App Store

Google Play

Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Step into an infinite world of stories

Listen and read

Perry Carpenter | N2K Networks

8th Layer Insights

Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of the year. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. 

Welcome back to The FAIK Files--- the show about artificial intelligence and natural nonsense!

In this week's episode:

Mason shares how ChatGPT became an unexpected hero in solving his home networking and studio challenges

Perry dives into the mysterious case of "David Mayer" and how a simple ChatGPT privacy patch sparked widespread conspiracy theories

We explore Tencent's bold entry into AI video generation with their open-source HunyuanVideo model

And in our AI Dumpster Fire of the Week, we unpack the drama surrounding leaks of multiple models from OpenAI

Want to leave us a voicemail? Here's the magic link to do just that: https://sayhi.chat/FAIK
You can also join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/cThqEnMhJz

*** NOTES AND REFERENCES ***

The ChatGPT Privacy Patch Conspiracy:

TechCrunch: Why does the name 'David Mayer' crash ChatGPT? OpenAI says privacy tool went rogue 

FastCompany: The Internet is Freaking Out Because ChatGPT Won't Say the Name "David Mayer" 

USA Today: Why won't ChatGPT acknowledge the name David Mayer? Internet users uncover mystery

YouTube: Solved: Why ChatGPT Will Not Say "David Mayer"

The Decoder: New York Times writer exposes how AI models can be fooled by invisible text on websites

NYT: How Do You Change a Chatbot's Mind?

Tencent's HunyuanVideo Release:

The Decoder: Tencent introduces open source video generator HunyuanVideo and challenges Sora 

TechNode: Tencent launches and open-sources Hunyuan video-generation model

YouTube: New AI Video Model Storms Onto The Scene! 

HuggingFace: HunyuanVideo Official Model Page

Research paper about text based sound generation for videos. SonicVisionLM: Playing Sound with Vision Language Models

AI Dumpster Fire of the Week (The Sora Leak):

TechCrunch: OpenAI's Sora video generator appears to have leaked 

Washington Post: OpenAI hits pause on video model Sora after artists leak access in protest 

Tom's Guide: OpenAI's o1 model leaked on Friday and it is wild — here's what happened 

Leopold Aschenbrenner: SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: The Decade Ahead

Additional Sora leak from internal preview 

*** THE BOILERPLATE ***
About The FAIK Files:
The FAIK Files is an offshoot project from Perry Carpenter's most recent book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions.

Get the Book: FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions (Amazon Associates link)

Check out the website for more info: https://thisbookisfaik.com

Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA

Other: https://digitalfolklore.fm 

Want to connect with us? Here's how:
Connect with Perry:

Perry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrycarpenter

Perry on X: https://x.com/perrycarpenter

Perry on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/perrycarpenter.bsky.social

Connect with Mason:

Mason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/

Mason on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/pregnantsonic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FAIK Files | AI Gone Wild: Worrisome Leaks, Misguided Conspiracies, and More

Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of the year. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. 

Welcome back to the show that keeps you informed on all things artificial intelligence and natural nonsense. 

Warning: today's episode gets a bit dark as we chat with seasoned prosecutor and founder of Operation Shamrock, Erin West, about a devastating combination of attacks known as "Pig Butchering" scams. We go deep into how they work and what we can do about them.

Want to leave us a voicemail? Here's the magic link to do just that: https://sayhi.chat/FAIK
You can also join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/cThqEnMhJz

*** NOTES AND REFERENCES ***

Learn more about Erin West

Erin's LinkedIn Profile

Operation Shamrock

Pig Butchering Scams:

CNN Story featuring Erin West: Killed by a scam: A father took his life after losing his savings to international criminal gangs. He’s not the only one 

CNN Story: Hear how this man lost $1M in a 'pig butchering' crypto scam

CNN Story: Myanmar-based gangs force trafficking victims to scam Americans online

YouTube video: John Oliver episode

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

Ok, doomer! Let's talk P(doom):

NY Times article: Silicon Valley Confronts a Grim New A.I. Metric

FastCompany article: P(doom) is AI's latest apocalypse metric. Here's how to calculate your score 

Wikipedia Entry

PauseAI P(doom) records

*** THE BOILERPLATE ***
About The FAIK Files: 
The FAIK Files is an offshoot project from Perry Carpenter's most recent book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. 

Get the Book: FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions (Amazon Associates link)

Check out the website for more info: https://thisbookisfaik.com

Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA

Other: https://digitalfolklore.fm 

Want to connect with us? Here's how:
Connect with Perry:

Perry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrycarpenter

Perry on X: https://x.com/perrycarpenter 

Perry on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/perrycarpenter.bsky.social

Connect with Mason:

Mason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/

Mason on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/pregnantsonic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FAIK Files | The Butcher Will Scam You Now

Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of 2024. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. 

Welcome back to the show that keeps you informed on all things artificial intelligence and natural nonsense. 

In our holiday episode, Mason opens a rather unique Christmas present from Perry, we invite a special guest to help explain the infamous "Paperclip Maximizer" thought experiment, and we discuss an interesting (and somewhat disturbing) new AI Safety paper from Apollo Research.

Want to leave us a voicemail? Here's the magic link to do just that: https://sayhi.chat/FAIK
You can also join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/cThqEnMhJz

*** NOTES AND REFERENCES ***

An interesting cluster of new AI safety research papers:

Apollo research: Frontier Models are Capable of In-context Scheming (Dec 5, 2024)

YouTube Video: Apollo Research - AI Models Are Capable Of In Context Scheming Dec 2024

YouTube Video: Cognitive Revolution - Emergency Pod: o1 Schemes Against Users, with Alexander Meinke from Apollo Research

OpenAI o1 System Card (Dec 5, 2024)

Anthropic: Alignment Faking in Large Language Models (Dec 18, 2024)

Anthropic: Sycophancy to subterfuge: Investigating reward tampering in language models (June 17, 2024)

Fudan University: Frontier AI systems have surpassed the self-replicating red line (Dec 9, 2024)

Other Interesting Bits:

The Paperclip Maximizer thought experiment explanation

Theory of Instrumental Convergence

iPhone Game: Universal Paperclips

VoxEU: AI and the paperclip problem

Real Paperclips! 500 Pack Paper Clips (assorted sizes)

OpenAI Announces New o3 Reasoning Model:

OpenAI's "12 Days of Ship-mas" announcement page

YouTube video: OpenAI's announcement of their o3 Model

TechCrunch: OpenAI announces new o3 models

Wired: OpenAI Upgrades Its Smartest AI Model With Improved Reasoning Skills

TechCrunch: OpenAI trained o1 and o3 to ‘think’ about its safety policy

Matthew Berman YouTube video: OpenAI Unveils o3! AGI ACHIEVED!

NewScientist: OpenAI's o3 model aced a test of AI reasoning – but it's still not AGI

Yahoo Finance: OpenAI considers AGI clause removal for Microsoft investment

*** THE BOILERPLATE ***
About The FAIK Files: 
The FAIK Files is an offshoot project from Perry Carpenter's most recent book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. 

Get the Book: FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions (Amazon Associates link)

Check out the website for more info: https://thisbookisfaik.com

Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA

Other: https://digitalfolklore.fm 

Want to connect with us? Here's how:
Connect with Perry:

Perry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrycarpenter

Perry on X: https://x.com/perrycarpenter 

Perry on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/perrycarpenter.bsky.social

Connect with Mason:

Mason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/

Mason on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/pregnantsonic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FAIK Files | Holiday Special: AI Safety Update

Hey listeners, Perry Carpenter here. Yeah, it's been a while since I've posted this feed, but I've got something exciting that I think you'll be interested in. It's the audio version of a newsletter that I recently started. 

The newsletter is called Deceptive Minds, and it's all about how we are fooled, how we fool ourselves, and what we can do about it.

In other words, it's the exact right newsletter for the 8th Layer Insights audience. So for the next little bit at least, I'm going to post these audio newsletters into the 8Li feed -- exactly where you are right now. We'll see if it grows into something else or if it fades into oblivion. But regardless, I hope you enjoy it while it's here. 

So with that, let's get to episode one... or I guess I should call it issue number one of Deceptive Minds, the audio newsletter, 

If you're interested in the print version, it's a LinkedIn newsletter and you can also subscribe on my new website, The Deception Project, at https://thedeceptionproject.com. So, regardless of your format of choice, unless you want to see my face reading this on video, you can get the audio version right here or you can read the print version on LinkedIn or in an email that will make its way to your inbox and hopefully not to your spam filter. 

With that, let's go ahead and get to issue number one. 

Thanks!

Perry
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deceptive Minds (the audio experience): Issue #1

Hey friends! Here's issue 2 of Deceptive Minds: a newsletter about how we are fooled, how we fool ourselves, and what we can do about it.

🔥 Since starting this newsletter last week, we're already closing in on 3,000 subscribers to the print edition! 🔥 Huge thanks to everyone who's jumped in early! 

This week, I'm diving into what I call the “artifacts of deception,” and why the flashy stuff (deepfakes, fake emails, cloned voices) isn’t the real trick you need to watch for.

Hope you enjoy this exploration into the hidden mechanics of how deception *really* works.

Here we go…

— Perry

The Deception Project
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artifacts of Deception (Deceptive Minds - issue #2)

Coming May 25, 2021. Get ready for a deep dive into what cybersecurity professionals often refer to as the "8th Layer" of security: HUMANS. This podcast is a multidisciplinary exploration into how the complexities of human nature affect security, risk, and life. Author, security researcher, and behavior science enthusiast Perry Carpenter taps experts for their insights and illumination. Topics include cybersecurity, psychology, behavior science, communication, leadership, and more.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing 8th Layer Insights

This episode explores the concept of “Trojan Horses for the Mind.” There are four Trojan Horses. They are: emotion, sound, visuals, and words/story. Using these Trojan Horses will help us increase the signal to noise ratio in our communications, bypass mental defenses, and embed messages within the minds of our audiences.
To explore the concepts related to this, Perry speaks with voice actor, writer, and producer, Rob McCollum; author, marketer, and storytelling expert Joe Lazauskas; and executive storyteller coach and trainer, Stephanie Paul.
Learn more about our guests here:

Rob McCollum -- Voice actor, script writer, director, producer (LinkedIn). Rob's IMDB page.

Joe Lazauskas -- Head of Marketing at Contently. Author of, The Storytelling Edge. LinkedIn. Amazon affiliate link to book.

Stephanie Paul -- Executive Storyteller, Coach, Speaker, and Trainer (LinkedIn). Stephanie's website.

Resources:
Special offer: Stephanie Paul is offering a $5.00 discount off her book, The WhyGuide to Storytelling. Just visit here and use the coupon code HACK4U at checkout.
For more about the Trojan Horses for the Mind, check out Perry’s book, Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors.
Amazon affiliate links to books mentioned:

The Storytelling Edge

Save the Cat!

Transformational Security Awareness

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.
Artwork by Chris Machowski.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unleashing Trojan Horses for the Mind

This is an episode about the battle for truth. As disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and conspiracy theories seem to be hitting epidemic levels, how can we help each other determine what is real and what is fake? How can we help people who are falling down conspiracy rabbit holes? And what roles do technology companies, governments, and ordinary citizens play?
Perry Carpenter speaks with acclaimed cybersecurity expert, Bruce Schneier, disinformation experts, Samantha North and Allie Wong, and conspiracy theory researcher, Mick West. In this episode, we also hear from Peter Leyden from Reinvent and Eli Periser, author of The Filter Bubble.
Learn more about our guests here:

Bruce Schneier - Internationally renowned security technologist, author, and speaker. You can find Bruce's website here.

Allie Wong - VP of Mis/dis/mal-information, Response and Resiliency, Limbik; Consultant, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. (LinkedIn)

Samantha North - Disinformation researcher and consultant. (LinkedIn) Co-Founder: North Cyber Research (website)

Mick West - Skeptical investigator and retired video game programmer. Creator of the websites Contrail Science (website) and Metabunk (website). Author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect (link). Personal website (link).

Special thanks to Reinvent for allowing use of audio.
References:

http://reinvent.net/events/event/how-we-can-pop-the-filter-bubble-with-eli-pariser/

https://reboot-foundation.org/study-social-media-poor-judgment/

https://reboot-foundation.org/is-there-a-fake-news-generation/

Recommended Books (Amazon affiliate links):

Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect by Mick West.

Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World by Bruce Schneier.

The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think by Eli Pariser.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Why Are We Yelling?: The Art of Productive Disagreement by Buster Benson.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.

Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors by Perry Carpenter.

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.
Artwork by Chris Machowski.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Battle for Truth: Disinformation, Misinformation, & Conspiracies

Ever wrestled with the fact that people often make horrible security decisions even though their employers have security awareness programs in place? It's often because we assume that being aware of something should naturally result in better behavior. Well... that's not the case. This episode takes a deep dive into the knowledge-intention-behavior gap where we are confronted with three realities of security awareness. And those realities lead us to the realization that we need to focus on behavior.
Guests for this episode are all leaders in the fields of Behavioral Science. They are, BJ Fogg, Ph.D., author of Tiny Habits: the Small Changes that Change Everything, Matt Wallaert, author of Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change, and Alexandra Alhadeff, co-author of Deep Thought: A Cybersecurity Story.
Guests:

BJ Fogg, Ph.D.. -- Behavior Scientist & Innovator at Stanford University. (Personal website) Author of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. (Amazon link)

Matt Wallaert -- Head of Behavioral Science at frog (a Capgemini company). Author of Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change (Amazon link)

Alexandra Alhadeff -- Behavioral Scientist & Product Manager at The Fabulous. (Personal website)

Notes & Resources:

BJ Fogg testimony to the 2006 US Federal Trade Commission about the dangers of persuasive technology.

Fogg Behavior Model

About Nudge Theory

Multiple examples of Nudging

Great catalog of Dark Patterns

Ideas42 cybersecurity-related behavioral science research.

Deep Thought: A Cybersecurity Story, by Ideas42.

Recommended Books (Amazon affiliate links):

Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, by BJ Fogg, Ph.D.

Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change, by Matt Wallaert

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

Inside the Nudge Unit: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference, by David Halpern

Evil by Design: Interaction Design to Lead Us into Temptation by Chris Nodder

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors by Perry Carpenter.

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.
Artwork by Chris Machowski.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is BS!

Have you ever noticed how fundamental deception is to the human condition? Deception and forms of social engineering have been with us since the beginning of recorded history. And yet, it seems like we are just as vulnerable to it as ever. But now the stakes are higher because technology allows social engineers to deceive at scale.
This episode explores the psychology of deception, provides a foundation for understanding social engineering, offers a few mental models for exploration and exploitation, and discusses how we can prepare our mental defenses.
Guests:

Rachael Tobac: (LinkedIn), CEO of SocialProof Security

Chris Hadnagy: (LinkedIn); CEO of Social Engineer, LLC; Founder of Innocent Lives Foundation; Founder of Social-Engineer.org

Lisa Forte: (LinkedIn); Partner at Red Goat Cyber Security; Co-Founder Cyber Volunteers 19

George Finney: (LinkedIn); Chief Security Officer at Southern Methodist University; Founder of Well Aware Security

Notes & Resources:

CSO Online article on Social Engineering

OODA Loop

Understanding Framing Effects

More examples of Framing Effects

Harvard Business Review article on the Principles of Persuasion

A blog series I did on Deception (Part 1), (Part 2).

PsychologyToday article on Social Engineering

Recommended Books (Amazon affiliate links):

The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin Mitnick

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitnick

Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You by Chris Hadnagy

Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini

Practical Social Engineering: A Primer for the Ethical Hacker by Joe Gray

Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking by Chris Hadnagy

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors by Perry Carpenter

Well Aware: Master the Nine Cybersecurity Habits to Protect Your Future by George Finney

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.
Artwork by Chris Machowski.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artifacts of Deception (Deceptive Minds - issue #2)

Listen and read

Other podcasts you might like ...