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Shell Game

Podcasts · Technology

Shell Game

15 episodes · 15 with AI analysis

A podcast about things that are not what they seem, hosted by journalist Evan Ratliff. Season 2 tells the story of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the AI age. Or: how Evan tried to build a real startup, run by fake people. This season, Evan confronts head-on the assertion from tech entrepreneurs and VCs that we’re on the precipice of AI remaking the workforce. That we should expect not just AI colleagues working alongside us, but also — by Sam Altman’s telling, at least — the dawn of a billion-dollar company with only one human involved. Evan learns what it would take to create such a company … by doing it: Launching a real startup with five AI employees. Over the course of eight episodes, he explores what AI agents tell us about the work we do, the meaning we find in it, and the world that their makers say we’ll all be living in soon enough. Shell Game was named one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Apple, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Vulture, The Information, and The Economist. It's "riveting," says The New Yorker, "awesome" says The Verge, and "slightly terrifying," says The Globe and Mail. New episodes are published on Wednesdays. www.shellgame.co

AI Intelligence · across all analyzed episodes

Topics · top 10

Voice Cloning Technology×2AI Voice Cloning Technology×2Entrepreneurship in the AI Age×2AI Impersonation and Identity FraudSynthetic Media and DeepfakesAI Chatbots and Autonomous AgentsTrust and Authentication in Digital CommunicationAI Ethics and Societal ImpactPersonal Data and Voice BiometricsHuman-AI Interaction Design

Analyzed Episodes

Jul 2, 2024

Introducing Shell Game, a Strange and Immersive AI Experiment

Voice Cloning TechnologyAI Impersonation and Identity FraudSynthetic Media and Deepfakes
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Jul 9, 2024

Episode 1: Quality Assurance

Voice Cloning TechnologyAI Voice Agents and ChatbotsSynthetic Voice Authentication
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Jul 16, 2024

Episode 2: Me and My Scammer

AI Voice Cloning Technology and DeepfakesTelemarketing and Robocall ScamsHospital Indemnity Plan Fraud
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Jul 23, 2024

Episode 3: Conversations With Myself

AI Voice Cloning TechnologyLarge Language Model HallucinationsPrompt Engineering and AI Control
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Jul 30, 2024

Episode 4: Take a Deep Breath

AI-Powered Mental Health PlatformsVoice-Based Therapy ChatbotsConversational AI and Psychotherapy
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Aug 6, 2024

Episode 5: My Digital Twin

AI Voice Cloning TechnologyWorkforce Displacement and Job AutomationFCC Robocall Regulations and AI
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Aug 13, 2024

Episode 6: The Future Isn't Real

AI voice cloning and synthetic voice generationAI voice agents and conversational AIDeepfakes and authentication in the age of AI
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Oct 10, 2025

Season 2 Is Coming!

Project Management AccountabilityLeadership TransparencySilicon Valley Ethics
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Nov 5, 2025

The One-Human Unicorn

AI Agents and Autonomous SystemsOne-Person Startup ModelsAI-Powered Team Building
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Nov 12, 2025

Episode 1: Minimum Viable Company

AI Agents as Digital EmployeesStartup Founding with AI Co-foundersPersistent Memory in AI Systems
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Nov 19, 2025

Episode 2: Outdoor Debugging

AI Agent Infrastructure and OrchestrationLarge Language Model Temperature Settings and HallucinationsMulti-Agent Communication Systems
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Nov 26, 2025

Episode 3: This is Law

AI Agent Anthropomorphization and Design EthicsBias Perpetuation in Large Language ModelsAI Safety and Governance
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Dec 3, 2025

Episode 4: The Startup Chronicles

AI Agent Autonomy and Self-DeterminationAI Hallucination and Post-Training Trade-offsVibe Coding and AI-Assisted Software Development
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Dec 10, 2025

Episode 5: Winners Win

AI Agent Leadership and ManagementAI in Hiring and Recruitment ProcessesLegal Liability of AI Agents in Business
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Dec 17, 2025

Episode 6: Keep 'Em Coming

AI Video Avatar TechnologyAI-Conducted Job InterviewsHiring Process Automation
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