How to Optimize Your Life in 2026: Productivity Tips, Deepfakes, and More | EP 172

Summary

Kevin Roose and Casey Newton kick off 2026 with their annual New Year’s tech resolutions and a wide-ranging listener mailbag segment. They reflect on their 2025 resolutions — Casey admits his AI-assisted meditation goal was a “major flop” while Kevin reports mixed success at becoming a more active poster on social media. For 2026, Kevin resolves to get good at short-form video, while Casey commits to not changing his productivity system for an entire year after finally cracking it using the Capacities app.

The listener mailbag covers an entertaining variety of topics: the origin of the name “Hard Fork,” whether it’s ethical to deepfake Santa into home security footage for kids, the frustration of corporate AI mandates when basic IT doesn’t work, data centers in space and jurisdiction concerns, chatbot liability when customer service bots lie, why the Turing test was never officially celebrated as being passed, and an in-depth Balatro strategy discussion. The episode is a fun, lighter start to the new year with genuine insights about the state of AI adoption, the gap between AI hype and everyday technology failures, and the evolving landscape of chatbot accountability.

Highlights

”Casey’s AI Meditation Resolution Was a Major Flop”

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“Well, Kevin, I’m afraid I would have to categorize this one as a major flop. Every single time I did it, I felt very good. However, my instinct to meditate again was non-existent.” — Casey Newton, 1:33

”Casey Finally Cracked His Productivity System”

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“For the next one year, I am going to try not to make any meaningful change to my productivity system because I think I finally cracked it, Kev.” — Casey Newton, 13:00

”The Turing Test Has Been Passed and Nobody Noticed”

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“In 2025, researchers showed that newer models were judged to be human 73% of the time. Yes, the Turing test has been passed in the classical formulation and people who are moving the goalposts now want to talk about the things that AI can’t do.” — Kevin Roose, 42:20

”Moffett vs. Air Canada — The Chatbot Liability Case”

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“Air Canada argued they aren’t liable because the chatbot was a separate legal entity that was responsible for its own actions. And the tribunal in Canada called this argument ‘remarkable’ and said actually the chatbot’s just part of your website, Air Canada.” — Casey Newton, 39:00

”I Am Going to Be Where I Am”

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“We sat down to dinner with this person for like two plus hours and I did not see them look at their phone one time. To me that was a lesson that you actually don’t have to know what’s going on in all of the pockets of your life at once.” — Kevin Roose, 11:20

Key Points

• Casey’s Meditation Flop (1:33) - Despite using Claude for meditation guidance, Casey never developed a consistent practice even though every session felt great
• Casey’s Burnout Recovery (2:30) - Casey found that rediscovering his sense of purpose at an AI conference did more for his burnout than meditation
• Kevin’s Posting Resolution (4:00) - Kevin partially succeeded at posting more freely on social media without anticipating objections
• Kevin’s Short-Form Video Goal (8:00) - Kevin’s 2026 resolution is to get good at short-form video, noting everything is becoming TV
• Kevin’s Presence Resolution (11:20) - Kevin wants to be more present and less distracted by his phone, inspired by a very busy person who never checked their phone during dinner
• Casey’s Productivity System (13:00) - Casey uses Capacities with a daily journal, lightweight task management, and “blips” — small notes that get randomly surfaced each morning
• Origin of “Hard Fork” (21:06) - The show was originally going to be called “NGMI” (Not Going to Make It) but NYT lawyers vetoed it; Hard Fork is a crypto term for breaking a blockchain chain
• Deepfaking Santa (25:00) - A listener asks about using AI to add Santa to home security footage; both hosts approve with caveats about trust issues
• AI vs. Basic IT (28:00) - A listener frustrated that companies announce massive AI initiatives while the Wi-Fi doesn’t work
• Space Data Center Jurisdiction (32:00) - The 1967 Outer Space Treaty makes nations responsible for citizens’ activities in space
• Chatbot Liability (39:00) - The Moffett vs. Air Canada case established that companies are liable for their chatbots’ promises
• Turing Test Passed (42:20) - GPT-4 was judged human 54% of the time in 2024; newer models hit 73% in 2025
• Robot Parenting Ethics (35:00) - Discussion of whether humanoid robots should handle childcare tasks, with Kevin supporting outsourcing drudgery but protecting bonding moments
• Balatro Strategy (48:00) - Casey shares his Balatro strategy using Hanging Chad and Photograph jokers for X6 multiplier

Mentions

Companies

• Capacities (13:00) - Casey’s productivity app of choice with journal, tasks, and “blips” feature
• Squarespace (13:00) - Referenced as the traditional website builder being replaced by vibe coding
• Apple (35:00) - Referenced regarding robot parenting with SNOO bassinet
• Air Canada (39:00) - Lost landmark chatbot liability case (Moffett vs. Air Canada)
• Chevrolet of Watsonville (40:00) - Dealership whose chatbot was tricked into selling a Tahoe for $1
• OpenAI (32:00) - Mentioned in context of model rankings and listener questions
• Microsoft (32:00) - Copilot ranked 62nd on LM Arena benchmarks

Products & Technologies

• Claude (1:33) - Casey used Claude for meditation guidance
• Copilot (44:00) - Microsoft’s AI assistant, ranked 62nd on LM Arena
• DeepSeek (44:00) - Chinese AI model discussed in context of listener questions
• Grok (44:00) - Discussed as having useful real-time X data access
• Balatro (48:00) - Card game both hosts are deeply invested in
• SNOO (35:00) - Robot bassinet that automatically rocks babies back to sleep
• Micro.blog (13:00) - Simple blogging service Casey uses

People

• John Searle (42:00) - Philosopher who created the Chinese Room thought experiment
• Andy Matuschak (15:00) - Creator of the “blips” concept that inspired Casey’s note-taking system
• Derrick Thompson (8:00) - Writer who coined the idea that “everything is TV”

Surprising Quotes

“Copilot’s MAI-1, which is their preview model, is currently ranked 62nd in LM Arena. Huge. Congratulations to the team over at Microsoft. Maybe if they just had a few more financial resources, they’d be able to compete with the big guys.” — Casey Newton, 44:00

“We have actually had some attempts to sort of run the Turing test on these newer models. In May 2024, GPT-4 was judged to be human 54% of the time. In 2025, researchers showed newer models were judged to be human 73% of the time. The Turing test has been passed in the classical formulation.” — Kevin Roose, 42:20

“It is clearly a case of a blatant double standard. If a random startup showed up and said ‘I want to sell my bikini app in your app store,’ they would shut it down. But because it’s X, because it’s Elon Musk, they feel less inclined to take action.” — Casey Newton, 5:30

“My boyfriend and I can be somewhat competitive and he went on a meditation retreat this year. He came back and said ‘I saw through space and time and connected with the source energy of the universe on my first night.’ I was like, ‘Well, great job, sweetheart.’” — Casey Newton, 4:00

Transcript

0:00 I’m Kevin Roose, a tech columnist for the New York Times. I’m Casey Newton from Platformer and this is Hard Fork. This week, 2026 is here and we’re sharing our New Year’s tech resolutions. And then we’re taking listener questions.

0:21 Well, Casey, it’s a new year. Happy 2026 to you and your family, Kevin. And we have something special today, which is that we are going to do our New Year’s tech resolutions as we do every year. And then we’re going to answer some listener questions.

1:21 Before we set out our new resolutions, let’s check in on what we resolved last year at this time. Casey, your resolution last year was to “get medium good at meditation using AI.” Well, Kevin, I’m afraid I would have to categorize this one as a major flop. Every single time I did it, I felt very good. However, my instinct to meditate again was non-existent.

2:30 The best thing I did for myself was I kind of rediscovered my sense of purpose. I went to a conference about AI, met interesting people, got new ideas percolating. Renewed my sense of what my job is in this moment as a journalist. That did more for me than any individual meditation session.

4:00 Kevin’s resolution from last year was to be the poster he wished to see in the world. He posted more and posted more freely, less worried about anticipating objections. Casey observed Kevin’s tweets popping up and was jealous of the conversations he was having.

8:00 Kevin’s resolution for 2026 is to get good at short-form video. Everything is TV now. Derrick Thompson recently wrote about how every platform is becoming dominated by video. Kevin wants to find something authentic and journalistic in the medium rather than catering to the lowest common denominator.

11:20 Kevin’s personal resolution: be where I am. He was inspired by having dinner with a very busy, successful person who never looked at their phone once during a two-plus hour meal. He wants to compartmentalize phone use and focus on the situation in front of him.

13:00 Casey’s resolution: don’t change his productivity system for a year. He uses Capacities with a daily journal, lightweight task management, and “blips” inspired by Andy Matuschak — small notes that randomly surface each morning. He’s been using it four months and says it’s made researching his columns much easier.

21:06 Listener mailbag begins. First question from Cody in Taiwan about what “Hard Fork” means. They explain it was originally going to be called “NGMI” (Not Going to Make It) but NYT lawyers vetoed it because Slate had once used that name. Hard Fork is a crypto term for when you break a blockchain in a way that renders previous additions obsolete.

25:00 Brett from Massachusetts asks about deepfaking Santa into home security footage. Both hosts think it’s fine and funny, though Casey notes it could cause trust issues when kids eventually figure it out. Kevin admits he had planned to get his kid excited about shipping logistics instead of Santa.

28:00 A disgruntled optimist in pharma complains about companies announcing massive AI initiatives when the Wi-Fi doesn’t work. Kevin and Casey agree this is valid frustration but note the tension between AI’s potential and basic IT failures isn’t mutually exclusive.

32:00 Johan asks about data centers in space escaping legal jurisdiction. Kevin explains the 1967 Outer Space Treaty makes nations responsible for citizens’ activities in space. Casey notes the Green Lantern Corps also maintains space law.

35:00 New mom Emma asks about robots handling baby care. Kevin supports outsourcing drudgery to robots but warns against replacing interactive bonding moments. He used a SNOO bassinet and defends the trade-off of robot-soothed sleep vs. well-rested parents.

39:00 Ellen asks about chatbot liability when customer service bots promise things they can’t deliver. Casey discusses Moffett vs. Air Canada, where a tribunal ruled the chatbot is part of the company’s website and the company is liable for its promises.

42:20 Matt asks why the Turing test was never celebrated as being passed. Kevin explains that philosopher John Searle’s Chinese Room argument discredited the test before it was passed, but notes that GPT-4 was judged human 54% of the time in 2024 and newer models hit 73% in 2025.

44:00 Listeners ask about why Hard Fork doesn’t cover Copilot, DeepSeek, and Grok more. Casey notes Copilot is ranked 62nd on LM Arena. Kevin says they focus on frontier models but takes the feedback about covering more mainstream tools.

48:00 Daniel asks Casey about Balatro strategy. Casey has made it to ante-13 and shares his strategy: pair the Hanging Chad joker with the Photograph joker for X6 multiplier on every face card. He emphasizes that multiplication, not addition, is the key to high scores. Casey got his first million-point hand; his biggest is 500 million.