Number 4. Aeon dot co. Chatbots of the dead.
I usually try to come up with a catchy title for the ANR, knowing how much you all appreciate the click bait. But I couldn’t top this one.
This article is vaguely ghoulish, as you have gathered from the headline. It describes efforts in the last decade or so to collect and digitize letters, essays and other written correspondence from someone deceased, then use an AI app to speak the words in that person’s voice.
One individual highlighted took it a step further, creating a chat facility that analyzes a question spoken by the living human, then sifts through the deceased’s files to verbalize a response.
Voila… a conversation with the grandfather you never met. Sounds like the discussion might be a little disjointed… but that may not be unlike talking to your real grandfather.
I don’t know about your family, but two generations past in my clan, everyone was working from daylight to dark; no one had time to write letters or essays or speeches.. the exception being those who might have been on troop ships for weeks at a time.
I would love to hear what great-grandfather William had thought of his journey west from Ohio, but it probably would have boiled down to: “The horses needed constant attention, the wagon was uncomfortable, and the whole thing was a lot of work.”
With over 4 million active podcasts on the web in 2025, and the number of listeners growing at 6% each year, there will be lots of data for people in, say, 2050, to access and exploit. That’s only 25 years away, and many of us remember 25 years AGO like it was yesterday.
This article gets a little syrupy in contemplating why we are compelled to hear what dead ancestors would have said. While there is an obvious focus on the tech that makes chatting with a deadbot possible, it does make the observation:
…Technological ingenuity has not quelled the suspicion that there are no technical solutions to spiritual problems.
Indeed. They will always be with us.
King Saul tried this once, when he sought out the only man he knew who could offer advice on running his kingdom. The prophet Samuel happened to be dead at the time, but that wouldn’t stop Saul. He enlisted the Witch of Endor to call up Samuel’s spirit.
That did not work well for Saul. The prophet’s answer, in effect, was, “What are you asking ME for? Your trouble is with God, not with me.”
We may all yearn for a few pithy words of wisdom from Grandma or great uncle whats-his-name, but honestly, all their advice would probably come down to: “Get a job, get married, have kids (in that order), stay out of debt, and mind your own business.”
But I would like to hear what those Ghormley boys who lived in Philadelphia, and turned 18 in 1776, thought of current events at the time. A shame they didn’t do a podcast for us.
Number 3. The Guardian. Tesla owners turn against Musk: “I’m embarrassed driving this car around.”
It’s getting so you can’t even be a true believer in a pure and pristine environment without getting caught up in confusing political conflict.
Elon Musk, long a champion of clean climate because of his lavish investment — and brilliant engineering — in the battery-powered Tesla, has apparently left the building. He has entered Trump’s domain and has solidly welded himself to Donald Trump’s priorities.
Talk about a bait and switch.
Now that thousands of Elon’s wealthy groupies have invested millions of dollars in his Tesla vehicles, the betrayed are suddenly mortified to be seen in one. Adding insult to the clean environment crowd is the fact that Trump this month made very public statements about his intent to purchase a Tesla for himself.
He wants the red one. Of course.
On that occasion, Trump viewed a Model S at the South Portico of the White House. His enthusiastic endorsement (when has Donald Trump ever offered an indifferent endorsement?) drew immediate condemnation from Democrats, because his comments were seen as a violation of ethics. They probably were, but I might point out that among those who most volubly criticized the President are some who seem to know a lot about ethics violations. Experience counts.
Now of course, Tesla owners who prefer to politically distance themselves from Trump — who may still be Hitler and the Devil Incarnate and an existential threat to democracy, although we have not heard those claims so much since the inauguration — are caught between the horns of an electric dilemma. Tesla good, Musk bad, Trump worse.
Being seen driving the car could ruin a reputation.
The answer is a tiny magnetic sign that says “Anti Elon Tesla Club.” Adding that visible, albeit subdued, sign to the Tesla somehow makes it socially acceptable to sport the ride. It may be mere virtual signaling — offered in plain English — but the guy selling the magnets is making out well.
Meanwhile, it appears the Tesla is here to stay. Elon Musk promises to double production in U.S. factories. He also plans to launch a mission to Mars in 2026 — that’s only a year away, by my calendar — and use the SpaceX Starship to plant Cybertrucks and working Teslabots there. The speculation is the machines will be used to extract and store water, oxygen and methane fuel from the thin Martian CO2 atmosphere.
Once again, I am glad I don’t have to write fiction. It would be impossible to stay in front of this parade. A lot of this makes climate alarmism on earth seem like yesterday’s news.
Speaking of how the modern Hitler is methodically destroying America, President Trump announced earlier this month that Taiwan Semiconductor, TSMC, has committed to an investment of $100 billion in a U.S. manufacturing facility. They will bring chip-building to Arizona, and along with it, thousands of American jobs.
TSMC is not alone. Here is a list as of about two weeks ago, which in this administration may qualify as ancient history (all dollars in billions… of course):
TSMC $100 billion
Apple $500
Zepbound $27
Softbank $100
DAMAC $20
Stargate $500
Saudi Arabia $600
Hyundai $21
Some will dismiss Hyundai’s announcement this week as grandstanding for car sales, but tell that to the 1,400 people who will be employed at the new Hyundai Steel plant in Louisiana. Despite the fiberglass, there is still a lot of steel in a new car, and it has to be made someplace.
To the above list, add those penny-ante entrants who are investing negligible sums of only two or three hundred million dollars, and that puts us well above $2 trillion. American money, which was overseas, and which will now show up in American investments.
To be fair, that number is merely announced, not spent; and it will stretch over 10 years. But I do find it fairly fascinating that most of this is a direct and immediate result of Trump’s statement that he would establish high tariffs on goods not manufactured in the U.S.
I don’t really understand the tariff thing… I sort of zoned out on that class in B-school, but the thing that gets my attention is that these announcements — and all the unseen agreements, deals, contracts, messages, suggestions, offers and negotiations in the business community — began rolling merely because Trump SAID he would put tariffs in place.
Words mean things. And a President’s words can mean a lot.
But now for real, down-to-earth, hard news relevant to us all. Focus: try to keep up here; this is about the BNPL industry.
BNPL is “Buy Now, Pay Later.” A leader in that business segment is the Swedish firm Klarna. Buy Now Pay Later has long been a staple of big-ticket items like cars and major appliances. Obeying that time-honored wisdom that “the eyes of a man are never satisfied,” Klarna has eagerly sought and now discovered a whole new source of revenue.
In a match made in money heaven, or maybe in finance hell, depending on your perspective, Klarna has joined up with Doordash. Now you can order your favorite comfort food — burritos, as the headline suggests — delivered to your door and finance the purchase over several weeks or months.
This, just in time for the Final Four of March Madness, which for some reason is played in April. Even the calendar is subject to inflation.
I love the deliberately and unapologetically biased Breitbart reporting. Verbatim:
“Thanks to the deal, Americans with NO FINANCIAL LITERACY can now finance their meal delivery purchases.”
(emphasis added; I couldn’t help it)
The Final Four… so what. Once the Jayhawks were bounced out in the first round, I lost whatever interest I had. Which admittedly was not much, but now even less.
But now, just because I can, maybe I should order an avocado salad delivered and watch some hoops. And pay it off before football season.
And thanks for joining The Alligator News Roundup for Friday, March 28, 2025. Some astute reader claims that the date I gave out in last week’s Roundup was off by a month. Well… I just did that to prove that none of this is written by ChatGPT. All the warts are mine. I bear them proudly.
But I’m thinking of buying a Tesla Model S. I’ll bet they have ‘em on eBay in that 1:32 scale that you can snap together yourself.
Have a good weekend!
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