AI Has Become a Technology of Faith
Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington told me that they believe generative AI can help millions of suffering people. I’m not so sure.
Artificial Intelligence
The dawn of a new machine age.
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Every Time You Post to Instagram, You’re Turning on a Light Bulb Forever
Even simple actions online can take a toll on the environment.
We Need to Control AI Agents Now
Automated bots are about to be everywhere, with potentially devastating consequences.
Hot AI Jesus Is Huge on Facebook
Synthetic images showing curiously handsome versions of Jesus Christ are flooding the internet.
Generative AI Can’t Cite Its Sources
How will OpenAI keep its promise to media companies?
Google Is Turning Into a Libel Machine
Another reason not to trust the search engine in the generative-AI era
A Generation of AI Guinea Pigs
AI is quickly becoming a regular part of children’s lives. What happens next?
Excuse Me, Is There AI in That?
Businesses and creators see a new opportunity in the anti-AI movement.
The iPhone Is Now an AI Trojan Horse
Generative AI has become truly inescapable.
This Is What It Looks Like When AI Eats the World
The web itself is being shoved into a great unknown.
OpenAI Is Just Facebook Now
Facing one controversy after the next, the artificial-intelligence company enters a new phase.
The Near Future of Deepfakes Just Got Way Clearer
India’s election was ripe for a crisis of AI misinformation. It didn’t happen.
A Devil’s Bargain With OpenAI
Publishers including The Atlantic are signing deals with the AI giant. Where does this lead?
Google Is Playing a Dangerous Game With AI Search
The search giant’s new tool is answering questions about cancer, heart attacks, and Ozempic.
Media Companies Are Making a Huge Mistake With AI
News organizations rushing to absolve AI companies of theft are acting against their own interests.
OpenAI Just Gave Away the Entire Game
The Scarlett Johansson debacle is a microcosm of AI’s raw deal: It’s happening, and you can’t stop it.
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The Big AI Risk Not Enough People Are Seeing
Beware technology that makes us less human.
The Toilet Theory of the Internet
Google is serving an audience that wants quick and easy results. That may lead to disaster.
The Horseshoe Theory of Google Search
New generative-AI features are bringing the company back to basics.
This Is the Next Smartphone Evolution
OpenAI just killed Siri.
The End of the ‘Photoshop Fail’
Adobe’s app was once synonymous with fake images online. Then came generative AI.
ElevenLabs Is Building an Army of Voice Clones
A tiny start-up has made some of the most convincing AI voices. Are its creators ready for the chaos they’re unleashing?
I Witnessed the Future of AI, and It’s a Broken Toy
The Rabbit R1 is a device defined by empty promises.
Would Limitlessness Make Us Better Writers?
AI embodies hypotheticals I can only imagine for myself. But I believe human impediments are what lead us to create meaningful art.
It’s the End of the Web as We Know It
A great public resource is at risk of being destroyed.
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The AI Revolution Is Crushing Thousands of Languages
English is the internet’s primary tongue—a fact that may have unexpected consequences as generative AI becomes central to daily life.
Why a Cognitive Scientist Put a Head Cam on His Baby
The perspective of a child could help AI learn language—and tell us more about how humans manage the same feat.
AI Has Lost Its Magic
That’s how you know it’s taking over.
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The End of Foreign-Language Education
Thanks to AI, people may no longer feel the need to learn a second language.
Elon Musk Just Added a Wrinkle to the AI Race
Transparency, or the appearance of it, is the technology’s new norm.
What to Do About the Junkification of the Internet
Social-media companies define how billions of people experience the web. The rise of synthetic content only makes their role more important.
Kate Middleton and the End of Shared Reality
Nothing is true and everything is possible.
Conscious AI Is the Second-Scariest Kind
A cutting-edge theory of mind suggests a new type of doomsday scenario.
Why We Must Resist AI’s Soft Mind Control
When I tried to work out how Google’s Gemini tool thinks, I discovered instead how it wants me to think.
The Lifeblood of the AI Boom
Applications such as ChatGPT and DALL-E have captured the world’s imagination—but AI companies are focused on something else.
AI Is Taking Water From the Desert
New data centers are springing up every week. Can the Earth sustain them?
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Generative AI Is Challenging a 234-Year-Old Law
The technology might finally bend copyright past the breaking point, upending what it means to have a creative society in the process.
The Deeper Problem With Google’s Racially Diverse Nazis
Generative AI is not built to honestly mirror reality, no matter what its creators say.
How First Contact With Whale Civilization Could Unfold
If we can learn to speak their language, what should we say?