Kenneth Glad
The internet loves a good prankster. When someone finds a way to poke holes in hyped technology, millions tune in to watch the chaos. The surprise comes when the targets of the joke decide they want to join in.
Matt Husk built a massive online following by confusing artificial intelligence. With two million fans across social media, he thrives on making deadpan requests. By recording himself asking chatbots simple questions, like demanding they beatbox or count to 100, he exposes their hilarious failures.
Now the biggest tech names are knocking on his door. At the Wired World Fair, he revealed that major companies want his help. His viral stunts even landed him a deal with the talent agency Unicorn.
Elon Musk’s xAI even offered the comedian a Tesla for a week, according to Wired. The catch? Husk had to make videos exclusively for the firm.
Begging for help
OpenAI also reached out after his videos exposed major flaws in their voice model. The chatbot famously messed up a simple running timer when he asked it to track a mile.
In a clip discussed on the tech podcast Mostly Human, the AI took minutes to time a few seconds. OpenAI boss Sam Altman saw the footage and admitted the glitch was a “known issue.”
When Husk protested, the bot replied with a deeply unhelpful phrase.
“It can feel faster in the moment,” the AI told him.
Wired reported that OpenAI offered Husk early access to a software patch if he shared his account details. He turned down that pitch. They also offered him gifts and asked for his home address, but he refused that offer as well.
Bread and bombs
“They offered me the smallest amount,” he explained. “I was just like, ‘No.'”
The comedian started his project about a year ago while working a landscaping job. After running out of ideas for his usual videos, he told a chatbot that a nuclear bomb had exploded. The bot cheerfully replied, “I’m rooting for you,” and gave useless advice about taking shelter.
He thought the clip was terrible, but it quickly hit 100,000 views overnight. Since then, he has tested the limits of what these models can actually do, especially when tech developers boast that their software can handle daily chores.
In one viral stunt, he asked the AI to negotiate the price of bread on Craigslist. The bot negotiated a ridiculous starting price of $10,000 down to a final offer of $400.
Back to humans
His viral fame landed him brand partnerships with massive companies like CeraVe and Ninja. He also secured an upcoming original project with The Onion. Over video calls, he will spend the series learning unusual, complicated skills from real people, such as how to be a mime.
“I’m spending too much time talking to AI,” Husk noted. “So I’m going to branch out and learn stuff from humans.”
While he admits to chatting with chatbots to scope out concepts, he refuses to let the technology generate his actual material. He avoids using it in a strictly creative sense because he feels the results would all be “too similar.”
Instead, he trusts his own brain for the final product.
“I’d rather just have my worst idea at least be my idea rather than AI’s idea for a video,” he said.
