Deep Future

Mike Winter tells me how a 1994 Wired Robot Wars call pulled him out of an Alaska winter — flipper bots, a million fans, warehouse humanoids, and a Cannonball Run rule: never be bored.

Mike Winter and I go from local AI tools and gritty real props to childhood computers, Super 8 stop-motion, and why working with your hands still beats living only in your head.

Mike Winter and I argue fasteners, DJI-grade mechanics, and a no-screws design challenge — then widen out to what manufacturing is for and what still makes a person fulfilled.

Mike Winter walks me through his first CAD startup, the secret wish to make film monsters, offline research contests, and why Dollar Tree dioramas beat sitting around watching TV.

Mike Winter and I start with his AI or Die combat-robot fight against his BattleBots-veteran daughter — then dioramas as everyday model-making, and why creative thinking shouldn't live only in language.