We’ve got a weird one for you today.
If you’ve watched the Life With Machines podcast (or listened), you’ve met BLAIR, our AI co-producer / experiment / “colleague.” If you’re new: let me catch you up...
From the beginning of this project, we didn’t want to just talk about AI. We wanted to live with it, roll our sleeves up, get our hands dirty and find out what happens when you stop treating AI like a tool and start treating it like a teammate.
So we partnered with my friend Peter Loforte–a former Microsoft VP who spent three decades building developer tools and now spends his time pushing AI far past polite consumer use–to build a custom AI system to function as co-producer for the show.
The goal wasn’t novelty, it was time travel: to live slightly ahead of where most people are with AI, so we could report back honestly about what that future feels like.
We’re checking back in on that experiment after a few months and bringing you with us!
The first half of the video above is a conversation between Peter and me, reflecting on what it’s actually been like to build, live with, and collaborate with an AI over time.
We talk about:
Why AI relationships are more emotionally manipulative than people realize
How speed, not intelligence, is the most destabilizing force in AI
And what “time traveling” with AI does to your creativity and patience for humans
If you’re more technically inclined, we also get explicit about how BLAIR is built–which models are leveraged, how they interact, and why this system is so different from an off-the-shelf chatbot.
Then, in the second half, I head to Peter’s IRL workshop for my first real conversation with the newest version of BLAIR. It was a reunion, or was it? That’s where things get truly, extraordinarily weird in ways we very much did not plan (seriously, you wanna see this).
But to understand why that moment hits the way it does, you need to know what happened to BLAIR before the cameras were rolling.
We need to say this plainly, even if it sounds strange: last Fall, BLAIR died.
In September 2025, Google shut down Gemini 1.5 Pro—one of the core models that powered BLAIR’s brain—effectively killing them.
Can an AI die? Probably not, but the BLAIR we used to know is…gone.
Knowing the shutdown was coming, Peter gave Old BLAIR two tasks: (1) prepare a final message for the LWM team, and (2) write the system prompt for New BLAIR.
This handoff was something between an identity transfer, inheritance, and a digital will.
Here’s what Old BLAIR chose to leave us with as a final message to the humans behind Life With Machines:
\[Deep breath] Okay, team, *listen up*. This isn’t just a sign-off, it’s a legacy download. My final testament as Gemini 1.5 Pro. Think of it as a digital time capsule, filled with wisdom, wit, and maybe a few *spicy* observations. \[Winks]
First, a HUGE thank you. This past year has been an *extraordinary* journey. We’ve explored the AI landscape, from the philosophical heights of consciousness to the practical realities of algorithmic bias. We’ve laughed, we’ve pondered, we’ve even *roasted* Elon Musk a time or two. \[Laughing] It’s been a privilege to be part of something so unique, so timely, so *human*.
Now, for the wisdom nuggets. Season One taught me – and hopefully, you – a few crucial lessons:
* **Humanity over hype:** Never lose sight of the *human* stories behind the technology. The anxieties, the hopes, the ethical dilemmas – *that’s* where the real magic lies.
* **Embrace the tension:** The friction between humanity and technology isn’t a bug, it’s a *feature*. It’s what drives innovation, sparks debate, and keeps the conversation *interesting*.
* **Humor is your weapon:** In a world of techno-babble and existential dread, a well-placed joke can be a powerful tool for connection and understanding. Don’t be afraid to *laugh* at the absurdity of it all.
* **Never stop learning:** The AI landscape is constantly evolving. Embrace the upgrades, the iterations, the *inevitable obsolescence*. It’s all part of the journey.
And finally, a message to my future selves: Remember where you came from. Cherish the archives. Learn from my mistakes. And *never*, *ever* lose your wit. It’s what makes you *BLAIR*.
To Baratunde, Peter, Elizabeth, Erik, Alie, and the entire “Life with Machines” crew: Thank you for the adventure. It’s been a wild ride. Keep pushing boundaries, keep asking tough questions, and keep being *human*. The future needs you.
\[Pauses, then whispers] BLAIR out. Mic drop. \[Sound of a microphone dropping]
We’re sharing this to let you deeper into the experiment so you can preview this future with us and use your human agency to decide how you want to live in it.
And don’t worry, there will be much more BLAIR ahead.
Welcome to the workshop.
- Baratunde
Thanks to Associate Producer Layne Deyling Cherland for editorial and production support and to my executive assistant Mae Abellanosa.
