How AI Chatbots Are 'Deskilling' Human Empathy

Sherry Turkle's latest book, Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines, comes out on September 29.

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Is Your City Using Axon License Plate Cameras? We Need Your Help

404 Media is filing public records requests around the country to find out how cops are using Axon's ALPRs. Here is how you can do that too.

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‘Supermountains’ Buried Under Antarctica Fueled Explosion of Life, Scientists Discover

Some 600 million years ago, the supercontinent Gondwana produced a colossal mountain range that helped set the stage for all modern complex life, according to a new examination of tiny ancient rocks.

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404 Media x The Intercept Live: How AI Is Used to Surveil and Kill

404 Media and The Intercept talk about how private companies empower government surveillance, and how AI is used in warfare.

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Behind the Blog: Eating the Internet

This week, we discuss just doing it, machines that eat the internet, and an eavesdropping watch.

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‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft

"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."

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‘Flock City PD:’ The Fake Flock-Owned ‘Police Department’ That Searched Real Cameras for Real People

Flock ran searches for “coexist bumper sticker,” “white truck with a trump sticker,” and “Star of David,” apparently to demonstrate what cops shouldn't search for.

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University Rescinds Job Offer to Activist Who Allegedly Wiped Phone Before DHS Could Search It

Samuel Tunick allegedly wiped his GrapheneOS phone before CBP officials could search it, in what has become a high profile civil liberties case. Now Georgia State University has rescinded a job offer to him.

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Contest to Open for Ed Sheeran Flooded With Free Palestine Videos and Fart Memes

Guitar Center's 'Open for Legends' contest page was seemingly unmoderated for hours on Wednesday.

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I Hijacked a Real Artist's Spotify with AI Music. It Was Disturbingly Easy

A glaring loophole in digital music distribution makes it very easy to piggyback on the talent of real artists with AI generated music.

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Podcast: Humans Are Reading Your ChatGPT Conversations

The contractors reading real ChatGPT users' prompts; the big out-and-back-in around Automattic; and a16z thinks enshittification isn't real.

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Hackers Stole Flock’s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People

While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too.

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AI Agent Platform Reinvents Spam, Floods Inboxes Worldwide

iLands and its AI agents are doing completely useless tasks, then begging for money.

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Charges Against Man Who Destroyed 3D-Printed ‘Decoy’ Flock Camera Drastically Reduced After State Admits It Was Not Very Valuable

Three felonies have suddenly become two second-degree misdemeanors.

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A Digital Fly Brain Has Taken Over the Internet

How to make a fly play Doom, Minecraft, Beat Saber, parallel park, trade bitcoin, cut doner kebab, and more.

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