The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Sarah Silverman Unpacks the Realities of AI | Cat Bohannon and Margo Price

Episode Date: November 12, 2023

Sarah Silverman guest hosts The Daily Show for a second time this week. She discusses her lawsuit against AI companies and addresses why it is necessary for artists to protect their work. Also, Sarah sits with Cat Bohannon to discuss how science has overlooked the female body and Margo Price to break down how psychedelics helped her write her latest album, "Strays."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're gonna be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. My guest tonight is a researcher and author of the New York Times bestseller Eve. How the Female Body Drove 200 million years of human evolution, please welcome Cat Bohannon.

Hey everybody, how's it going? Hanging a little to the left then. So, okay, you set out to prove that the left then. So, okay, you set out to prove that the human body drove human evolution. What did you discover? One of the central things I discovered was that we are garbage at making babies, just the entire species. This is actually a flaming garbage pile.

This is the technical term, right? Yeah. So we, you wouldn't think so, right? Because we have 8 billion people in the world. Right, so you think that we are obviously good at popping them out. But no, no, no, no. No, actually our pregnancies and burrs and postpartum recoveries are harder and longer and more prone to dangerous and and sometimes murdery complications than they are in most any other primate, well, except for a squirrel monkey, and we feel real bad for her.

But also, also most other mammals, actually. We do, in fact, suck at this, and that changes how you understand the story of the female body, yeah? That changes how you understand what all this is for. It's not that it is our destiny to make babies to be fulfilled or some. Wasn't mine. Yeah, no, no. I mean I love my kids, but I'm good to be done with that. No, it's more, it's more like, it's how we do it, particularly as a species is so bad, that there are many fail-safes, there are many things built into kind of brace for impact. Yeah? It's more like that. Yeah. Thea th. Thea th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th is is is is is th is is th is thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I I is th. I is th. I is th. I is is is is is th. I is is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. It is th. It is th. It is th. It's is th. It's is th. It's is th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's this. It's thise. It's thise. It's this. It's th. It impact. Yeah? It's more like that. Yeah, that there are ways in which our immune system has adapted

because the placenta down regulates the immune system. So you know, since you don't want to die of infection when you're pregnant, maybe your immune system runs a little hot the rest of the time, right? It may be the case that we breastfeed the way that we do. It may be the case the case the case the case the case th th th may tha the case that we have menstruation the way that we do. In each case because we are actually just trying not to die. I see. And from what I read you found, what you found was that all of this medical research in science has been based on the, what do we say, cis male sex at birth?

I'm progressive. Yeah, yeah, it's just dicks all the way down. So instead of turtles. Quite, exactly. So this is true in biological research. This is true in biomedical research. We are only studying males, right? And it's basically because this thing we call a menstrual cycle, which a biologist would call an estrous cycle, is just so messy and complicated. So you have this slope of hormones that's doing all kinds of things in a female body if you're studying mammals, so maybe just don't then? Don't what? Study them? That seems to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. That to th. That's to to th. That's to th. That's to th. That's th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho tho only only tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the their their their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. toe. toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo't then? Don't what? Study them. That seemed to be the solution. Oh I see. You're just like,

let's not deal with this. Yeah, it was, it's not like there was any sexist, I'm not saying there isn't sexism. It's more like it's not necessarily sexism that was driving it. It's more that there was a kind of unspoken agreement in biology, oh, thozy. th this messy, messy chick problem in rats mostly by not studying the female, yeah, which means that by the time you get to doing biological research that might lead to pharmaceuticals, well then it may not have been studied on females at all. Is research getting any better with this stuff? Yes, yes, and that is the absolutely good news. I mean, it it's often intergenerational, yeah and that is the absolutely good news. I mean, it's often intergenerational, yeah?

There is some resistance from the old guard. It's not like that's new to science. That's kind of in any industry when you have a social shift, when you have a paradigm shift in understanding what you're doing. So there is some resistance by the people who are giving the scientists the grants. There is some resistance from the old people because it's not nothing to change your mind. What is it to be told that for decades you may be a Nobel laureate, in fact, sometimes,

you know, were wrong about something? That's actually a hard shift. That's hard to do. There are many older scientists who are leading the guard, but there are some who are not. So that's a thing. But, no, new generation coming in, doing all the new science, and it's like the Wild West out there, man. Like anywhere you look for a sex difference in mammals, you kind of find one, right? Which also means that we don't entirely know what's going to matter in the long run, right?

You know, because it's new. It's not just cutting-edge science, it's like bleeding-edge science. It's that tho, because, because, because, because, because, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's new, it's not just new, it's not just new, it's not just, it's not just new, it's not just th- th-s, th-s, th-s, th-s, th-a, th-a, th-s, their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s. their-s. their-s. their-s. their-sed. It's gendered in that it's like what your sex at birth is, but like you were talking about the male and female brain and that they're indistinguishable. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now don't do this at home, but if you do hold two cadaver brains in your hands. If this occasion happens upon you, I can't imagine why. And if you were were were, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, and the person, the person, the person, th. And, th, th. And, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, their, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, the, the, the., the. thea, to, thea, thea, thea, thea, thi., thi, nobody prepped you to say this one came from a biologically male body, this one came from a female body, there's actually no way for you to know. There may be some minor sex differences in myelination, some ratio of gray matter in one region, but in the exact same brain in another region, it'll have the opposite pattern. It's more like a sex mosaicism. The only way to tell for sure is to literally shove them in a blender. Sloose them down. We've done this.

Sloose them down. Sluice. Count the cells and sequence the DNA. And you're going to have to do a number of them, because females who have given birth to males. Mays. th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th how we know that there's chimerism. Yeah. I feel like I got wise. His cells are apparently probably in my brain just doing something. I don't know what, right? Yeah, but that is the only way to know, just sequencing the DNA, which is some cool. You know, she's really cool, right? It's really neat. It's like,

like, you talk about science, but it sounds like beat poetry. For a book that is all about the female form and the female body and all that stuff, you talk a lot about dicks. Like, why so much dick? I do. There is a surprising amount of dung in this book. That is true. It's true. I mean, it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, ittrue. It's true. I mean it's like a woman holding a cell phone like did there need to be that much penis in here?

Right? Apparently the answer is yes because vaginas and penis is not for your phone, but in this case. Vaginas and penis is co-evolve in all species that have them, which mean you can't like talk about the evolution of its, I don't know................... th. Do, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their... their.. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. I. I. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their, their. their. their, their, their, their, their. their. their. the evolution of the Vag, without talking about the co-evolution of its, I don't know, excitable partner. Maybe eager, earnest, partner. Yes, they try real hard. Yeah. I mean, it's like a penis, like an inside, an outside vagina? I get, don't they put them in, no, I don't really know what I'm talking about. You'd actually be surprised how scientifically accurate that question is, my dear.

No, actually, when the genitals are forming in those early weeks in the wooms, they all form from the same bud, essentially. And there's a diagram of it in the book, very nicely done. Yeah, and they're essentially the same thing for a long time. And what becomes the clitter cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl cl. And the clin. And, the clin. And, the clin. And, the the clituris is the the thusus is their thus is thus is thus is thus. And, thus. thus. thi. thi. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. No, th. No, th. No, th. No, th. No, th. No, th, th, th, th, th, the the the the the the the the their, th. No, thi. No, thi. thi. their, thin. their, th-I. th-I. their, thean-I. theanan. thean. theanananan. thi. theanananan typical female? Oh, I just had a tangle when you said clitoris. I like, my clitoris went, you know, shut up. Hello?

You know, it extends out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So it's not that it's an inside out vagina, but it is true that it is remarkably from the same stuff. Yeah. What what, um, why should men read your book? thoomk? thoomk? thoomk? tho? tho? tho? tho? tho? tho? tho? thii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thoom. thoom. thoom? thoom. thi. thi. thoom? I th. th. th. th. th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. It, thi. It's, thi. It's, theea. It's thea. It's thi. It's like, thi. It's like, thi. It's like, thi. I thi. I read your book? I think so for their own good. So the thing is, they can read my book and care about it. To learn about the human body like all the books we read. Or we can cut off their balls. This is a great ending point. And yet I feel I'd like to know if you would like to expound. I will. See, the thing is, let's talk about sex and longevity, yeah? The thing is, is that there are many ways to extend a male mammals' lifespan, to make them live longer. We know that females generally live longer and males don't across mammals,

but the one thing that you can do that's more reliable than just about anything else is castratum. Cut off as balls. This is, and we know this because we have cut out thousands of balls, okay? For science, right? So we have done rat balls, we have done rodents of all types. We have done dogs, you've probably done that. Well you paid a guy, but that adds like a year and a half to like a domestic dog's life. Pigs and monkeys and humans. We have the data in humans. The Korean court, the Korean imperial court, kept very good medical records and had UNIX.

American men in the mid-century who were hospitalized, usually for mental illness. And because the history of eugenics is horrific, we're also castrated, very good medical records. And a Central Asian tradition, too. All of these castrated males lived longer, healthier lives than their regularly bald peers. And I'm not talking about a small gain. It's an average of 14 years.

So why, why is that? You know, why are the spacework is phenomenal? Why are so many men smuggling two little death nuggets? You know, like why are these, the ping-pongs of destiny? Why, why are these, the actual grapes of wrath? Yeah, so, and the answer is, we're not entirely sure. We have some models, some scientists are doing the work,

but this is the actual future of gerontology. Figuring out why there are sex differences in aging, and why cutting off balls will make men live longer, is how we're going to provide better medicine for cismen. And I think we can all get on board here. American men deserve better from Medicare than a mass castration plan. Yes, that's a very good point. I mean, uh, mic drop, right? And that's his both Eve is available now.

We'll take a quick to say. That we're ready to do. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same

way that they obsess me. The election, economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative.

Listen to the weekly show with. It mostly makes life easier for humans. And in exchange, we humans try our best to not drop it into the toilet. But right now, the technology we're talking about is artificial intelligence. Since it came into our lives, we've all been trying to grapple with its larger impact. We're seeing kids use it to cheat in school, we're seeing shitty partners use it for breakups. Chat GBT is even able to pass the legal bar exam, meaning it'll be

the first AI to develop an addiction to cocaine. But it might be a good thing that chat GPT could be a lawyer because a lot of people are taking its a ass to court. This morning a game of thrones erupting over the rights to some of the most popular works in the world. George R.R. Martin and more than a dozen other authors now suing Open AI, creator of Chat G.B.T. Martin joining forces with authors like Jody P.Co. John Grisham, Ellen Hilderbrand, Michael Connolly and David Baldacci to take on the AI giant.

And comedian Sarah Silverman is suing open AI and meta. She claims the companies developed artificial intelligence tools that freely copied her memoir, Bedwetter, without permission. That's right, mother f-f. Esteemed writing luminaries like myself and George R.R.R. Suing AI. And I'll tell you why in another installment of Long Story Short. For as long as we have had civilization, we've also had art.

For over 40,000 years, artists have had a sacred creative process. They sit down to ruminate on the human condition. They pace and they struggle to focus. They get up to get a snack, maybe take a nap. Then they work a bit more. So they reward themselves by scrolling Instagram on the toilet for so long, they shit again. Then they finally get something on the page.

And when they ask their partner for feedback, they get mad when it isn't what they wanted to hear because their partner doesn't fucking get me. Why do I even ask you, you're supposed to support me? Then eventually they buckle down, really do the work and finally, voila, tub-thumping. But now, generative AI can eliminate that entire creative process in a matter of seconds. Dolly 2 is artificial intelligence software that can turn anything you type into art in any style.

Portrait of a panda in the style of Renoir. And boom. While Game of Thrones author George R. Aramardin has had fans waiting years for his next novels, one programmer used chat G.P.T. to generate the long-awaited installments in near minutes. A programmer generated his own shitty ending to Game of Thrones. Why waste your time? HBO already did that for you.

Here's the thing. Well, AI has helped open many avenues for new works. There's just one problem. They're not new works. What these programs do is scrape text and images from existing works and feed it into their system in order to create copycats. So when someone wanted to know what a modern Mona Lisa would look like, they just typed it into an AI program and seconds later it pumped out this.

That's right. We used this ultra-powerful technological tool to put titties on the Mona Lisa. Congrat Society, we did it. And for the record, if we're gonna add sweater puppies to a Da Vinci painting, it should have been the last supper. I mean, look at them. Who's going to crucify these melons? Anyway, these programs are not just pumping out busty derivative works of art. They're also printing money.

ChatGBT is on track to make a billion dollars just this year alone, which is great for them, but the problem is that these companies are using artists' work without consent or credit or payment. And I've had first-hand experience with this theft because one of the hundred thousand books used to train Chat GPT was my book, The Bedwetter. Available wherever books are sold. And by the way, that book is about my actual life, my jokes, my experiences, my pain, and ChatGPT stole all of it,

and didn't even have the courtesy to give me Mona Lisa Tits. I hadn't seen that artwork. And surprisingly, many of the owners of these AI companies don't seem to be in a giant rush to unpack the moral implications. I bought this for $79, thinking it was the work of a talented artist. But a robot made it. AI software called MidJourney, created by David Holtz. How do you respond to the idea that this is somehow a counterfeit form of artistic expression? Well we're not really selling art. We're

just we have this community that's playing with this technology. Like the art community already has issues with plagiarism. I don't really want to be involved in that. I think you might be. I might be. It might be. You know what you what you made. Oh no you guys aren't 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 th th th tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho- thi thi tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- 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 th th th th th th th th th th th th th. thi thi thi thi thi thi the. the. the the theat the the the toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-a. the t you might be. I might be. It might be. You know what you made. Oh no, you guys aren't going to use the atomic bomb I made to hurt people, are you? When did Humanities villains start looking like such beta cucks? I mean, say what you want about Genghis Khan, but at least he looks like his stomach could handle milk. And this is precisely, well thank you.

This is precisely why you are seeing artists filing lawsuits to protect not only their creative work but the work of future artists. And just to be clear, I'm not looking to shut down AI or turn the clock back. I just want guardrails so that AI fairly compensates the people whose work comprises its entire brain. This is not anything new. Technological advancements will always require regulation. For example, when technology brought us

tu-tables and music sampling, it helped launch the genre of rap music, and brought us lyrical wizards like Biggie and Tupac and Chet Hanks. But back when it started it wasn't clear whether sampling was an innovative art form or stealing but eventually legal guardrails were put in place that helped set how technology could be used to create art and compensate those whose previous works were being used. It's not perfect, but both sides can get what they want. It's why every time you listen to the Jay-Z song Hard Knaik Life, those kids from Annie get money so they don't

have to live in an orphanage and everybody wins. So long story short, I'm not saying we should destroy these AI models. I'm just saying we also need rules to protect artists and their work. And I'm confident we can find a way through this because artists are resilient. We get knocked down, but we get up again. You're never going to keep us down. When we come back, the incredible Margo Price will be joining the show. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.

Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is a Grammy nominated singer, songwriter and author. She's here to talk about her latest album, Strays, and her memoir, Maybe We'll Make It. Please welcome Margo Price. So, my God, I thought my phone alarm was on, but it was the music from here. I'm sorry, my ebos are, oh my, I'm sorry my edibles are, whoop, kicking it. So your album is about substance abuse, it's about self-image, it's about abortion rights, and you wrote it on mushrooms. Was that a revelation and songwriting? Tell me, Spill. It was.

I really wanted to shake things up. You know, I kind of got my start with this old-school country album, it's called Midwest Farmers Daughter and Jack White put it out, and things kind ki kind of finally turned around for me. But yeah, with this album, I just wanted to be able to go out there and not be pigeonholed. Yeah. Yeah. And but the sylisibin opened your brain up? Did what? I'm like so into this. Yeah, it's been pretty transformative for me. The first time I had a psychedelic trip I was 20 years old and I dropped out of

college and moved to Nashville, highly suggested for anybody who doesn't want to get into a student loan debt. But then yeah, then the next time I took it I I wrote this album and and then the third time that I took it I tooked I to to to to to to told.. to to to told. to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the to 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 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 try. try. tru. true. I I was. true. true. true. I was. true. I was. true. I was. try. I was. I was. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm try time I took it I wrote this album and and then the third time that I took it I decided to quit drinking alcohol which had really been a challenge for me and it was kind of after I started reading about Bill Wilson and the work he did with AA and he initially had a psychedelic experience on a plant called Belladonna and they were actually at the very beginning moments of AA they were giving, at the very beginning moments of AA, they were giving people acid and it was curing their alcoholism.

So I don't know if you're feeling stuck with anything. I will say, in my early 20s, ecstasy changed my life. Yeah, MDMA is absolutely incredible for compassion as well. And I, you know, you're honest and you walk the walk. You've been really vocal about gun control, which is, I think, the number one killer of children in this country. And, um, boy, you even took a detour on the road to vote in Nashville for the mayor. That's right. I was out on tour, and it was just a really important election for Nashville.

And so I took off at 10 o'clock at night, got to Nashville at 3 in the morning, woke up at 9, voted, and then drove back and played a show in Illinois. So I voted it. What is it like being a liberal in a country world? Yeah, I mean, I definitely don't get invited to all the parties. But that's okay, their parties suck. And yeah, I think it's been, I like pushing boundaries, I like pushing my limits. I think that if we can have conversations, we live in such polarizing times and really

if we could all realize that we're more like than we think and begin to talk about these things. I want to de-stigmatize psychedelics and just thoughts on gun control, I think that the only way to do that is by talking about it. Yeah, I agree. We we we th, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I that. I that that that that that that that that that that's that's that's that's that's that's that's not that's that's that. that's that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that, I that, I that, I that, I think that the only way to do that is by talking about it. Yeah. I agree. I mean, not different. I mean, I've almost never disliked someone I've actually met face to face. That's right, that's right. You have a song called Light Me Up. Why don't you explain to the audience what it's about Margo?

Okay, all right. This song was one that we wrote the day after we took a God's dose of mushrooms and, you know, I was just listening to a lot of songs in the country music world and even in the Americana world, and I just wasn't hearing a lot of songs about the female orgasm. And I thought we needed to change that. So it's, yeah, it's just a liberating song about sex.

And women's pleasure. Yeah. I mean, you live in such a time. And I live in a place where, you know, abortion rights and women's bodies are just, they're not our own. And I'm here to show up and and and and fight for what's ours. I love it. I love it.

I love it. Now, you wrote this book. Now, you wrote this book. toobey. And what was your approach to writing? Is there any similarities to how you approach song writing? Was it a completely different daunting there any similarities to how you approach songwriting? Was it a completely different daunting task?

It was daunting, and I know you know, as well, laying it all out there. I started writing it when I found myself pregnant with my daughter Ramona, and I was just at home and I couldn't tour. And through the process, it was also kind of when I decided to give up drinking because I was reading everything from this different place. I was able to give myself a little bit more compassion as I was reading things back. But it was scary to put it all out there. You know, it's everybody I've slept with all the drugs I've ever done.

So, sorry, grandma. So, it's interesting because, you know, having written a book, you know, a memoir It's you kind of have to really be a detective in your own life And then you realize that would that's really good just for everybody to do Yeah, because you you learned so much from it and you're I think your editor read it and said Gee it it feels like whiskey is the main character of this book. Yeah, yeah, definitely. She said that that was like my my? my. my. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. to th. to to th. th. th. to the, the, thi, to to thi, the, the, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. 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 te. the teeat. theat. theat. the. the.the main character of this book. Yeah, yeah, definitely. She said that that was like my co-star. And it's true. I mean, I used to drink harder than anybody,

and that was just kind of the way that I lived. It was like a badge of honor. And it was kind of going through that whole time. It's been completely transformative to give it up and just have all this extra energy. Thank you. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show wherever you get your podcast. 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. John Stewart here.

Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election. Economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.