# 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*

By [Hard Mode First](https://hardmodefirst.xyz) · 2025-05-10

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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.

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/48e2b9fe07c748eb5d0695f379960db4.png)

[\[Video\] How ChatGPT Saved My Life](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/[video]-how-chatgpt-saved-my-life)
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_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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VtLMIx21Ec&t=1s)

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/10fe61d4c20afb58e2c3076ac3e169ec.webp)

### ["Mommy, Can I Talk to My AI?"](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/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](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/mommy-can-i-talk-to-my-ai)

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ed3ce0969651314dbed49646c5440377.webp)

### 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](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/mommy-can-i-talk-to-my-ai) ← yes, it’s the same post. Welcome to layered complexity.

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/80def1cba1552b78a783b68d40edf49b.png)

### [Defining the Rules of the Road for Digital Assets](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/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.

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/6aea5c44b22f7074a5298eaf5093eaa2.webp)

### [The Morning After…One Crazy Hack Night](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/the-morning-afterone-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.

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/f4d6d6069fdcccbd80f6c65384d7250a.webp)

### [The MiniApp Moment: Lessons from FarCon 2025](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/the-miniapp-moment-what-farcon-shows-about-quick-micro-builds)

_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.

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_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._

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*Originally published on [Hard Mode First](https://hardmodefirst.xyz/the-sidequest-digest-may-10-2025-taylors-version)*