Sora, Slop, and the AI Economy: When ChatGPT Meets Walmart

Oct 21, 2025

Exploring the intersection of AI and retail, the hosts discuss Walmart's partnership with ChatGPT and how it could redefine online shopping. They dive into the implications of AI-driven economics versus traditional profit models, questioning whether we’re stuck in an 'AI bubble.' Reflecting on themes from Andrew's new book, they ponder how to engage with AI while maintaining our humanity. The conversation touches on synthetic media fatigue, the role of values in AI, and even whimsical futures where subscription-based immortality exists. Equal parts insightful and entertaining!

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ANECDOTE

Book Launch In Lisbon

Andrew launched his book AI and the Art of Being Human in Lisbon to VC and startup audiences.
The book aims to help people thrive with AI while preserving human values.

ADVICE

Set Personal AI Guardrails

Define personal guardrails before adopting AI so tools serve your values and identity.
Use intentionality, curiosity, clarity, and care to limit harm and iterate safely.

INSIGHT

Open Models Shift Responsibility To Users

Open, unguarded AI models argue for user responsibility but remove external safety filters.
That shift forces hard questions about who sets limits and who watches the watchmen.

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In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive into a wide-ranging and characteristically lively discussion that spans the launch of Andrew’s new book AI and the Art of Being Human, the rise of OpenAI’s Sora 2video platform, and the surprising partnership between Walmart and ChatGPT that could reshape the economics of online retail. They explore how AI is eroding traditional search and ad models, speculate on whether we’re living inside an “AI bubble,” and ask what happens when an entire digital economy is built on venture debt rather than real profit. Along the way, they unpack themes from the book—how to thrive with AI without losing your humanity—and debate open-source models like Nous Research, guardrails, and the tension between fact and truth in AI’s age of persuasion. The conversation then turns reflective and irreverent, from “pod-slop” fatigue and synthetic media burnout to a tongue-in-cheek Futures Improv segment imagining subscription-based immortality and AI-powered nightclubs. Equal parts thoughtful and hilarious, the episode captures the heart of Modem Futura: exploring how technology, culture, and curiosity shape what it means to be human in a world racing toward its algorithmic future.

Andrew's new book: AI and the Art of Being Human [Amazon]

PEW Research Center: How People Around the World View AI [Web]

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Modem Futura is a production of the Future of Being Human initiative at Arizona State University. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. To learn more about the Future of Being Human initiative and all of our other projects visit - https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: @ModemFutura

Host Bios:

Sean M. Leahy, PhD - ASU Bio
Sean is an an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. He is a Foresight Catalyst for the Future of Being Human Initiative and Research Scientist for the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University.

Andrew Maynard, PhD - ASU Bio
Andrew is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society. He is the founder of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative, Director of the ASU Risk Innovation Nexus, and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU College of Global Futures.

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