All generative AI models hallucinate, from Google’s Gemini to Anthropic’s Claude to the latest stealth release of OpenAI’s GPT-4o. The models are unreliable narrators in other words — sometimes to hilarious effect, other times problematically so. But not all models make things up at the same rate. And the kinds of mistruths they spout depend […]
FTC study finds ‘dark patterns’ used by a majority of subscription apps and websites
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with two other international consumer protection networks, announced on Thursday the results of a study into the use of “dark patterns” — or manipulative design techniques — that can put users’ privacy at risk or push them to buy products or services or take other actions they otherwise […]
AI tutors are quietly changing how kids in the US study, and the leading apps are from China
Evan, a high school sophomore from Houston, was stuck on a calculus problem. He pulled up Answer AI on his iPhone, snapped a photo of the problem from his Advanced Placement math textbook, and ran it through the homework app. Within a few seconds, Answer AI had generated an answer alongside a step-by-step process of […]
Senate study proposes ‘at least’ $32B yearly for AI programs
A long-running working group in the Senate has issued its policy recommendation for federal funding for AI: $ 32 billion yearly, covering everything from infrastructure to grand challenges to national security risk assessments. This “roadmap” is not a bill or detailed policy proposal, but nevertheless it gives a sense of the scale lawmakers and “stakeholders” […]
Elon Musk accused of profiting from tragedy as study finds X rewards hate targeting Israel-Gaza war
A few weeks after defeating Elon Musk’s attempt to silence it in court, anti-hate research nonprofit, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), is back with a new piece of research into Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The study builds on earlier work investigating his impact on online speech by spotlighting how policy […]