Jon Stewart Takes on AI & Desi Lydic Covers Truth Social's Tank and Women's Basketball's Popularity

Episode Date: April 6, 2024

Jon Stewart covers how AI's plans to make our lives easier will actually lead us to a world that limits the need for human labor. Plus, Desi Lydic tracks Truth Social's 21% drop in stocks, Florida's new abortion limits, and how the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is bringing more fans to the sport.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. As many of you are aware, the news has been pretty bleak recently.

It passed two, three, hundred years. Listen, but this weekend, there was one story that was so disturbing, so dark. Even the news couldn't handle it. In our editorial discussions this morning, we were asked not to show the image from this video because of its violent and disturbing nature. Video, which we are intentionally choosing not to show you. We're not going to show you because of how disturbing it is. I was extremely disturbed to see this.

Horrible, horrible, violent, and dehumanizing imagery. We're only going to show you a clip of this briefly. All right, that's enough. Let's take it down. I didn't get to see it at all. There's got to be devastating. News channels show images from Ukraine, from Gaza, from natural disasters. They get through them dispassionately.

I can't imagine how devastating this footage must be. Former President Donald Trump shared a video, this one, on his truth social account, featuring an image of President Joe Biden, hogtied on television and that's what was so disturbing and dehumanizing you wouldn't show it on television and an airbrushed Biden decal on the back of a truck Are you the same networks that show reruns of 9-11 every year? I mean, I don't think it's great that Trump is posting things like this, but

it's not like people really think Joe Biden was tied up in the back of the truck. It's a doctored image, but it's plastered on the tailgate of the pickup truck. So if you're driving behind it, it would appear as if Joe Biden were actually restrained on the vehicle's flat bed. If you think that's really Joe Biden, tied up on the back of the pickup truck, I don't know that you have the mental acuity to be operating a motor vehicle. But if you do think that, I should also probably explain to you that trucks also don't actually have testicles.

It's just a novelty item. And that, it's not as low, it's not as though when an F-150 and a Silverado love each other very much. They fucking get one of these. It's not. It's not. get one of these. What is going on? Now there is technology out there in the world that really does blur the line between reality and tailgate art. But those are mostly AI generated. Your fake Joe Biden robo call that tells New Hampshire

Voters not to vote, your Chicago mayoral candidate glorifying police brutality, your Donald Trump dropping by the neighborhood for a stupank. Look, look how comfortable he seems. And as AI gets better and better, it's only going to make it more difficult to separate fact from fiction, which could be terrifying. Luckily, the people in charge of AI have told us that just like with the internet and social media, it's actually going to make everything much, much better.

This has the potential to make life much better. I think it's honestly a layup. I hate to sound like utopic TechBrow here, but the increase the increase the increase the the the the the the the the the potential to make life much better. I think it's honestly a lap. I hate to sound like utopic tech bro here, but the increase in quality of life that AI can deliver is extraordinary. AI is the most profound technology humanity is working on. More profound than fire or electricity. Yeah! Suck a d'hawk at a fire. That's right, you heard me.

You heard me fire. Oh, I'm sorry. Do I need to turn that up? Suck a mother-feehick fire. And oh, whoa. What are you giggling out electricity? I mean, listen, I'm sure AI is good, but like, fire good? How so?

They can help us solve very hard, scientific problems that humans are not capable of solving themselves. Addressing climate change will not be particularly difficult for a system like that. The potential for AI to help scientists cure, prevent, and manage all diseases in this century. I completely trust you. And your enormously wide eyes and very human cadence. But benefit of the doubt, this can cure diseases and solve climate change? What are we using it for now? Jarvis knows when to make me breakfast.

Your toast is ready. All right. Are you... Are you... Out out of your mind? See, here's the thing. Toast I can make. I can make toast. It might be the only technology we have that works pretty much every time. I'll tell you what, why don't you get to work on curing the diseases and the climate change and we'll hold down the fort on toast.

Of course, now, we have, as a society, we have been through technological advances before, and they all have promised a utopian life without drudgery. And the reality is they come for our jobs. So I want your assurance that AI isn't removing the human from the loop. This is not about replacing the human in the loop. In fact, it's about empowering the human. It's an assistant. It's an assistant. What?

We're all getting assistance? It's an assistant. What? We're all getting assistants? It's an assistant. AI works for you night and day tirelessly and all you had to do was remember their fucking birthday. That's all you had to do. But I get it. It's an assistant. It's about productivity. And that's good for all of us, yes? Although they do let the real truth slip out every now and again. There will be overall displacement in the labor market. You can get the same work done with fewer people.

That's just the nature of productivity. That doesn't sound good. Same work done with fewer people. Not a math guy, but I think fewer means less. Yes? So AI can cure diseases and solve climate change. But that's not exactly what companies are going to be using it for, are they? So this is like productivity without the tax of more people? Without the tax of more people?

Without the tax of more people? The people tax, formerly referred to as employees. But you know, the promise of AI versus the reality of AI, it's not quite crystal clear in my mind yet how that's going to work out for workers. Do you have anyone who wants to lay this out more bluntly, perhaps while auditioning to be a bond villain from his mountaintop lair? Left completely to the market and to their own devices, these are fundamentally labor replacing tools. Did that guy just call us tools? But he's actually warning us. Is there anyone who might say call us tools?

But he's actually warning us. Is there anyone who might say the same thing as this fella but looks at losing employees as a feature of AI and not a bug? The CEO of a company laid off 90% of its customer support staff after arguing that AI is kind of the reason. Why did you do this? It seemed a little brutal. It's smart, I think, like, it's brutal, if you think think like as a human. It's not the caciest ad slogan I've ever heard.

So while we wait for this thing to cure our diseases and soft climate change, it's replacing us in the workforce, not in the future, but now. So what exactly are we supposed to be doing for work? I think we'll need new types of jobs to help us embed AI and maintain AI in the workplace. Prompt engineers, they're basically people who learn how to use AI systems and, in effect, how to program them. Who would have thought that there will be a prompt engineer, right? right? right? right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. the. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. So, th. So, are th, th, th, th. So, are th. So, are th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. to, to to to to to to to to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th th th how to use AI systems and in effect how to program them. Who would have thought that there would be a prompt engineer, right?

Right. Prompt engineer. I think you mean types question guy. And by the way, if there's any job that can be easily replaced by AI, it's types question guy. This is some shit you got going here. AI models have hoovered up the entire sum of the human experience that we've accomplished over thousands of years. And now we just hand it off to be their prompt engineers. And by the way, you're not fooling anybody by adding a word engineer. You're not the types question guy. You're the vice president of question input. This, it's true. It's like a janitor is a doctor of mopping. This whole AI thing is a bait and switch. You're acting like you're helping us. Oh, AI.

It's supposed to be my assistant. But now I'm making AI fucking toast. I'm Jarvis. But guess what? Guess what? Guess no, you listen to me. I got news for you, AI. I'm not Siri, you're Siri. I'm not Siri, you're Siri. Siri, while I have your attention, let me ask you a question. Sure, John, but first could you run and fetch me some lithium-catmium? Yeah, sure, that's not clear with the technology this powerful, like nuclear power and atomic weapons.

I'm going to have to place a little call to my good pals in the United States government, perhaps even the House of Representatives are the Senate, and they're about to open up a can of what AI now. Do you understand what AI does? I have an elementary understanding. I've got a lot to know about what's going on. Very frankly, it's new terrain and uncarted territory. Do we have the knowledge set here to do it? No.

The short answer is no. The long answer is no. The long answer is hell no. And the longest answer is H to the E to the L to the no. Hell I don't even know how to use an answer in my scene. Do-doo-d-doo-doo. Do-doo. Doo. Doo. Do, doo-doo. Look, I'm not against progress, but let's look to our history to see how we've dealt with previous economic disruptions. We can retrain workers from one generation and create jobs for the next.

Retrain workers who do lose their jobs for even better jobs in the future. Retrain in order to be productive workers. Upskill America to help workers of all ages. Train and retrain workers for new jobs. Give me a break. Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program for God's sake. And I'll fight every one of you jackholes who says different. But that's the game, whether it's globalization or industrialization or now artificial intelligence.

The way of life that you are accustomed to is no match for the promise of more profits and new markets, which sounds brutal if you're a human. But at least those other disruptions took place over a century or decades. AI is going to be ready to take over by Thursday. And once that happens, what the fuck is there left for the rest of us to be ready to take over by Thursday. And once that happens, what the f- the f-fee is there left for the rest of us to do? Time is not a terrible thing. AI freeing us up to think about things at a higher level

is going to help. It's going to give us our time back. We'll be able to express ourselves in new creative ways. You know he's th right, th is right, th is to to to to to to to to to be to to to be to be to be to to to. I've been thinking about this all wrong. It's not joblessness. It's self-actualizing me time. I'll live the artist's life. It'll give me more time to explore my passions. You know, I'm an aging, suburban dad. I'll learn to play the drums.

You know, music music... Ta, ta, ta, ta, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, t, ta, ta, tit-tah. Music is what makes us human. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls?

We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Let's kick things off with some news from the business world. Last week, Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, went public with a value of eight billion dollars. Mm-hmm, which seemed like a lot for a website whose business model is what if Twitter was just Nazis? And guess what? Turns out it was.

Tonight's stock in Donald Trump's media company tanking after Trump's social platform Truth Social reported losing 58 million dollars last year. It was. Tonight's stock in Donald Trump's media company, tanking after Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, reported losing $58 million last year. The company was valued at nearly $10 billion after it went public last week as Trump's supporters rushed to scoop up shares. Truth Social is doing very well. It's hot as a pistol and doing great. But today, that root awakening. The revelation of last year's losses sent the stock plunging more than 20 percent. And, and, to, to, to, to, to, that root awakening, the revelation of last year's losses sent the stock plunging more than 20 percent and the value of Trump's own stake, losing more than a billion dollars.

Yeah, Trump, you lost a billion dollars yesterday. Now you're only worth $6 billion, you broke bitch. Oh. Oh. We got them, finally. Now, there's a bit of a disagreement over why the stock dropped so much. Analysts say it's because of huge losses and limited market upside, while Trump advisors argue it's because of woe gay, trans, DEI, Hunter Biden's laptops.

So who's to say? At this point, it just seems like Trump is trying to be in every section of the newspaper, finance, politics, style, city crime. It's only a matter of time until he drops a theater review. Just a wicked total witch. Let's move on to the fight. Yeah, you can clap for that, yes. Let's move on to the fight over abortion rights, where today Florida handed us a mixed bag. Now to Florida where the state Supreme Court just issued two major rulings on abortion rights.

Two major decisions, the Florida state Supreme Court has now cleared the way for one of the strictest abortion vans in the nation to go into effect. It bans abortion at just six weeks into pregnancy. But at the same time, that same state Supreme Court also allowing this issue to be on the ballot in November, allowing Florida voters to decide whether they want to protect access to abortion up until viability, which is considered to be around 24 weeks into pregnancy. Florida, what is going on here? You're restricting abortion, but you're also putting it on the ballot? Pick a lane! These are some crazy mood swings.

You better hope you're not pregnant. Look, a six-week abortion ban is obviously a terrible setback for women's rights, but there is a small glimmer of hope and that the voters also have a chance to legalize abortion again, which is good news, and also depressing to be celebrating that as good news. But in this climate, I guess that's where we're at right now. I don't know whether I'm happy or not. I feel like Ron DeSantis's face. But hey at least abortion is on the ballot. Finally the people of Florida will be able to choose something besides community service or jail time. And that is something.

That is something. Let's move on to sports. We're in the final stretch of March Madness, that special time of year that turns every office into an underground gambling ring. And last night, all eyes were on a rematch between two of the biggest stars in the tournament........ And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the, th. And, th. And, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that. And, that, that, that. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. th. the the the the the the their, their, their their, their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, that's their, that's that's their, a rematch between two of the biggest stars in the tournament. In goat fashion, Caitlin Clark led Iowa over defending champion LSU in a rematch of last year's final. For anyone who questioned her greatness, Caitlin Clark had the answer.

Foody 1 points, 9-3s, 12 assists, a record-breaking masterpiece that lived up to the hype of a rematch in an epic battle of greats. Clark steps back, fires, you bet! Oh my, from Schenectady. She's simply ridiculous. She's possessed. Oh, the poor announcer, Caitlin Clark hit so many big shots that the guy was clearly running

out of things to say. She's ridiculous. She's possessed. She's a witch. Drowner. I don't know. But honestly, honestly, what an awesome rivalry. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, two fierce competitors playing their hearts out,

captivating the nation while they're still in college. My biggest accomplishment in college was getting a single dorm because of my IBS. Hey, if there was a sock on the door, it was an especially bad night. Point is, it feels like women's basketball is having a moment this year, and you can tell by how much the media can't stop talking about how they're talking about it. What a great thing for women's sports that we care. We're talking about it tonight on CNN because people are caring, and ultimately that is good, we care. The fact that we're talking about women's basketball and any you know women's sports in general.

I mean, this is really great. I've really thrown. I've done this for 32 years. I've never once spent five minutes of any show I've ever done anywhere talking about a great women's game last night at any level. Okay, that might say more about you, but we'll take the win. We'll take it. That's right. People are excited about women's basketball right now. They're discovering it like it's the first time your mom tried sushi. Oh my God, have you heard about this? Spread the word! But everyone is raving, everyone, even Shaquille O'Neal said women's basketball this year is a better game than men's basketball. Yeah, he's like the most famous men's basketball player. That's like Chef Boyardt, telling you he only eats SpaghettiOs now.

Spaghettios. The official food of clinical depression. Spaghettios, want to hurt an Italian person's feelings? Try spigettios. One more. Spaghettios. You don't have to love your kids. Anyway, think about how far women's basketball has come. Ten years ago, if you went to a bar on a Monday night to watch women's basketball, it was because you were an

alcoholic. But today, if you're at a bar on a Monday night, it's because you're an alcoholic who also wants to watch women's basketball. That is progress. So this has been a hugely successful college tournament for the women, even despite some obstacles. In the women's tournament, controversy is brewing after four games were played on a court in Portland, Oregon, where the three-point line was about six inches closer to the hoop on one side. The error was discovered before North Carolina played Texas in the elite eight.

Both teams' coaches decided to go ahead with the game to not delay the tournament. OK, I really relate to this as a woman. It is so classic for someone else to fuck up. And we're like, oh, the line is messed up. It's fine. We'll just go ahead and play four games. You can fix it later or not.

Whatever. I'm. But what exactly happened down there? The line was several inches too short. That's a huge error. Well, Desi, I talked to the director of court maintenance who made the mistake, as well as several other men who were just around. And we all, we all agreed that your length being a few inches shorter than everyone was expecting is no big deal. No story here, back to you. Wait, wait, wait, that's not true. Having the line be that short makes an enormous difference.

Enormous is a little mean. Plus it's not about the length of the line. It's about how you play the game, okay? And I think we could all agree. It was a pretty good game, you know? It's good for me. I enjoyed it. And as far as the difference, the women didn't even notice. Josh, even if the women said they didn't notice. All right? Josh, even if the women said they didn't notice, trust me, they always notice.

Okay, but let's give this line guy a break, because when I talked to him, he swore this had never happened before, okay? And we don't even know why it was too short. Maybe it was his first time. Okay, maybe it been drinking, all right? Maybe the arena was cold. Sorry, how does being cold make a difference? It just does, okay? Wow, you seem pretty worked up about this. Why don't we move past the length of the line? Thank you. Let's talk about the curve, because... The curve was weird. All right, Desi, Desi, I'm out. This is why I only the the the the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the th the the the th the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the arena, maybe the arena, maybe the arena, maybe the arena, maybe the arena, maybe the arena, maybe the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, maybe thrin, thrainn' thrain, throea' throa' the arena the arena throa' the arena the arena the arena throa' thrain, thrain, th about the curve because the curve was weird. All right, Desi, Desi, I'm out. This is why I only play basketball by myself, okay? Josh. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your

podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls?

We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the Weekly Show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.