After Things Podcast

The episode begins with a roleplayed investigation of a North Dakota fossil site, where the hosts describe a Thescelosaurus leg and fossilized Triceratops skin and joke about what could have caused the remains. They settle into the reported claim that the site preserves evidence from the Chicxulub impact event, including fish, a turtle, a pterosaur embryo in an egg, and glass-like particles in fish gills, while also noting skepticism in the paleontology community about aspects of the site and its publication history. A long middle segment is devoted to Andrew Mayne discussing OpenAI's DALL·E 2 image generation system, emphasizing that it turns text prompts into images, supports style changes and edits, and is meant as a tool that amplifies creativity rather than replaces artists. The conversation also covers technical limits, staged rollout, concerns about deepfakes and misinformation, and Andrew's argument that AI development should include a wide range of expertise; the episode then closes with picks for Gu