Today in schnozz-smashing on-the-nose metaphors for the AI industry’s rapacious destruction of the arts: exactly how Anthropic gathered the data it needed to train its Claude AI model. As Ars Technica reports, the Google-backed startup didn’t just crib from millions of copyrighted books, a practice that’s ethically and legally fraught on its own. No — … Continue reading Anthropic Shredded Millions of Physical Books to Train its AI
Author: Futurism_Magazine Online News
Melania Trump’s Audiobook Is Narrated by an AI Copy of Herself
Let’s get one thing straight: it’s hard to be married to the president. From coming up with epoch-defining slogans like “Be Best” to decking the White House halls with bizarre Christmas decor, it’s a tougher gig than most of us can imagine. Our current first lady, Melania Trump, is well aware of the challenge after… Continue reading Melania Trump’s Audiobook Is Narrated by an AI Copy of Herself
Couples Retreat for Humans Dating AIs Becomes Skin-Crawlingly Uncomfortable
A well-intentioned writer decided to get a group of humans and their AI companions together for a cabin retreat. Somehow, it went worse than anyone could have imagined. As Johns Hopkins science writer Sam Apple described in a new essay for Wired, the apps that each human participant used to communicate with their AI companions… Continue reading Couples Retreat for Humans Dating AIs Becomes Skin-Crawlingly Uncomfortable
Scientists Intrigued to Discover That Human Brains Are Glowing Faintly
Image by Getty / Futurim Scientists have some exciting news: your brain is likely glowing, whether you can see it or not. The news comes from researchers at Algoma University in Ontario, who found evidence that the human brain, of all things, possesses luminescent properties. Essentially, they found that as the brain metabolizes energy, it… Continue reading Scientists Intrigued to Discover That Human Brains Are Glowing Faintly
Leading AI Companies Struggling to Make Their AI Stop Blackmailing People Who Threaten to Shut Them Down
The industry’s leading AI models will resort to blackmail at an astonishing rate when threatened with being shut down, according to an alarming new report from researchers at the AI startup Anthropic. The work, published last week, illustrates the industry’s struggles to align their AI models with our human expectations of good behavior, especially as tech… Continue reading Leading AI Companies Struggling to Make Their AI Stop Blackmailing People Who Threaten to Shut Them Down
Vapes Clouds Contain Absolutely Horrifying Chemicals, Scientists Find
Image by Getty / Futurism If you vape — and especially if it’s because you think it’s a less harmful alternative to smoking — then we have some really bad news. New research from the University of California, Davis, shows that some popular disposable vapes contain levels of toxic metals so appalling that they exceed traditional… Continue reading Vapes Clouds Contain Absolutely Horrifying Chemicals, Scientists Find
Microloan Apps May Be Poised to Destroy the Economy
We love microlending, don’t we, folks? Unlike old-school credit cards, with their days-long approval processes and prior credit minimums, buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) apps — companies like Klarna and Afterpay — offer hard-up customers instant financing options to buy the junk they crave the instant they see it. In the United States, purchases made with these… Continue reading Microloan Apps May Be Poised to Destroy the Economy
Paleontologists Find Skeleton That Weirdly Looks Exactly Like Barney the Purple Dinosaur
We’re a happy fa-m-ily! Funky Dino Deep in the heart of Texas, a goofy-looking dinosaur skeleton has been unearthed — and it’s got a funny head that makes it look like a dead wringer for Barney, the purple lizard of 90s television fame with the annoyingly cheery voice. As the Houston Chronicle reports, the dinosaur in… Continue reading Paleontologists Find Skeleton That Weirdly Looks Exactly Like Barney the Purple Dinosaur
Families Get Unpleasant Surprise After Trying to Shoot Their Loved Ones’ Ashes Into Space
Hundreds of families shelled out to pay an out-of-this-world tribute to their lost loved ones — but tragically, their mortal remains ended up floating in the Pacific thanks to an error with the capsule they were riding in. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, a capsule containing the ashes and DNA of some 166 departed souls was… Continue reading Families Get Unpleasant Surprise After Trying to Shoot Their Loved Ones’ Ashes Into Space
Scientists Intrigued by Comet With Jets Blasting From Its Interior
What can a comet tell us about the Universe? Vomit Comet Astronomers have detected a gigantic comet — possibly the largest ever discovered — and it’s spewing gases from its nucleus as it shoots through our cosmic neighborhood. Comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is 85 miles in diameter, far bigger than the six-mile asteroid that ended… Continue reading Scientists Intrigued by Comet With Jets Blasting From Its Interior