In a nod to how often people are looking for AI answers instead of search results, Google is testing a feature that replaces its "I'm feeling lucky" button with an AI mode button. One can imagine the traditional search button also eventually being replaced by an AI mode button, then all buttons being replaced by AI buttons, until ultimately, buttons themselves will be replaced. (Don't feel too bad for buttons, you'll probably be replaced before them.) Let's catch up on some AI trends, the good, the bad, and the ugh-ly, starting with education. We already know that students are using AI like crazy. Well, so are professors. Which begs the question (that one might want to ask ChatGPT) of how much tuition one should be paying for AI lessons. NYT (Gift Article): The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It. "Oh, how the tables have turned. Now students are complaining on sites like Rate My Professors about their instructors’ overreliance on A.I. and scrutinizing course materials for words ChatGPT tends to overuse, like 'crucial' and 'delve.' In addition to calling out hypocrisy, they make a financial argument: They are paying, often quite a lot, to be taught by humans, not an algorithm that they, too, could consult for free." 2Laying Down the Law"The rule-of-law casualties of these presidentially provoked national crises are mounting by the day. America cannot withstand three-and-a-half more years of this president if his first few months are a harbinger of what lies ahead." J. Michael Luttig with a very clear (if depressing) overview of what's gone down so far in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The End of Rule of Law in America. "After these first three tyrannical, lawless months of this presidency, surely Americans can understand now that Donald Trump is going to continue to decimate America for the next three-plus years. He will continue his assault on America, its democracy, and rule of law until the American people finally rise up and say, 'No more.'" 3Research and Destroy"In 2024, the United States spent nearly $1 trillion — roughly 3.5 percent of total economic output — on research and development. When it came to the kind of long-term basic research that underpins American technological and scientific advancements, the government accounted for about 40 percent of the spending. That’s the reason political, education and business leaders in advanced countries and emerging economies have long fretted over a brain drain from their own shores. Now they are seizing a chance to reverse the flow. 'This is a once-in-a-century brain gain opportunity.'" NYT (Gift Article): The World Is Wooing U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump. (Don't worry. We can all do our own research.) 4The Shirt Hits the Fan"Absolved by President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons and feeling vindicated by his reelection, rioters who once lay low in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol or otherwise felt unwelcome on mainstream platforms are taking on new identities as online influencers." A headline for the ages from WaPo (Gift Article): They stormed the Capitol. Now they’re selling merch. (My fellow Americans went to the insurrection and all I got was this lousy t-shirt...) 5Extra, ExtraLosing Our Marble: "You look at this, it’s so beautiful. As a construction person, I’m seeing perfect marble. This is what they call perfecto." Trump marvels at wealth of his Arab hosts while he eyes White House and Air Force One upgrades. Trump met with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh ("attractive guy, tough guy") and moved toward normalizing relations. He also announced Qatar's plan to purchase a lot of jets from Boeing. Here's the latest from BBC. 6Bottom of the NewsYou knew it was crazy to abandon the incredibly strong HBO brand for the name Max. I knew it was crazy to abandon the incredibly strong HBO brand for the name Max. And now Warner Bros knows it, too. They’re just giving up and calling it HBO Max again.
|
