A man named Mike Smith was recently sentenced to 18 months in prison, and a fine in excess of $8 million, for creating an AI system that faked billions of streams and earned him millions in royalties. Wired's Kate Knibbs explains how Smith pulled it off, how he got caught, and what this case means for the internet's growing slop problems.
Read Kate's story here: https://bit.ly/4B78Mlu
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0:00 Welcome
00:35 90 Seconds on the Verge
02:17 Meet Kate Knibbs
02:53 Who Is Mike Smith?
03:54 Mike's Backstory
06:53 From Hustle to Fraud
09:53 The AI Streaming Flywheel
12:23 How He Got Caught
16:00 What Was Actually Illegal
19:17 Guilty Plea and Sentencing
21:23 Could He Have Slipped By
23:34 Why Spread the Bots
25:52 The Slop Playbook Everywhere
27:07 Platforms Fight Back
32:11 Prediction Markets Twist
33:22 Can Integrity Keep Up
34:31 AI Content Future
37:58 Wrap Up with Kate
38:10 Outro
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