Interview with Aaron Painter, CEO of Nametag

AI generated video content is a lightning rod of a topic.  There's a huge amount of negative sentiment, in part due the massive flood of "AI slop" infiltrating the Internet.  I'm based in Los Angeles, and it feels like the vast majority of the creative community is viscerally opposed to generative AI.  This is not surprising, considering that their labor environment is being disrupted, not to mention the fact that the technology could not exist without training on their content, which it did without consent or compensation.  That being said, new technologies are always being inserted into production workflows, and this time is no different. Johan Brandstedt, whom I interviewed in 2024, often describes the use of generative AI products and services as "commissioning" works, akin to giving a brief to an agency and waiting for their output.  This analogy describes one way in which these products are used, where the process is merely prompting and expecting an output, perhaps even repeating the process many times to achieve the desired result.  In a sense, is a movie director not "commissioning" the labor of all of the other laborers on a film, from the cinematographer to the actors, the costume designers, and so many more? In this episode, I discuss the current landscape of AI video with Dev Walker, who uses the artist name GLUMLOT.  I wanted to temporarily put aside my personal concerns, have an open mind, and learn something. Note: I present video content in this episode, so it is probably better consumed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zoj7Dsuwck  Creators presented: https://www.youtube.com/@glumlot https://www.youtube.com/@gossip.goblin https://www.youtube.com/@mrjonfinger

In this episode I discuss the past, present, and potential future effects of technology and AI on labor with Benjamin Shiller, an economist and author of the book AI Economics: How Technology Transforms Jobs, Markets, Life, & Our Future.  Benjamin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Brandeis University, and his research primarily focuses on the economic impacts of digitization and new technologies. Benjamin Shiller: https://benjaminshiller.com/ Block shares soar as much as 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/26/block-laying-off-about-4000-employees-nearly-half-of-its-workforce.html Why AI Boosts Creativity for Some Employees but Not Others: https://hbr.org/2026/01/why-ai-boosts-creativity-for-some-employees-but-not-others "Hard Parts and Easy Parts": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuvK7Ds-XyI

In this episode I discuss digital duplicates ("AI deepfakes") with Atay Kozlovski, a postdoctoral researcher at the Delft University of Technology. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Zurich, an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Bern, and a BA from Tel Aviv University. Atay Kozlovski: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atay-kozlovski-6a59b8290/ [email protected] Deepfakes and Beyond: Mapping the Ethics and Risks of Digital Duplicates: https://www.techpolicy.press/deepfakes-and-beyond-mapping-the-ethics-and-risks-of-digital-duplicates/ Digital Dybbuks and virtual Golems: the ethics of digital duplicates in Holocaust testimony: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/memory-mind-and-media/article/digital-dybbuks-and-virtual-golems-the-ethics-of-digital-duplicates-in-holocaust-testimony/E2028F2B6EEE7E717E0CE18A64C8F0ED AI Conversational Simulations with Deceased Holocaust Survivors Must Serve as Conduits for Survivors to Continue Sharing Their Stories: https://digitalmemorydialogues.com/editions/dialogue-2-artificial-intelligence/articles/response-ii-ai-conversational-simulations-with-deceased-holocaust-survivors-must-serve-as-conduits-for-survivors-to-continue-sharing-their-stories The Legal & Data-Architecture Aspects of "Digital Duplicates": Extending Danaher and Nyholm's MVPP Framework: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5499079 Call for safeguards to prevent unwanted 'hauntings' by AI chatbots of dead loved ones: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/call-for-safeguards-to-prevent-unwanted-hauntings-by-ai-chatbots-of-dead-loved-ones Griefbots, Deadbots, Postmortem Avatars: on Responsible Applications of Generative AI in the Digital Afterlife Industry: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-024-00744-w  

In this episode I discuss deepfakes and technology security with Aaron Painter, CEO of Nametag.  His company's mission is to protect every online account from impersonation. A former Microsoft executive with global leadership experience, Aaron is passionate about restoring digital trust in an age of deepfakes and AI-driven scams. He is also the bestselling author of Loyal: Listen Or You Always Lose, a practical guide to leading with trust and purpose. 

Scot Pansing delivers the keynote for the 2025 Faculty Student Engagement and Assessment Conference.

In this episode I discuss the world of AI Ethics and Responsible AI, and ethics in general, with Reid Blackman, founder and CEO of Virtue, an AI ethical risk consultancy.  Reid is also the author of the book "Ethical Machines" and hosts a podcast by the same name. Virtue designs Responsible AI programs, and their clients include Amazon, Etsy, Kraft Heinz, Merck, US Bank, Nationwide, and more. Reid's written work has appeared in The Harvard Business Review and The New York Times. Prior to founding Virtue, Reid was a professor of philosophy at Colgate University and UNC-Chapel Hill. https://www.reidblackman.com/ https://reidblackman.substack.com/ https://www.ethicalmachinespodcast.com/ https://www.virtueconsultants.com/  

In this edition of AI Quick Bits, I chat with Oz Krakowski, Chief Business Development Officer at Deepdub. We discuss the business of overdubbing for media and entertainment, and how generative AI is affecting these workflows. This is also the first video edition of AI Quick Bits, so if you would like to watch as well as listen, head over to https://www.youtube.com/@ScotPansing Deepdub: https://deepdub.ai

In this episode I chat with Scott Michaels, Chief Product Officer at Apply Digital.  Scott and I get into the details of what sorts of challenges and opportunities businesses are experiencing when incorporating generative AI into their products and workflows. Apply Digital: https://www.applydigital.com Google Cloud Next: Accelerate creative media content with gen AI (KraftHeinz Tastemaker at 22:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2MZ6kw933c Doomed to fail? Most AI projects flop within 12 months, with billions of dollars being wasted: https://www.techradar.com/pro/over-80-of-ai-projects-fail-wasting-billions-of-dollars Optimizing for AI Search: https://www.applydigital.com/insights/learn/optimizing-for-ai-search/ MCP: The new "USB-C for AI" that's bringing fierce rivals together: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/04/mcp-the-new-usb-c-for-ai-thats-bringing-fierce-rivals-together/  

In this episode I speak with Rong Yan, Chief Technology Officer of HeyGen. HeyGen: https://www.heygen.com 

In this episode I speak with Louis Rosenberg, CEO & Chief Scientist of Unanimous AI.  Louis is also the co-author of the newly released book Our Next Reality, and many scientific papers, including "The Manipulation Problem: Conversational AI as a Threat to Epistemic Agency." Unanimous AI: https://unanimous.ai/  Our Next Reality: https://ournextreality.com/  The Manipulation Problem: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.11748  The AI Dilemma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSi4d75gFZQ  Privacy Lost: https://www.privacylost.org/  Arrival Mind: https://www.outlandpublishing.com/arrival-mind Friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Q1hoEhfk4  "AI Quick Bits" art: Jamillah Knowles / Better Images of AI / Data People / CC-BY 4.0