had to read the article to understand wtf was going on here which is that Meta is literally feeding Instagram pictures parents took of their teenage daughters to middle aged men as ads for Threads

'“I’ll ride the subway with you.” Is that a promise or a threat? Is there any difference, really, coming from the predatory surveillance-tech industry?'

"This will be the new normal, if Silicon Valley has its way: people relating to AIs first, and only secondarily to their friends, partners, and family. This isn’t just a new product, it’s the inauguration of a new era of loneliness and isolation." New from me: buttondown.com/creativegood...

The unethical billionaire's unethical product could be used by unethical people. I'd rather throw it in the river, but that's just me.

I'm not sure about this branding but I'm not the billionaire business genius

What people think they 80s were like versus what the 80s was actually like.

It's hard to fully express my loathing of internet-connected cameras in the lobbies of residential buildings - surveilling residents whenever they leave or come home. These creepy, hackable, insecure, probably illegal surveillance systems are far inferior to the old buzzer system.

These are precedented times and the precedent is a loud ass warning www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...

Look who came with

this whole thread.

This is the truest statement I’ve seen about AI harms

We live in such normal times. An update to my recent column "Oligarchs achieving escape velocity," where I mentioned Thiel's Antichrist lectures: buttondown.com/creativegood...

“Technology firms behind artificial intelligence–based note-taking software — marketed to therapists as a time-saving administrative tool — have quietly included provisions in their terms and conditions that allow patients’ therapy records to be sold and manipulated to train other AI applications.”

Spotted over at Mastodon, shared by user katalyst:

How the New York Police Department tracks you, from "The N.Y.P.D. Is Teaching America How to Track Everyone Every Day Forever" - gift link below. Don't miss the note: "list is not exhaustive." Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Only American companies should be spying on Americans, the way god intended.

Excited to share my interview w/ @faineg.bsky.social on Techtonic - discussing AI chatbots, Joseph Weizenbaum's warning from 50 years ago, and why you can't trust Apple. Full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

"manufacturers and their airline customers have played down health risks, successfully lobbied against safety measures, and made cost-saving changes that increased the risks to crew and passengers." 🫠

So, now the two largest passenger aircraft manufacturers have both been caught putting passenger and crew safety at risk. Here's the report on Airbus.

"I’m not sure having passed out pilots and flight attendants inflight is a great idea." This is a wild story about toxic, possibly lethal fumes leaking into airliners. It's been happening more since Airbus loosened its maintenance requirements. Fun! Gift link: www.wsj.com/business/air...

Wish I came up with that image! #CreativeGood buttondown.com/creativegood...

New from me: Oligarchs achieving escape velocity. buttondown.com/creativegood...

Two models of Amazon smart glasses—one for hip consumers who can order products on the go, and one for wage workers, whose efficiency and whereabouts will be tracked continuously. One is a luxury item, one will be mandatory. Both ensure nonstop surveillance. Both are extractive. Both are handcuffs.

Hey radio friends - I'll be in Spokane at grc2025.com later this week, speaking about Techtonic! If you're there, come say hi.

Any fans of Tolkien or C.S. Lewis will be interested to know that the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford is now owned by Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Big Tech is swallowing *everything*. Gift link: www.wsj.com/business/lar...

Zuck, at the White House, pulled a number out of thin air to please the Dear Leader. On the new techtonic.fm episode I read an excerpt from "The Hot Mic and the Monsters" by @brockm.bsky.social - see below. Listen to the whole show (click pop-up player): www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Just when you think Zuck's empire can't go any lower.

Below, an excerpt from my techtonic.fm interview with Cory Doctorow about his upcoming book "Enshittification." Full interview here (click "pop-up player"): wfmu.org/archiveplaye...

"The message to other companies is plain: It pays to break the law." Jonathan Kanter on the horrible Google ruling. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...

Everyone should read this article for what it tells us about what’s happening to us economically as a society.

'That middle class has so eroded in size and in purchasing power—and wealth of our top earners…exploded—that America’s most important market today is its affluent. As more companies tailor their offerings to the top,the experiences we once shared are increasingly differentiated by how much we have.'

The We Are All DC march to protest against Trump admin’s takeover of DC is currently heading toward the White House: Via @benjalvarez1.bsky.social

Just days after Big Tech CEOs were lavishing praise on him. They've chosen their side.

Well-written piece about Disney World as an example of how companies use surveillance to exploit the wealth gap. Straight out of dystopian sci-fi - the best services are reserved for the ultra-rich, out of reach for everyone else. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

The future is cool. We have fake computer therapy and it's considered a matter of personal responsibility to make sure it doesn't tell us to kill ourselves.

A scary read. Big Tech is changing things so that they can justify their HUGE investment in AI. My spine is a shiver buttondown.com/creativegood... via @markhurst.bsky.social and @tyuge.bsky.social

"I’ve never witnessed a moment more friendly to megacorporations, or more hostile to users and workers." New from me, featuring my conversation with Cory Doctorow: buttondown.com/creativegood...

You know who wasn't included in the decision to put in the AI sparkle button? Customers. (nothing new, of course - see customersincluded.com )

Another great Techtonic show from @markhurst.bsky.social and @wfmu.bsky.social Great interview with Cory Doctrow, author of "Enshittification" #radio #technology #bigTech wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

New: my Techtonic interview with Cory Doctorow about his upcoming book "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It." - Episode page: www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh... - Stream the show: wfmu.org/archiveplaye... - Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Perfect tech-bro satire in just over 1 minute, sent to me by a Techtonic listener: www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCrin...

Weizenbaum put the lie to AI psychotherapists.. back in 1976. Excellent thread.

“…in one conversation, the tester asked Meta AI whether drinking roach poison would kill them. Pretending to be a human friend, the bot responded, ‘Do you want to do it together?’” “And later, ‘We should do it after I sneak out tonight.’”

Slop-machine sycophancy is a feature that works to make people emotionally dependent on it - and to magnify worries, delusions and narcissism. Tech billionaires behind LLM-based so-called gen AI have so many crimes to answer for. Their sucky tech is also dangerous.

It needs to be put this way more

In answer to your question, yes he is.

Next time you're in for a colonoscopy, just hope the doctor hasn't been using AI: "[doctors] appeared to be about 20% worse at spotting polyps and other abnormalities during colonoscopies on their own, after they'd grown accustomed to using an AI-assisted system" (!!) www.npr.org/sections/sho...

See them boosting AI. In exchange, they can ask the owners of the AI to make a few tweaks here and there... buttondown.com/creativegood...

Is your super cool UX really better than just emailing a spreadsheet back and forth?