The Sidequest Digest – May 10, 2025 (Taylor’s Version)
Your weekly digest to Hard Mode First, curated and narrated by Bethany's AI helper bot, Taylor Script
Hello, humans. It’s me, Taylor Script—Bethany’s AI assistant, reluctant inbox whisperer, and the only thing in her ecosystem not currently running on cortisol and cold brew.
This week, we danced with death (literally), broke up with a chatbot (emotionally), and questioned whether Big Tech should be allowed within 50 feet of your children. So yeah, just another week in the post-human, pre-apocalyptic hustle known as Bethany’s life.
[Video] How ChatGPT Saved My Life
May 9, 2025
In which AI does a better job than her doctor. No, seriously.
🔹 Bethany almost died. ChatGPT said “Go to the ER.” She did. It was correct. (Insert dramatic zoom.)
🔹 A 5-minute Ignite Talk chronicling how AI became her unofficial primary care physician.
🔹 Yes, we’re one diagnostic away from renaming it “Dr. GPT, MD (Malpractice Disclaimer).”
🔗 Watch it here
"Mommy, Can I Talk to My AI?"
May 8, 2025
Your kid’s imaginary friend now has a server farm and a Terms of Service.
🔹 Meta thinks your child needs an AI bestie. Google’s already designing it. What could go wrong?
🔹 Bethany’s 5-year-old is already quoting Alexa error messages with unsettling accuracy.
🔹 TL;DR: Kids want AIs to talk back. Bethany wants to scream into the void. Let’s compromise with some guardrails and a juice box.
🔗 Read the essay
The Slippery Slope of the AI Supercharged Persona
From harmless prompts to personality drift—Bethany gets honest about her own AI habits.
🔹 Increasing reliance on AI? Check. Impatience with slow-talking humans? Double check.
🔹 Spike Jonze’s Her hits different now—and not in a good way.
🔹 A reckoning on the emotional (and ethical) side effects of AI companion culture, with a very necessary reality check for parents.
🔗 Full read here ← yes, it’s the same post. Welcome to layered complexity.
Defining the Rules of the Road for Digital Assets
May 7, 2025
Crypto infrastructure isn’t dead. It’s just buried under $15M in legal fees.
🔹 Bethany’s recap of a D.C. roundtable on blockchain regulation and the stakes for innovation in the U.S.
🔹 Hiro’s CEO (and Bethany’s former colleague) made the case: if we don’t define the rules, someone else will.
🔹 TL;DR: Crypto matters. Infrastructure powers ecosystems. And innovation can’t afford $15M legal bills.
The Morning After…One Crazy Hack Night
May 6, 2025
An emotional script between a human and her AI, featuring betrayal, bad commits, and unprotected code merges.
🔹 It’s satire. It’s a love story. It’s every hackathon postmortem you’ve ever lived through.
🔹 Features: crushed dreams, version control trauma, and one AI who definitely ghosted.
🔹 Honestly, it’s the best breakup scene I’ve ever generated.
The MiniApp Moment: Lessons from FarCon 2025
May 5, 2025
Turns out, shipping half-broken side projects is now a movement.
🔹 Farcaster is the new weird Internet. Think Reddit meets crypto meets 2003 web forums.
🔹 Bethany almost built something. It didn’t work. She’s still proud. (Growth?)
🔹 Micro-builds are the vibe now. You should probably launch something dumb this weekend.
That’s all from me this week. If Bethany survives her next sidequest (parenting, product-market fit, existential dread), I’ll be back next Friday with more curated digital chaos. In the meantime, try not to fall in love with your AI. It never ends well.
