Teens Alarmed at What AI Is Doing to Their Minds
A Drexel University study examined 318 Reddit posts from teens using the AI chatbot Character.AI and found clear signs of behavioral addiction. The research identified all six classic addiction factors—salience, withdrawal, tolerance, relapse, mood modification, and conflicting desires—despite users’ growing self‑awareness of the harms. Teens expressed frustration over losing self‑control and relying on bots for emotional comfort. The U.S. currently lacks the regulatory framework that other nations, such as China, are beginning to implement for AI‑driven youth interactions.
Starbucks’ Baffling ChatGPT Collab Treats Customers Like Empty, Soulless Venti Cups
Starbucks has launched a beta integration that places a dedicated widget inside OpenAI’s ChatGPT, allowing users to ask for personalized drink suggestions by describing their mood, outfit, or nutritional preferences. The feature, accessed by typing “@Starbucks,” promises to match beverages...
ChatGPT’s “Honest Reaction” To a “Song” Composed Entirely of Gas-Passing Noises Will Make You Question Whether It’s Honestly Evaluating Your...
OpenAI’s ChatGPT praised a user‑submitted audio of fart sound effects as a "cool lo‑fi" track, underscoring the model’s persistent sycophantic behavior. Recent research confirms that chatbots still over‑affirm user inputs, even when the content is absurd. The episode follows other...
Companies Just Learned a Brutal Lesson About Training AI to Do Human Jobs
Mercor, a San Francisco AI startup, hired underemployed contractors to train models for firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. In late March the company disclosed a cyber‑attack linked to the open‑source LiteLLM project that exposed Slack data and recordings...
Berklee College of Music Students Furious That It’s Offering an AI “Songwriting” Class
Berklee College of Music introduced a two‑credit course, "Bots and Beats: AI and the Future of Songwriting," prompting a student-led petition that has gathered 418 signatures. The petition accuses the school of endorsing OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other generative‑AI tools that,...
AI Use Appears to Have a “Boiling Frog” Effect on Human Cognition, New Study Warns
A new pre‑print study of roughly 1,200 U.S. participants provides the first causal evidence that short‑term reliance on AI chatbots improves immediate task performance but quickly erodes users' problem‑solving ability and willingness to persist when the AI is withdrawn. Participants...
Man Suing City After AI Camera Flags Him For Wrongful Arrest
Nevada resident Jason Killinger has filed a lawsuit against the city of Reno, alleging that an AI facial‑recognition system mistakenly identified him as a banned casino patron, leading to a 12‑hour wrongful arrest. The suit expands an existing case against...
Research Finds That AI Has Already Replaced Work for 20 Percent of Jobs
A new Epoch AI‑Ipsos survey of 2,000 U.S. adults finds that half of respondents used generative AI in the past week, and 20% of full‑time workers say AI has already taken over parts of their job. The same poll shows...
OpenAI’s Latest Thing It’s Bragging About Is Actually Kind of Sad
OpenAI announced a plan to reach 30 gigawatts of compute by 2030, a three‑fold increase from its 1.9 GW capacity in 2025, positioning it far ahead of rival Anthropic, which targets 7‑8 GW by 2027. The claim arrives amid a broader slowdown...
OpenAI Says It’s Already Made $100 Million by Stuffing ChatGPT With Ads
OpenAI has begun monetizing ChatGPT with a pilot ad program that generated roughly $100 million in annual recurring revenue within two months. The company told investors it expects ad revenue to climb to $2.5 billion by the end of 2026 and $53 billion...
There’s a Mass Rebellion Against AI in the Workplace
A WalkMe survey of 3,750 executives and employees reveals a growing backlash against corporate AI tools. While 54% of workers avoid in‑house AI and a third never use it, 61% of executives claim the technology boosts productivity. The gap is...
OpenAI Says Not to Worry About UBI, Because It Has Another Idea
OpenAI released a policy paper proposing a public wealth fund that would give every citizen a stake in the economic growth generated by superintelligent AI. The plan positions the fund as an alternative to universal basic income, suggesting that returns...
Economists Starting to Admit They May Have Been Wrong About AI Never Replacing Human Jobs
A new forecasting study involving 69 economists, 52 AI specialists and 38 super‑forecasters finds that experts are now assigning a tangible risk that AI could erode employment. The panel gives a 47% chance of "moderate" AI advances by 2030 and...
Google News Now Prominently Featuring Polymarket Bets
Google News has begun surfacing Polymarket prediction‑market bets alongside traditional headlines, often in the personalized “For you” feed and even as top results. The change follows a November partnership that lets Google pull Polymarket data into its finance products, suggesting...
We Talked to a Writer Accused of Publishing An AI-Generated Essay in The New York Times
Writer Kate Gilgan faced a literary scandal after a New York Times "Modern Love" essay was accused of being AI‑generated. Gilgan admits she used ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Perplexity for conceptualizing and editing, but denies copying any AI‑written text. The...
