Extra, Extra
The Bucks Stop Here: “The experience, historically, is that government shutdowns don’t cause calamity. This time could be different.” Longest Shutdown in History Costs US Economy About $15 Billion Each Week. (How will last night’s results impact the shutdown negotiations?)
+ And AI for and AI: “Enoch, one of the newer chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, promises ‘to ‘mind wipe’ the pro-pharma bias’ from its answers. Another, Arya, produces content based on instructions that tell it to be an ‘unapologetic right-wing nationalist Christian A.I. model.’ Grok, the chatbot-cum-fact-checker embedded in X, claimed in one recent post that it pursued ‘maximum truth-seeking and helpfulness, without the twisted priorities or hidden agendas plaguing others.'” You think the old internet had bias? Just wait until the new one takes over. NYT (Gift Article): Right-Wing Chatbots Turbocharge America’s Political and Cultural Wars. (They’re not already turbocharged?)
+ Me, Myself and AI: “Although chatbots may be built on the familiar architecture of engagement, they enable something new: They allow you to talk forever to no one other than yourself.” The Age of Anti-Social Media Is Here. (This article gets at a lot of the stuff that worries me most about chatbots.)
+ UPS Crash: “Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday morning there were at least nine confirmed deaths and 11 injuries from a United Parcel Service cargo plane crash near the Louisville airport Tuesday evening.”
+ Ground Control to Major Don: “President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he has decided to nominate Jared Isaacman to serve as his NASA administrator, months after withdrawing the tech billionaire’s nomination because of concerns about his political leanings.” First he was nominated, then removed, then renominated. It all could be a reflection of Trump’s on again off again friendship with Elon Musk.
+ Groped: “The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was groped by a man as she mingled with citizens on the streets of Mexico City, raising questions about the lack of presidential security and the level of sexual harassment the country’s women face.”
+ A Nobel Effort: What do you do if you can’t get the peace prize you want? Have your friend invent a new peace prize. Trump ally Infantino to award first Fifa Peace Prize at World Cup draw in DC.
