The Immediate AI Audit: Agentic Shopping, Bank Job Cuts & NY’s Ban

AI is no longer “someday”—it’s here, rewiring daily life. In this episode, we break down what’s happening right now: Walmart’s “agentic commerce” vision with instant checkout inside chat, Spotify’s AI DJ going text-first in 60+ markets, Wall Street’s structural hiring slowdown in favor of AI (even after record profits), and New York’s first-in-the-nation law banning algorithmic rent-setting.
Plus: a leap in personalized AI vision (MIT/IBM) and a wild “robot phone” concept that hints at emotionally expressive devices.

What you’ll hear

• Agentic shopping: delegating multi-step purchases to AI—baskets built from intent, not keywords.
• Banks’ new playbook: efficiency first, headcount later—what that means for ops & middle-office roles.
• Policy catching up: NY outlaws algorithmic rental price-fixing; why centralized data = de-facto collusion.
• Multimodal UX shift: Spotify’s DJ adds silent text control (English & Spanish across 60+ markets).
• Vision breakthrough: training tricks that boost personalized object tracking by 21%—hello, assistive tech.
• Hardware vibes: Honor’s “robot phone” concept as a signpost for expressive, companion-like devices.

Listener takeaway: AI has moved from tool to infrastructure. That means new efficiencies, new guardrails, and new questions about living with systems that see and act on your world.

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