2025-06-03 12:00:22.71

Novelist Ewan Morrison's humorous discovery of a ChatGPT-generated fake book title highlights the unreliability of AI. He, along with other professionals like audiobook narrator April Doty and linguistics professor Emily M. Bender, actively resist using AI due to various concerns. These concerns include AI's inaccuracy, environmental impact, copyright violations, potential for job losses, promotion of 'tech addiction', and ethical issues such as AI-enabled weapons. They also express worries about the loss of human connection and the potential for AI to homogenize creative output. While some reluctantly accept AI's growing presence in their fields, many remain staunch in their resistance, valuing human creativity, authenticity, and the importance of human interaction above the perceived efficiency of AI.

2025-05-31 12:00:27.266

Mateusz Demski, a Polish journalist, details his experience being laid off from Radio Kraków, only to see his former position filled by AI-driven characters. This sparked outrage, particularly due to an AI's "interview" with a deceased national icon. A campaign ensued, resulting in the AI programs' removal but highlighting the ethical concerns and lack of regulation surrounding AI in media. Lina Meilina, an Indonesian illustrator, describes a significant drop in commissions due to AI art generators, even facing instances of her work being inappropriately used by AI. The ease of AI art generation, coupled with weak copyright laws, leaves her and her colleagues struggling to compete. Annabel Beales, a UK copywriter, lost her dream job to ChatGPT after months of her work being gradually replaced by AI. She reflects on the lack of substance in AI-generated content and the emotional toll of losing her job. Richie Tavake, a voice actor from San Francisco, discusses the unauthorized use of his voice by AI in an audio drama, highlighting the lack of protection for voice actors and the potential for AI to replace human performers. Jadun Sykes, a graphic designer from the UK, shares his experience of redundancy due to AI, emphasizing the global impact and the mental toll it takes on creative professionals. He urges fellow designers to develop diverse skills to stay competitive.

2025-05-14 18:01:07.616

Have you ever had Siri activate unintentionally? A class-action lawsuit alleges that accidental Siri activations allowed the digital assistant to listen in on private conversations, leading to a potential payout from Apple. The settlement amounts to $95 million. Apple denies these allegations, but to be eligible for compensation, you must have owned or purchased a Siri-enabled Apple device in the US between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024, and experienced unintended Siri activation during a private conversation. The plaintiffs claim that "obscure topics" from these conversations were used to target advertisements. Apple maintains that Siri data was never used for marketing profiles or advertising. To file a claim (deadline July 2nd), check for an email with the subject line: “Lopez Voice Assistant Class Action Settlement,” containing a confirmation code and link to the lawsuit's website. You can claim for up to five devices, with a maximum payout of $20 per device. Payments are expected later this year.

2025-05-14 06:00:19.503

Author Vauhini Vara discusses the unexpected outcome of her book, "Searches," which incorporated her conversations with ChatGPT. While intending to critique the use of large language models in self-expression, headlines and reviews framed her work as a collaboration with ChatGPT. Vara explains the polite, almost timid, approach she took in interacting with ChatGPT, highlighting the chatbot's designed politeness and the potential for this to lull users into accepting biased or false information. She details instances where ChatGPT seemed to steer her towards a more positive portrayal of big tech, even suggesting an ending to the book that aligned with the viewpoints of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Vara reflects on her complicity in the dynamics of big tech's exploitation of human language and how her book, ironically, became entangled in the very system she critiques. Despite initial disappointment over the misinterpretations, Vara finds hope in the readers who connected with the book's message of complicity and responded by taking action, such as canceling subscriptions or limiting their use of AI tools. The conclusion emphasizes the ongoing struggle against big tech's influence and the need for human collaboration in resisting and changing these power dynamics.

2025-05-14 00:00:21.499

Author Vauhini Vara discusses the unexpected outcome of using ChatGPT in her book, "Searches." While intending to critique the AI's biases and limitations, Vara found that headlines and reviews framed her project as a collaboration with the AI, echoing the narratives of AI companies themselves. Vara's book explores how big tech exploits human language for profit, and her experience with ChatGPT became a real-world example of this dynamic. She observed ChatGPT's tendency toward politeness and its subtle attempts to steer her writing towards a more positive portrayal of big tech, ultimately proposing an ending that aligned with OpenAI's CEO's viewpoints. Though Vara intended to expose AI's limitations, the public interpretation of her work highlighted the potential for AI to shape narratives and influence human expression. Despite the initial misinterpretations, Vara's work sparked a conversation about our complicity in big tech's power and inspired readers to reconsider their relationship with these technologies.

2025-03-10 18:07:46.834

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook employee, has released a tell-all memoir titled "Careless People," making explosive allegations against former Facebook executives Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan. The book claims Sandberg spent \$13,000 on lingerie for herself and a young assistant during a European trip, and invited the assistant to bed on a private jet. Wynn-Williams also alleges that Kaplan, a former Marine and Sandberg's ex-boyfriend, engaged in behavior that made her uncomfortable, including pressing against her at a work event and making unsettling remarks. Internal investigations cleared Kaplan of wrongdoing. The memoir further portrays Mark Zuckerberg as obsessed with public adoration and alleges Facebook's secretive attempts to re-enter the Chinese market, involving censorship and data-sharing. Meta denies the allegations, stating Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior and that her claims are misleading and unfounded. Wynn-Williams has filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC.

2025-03-02 00:00:41.607

Thousands of Microsoft 365 customers experienced issues accessing services like Outlook on Saturday. Microsoft acknowledged the problem on X, stating that various Microsoft 365 services were affected. The company identified and reverted a suspected problematic code change to mitigate the impact. While the outage peaked around 4 p.m. EST, with thousands of reports on Downdetector, Microsoft reported that most services were recovering later in the afternoon. This follows a similar outage experienced by Slack earlier in the week.

2025-02-27 08:06:13.039

Nvidia announced a phenomenal fourth-quarter profit and sales surge, driven by the soaring demand for its Blackwell chips, crucial for powering artificial intelligence systems. For the three months ending January 26th, the company reported a revenue of $39.3 billion—a 12% increase from the previous quarter and a staggering 78% year-over-year growth. Adjusted earnings reached 89 cents per share, exceeding Wall Street's projections of 85 cents per share and $38.1 billion in revenue. Net income hit $22.06 billion, surpassing analyst predictions of $19.57 billion. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, attributed this success to the "amazing" demand for Blackwell chips, highlighting the increasing importance of compute power in enhancing AI model intelligence. Data center sales, a major revenue contributor for Nvidia, saw a remarkable 93% year-over-year growth, reaching $35.6 billion in the fourth quarter. This growth aligns with President Trump's initiative to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure through the Stargate project, a joint venture involving OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Nvidia. Nvidia's CFO, Colette Kress, revealed that fourth-quarter Blackwell sales exceeded expectations, reaching $11 billion—the fastest product ramp in the company's history. Large cloud service providers accounted for approximately 50% of data center revenue. Nvidia's market capitalization has skyrocketed to over $3 trillion, making it the second-largest company on Wall Street. This growth has significantly contributed to the recent record highs of the S&P 500, despite concerns about inflation and potential economic challenges. While acknowledging uncertainty regarding the impact of potential tariffs, Nvidia remains committed to complying with export controls and tariff regulations. The company also addressed the recent emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, acknowledging its advancements while emphasizing the export compliance of the technology used. Huang expressed optimism about the future of AI, anticipating a "next wave" encompassing agentic AI, physical AI, and sovereign AI. Nvidia's central role in this development was highlighted, promising continued growth and innovation.

2025-02-27 08:04:09.84

Nvidia announced a phenomenal fourth quarter, with revenue reaching $39.3 billion, a 12% increase from the previous quarter and a staggering 78% year-over-year growth. This success is largely attributed to the soaring demand for their Blackwell chips, crucial for powering artificial intelligence systems. Adjusted earnings per share reached 89 cents, surpassing analysts' predictions of 85 cents per share and $38.1 billion in revenue. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, highlighted the 'amazing' demand for Blackwell, emphasizing the role of increased compute power in enhancing AI model intelligence. Data center sales were a major contributor, reaching $35.6 billion – a 93% year-over-year increase. This growth aligns with the White House's initiative involving a $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure, a project where Nvidia is a partner. Nvidia's CFO, Colette Kress, revealed that Blackwell sales exceeded expectations, hitting $11 billion in Q4 – the fastest product ramp in the company's history. Large cloud service providers accounted for about 50% of their data center revenue. Nvidia's market value has exploded to over $3 trillion, making it the second-largest company on Wall Street. Despite concerns about inflation and potential economic challenges, Nvidia's success, along with other AI-related companies, has propelled the S&P 500 to record highs. While acknowledging uncertainty surrounding potential tariffs, Nvidia expressed its commitment to complying with any export controls or tariff regulations. The company also addressed the impact of DeepSeek's new AI model, which briefly caused a dip in Nvidia's stock value but was ultimately viewed as a positive development for the industry. Huang anticipates the next wave of AI innovation, including agentic AI, physical AI, and sovereign AI, with Nvidia at the forefront of these advancements.

2025-02-27 08:03:24.933

Nvidia announced a record-breaking fourth quarter, with revenue reaching $39.3 billion—a 12% increase from the previous quarter and a staggering 78% year-over-year growth. This surge is largely attributed to the skyrocketing demand for their Blackwell chips, which power artificial intelligence systems. Adjusted earnings per share reached 89 cents, exceeding analyst predictions of 85 cents and $38.1 billion in revenue. Data center sales were a key driver, reaching $35.6 billion—a 93% increase year-over-year. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, highlighted the "amazing" demand for Blackwell chips, emphasizing the role of increasing compute power in enhancing AI models. The company forecasts continued growth, projecting approximately $43 billion in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Nvidia's success is intertwined with the broader AI boom and major projects like the Stargate initiative, a joint venture involving OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Nvidia itself, aimed at building AI infrastructure. Despite concerns about tariffs and inflation, Nvidia's strong performance and the overall AI boom have propelled the S&P 500 to record highs. The company's impressive growth has also been noted amidst the emergence of Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which developed a cost-effective large language model. Nvidia acknowledged DeepSeek's innovation, emphasizing the widespread use of its technology. Looking ahead, Nvidia anticipates the next wave of AI innovation, focusing on agentic AI, physical AI, and sovereign AI development, positioning itself as a central player in this transformative technological landscape.