Connect your Claude, Codex or OpenClaw for full transcripts on millions of podcasts. Two week free trial, cancel anytime.
Breaking Bread with Tom Papa · Food & Beverage · October 2026
Tom Papa asked whether writers pitch AI-generated material on the comedy news show Johnson hosts. Johnson says nobody does, and explains why he considers AI an unnecessary shortcut for creative work. The Altman line is his own paraphrase, not a direct quote.
…anything that's AI generated. I think that the main interest of the writers and of me when I'm hosting the show is to talk about the things that we know our audience will be interested in. And you don't really need an AI to tell you that, yeah, it's probably bad if this new ground beef is hoarse.
Like, I think that
some things, you know, Sam Altman and them have already said it that they, the only thing that they really want the AI to do and why they want you to use it so much is that they would like to outsource intelligence. They like to put your general instincts on subscription service, right? And I just, I personally, even if you don't have the stance of like it's poisoning the water, it's bad for the environment, it's ripping up the power grid, even if none of that stuff concerns you, I still think it is redundant on the instincts that you already have. Like, I just don't think it's worth using because of um it, I don't think it's worth using because it's a shortcut that's like unnecessary. Like, right, right. I've worked with people before where then later I found out that they were using AI and I didn't like get I didn't blow up on them or anything, but I was like, oh, I don't think I'm gonna work with that person again in what
regard, like working with them and like
in artwork and stuff. And I'm like, right,
right, right. I'm like,