--- title: "Sora, Slop, and the AI Economy: When ChatGPT Meets Walmart" podcast: "Modem Futura" episode: "Episode 54" hosts: "Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard" date: 2025-10-21 audio: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/bdb05172-bcf6-494f-b444-72c15ea774a3/audio/89548c67-28f3-4d4e-b3d6-71d579d9f58f/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN mirror: https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/54-sora-slop-and-the-ai-economy-when-chatgpt-meets-walmart.html --- # Sora, Slop, and the AI Economy: When ChatGPT Meets Walmart Modem Futura · Episode 54 · October 21, 2025 · 77 min · Hosts: Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard Listen: [MP3 audio](https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/bdb05172-bcf6-494f-b444-72c15ea774a3/audio/89548c67-28f3-4d4e-b3d6-71d579d9f58f/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN) · [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sora-slop-and-the-ai-economy-when-chatgpt-meets-walmart/id1771688480?i=1000732780581&uo=4) · [Spotify (show)](https://open.spotify.com/show/3eFl4hY4t1qTCWE2Bxotrg) · [YouTube (video)](https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura) --- 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 2**video 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]](https://www.amazon.com/Art-Being-Human-practical-rediscovering-ebook/dp/B0FSTD5NMN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RL1KUG2UQVHL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vu4aU4c3vFFyqQvRA0YOPKxkr--hY3jnWafVeCQ-fgwtQgPpO6ozGAOiqoh8XzL7Qdba1CAW-BUjInaTvUvj_rHsfHWf0WrsJU1995ntfIQZ9irbg9sbyD0EpY54fW0rQNpNt0c6N8OLJ2Sh49k7SILbL1nGCfaqj1CJ1daifxvh2yylwDv7sTXRnf2VlUzevJszEOsyBXXr5npDUwSrBq4iV-D9V9RH5zae8x5FPww.OsT4m_uvPrBfouXC7K8Cul95LuPmQn-2aCqubixdiMI&dib_tag=se&keywords=ai+and+the+art+of+being+human&qid=1760916149&sprefix=AI+and+the+art%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1) [PEW Research Center: How People Around the World View AI [Web]](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/10/15/how-people-around-the-world-view-ai/) -----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](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/)Subscribe to our [YouTube Channel: @ModemFutura](https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura)Follow us on Instagram: [@ModemFutura](https://www.instagram.com/modemfutura/)**Host Bios:****Sean M. Leahy, PhD** - [ASU Bio](https://search.asu.edu/profile/3183014)\ Sean is an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. He is the Executive Director for the [Future of Being Human Initiative](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/) and Research Scientist for the [School for the Future of Innovation in Society](https://sfis.asu.edu/) and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the [Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory](https://globalfutures.asu.edu/) at [Arizona State University](http://www.asu.edu/).**Andrew Maynard, PhD** - [ASU Bio](https://search.asu.edu/profile/2670673)\ Andrew is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU [School for the Future of Innovation in Society](https://sfis.asu.edu/). He is the founder of the ASU [Future of Being Human initiative](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/), Director of the ASU [Risk Innovation Nexus](https://riskinnovation.org/), and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU [College of Global Futures](https://collegeofglobalfutures.asu.edu/).----- --- *These are the show notes for this episode of Modem Futura (), a podcast hosted by Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard and part of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative (). This file is a text mirror of the episode’s show notes — not a transcript. Listen to the full episode via the links above, or watch it on YouTube ().*