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Ars Technica: “There have been a number of high-profile cases where scientific papers have had to be retracted because they were filled with AI-generated slop—the most recent coming just two weeks ago. These instances raise serious questions about the quality of peer review in some journals—how could anyone let a figure with terms like “runctitional,” …
Bloomberg no paywall: People Watched 700 Million Hours of YouTube Podcasts on TV in October. ” People are spending more time tuning in to podcasts on Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube, and increasingly they’re turning to the biggest screen in their homes: the TV. In October, viewers streamed more than 700 million hours of podcasts on their …
Ars Technica: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued five large TV manufacturers yesterday, alleging that their smart TVs spy on viewers without consent. Paxton sued Samsung, the longtime TV market share leader, along with LG, Sony, Hisense, and TCL. These companies have been unlawfully collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition (‘ACR’) technology,” Paxton’s office …
The New Yorker [no paywall]: Is the term a new way of calling people pretentious, or does it reflect a deprioritization of the written word? “Here’s a hypothetical: a man walks into a bar, buys a drink, and starts reading from a paperback copy of David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest.” He could very well be …
Indicator: “Just because it’s “intelligent” doesn’t mean it’s always right. Errors are a wonderful thing. That may be a strange thing for a former fact-checker t/o write in a newsletter about digital deception, but bear with me. Errors are often funny, because – like good jokes – they subvert meaning in unexpected ways. I recently …
The Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA) has released the first edition of its Climate Policy Database, providing unprecedented detail on how governments are tackling climate change through policy action. With validated data covering 38 out of 60 countries so far, and around 1 600 carbon mitigation policy instruments, the Database offers granular insights …
Anne Applebaum – “I needed several days to absorb the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, to re-read it, to listen to reactions, to compare it to the first Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, published in 2017. My conclusion, published in the Atlantic (gift link here), is that it isn’t really a strategy document at all: …
This was the year that A.I.-generated content passed a kind of audiovisual Turing test, Kyle Chayka argues [no paywall] – The New Yorker – This was the year that A.I.-generated content passed a kind of audiovisual Turing test, sometimes fooling us against our better judgment. “The Turing test, a long-established tool for measuring machine intelligence, …
Center for the Study of the Public Domain – Public Domain Day 2026 – On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. The literary highlights range from William Faulkner’s As …
Privacy Guides sits down with technology journalist Taylor Lorenz to decipher a slate of bills – including KOSA, the SCREEN Act, the App Store Accountability Act, and ongoing efforts to repeal Section 230 – being fast-tracked through Congress which threaten free speech, privacy, and your right to freely access information on the internet. There are …
9to5Google: “Historically, google.com does not change very often. After adding an AI Mode shortcut earlier this year, there’s now a ‘plus’ menu on the Google Search homepage. On google.com, the Search bar now has a plus icon at the far left that replaces the magnifying glass. Clicking lets you “Upload image” or “Upload file.” It …
MIT Technology Review: Rolling out enterprise-grade AI means climbing two steep cliffs at once. First, understanding and implementing the tech itself. And second, creating the cultural conditions where employees can maximize its value. While the technical hurdles are significant, the human element can be even more consequential; fear and ambiguity can stall momentum of even …
