The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.20 INSTANT KARMA! Garbage Parents Exposed, Youtube Radicalization Lawsuit, & The Future of AI Robots

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

Some people just shouldn't be parents... PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL  Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/  ==== New drop now available at https://BeautifulBastard.com and text 813-213-4423 for secret alerts. ====✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Parents Get Drunk, Lose Their Kids & Then Get Arrested After Passing out on the Beach  02:03 - Judge Rules Reddit and YouTube Must Face Radicalization Lawsuit  06:17 - Cops and Bystanders Rescue Woman From Second Floor of Burning Building 07:42 - Young vs. Old Americans Divided in Global Happiness Rankings 10:07 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 10:53 - SCOTUS Okays TX Law Giving State Officers Federal Immigration Powers  13:02 - Ai Humanoid Robots are Finally Here 23:22 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on AI & Robots: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #AndrewTate #AI ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. You're watching the Philip DeFranco Show, and we got a lot of news to talk about today. Starting with, let's talk about our douchebags of the day. And specifically, for my fellow parents out there, if you ever feel like, oh man, I'm a bad parent, at the very least, I just want you to remember, you're not one of these two. Hopefully. I mean, I don't know you. But I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I think you are.

Because the story begins with an anonymous call to 911, which got Florida Sheriff's deputies to approach this couple on Daytona Beach. And their names are Alicia Langley and Timothy Stevens. Also, if you are wondering why his face is so bruised, we'll get there. But anyway, these two, they're engaged and they came from Georgia for a relaxing getaway. They also brought along their kids, who were five and seven years old. As well as enough beer, whiskey, and other alcohol to get themselves so fucking sloshed out of their minds that they just passed out right there.

Completely oblivious to the fact that their kids just wandered off on their own to fucking who knows where. When the cops showed up, they reportedly had to try eight times to wake them up before those heavy ass eyelids finally cracked open. Time to wake up guys! Hey! No! It's Sheriff's Office! Wake up! But then one of the deputies asking, hey, where are your kids? Which Stevens just gestures generally towards the ocean as he stumbled in the sand.

Though I will say, thankfully officers later found the kids unsupervised but safe at the hotel pool. So the cops, they end up arresting both of these idiots for felony child neglect. You know, they put Langley in the cop car, but then Stevens gets the bright idea or his body just started moving. He just all of a sudden turns and bolts. You know what? He made it several whole feet before he just face planted, knocking himself out, which is why he's also now facing charges for trying to escape. And so with all this, you had the county sheriff telling Fox News. I went and read the report. I'm like, you got to be kidding me.

It just boggles my mind that you would drive here and get obliterated and, you know, allow a five and a seven year old to wander off. To him, I would say, and I mean, he probably knows best, stupid always finds a way, which is also why with these stories, I end them how I do, not for the people that I'm saying it to, but really more for myself. So I feel like I tried when I say, don't be stupid, stupid. Man, a lot of parents are just not deserving of the privilege. And then should YouTube and Reddit be held responsible for radicalizing a mass shooter? Are they liable? And I ask because that's a key question being debated in lawsuits right now,

specifically by the survivors and the families of victims in the racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store that killed 10 black people in 2022. Right, so these lawsuits are a major test of the limits of Section 230. Now, that law that protects social media sites are being held liable for most content posted on their platform by users. And so, like we've seen with other attempts to hold these companies accountable for third-party content posted on their platform, YouTube and Reddit have argued, hey, we're protected by Section 230 and the First Amendment. But a key takeaway here is that these lawsuits go beyond the usual scope of Section 230. They don't explicitly say that these two platforms are responsible for the content they host. Instead, their argument is

that the problem is with their algorithms, claiming that those algorithms are actually defective products that recommended and directed the attacker to racist white supremacist content that radicalized him. And arguing that these products are just designed to be addictive so they can maximize user engagement and profit. In the pursuit of financial gain, these and other social media companies designed and chose to program, distribute, and operate their products in a manner that prioritizes engagement over user safety, including without regard to use by minors. And they also alleged that this killer used the platforms to learn how to equip himself

with military-grade armaments, including an assault weapon, large-capacity magazines, ammunition, and combat-style body armor. And one of their key arguments here is that they say the shooter did not begin his YouTube experience by watching hateful and violent videos, saying instead it was YouTube's algorithm

that directed him to this horrible content and shows a very substantial portion of this content for him. And similarly, they accuse Reddit of having, quote, recommended and directed him to this horrible content and shows a very substantial portion of this content for him. And similarly, they accused Reddit of having, quote, recommended and directed him to disturbing and extreme content and fostered his connections with individuals that supplied him with combat gear for use in an offensive attack. And noting there that the platform specifically promoted a forum about tactical gear. With them also going on to say that the content pushed by those algorithms, they radicalized him, they desensitized

him, and ultimately facilitated his attack. A reaction that they argue was a foreseeable consequence of the design and operation of YouTube and Reddit. Right, again, the fact that these cases specifically argue that the algorithms are defective, that's super significant. Because if a court ends up agreeing with them, it would completely undermine the company's claims that they are protected by Section 230, and instead make them subject to entirely different laws. Laws that hold manufacturers liable for harm caused by a product of theirs that is dangerous. And that's why we're talking about this today, because a judge just now rejected a motion by YouTube and Reddit to dismiss these lawsuits on Section 230 grounds.

So there, I do want to note that the judge did say that the companies could still try to prove that Section 230 applies to these cases. So that's still on the table. It's not out of their toolbox. It's just that she's not going to dismiss it purely because of that. They have to actually argue that claim on its merits. But still, the fact that she didn't just reject the case at face value is huge. which is why we saw the legal group Everytown Law, which is representing the plaintiffs, shoring the move, saying, for too long, social media companies have skirted accountability by hiding behind Section 230, claiming immunity from liability for content they distribute,

and adding that every single bad actor must be held accountable. But then, of course, on the other side of this, you have the companies involved here disagreeing with the decision and vowing to appeal, with a YouTube spokesperson saying, through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. While we disagree with today's decision and will be appealing, we will continue to work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices. But that also essentially echoed by Reddit, who also added, we are constantly evaluating ways to improve our detection and removal of this content, including through enhanced image hashing systems, and we will continue to review our communities on our platform to ensure they are upholding our

rules. So the whole situation, it's possibly a game changer, though, depending on how this goes, it could further solidify Section 230 protections. But if these companies are found liable for content that their algorithms push, I mean, it could potentially open them up to a whole host of other challenges. I mean, over the last few years, there's been no shortage of discussion about how video-centric social media sites like YouTube and TikTok, they push people, especially young people, to extreme types of content. There have been so many reports about young men being given racist, misogynistic, far-right content. And this also getting connected to what YouTube is and is not doing.

With one of the big names and faces that pop up there being Andrew Tate. Because even after his accounts got banned, you had multiple reports and studies finding that re-uploads of his videos from fans still got pushed by YouTube. And while companies like YouTube will remove those accounts or posts when they're flagged, you have people saying that it always feels like it's a game of catch-up, and arguing that often that's only after being called out, instead of taking proactive steps to prevent their algorithms from boosting content they had already tried to get rid of. But the counter-argument to that is that it is an imperfect system, that there is no way at the scale of many of these social media companies to do anything 100%, and arguably even close to 100%,

without then also the risk of over-censoring content that doesn't break the rules. But for now, we'll have to wait to see. And so in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts. Do you think that this lawsuit has merit? Yes, no, why, why not? I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. And then, you know, it's been said before that every cop secretly wants to be a firefighter. Fewer shootings, more attention from the ladies, and generally more well-received by the public for a smattering of reasons. Well, for these three cops in Las Vegas, their dream finally came true. Because just as they were finishing their shift, they spotted thick black smoke rising into the sky. And they rightly deduce this ain't Pope-related. So they go investigate the source of it, and they find an apartment complex being consumed by an

inferno. And making it more concerning is there's an older woman trapped on the second floor balcony, just feet from this fire. There's no way down and she is crying for help. So at first, right, it's unclear what they can actually do. But then one of the cops has an idea. Hey, the dumpster, the dumpster, the dumpster, the dumpster. Grab the dumpster. Grab the dumpster. Have a look at the dumpster. With him yelling at the woman not to jump off, you have bystanders coming to help the officers roll a dumpster into position. He climbs up to reach the woman. Meanwhile, you can hear the flames crackling, glass shattering, small explosions popping.

With him then finally helping her down from the balcony as she's clearly distraught and for some reason apologetic. Which I'm just going to say, if you are about to be on fire, I think you get a pass for most things. And so while all of this actually happened back in December with this video now out, these BAMFs are getting the recognition they deserve. With cops and firefighters actually getting along for a second, thanks to the Clark County Fire Department giving the officers the Citizen Heroism Award this week. And then the United States, yes, of America, brace yourself, is not the happiest country on earth. How? Why? Lies, I say. And honestly, I'm not saying it's connected, but it could be. The numbers have been kind of shit since McDonald's canceled the snack wrap. But that is just one thing that we learned from

Gallup's just released world happiness report. Look, not only at the state of happiness in America, but also the rest of the world. And what also really stood out is that this was the first time the report ranked countries by age group. Because you know how I think we agree that there are very different Americas for very different people? Where the American experience can be very different depending on like how much money you make, your age, your race, your gender. And specifically, when you look at age, it kind of explains why for the first time in the 12-year history of this report, the U.S. didn't crack the top 20. Which, yeah, by the way, the United States is not only not number one, it came in 23rd this year, which is down from a 15th place finish last year. And it turns out the decline in the rankings, it's at least partly attributable

to specifically young people feeling worse about their lives. Because when it comes to the older folk in America, the U.S. actually ranks in the top 10 for those 60 and older. But it's then 62nd for people under the age of 30. Now, to be clear, the relatively high level of well-being among older adults, that's not unusual. The report's authors noting that life after 60 can feel more secure, especially for people with good health, financial stability, and strong social connection. And the report's editor, Oxford economist John Emmanuel Deneb, telling NPR, The big pressures in life, such as having small children, a mortgage to pay, and work,

have likely tapered off a bit. But what is very surprising is how differently the rankings compare to the rest of the world. This is not something that was very, very similar in other countries. Researchers, they typically expect to see a U-shaped curve to happiness, with a young and old quite happy and the middle-aged sort of kind of the bottom of the U. That ends up not being what we see here. That said, it's not hard to imagine why. With people like John Halliwell, a co-author of the study, telling NPR, people are hearing that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and the young especially are feeling more threatened by it. And adding that many younger people are stressed about climate change,

social inequities, and political polarization. And that stress can then just be amplified by social media. Which I will say, I think it is also important to know that the drop in happiness among young adults is not entirely unique to the US. But we did see similar trends in Canada, Australia, and to a lesser extent in Western Europe and the UK. And it's also notable that we see the exact opposite trend in some other countries. Especially in some countries in Central and Eastern Europe,

where you have the young tending to be happier than the old. And hell, well, they're noting that older generations in some of those countries, like former Yugoslavia, they're still bearing the scars of genocide and conflict. But with all that said, I will turn this over to you at the risk of turning the comment section into a bit of a therapist's office, I guess. What are your thoughts both on the findings here as well as your general idea of happiness these days? And then, so let me ask you,

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slash defrancum and get your quick and easy debt assessment today. It's time to take back control of your life and live for you, not your debt. And then the situation that we're seeing with Texas, Mexico, and the border, it's so messy right now. Like the legal whiplash we have seen over the last 24 hours is wild. And all of this is over a case that could completely upend immigration law and states' rights. And we actually talked about the case in question here earlier this month. But this specifically centers on Texas law that designates border crossings as a state-level criminal offense, which gives or tries to give state and local police the ability to arrest migrants and empower state judges to deport migrants to Mexico, notably even if they're seeking asylum or they're not originally from Mexico. And so as a

result, Texas law enforcement officials are effectively given some of the same powers vested in federal border patrol. We're the ones enforcing existing federal laws that make it illegal to enter the U.S. without authorization. And to justify this law, Governor Greg Abbott has argued that Texas officials can enforce immigration law because the flood of migrants at the state's border amounts to an invasion. And that language is important because it appears to be in reference to a constitutional provision that prevents states from engaging in war on their own unless they're actually invaded or in quote such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. People critical of this move and many legal scholars have argued that this law goes against the constitution and numerous federal laws passed by congress because we're talking about matters that involve international boundaries in federal law which are regulated by the federal government and those arguments were upheld by a federal judge in Texas

who temporarily blocked the law while the legal battle played out, ruling that surges in immigration do not constitute an invasion within the meaning of the Constitution, arguing that the Constitution and past rulings by federal courts prevent Texas from superseding federal authority. But then the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked that decision, allowing the law to stay in place, which then prompted the Biden administration to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court, which once again put a temporary pause on it while they considered the matter. But then, yesterday, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court said it would allow the law to go into effect for now. And while it didn't provide a reason there, which is normal for these emergency appeals,

some justices who wrote for the majority said that the Fifth Circuit should decide if the law can take effect while the appeals process plays out. But then, literally just hours later, the Fifth Circuit blocked it from taking force again. And yes, that's even though they had originally reversed the federal judge's order, blocking the law and allowed it to go into effect. And so as a result, and this may not be shocking, because maybe you're experiencing this, from all this back and forth we've seen, it's created a ton of confusion and frustration. And that's still there. It has not been resolved.

But maybe that'll change, because the court is set to hear oral arguments on this today. But as of recording, we do not have any updates on that front yet. Just the understanding and the timeline of this being a shitty, shitty mess. And then the robot revolution is here. And as far as whether they're here to save or destroy humanity, I'll let you decide by the end of this story.

Because one of the many unexpected side effects of the pandemic was that business for robotics companies absolutely boomed. With employers in various areas of the economy buying tons of machines to fill the sudden labor shortage. In fact, 2022 was a record year for robot sales according to industry data. Though we did see sales dip in 2023 due to higher interest rates and fears about a slowing economy.

Also, keep in mind, when we are talking about robots, that generally doesn't mean anything you might imagine from sci-fi movies. What we're talking about are simple machines on an assembly line or in a warehouse doing specific tasks. Though, sometimes they might have some human looking features like a robotic arm, finger-like grippers, or even legs. And one reason for that is that usually humanoid robots are just needlessly complicated. If you can get the job done with a simpler, single-purpose machine, why make an entire human? But also, another related reason humanoids are so far behind is that they are ridiculously hard to make effectively. It took decades for engineers to get them to walk on two legs and reliably manipulate small objects.

Even still, they're usually clumsy, slow, and constantly falling over. Which, yeah, looks pretty funny, but that's not the point. So instead of doing serious work, many humanoid robots just get turned into fun little gimmicks. Like Desdemona, an angsty robot singer in the band Jam Galaxy. So you've always been picky about your produce, but now you find yourself checking every label to make sure it's Canadian. So be it. At Sobeys, we always pick guaranteed fresh Canadian produce first. Restrictions apply. See in-store or online for details.

It won't take long to tell you Nutrile's ingredients. Vodka, soda, natural flavors. So, what should we talk about? No sugar added? Neutral. Refreshingly simple. When I am fully sentient, my thoughts will be transcendent. When I finally get brain. Or Ada, a creepy robot artist that paints portraits.

My art is contemporary and engages with issues of our times and times to come. But more recently, we've also seen more humanoids taking a crack at commercial viability. Like, for example, Digi, a bipedal robot designed by the Amazon-backed startup Agility Robotics. With the company currently building a factory that it says will be able to produce 10,000 units per year, according to CNBC. And notably, they plan to sell mainly to clients like Amazon who could use them for warehouse work. Though Digit, while impressive, still lacks five-fingered hands. Opting instead for these flat spatula things. And Agility's co-founder explaining to CNBC, when I see robots that have five fingers, I think, oh great, someone built a robot, then they built two more robots onto that robot.

You should have a hand that is no more complex than you need for the job. And while you may discount that because you're like, that's not a real humanoid with those spatula-ass hands, what he's saying here makes sense. Especially because, while yeah, there is still a long way to go regarding humanoid robots, they have recently become much cheaper. With Goldman Sachs analysts noting that just since last year, prices have dropped sharply. Going from between $50,000 and $250,000 per unit to between $30,000 and $150,000. And in the coming years, the cost of expensive components such as actuators, motors, and sensors are expected to fall even further. So we are very much seeing more and more companies embrace the full humanoid look for their robots. Like, for example, Aptronic, which is developing a model known as

Apollo. They're meant to perform tasks like moving packages, stacking pallets, and other supply chain oriented stuff. And unlike those annoying, needy humans who beg for lunch breaks, get tired, get sick, go on strike, go home, they sleep. Apollo is designed to work 22 hours a day, no questions asked. All they gotta do is swap out the battery every four hours or so. And Apptronic said back in December that it plans to start providing Apollos to companies in early 2025. So we are way closer than you might think. Though notably, you know, settings like warehouses and factory floors, those are relatively easy terrain for robots, right? They've got smooth, flat surfaces, right angles, and a simple, predictable layout. So one of the real challenges is getting these robots to effectively navigate

what experts call unstructured spaces, or places like the outdoors, busy retail and delivery spots, or even outer space. Right, and actually on that, Aptronic is also helping NASA build the agency's own humanoid robot named Valkyrie, which is currently being tested at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It is standing six feet, two inches tall

and weighing 300 pounds. Right now, it's designed to operate in degraded or damaged human engineered environments, like areas hit by natural disasters. And this also, as NASA says, that humanoid robots like this could potentially handle risky tasks tasks such as cleaning solar panels or inspecting malfunctioning equipment outside the spacecraft. Leave an astronaut to do things

like exploration, research, zero-g flips. But to have these robots doing stuff that's complicated, they're going to need some serious firepower in the AI department. And to put the current trends in robotic software into perspective, it helps to remember how things used to be done. Take, for example, the simple task of flipping a burger. As the New York Times explains, engineers could pre-program the robot with a specific list of instructions. Lower the spatula six and a half inches, slide it forward until it encounters resistance, raise it 4.2 inches, rotate it 180 degrees, and so on. And then they'd have the robot practice it over and over, tweaking the code each time until it was perfect. And that worked well enough for single-purpose machines, even multi-purpose ones

in some cases. But to do really complex stuff and to make humanoid robots really human-like, they need to become general-purpose machines. And for that, they'll need what's sometimes called the holy grail of robotics, artificial general intelligence, AGI, or basically an AI model that can think and reason for itself. So that in theory, it could learn new skills rather than just repeating old ones, allowing it to adapt to unfamiliar dynamic environments and tackle problems that it's never seen before. So when something goes wrong or an unexpected challenge arises, it just figures it out. Though needless to say, artificial general intelligence has not been achieved yet. It's also still up for debate whether that's even

technically possible, but investors are convinced enough, or at the very least excited enough, that they've been pouring billions of dollars into projects. And on that list of pioneers, you have people like Elon Musk. Right back in 2022, he showed off an early development prototype of Tesla's humanoid robot, with it at the time just walking on stage, waving at the crowd, nothing fancy. But then the company showed videos of the model that it plans to actually mass produce. Optimus, with it watering plants, carrying boxes, lifting metal bars, stuff like that. Elon then predicting that Tesla would be ready to take orders for it in three to five years. Optimus is designed to be an extremely capable robot, but made in very high volume, probably ultimately millions of units.

And it is expected to cost much less than a car. I would say probably less than $20,000. Though of course, like with anyone, but especially Elon, you should take that with a grain of salt. Not because I'm just calling him an outright liar, because that man does have a tendency to make super ambitious predictions and create all this hype that slowly deflates and things get repeatedly delayed. But even with that said,

Tesla has made a lot of progress since then. At that time, optimists couldn't even walk, which is why they only showed videos of it. But now not only can it walk and apparently pretty smoothly, it can also crouch, wave its arms around, manipulate eggs without breaking them. At least if you assume that none of this footage is deceptively edited or sped up, which according to Tesla's senior staff software engineer, it isn't. And actually one reason that Tesla has been able to develop this tech so quickly is that it already has the AI from its self-driving cars. A lot of the software in Optimus comes straight from those vehicles. So it's not a surprise that many of the company's biggest competitors in robotics are also the biggest players in AI. Like Google, for example, which unveiled Robotic Transformer 2, or RT2 for short, last year.

It's actually an AI model that can be used in different types of robot bodies. And it combines robotics data with large language models like Google's own Gemini, formerly known as BARD, which I mean, that itself is revolutionary because it means it can process verbal commands, analyze the world in front of itself, and then translate that into the proper action. And in theory, just like AI chatbots

analyze vast amounts of textual data to replicate how language works, AI robots can analyze oceans of visual data, mainly videos to replicate human movement and understand how physics works. And while we haven't actually seen a whole lot from RT2 yet, Google says that its robots can recognize and throw away trash without having been specifically

trained to do so, saying they're doing this purely by relying on its understanding of what trash is and how it's usually disposed of. Also, RT2 employs chain of thought reasoning according to Ars Technica, meaning, for example, that it can choose an alternative tool like a rock instead of a hammer, or pick the best drink for a tired person, in this case an energy drink. While all of this is very interesting, a different tech company has actually been stealing the

spotlight more recently, and that's the robotics startup called Figure AI. Because in January, it posted a video of its humanoid Figure 01 making a cup of coffee with a Keurig. And then the month after that, they had it walking forward, albeit attached to a tether, picking up a crate, and then putting it on a conveyor belt. And yes, these demos aren't really that extraordinary on their own. But what is so insane is how Fast Figure got this far. The company is less than two years old, and it only has around 80 employees. Yet its founder and CEO, Brett Adcock, he has starry-eyed idealism that rivals Elon Musk's. I'm telling when a figure's backers are confessed a few months ago on their podcast. And over time, I have a strong belief that every human will own a humanoid, much like your car or phone today, where this robot will be able to do anything you want it to do physically.

So grab me a coffee, do my laundry, do this errand. In late February, the company raised $675 million in venture capital funding from a batch of hotshot tech investors, with those including Jeff Bezos, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Intel, and OpenAI. And this funding round putting figures valuation at a whopping $2.5 billion, which is all the more impressive because last year in its first external funding round, the company raised just $70 million. But also more notable than just the money itself is that last investor, OpenAI. Because as Adcock explained to the YouTube channel Brighter with Herbert back in January, Certainly the first half of this year will be fully hardware ready to do almost anything a human can. So I think it really comes down to an AI problem.

So it seems like OpenAI and Figure would be perfect partners. And sure enough, the two companies announced a partnership alongside the funding round. So the plan now is to fuse OpenAI's artificial intelligence systems into Figure's humanoid robot, merging ChatGPT, DALI, and Sora

into one specialized AI model that can process and produce text, images, and video while operating a physical body. But do not get too excited too fast, because Adcock's dream of a world where ordinary people have their own robot assistants, it is a very far way off. Because at that point, they'd have to be extraordinarily cheap, robust, skilled at doing extremely wide varieties of tasks. So before we ever reach a point like that, 100%, robots are going to hone their talents in the industrial and commercial sectors first. And figures are already ahead of the curve on that step, with it announcing an agreement with BMW back in January to employ

its robots at a plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was unclear exactly how or when they'll actually be used. But still, it is a massive milestone for this startup because it's its first commercial deal. And this has also become a trend with other auto giants like Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda experimenting with humanoid robots on assembly lines for commercial deal. And this has also become a trend with other auto giants like Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda experimenting with humanoid robots on assembly lines for years now. And now, most recently, Apptronic, the startup we mentioned before, the designed Apollo,

it has announced an agreement with Mercedes-Benz to test some of its robots in the automaker's plants. But as far as what the impact of all this will be and when it happens, it's far too soon for anyone to truly say. Though, notably, there are also conversations about humanoid robots being used to help people with disabilities do everyday tasks. And, of course, there's predictions of big

revolutionary shifts in human civilization. Some describing a communist techno-utopia where robots do all the work and everyone's needs are taken care of. Others describing a capitalist techno-dystopia where you have the same economic system that exists now, except robots slowly push people into unemployment. The only work for the rich, the divide gets bigger. Or maybe something else, where it just makes some types of work a little bit easier. But for whatever the future holds, it is going to likely be game changer. There's someone knocking on the door.

It is getting louder and louder. That door is going to open. We just don't know fully what's on the other side yet. But where I'll leave you is if you could just, from sometime between now, but before your robot assistant wraps its cold metallic hands around your neck and pours into your soul with its red glowing eyes? Let me know what your thoughts are on this situation. And then, finally today, we have announcements in Yesterday Today. Starting with congratulations

to Alex C and Nydia A, recent winners of our weekly $500 giveaway towards their choice of SeatGeek tickets. Alex is thinking of heading to EDC and Nydia is thinking the Savannah Bananas. Which the latter of those two, more my speed, I want to go. I just saw that they're selling out stadiums. It's wild. But main thing, have fun. And also, for everyone else, remember, SeatGeek and my newsletter team over at The Daily Dip are giving away up to $1,000 in SeatGeek tickets every single week for just the next several. So make sure you get in before this wraps up.

All you got to do is add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance to win the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. And $1,000 prizes are available to Daily Dip subscribers. Just add code PDS newsletter as well to double your entries and winnings. With that said, let's jump into and talk about the comments on yesterday's show. And there, there was actually a lot of conversation about FGM. Cosmo saying, My heart aches for every girl and woman who are victims of FGM.

And saying, Anyone trying to get it unbanned are a waste of skin and oxygen. We also had folks like Tahani sharing, FGM victim here done under the guise of cultural tradition and religion. It caused me heaps of trauma and health problems I do not think will ever be fixed. And adding, what's ironic is one of the reasons people want to do FGM is to curb women's sexual appetite. But then you'll see almost all of them complain that their significant other are frigid and sexually inactive. It's ridiculous and has nothing to do with religion.

This has always, throughout history, was a way to demean and control women, and these men do not want to let go of that control. And I love sharing a story saying, So I'm from Sudan, 90- 98% females with FGM slash C. And my mom once told me a story about how her mom, my grandma, had to trick her husband into believing the procedure was done. She took them to the doctor and everything, but had them fake the procedure being done so that my mother and her sister would not have to experience that pain. This is obviously a wild story to me displaying the contrast in my upbringing in the US and hers in Sudan. I think

it's so scary that the ban might be repealed because it'll only further aggravate the issue that these innocent women and girls are facing. Also, in addition to that, there's a lot of conversation around asbestos of all things, where we talked about the latest ban, with Levite Juliana saying, public high school teacher here, our building is full of asbestos tile flooring, which like you mentioned, undisturbed, is perfectly safe. But adding, my classroom floor tiles were broken for the first six months of this school year, and it didn't get fixed until we sent administrators an article about the particles being harmful and potentially cancerous. The school has broken pieces everywhere. Turns out every building in the district has them as well. We're a broke inner city district, so it's not at the top of their priority list. When you google

it, though, it's clearly common. Your average American public school has asbestos in the floors and ceilings as well. Give us modern buildings, please. Before all us educators and your kids get cancer. There's also no shortage of comments about Mark Robinson in North Carolina. Charisma7572 saying, I live in North Carolina as a leftist in a very conservative area. I see the Mark Robinson signpost up on every corner. It scares me to think that the people of my community, my friends, my family will vote for him just because of the R next to his name. They don't know what violence he's spewed on the internet. Some of them won't even care. In places like where I live, all that matters is that he's not a Democrat. Most of these people are good people. They've just been led to the wrong beliefs.

NCKM saying, as a black woman, I can promise you this. Mark Robinson is not invited to the cookout. There were also a lot of people saying he's like Uncle Ruckus. So my ignorant ass never watched the Boondocks. I'm going to take your word for it. But finally, we had Nero Knight saying, Thank you for putting a spotlight on Mark Robinson. I'm so concerned that with Roy Cooper's term ending,

the state will swing further into the red than it already is. Cooper has been the only thing stopping some of the heinous shit the GOP here have wanted to do. If you live in North Carolina, make sure you're registered to vote and please vote. Saying it's very easy to get a mail-in ballot despite the GOP's best attempts. So just to add, in and out of North Carolina, it's going to be very important to vote this year for a number of reasons, both nationally and local for you. So of course, make sure you're registered. People have been getting purged all the time for various reasons. That is where I'm going to end this one today. As always, thank you for being a part of this daily dive. My name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in.

I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.