"Rachel gave her date the benefit of the doubt...she’d been “Chatfished” before, so when the gap between his real and digital selves failed to close on their second date, she called it off. “I’d already been ChatGPT-ed into bed at least once. I didn’t want it to happen again.”"

"Starbuck’s online posts have not changed in tenor since the “anti-DEI agitator” was brought into the Meta fold, and his Trump administration connections raise broader questions about the extent to which corporate America has capitulated to the Maga movement."

"The question of Truth Terminal's autonomy is another story. "The interest around Truth Terminal is a bit like an audience wanting to suspend their disbelief," says Fabian Stelzer, a cognitive scientist, AI researcher and founder of Glif..."

"I would have saved, on average, almost nothing during Amazon’s recent fall “Prime Big Deal Days” — and for some big-ticket purchases, I would have actually paid more..."

"...ultrasound approaches already in use are ushering in a new era in oncology – one that aims to replace, or at least improve, effective-yet-devastating therapies like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. "Cancer is awful...What's making it even worse is cancer treatment.""

A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0

"Employees are using AI tools to create low-effort, passable looking work that ends up creating more work for their coworkers."

My 18 year old son Sequoia has been working on a huge personal project for the last few years. He has written a full feature length animated film screenplay and musical score called, "The Unlikely Pairing of Fowl and Cheese." Check out the work on his website: sequoia.dreilinger.com/writing-coll...

Sperm racing is all the rage among the tech bros. Why am I not surprised? | Arwa Mahdawi

They’re Narcissists, and They’re Proud

The Newest Face of Long-Term Unemployment? The College Educated.

"85+ rising and established scientists working in the US have joined Chinese research institutions...since the start of last year...a so-called reverse brain drain that is raising questions about the US’ long-term ability to attract and keep top-tier foreign scientists..."

The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers

"1st, AI is almost certainly in what economists call an asset bubble or a speculative bubble...2nd, AI is also arguably in what we might call an infrastructure bubble...3rd, AI is certainly in a hype bubble, which is where the promise claimed for a new technology exceeds reality..."

"...the technology is still evolving...parents can use this as an opportunity to explore it together. For example, the next time your child asks you a question, type it into an AI chatbot and discuss the response"

"KPMG, predicts coffee prices “will easily exceed the record as the full effects of the 50% tariffs levied on Brazil last month work their way onto store shelves...” Big brands and small shops have been trying to absorb the costs, but consumers’ luck...appears to have run out."

"The art world is in a precarious state as it heads into the second half of 2025. Not a week goes by, it seems, without a major gallery closing...Smaller galleries are exiting and downsizing...Overheads are killing businesses. Sales are down. It’s no longer fun."

As artificial intelligence got smarter, it was supposed to become too cheap to meter. It’s proving to be anything but. Developers...are discovering their bills are higher than expected—and growing."

"As the planet heats up, experts warn that indoor heat deaths among elderly, sick and low-income people could surge amid deepening financial hardship driven by Donald Trump’s energy policies, trade wars and his administration’s dismantling of the social safety net."

"The concentrations in indoor air are far higher than outdoor air...worrying because humans spend about 90% of the day indoors...higher because it is an enclosed environment with high levels of plastic in a small area, and there is generally poor ventilation." buff.ly/fe1rihQ

"...national averages have fallen 13% since 2021, while Auckland has dropped nearly 20% and Wellington 30% - prompting questions about whether New Zealand has finally managed to turn around its housing crisis, and what it could mean for other overheated markets around the world." buff.ly/P7CDvVo

"Katrina became a watershed moment in American disaster response and led to a massive overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)...20 years later, those efforts...are being undone. In his second term, President Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle the agency..."

Why is AI so slow to spread? Economics can explain

"...for 95% of companies in the dataset, generative AI implementation is falling short...MIT’s research suggests companies see far more failures when going solo...“the data showed purchased solutions delivered more reliable results."

"Generative AI tools are undeniably useful for information seeking, and even novice users recognize that potential value right away. However, this study reminds us that, while people working in tech may feel that genAI’s uses are obvious, that is not the case for many consumers." buff.ly/us0lEye

"...rural residents were understandably upset. The impacts of climate change were abstract to many people, Golden said, until they started getting those letters — at the same time insurance companies were dumping them."

"AI-generated content is what math decides the groupthink wants to hear based on what it’s already said in the past."

"its survival speaks volumes about the cultural appeal of reassurance in chaotic times...calm perseverance in the face of adversity–continues to strike a chord. It has thrived in meme culture because its message is timelessly adaptable; calm resilience suits both crisis and comedy."

"...expect the cost of LLMs to decrease over time. “That’s what everyone’s banking on...the inference cost today, that’s the most expensive it’s ever going to be...” Rather than falling as expected, the cost of some of the latest AI models has risen"

"The sale of the president’s house came as Cornell faces “profound financial challenges...” They referenced hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research contracts that were terminated or frozen by the Trump administration as well as threats to future funding...""

"Chandler said he will lose $250K-$300K of revenue, left to rot on the trees. “...it’s also lost revenue for the workers...The beginning of the season, it coincided...with...immigration enforcement down in southern California...and that had a chilling effect.”"

"Predictions of the eventual bill are uniformly enormous...Morgan Stanley reckon $2.9trn...McKinsey...$6.7trn...Like a bad party at a good restaurant, nobody is quite sure who will pick up the tab...The hot centre of the AI boom is moving from stock markets to debt markets."

The Trump administration takes a very Orwellian turn | CNN Politics

"The 253,000 downward revisions to May and June was the largest since at least 1979 (with the exception of 2020), according to Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Budget Lab at Yale. The outsized correction is reflective of an extremely volatile economic environment..."

Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble

When Your Power Meter Becomes a Tool of Mass Surveillance

“Until we get to net-zero emissions, extreme weather will only get worse, and it’s already damaging crops and pushing up the price of food all over the world...with rising food prices number two on the list of climate impacts...second only to extreme heat itself.”

That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose. "Ostensibly the goal of customer service is to serve customers. Often enough, its true purpose is to defeat them." buff.ly/zyDyKtO

"OpenAI's artificial entrant...placed second overall, ahead of 10 other human programmers who had qualified through year-long rankings. OpenAI characterized the second-place finish as a milestone for AI models in competitive programming."

The AI Mirage

AI is killing the web. Can anything save it?

"A mere 0.1% of users share 80% of fake news. Twelve accounts – known as the “disinformation dozen” – created most of the vaccine misinformation on Facebook during the pandemic."

"If the papers are being peer-reviewed by humans, then the prompts would present no issue, but as one professor behind one of the manuscripts told Nature, it is a “counter against ‘lazy reviewers’ who use AI” to do the peer review work for them." buff.ly/M0hNniy

"...there were 1.1 million first-time buyers last year - 380K fewer than the number of first time buyers in 2023, and almost half of the historical norm...this year could be even worse for first-time buyers."

"Google misused customers’ cellphone data and must pay more than $314.6m to Android smartphone users in the state...Google was liable for sending and receiving information from the devices without permission while they were idle..."

"Russia has not relied on well-trained agents in this campaign, but a network of low-level criminals: some sympathetic to Moscow’s cause, others simply wanting cash. Whereas espionage and sabotage used to take years to recruit and plan for, these operations now require just..." buff.ly/1thsfFT

Weedkiller ingredient widely used in US can damage organs and gut bacteria, research shows

Content will be judged by quality not volume - but no-one has told AI buff.ly/bWxvoVw

Protect Yourself From Meta’s Latest Attack on Privacy