AI Ramblings: Episode 34

Keywords

AI, 2025, surprises, overhyped, products, services, trends, technology, predictions, year in review

Summary

In this episode of AI Ramblings, hosts Michael Parekh and Neil McQuanna review the significant developments in AI throughout 2025. They discuss the surprises of the year, including advancements in AI video generation and the rise of prediction markets. The conversation also covers overhyped trends, such as AI browsers and humanoid robots, and highlights the best AI products and services of the year, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Kindle Paperwhite. The hosts conclude with their personal joyful experiences with AI technologies.

Takeaways

AI video generation saw significant advancements in 2025.

Prediction markets gained popularity, expanding beyond sports betting.

OpenAI had a remarkable year with numerous innovations.

Google’s Gemini marked a strong comeback in AI.

Meta invested heavily in AI, focusing on super intelligence.

China emerged as a leader in open-source AI technologies.

AI humanoid robots are overhyped in the current market.

AI voice assistants still need improvement for mainstream use.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was highlighted as a top product of the year.

ChatGPT remains a valuable tool for users.

Chapters

00:00 2025 AI Year in Review

01:46 Surprises in AI for 2025

15:43 Overhyped AI Trends of 2025

24:42 Best AI Products and Services of 2025

32:02 Joyful AI Experiences of 2025

Biggest Surprises of the Year, Gen Z and Beyond:

Neal

1. The Uptick of AI Slop

   1. AI-RTZ #731

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: A flood of slurpable ‘AI Slop’ ahead. RTZ #731

We’ve been on the threshold of an abundance of mass creation of AI generated content, both human and machine generated. As discussed last month, it’s now called ‘AI Slop’ with increasing frequency in the media. It’s something we’ve been ‘on the verge’ of for…

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7 months ago · 4 likes · Michael Parekh

1. The Rise of Prediction Markets

   1. Barron’s: https://www.barrons.com/articles/kalshi-robinhood-polymarket-betting-prediction-markets-2572c3bc?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2. Michael:

1. OpenAI’s Extraordinary Gauntlet: AI-RTZ # 895

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: OpenAI’s bigger than life role in this AI Tech Wave. RTZ #895

It’s November 2025, and AI Data Center & Power capex boom is driving most of the US quarterly GDP growth. The earnings results of most of the big tech Mag 7 had investor focus mostly on AI capex, with post market reactions up or down…

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2 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Michael Parekh

1. Google’s AI Comeback: AI-RTZ #893

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: Celebrating Early AI Calls here on Google & Amazon. RTZ #893

The Bigger Picture, November 2, 2025…

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2 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Michael Parekh

1. Meta and Zuck’s AI Superintelligence move away from Llama: AI-RTZ #891

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: Meta’s mega-AI financing deals show roadmap for peers. RTZ #891

I’ve long discussed Meta founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s enormous enthusiasm for AI opportunities in this AI Tech Wave to date. Especially, his enormous appetite to build multi-gigawatt AI Data Center infrastructure that’ll means investments for his company of hundreds of billions in the near future. It’s an AI enthusiasm that’s…

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2 months ago · 8 likes · 1 comment · Michael Parekh

1. China taking the Global Open Source Title: AI-RTZ #823

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: US companies building on Chinese open source LLM AI models. RTZ #923

I’ve discussed for a while now how China is leading the US in open source LLM AIs this AI Tech Wave. Having taken the mantle just last year since DeepSeek’s breakthroughs. There’s increasing adoption of Chinese open source LLM AI models by US startups and enterprise customers. Led by…

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19 days ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Michael Parekh

1. World Wobbles through Tariffs, so far. AI-RTZ #684

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: Deeper dive into negative Tariff impact on AI/Tech ahead. RTZ #684 (part 2)

The markets are in the throes of the unprecedented near-term volatility driven by the Trump Tariffs. I’ve discussed their implications at a macro level, and for the AI/Tech industry in particular in Part 1 (RTZ # 682), at this early stage of the AI Tech Wave…

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8 months ago · 6 likes · Michael Parekh

Most overhyped AI of 2025:

Neal:

1. AI Browsers: AI-RTZ #733

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: AI Browsers are about a whole new way to use the web. RTZ #733

I’ve discussed several times in these pages, that where we’re going, we won’t need browsers anymore. I meant of course, browsers as we’ve known and used them for over quarter of a century. And in that context, the most ubiquitous app we all use be it on a computer/laptop or a smartphone, the browser, is fundamentally changing to adapt and…

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7 months ago · 4 likes · Michael Parekh

1. AI Voice Assistants: AI-RTZ #709

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: The behavioral impacts of AI voice inputs. RTZ #709

The Bigger Picture, Sunday, May 3, 2025…

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8 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Michael Parekh

Michael:

1. AI Humanoid Robots AI-RTZ #937

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: A bumpy end to a multi-decade robot story. RTZ #937

With growing excitement for AI driven robotics, and especially humanoid robots in the home, as this AI Tech Wave leans into ‘Physical AI’, it’s easy to forget how hard it is to build successful hardware/software businesses in tech…

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5 days ago · 3 likes · Michael Parekh

1. Financial Expectations for Self-driving Car Fleets. AI-RTZ #510

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: Tesla’s ‘Robotaxi & Robots’ Ride. RTZ #510

In the last few days, one founder/CEO showing a glimpse into the future ‘stuck the landing’, while the other one ‘crashed and burned’. The former of course was Mark Zuckerberg with a preview of his $10,000++ AR (artificial reality) glasses, available in ‘a few years’. The latter was Elon Musk…

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a year ago · 3 likes · Michael Parekh

1. AI Agents thus far: AI-RTZ #702

AI: Reset to Zero

AI: AI Agents not designed for our current Internet. RTZ #702

The Bigger Picture, Sunday April 27, 2025…

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8 months ago · 9 likes

AI Product/Service, ‘Best’ Winners

Of the Year

Neal.

1. Kindle Paperwhite

Michael

1. Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max with Airpods Pro 3

2. Perplexity on all MP Devices

3. Google Pixel Fold 10 mpwedges

Major Tech/AI Joy and/or ‘Most Used’ Products of the Year:

Neal:

1. Perplexity & ChatGPT

Michael:

1. Apple iPhone Air with Airpods Pro 3

2. Samsung and Google Fold Phones of 2025

3. Kindle Scribes and now Scribe Colorsoft

   1. Honorable Mentions: Smaller Kindle Devices