Published 12 May 2025
e513 with Michael and Michael – Clippy + LLMs, social AI, first person video, Duck, Pong & other games, and so much more.
While Andy is away, Michael and Michael start off this episode with good friend Clippy, the Microsoft Office Assistant from the early 2000s. Felix Reiseberg has made a version of Clippy that can use a variety of LLMs while retaining the look and feel of the 2000s user experience. Meta has enabled or borrowed – you pick your favorite – the capability of making user interactions with it’s AI app public, in much the same way you can browse other people’s exchanges on Venmo. And for the sports fans, there is a new AI capability that produces play by play and color commentary. This example highlights the thrill of victory in a match of Pong.
The Games at Work switches gears to the automotive world, where an article examines the (triumphant) return of the Yugo. Michael R remembers the Adobe parody from Saturday Night Live, and also shares news of the return of the Karman Ghia with Michael M. The story of the return of physical buttons from Wired reminds the cohosts of an earlier Games at Work episode where this comeback has been in the making since at least 2023.
A comedic triumph turns 50 years old this year – Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and somehow, we’re not quite sure how, Michael and Michael refrain from going through all of the quotable quotes from the movie. After this amazing restraint, the pair turn to the Apple Vision Pro Adventure series, with an in-depth article about the making of these feats of moviemaking. Michael R has experienced them on the Vision Pro, and describes how he felt while viewing them. The Pike’s Peak race takes Michael M back to a 1972 film about a race through the streets of Paris called C’etait un Rendezvous.
After a discussion about the games of Duck, Eco Dolphin, and Minecraft removing support for VR, the co-hosts reflect on a Wired article about how industry is keeping the metaverse and 3D Internet dream alive through digital twinning.
The team wraps up this episode with a reflection on the end of support for Windows 10 – or is that really the case?
Clippy, the Yugo, the Holy Grail and Windows 10 are among the things that are not dead yet.
Are you more excited about the return of the Yugo or the Karman Ghia? Is there a vehicle you would dearly love to see come back in a new form? Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz (our home for now) and let us know!
These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot. All rights reserved. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.
Selected Links
AI
Wikipedia entry: Office Assistant (Clippy)
Business Insider article: Meta has a new stand-alone AI app. It lets you see what other people are asking. I’m confused.
Garbage Day article: Meta has a cool new slop feed
Venmo article: Who can see my Venmo payments?
Hackaday article: AI Brings Play-By-Play Commentary to Pong
Google NotebookLM
Automotive Design
Motortrend article: The Yugo—One of the Worst Cars Ever—Is Attempting a Comeback
Wired article: Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again
Games at Work e415: Pushing Our Buttons
Moviemaking
Wall Street Journal article: Coconuts Still Clopping, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ Turns 50
IMDb: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Digital Camera World article: “I very much believe that the future of entertainment will be immersive!” – We speak to award-winning filmmaker and series director of Apple TV’s ‘Adventure’, Charlotte Mikkelborg
AppleTV Press release: Apple Original Films announces groundbreaking new documentary event “Bono: Stories of Surrender,” premiering globally on May 30 on Apple TV+
Fediverse
RadioEins Global Solutions Summit – World Policy Forum interview with Felix Hlatky, Finanzvorstand der Social Plattform Mastodon
Games
Duck, the game
Duck, the North Carolina Outer Banks town
Go, the game
DuckDuckGo, the search engine and browser
Polygon article: Ecco the Dolphin is getting two remasters and one new title from its original creators
The Verge article: Minecraft’s VR support is now gone
Metaverse
Wired article: The Dream of the Metaverse Is Dying. Manufacturing Is Keeping It Alive
Windows
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