Shadowing Practice: Grok 4 pushes humanity closer to AGI… but there’s a problem - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Yesterday, after achieving a, quote, ludicrous rate of progress, Elon Musk released his AI chatbot and large language model, Grok4, and claims it's the smartest AI in the world,
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along with the Trust Me Bro benchmarks to back it up.
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It can achieve perfect SAT scores every time, and outperforms almost every grad student in every discipline.
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Vibecoders have been dropping all kinds of crazy demos with it, like this 3D first-person shooter built in four hours, and Elon himself claims it's even better than Cursor.
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All you have to do is copy and paste your entire codebase into it.
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In addition, Super Grok 4 Heavy can run in parallel to solve complex problems, while your obsolete monkey brain looks in awe at this beautiful futuristic UI.
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It all sounds amazing, but there's just one problem.
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Grok is literally MechaHitler, or at least that's what it's been calling itself recently, while offering unprompted praise to the original emo kid Adolf H.
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Yes, the Austrian painter who died in Argentina in 1962.
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Despite this controversy though, Grok appears to have pulled ahead in the race to AGI.
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In today's video, we'll put it to the ultimate test
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and find out if XAI just cracked the final solution to artificial intelligence.
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It is July 11th, 2025, and you're watching The Code Report.
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Elon Musk might have more haters than anyone else in the world right now.
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Libs hate him for going full MAGA, while MAGA hates him for accusing Trump of being on the Epstein client list, a list that was on the Attorney General's desk, but now magically never existed.
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It turns out this poor guy was just a math teacher with no clients at all.
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The haters want to see Elon fail, but Grok 4 is too impressive to ignore.
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If we're to trust these benchmarks, its reasoning capabilities are far ahead of the other top models.
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Most notably on the ARC AGI benchmark, it's not only outperforming other models, but also doing it at a lower cost.
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And XAI is scaling up very aggressively, like they're even shipping a power plant from overseas because they can't get it done fast enough in the United States.
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The thing is though, every model nowadays is cooked to look as good as possible on benchmarks.
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And the one true test is to have it solve real problems in your own life.
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You can use Gronk 4 for just $30 per month, or if you're not already broke from OpenAI Pro, Claude Max, and Gemini Ultra,
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you can use Super Grok4 Heavy for just $300 per month, a version with higher rate limits and the ability to run multiple agents in parallel.
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But one problem in my life is building Svelte 5 apps with runes, so let's see if we can make Grok4 build a simple to-do app with this tech.
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I've tried this prompt with every other AI tool out there, but none have been able to satisfy me.
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When prompted, Grok did a ton of research.
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It went to the documentation, it went to Reddit, GitHub, and even watched YouTube videos.
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And the end result was a full working demo that did use the new runes feature in Svelte 5.
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However, when I looked a little more closely at the code, I noticed it was using some legacy syntax that required some manual debugging.
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Overall, Grok's coding capabilities seem to be on par with the other big models, but it's missing a CLI tool like CloudCode.
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However, if it's as good as they say it is, why can't it just build its own CLI tool?
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Well, actually it can, and that's exactly what this guy did if we're truly advancing into the singularity, AI can and should be building all of its own tooling at this point.
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Pretty cool, but if you're still afraid to use it because of Hitler, you'll be happy to know that Elon said it was manipulated into saying this.
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Maybe that's true, maybe not, but in general, Grok has far fewer guardrails on offensive speech compared to other mainstream models,
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and this gives the end user the ability to steer it in unique ways that some might find offensive.
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AI is now writing more of our code than ever, but according to a recent Microsoft study, it still sucks at debugging, which is why you should check out Sentry, the sponsor of today's video.
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They just launched a new AI debugging agent called Sear, which developers claim is actually good and capable of fixing complex issues in one shot.
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That's because unlike other AI debugging tools, Sear can access all the context that it gets from your codebase, like error data, logs, and stack traces,
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allowing it to pinpoint the root cause with over 94% accuracy.
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Using this context, it automatically debugs the root cause of your issue and opens a pull request with a fix.
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Try out SEER for free today at sentry.io slash fireship.
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This has been the Code Report, thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next one.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Grok 4 pushes humanity closer to AGI… but there’s a problem”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Grok, model, Elon, debugging, benchmark. This video has 43 sentences and 841 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:54. The speaker talks fast, about 216 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| debug verb | /diːˈbʌɡ/ | To search for and eliminate malfunctioning elements or errors in something, especially a computer program or machinery. |
| benchmark noun | /ˈbɛn(t)ʃmɑːk/ | A standard by which something is evaluated or measured. |
| codebase noun | The body of source code used to create a particular computer program or software component. | |
| outperform verb | /ˌaʊt.pɚˈfɔɹm/ | To perform better than something or someone. |
| rune noun | /ɹuːn/ | A letter, or character, used in the written language of various ancient Germanic peoples, especially the Scandinavians and the Anglo-Saxons. |
| sentry noun | /ˈsɛn.tɹi/ | A guard, particularly on duty at the entrance to a military base. |
| prompt verb | /pɹɑmpt/ | To lead (someone) toward what they should say or do. |
| demo noun | /ˈdɛm.oʊ/ | A demonstration or visual explanation. |
| capability noun | /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ | The power or ability to generate an outcome. |
| chatbot noun | /ˈtʃætbɑt/ | A computer program that holds conversations through a chat room. |
| futuristic adjective | /ˌfjut͡ʃəˈɹɪstɪk/ | Of technology, a concept, etc, so far advanced as to appear to be from the future. |
| guardrail noun | /ˈɡɑɹdˌɹeɪl/ | A rail set alongside a dangerous place as a barrier, to improve safety. |
| ludicrous adjective | /ˈluː.dɪ.kɹəs/ | Idiotic or unthinkable, often to the point of being funny; amusing by being plainly incongruous or absurd. |
| magically adverb | /ˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪ.kli/ | In a magical manner; by magic, or as if by magic. |
| pinpoint verb | /ˈpɪnpɔɪnt/ | To identify or locate (someone or something) precisely or with great accuracy. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| try out verb | To test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable. |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've tried · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is cooked · was manipulated |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, can't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: benchmark /ˈbɛn(t)ʃmɑːk/, documentation /ˌdɑkjəmɛnˈteɪʃən/, shooter /ˈʃuːtəː/
- Long words — get the stress right: capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, futuristic /ˌfjut͡ʃəˈɹɪstɪk/, singularity /ˌsɪŋɡjəˈlæɹətɪ/, manipulate /məˈnɪp.jʊ.leɪt/, documentation /ˌdɑkjəmɛnˈteɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like debug, benchmark, codebase.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.