[nonostantement #389] - chatbots addiction / overtourism in japan / traffic apocalypse
Now with MORE spacesuits!
Welcome to nonostantement: a weekly newsletter with flagrant, eternal, and smart stuff found all over the Internet.
Hi, I’m Joele. After some time away, I’m finally back in my usual spot - Barcelona. For over seven years, I’ve been putting together this newsletter for friends, packed with curious and fascinating things I discover while spending way too much time online. As always, there’s no shortage of stuff worth sharing.
A couple of nice tracks for you: Adrian Quesada - Starry Nights and Surprise Chef - Money Music
👉 The nonostantement archive - everything I sent in the past 7 years
#PEOPLE
Childhood literacy rates keep dropping. How bad is it really?
Teachers from college professors to kindergarten instructors are all sounding the alarm.Why Science Hasn’t Solved Consciousness (Yet)
To understand life, we must stop treating organisms like machines and minds like code.‘I’ve been clean for a week!’: Reddit is now home to support groups for people addicted to AI chatbots
Behind the screen, a growing number of users are forming intense, sometimes unhealthy relationships with virtual characters.How AI Wreaked Havoc on the Lo-Fi Beat Scene
How artificial intelligence has laid waste to the once-burgeoning world of lo-fi beats.Startup scammer with multiple tech jobs achieves cult hero status
All over Silicon Valley, companies are realizing they hired the same gifted coder, often at the same time.AI therapy bots fuel delusions and give dangerous advice, Stanford study finds
Popular chatbots serve as poor replacements for human therapists, but study authors call for nuance.Bay Area restaurants are vetting your social media before you walk in
FX's "The Bear" pales in comparison when it comes to guest research at Bay Area Michelin-starred restaurants like SingleThread, Lazy Bear and Acquerello.Overtourism in Japan, and How it Hurts Small Businesses
Why being popular is not the goal of most small businesses
#TECH
Inside the Media’s Traffic Apocalypse
The whole premise of internet publishing — that you could reach audiences far and wide — is starting to crumble.Art meets AI to reinvent tomorrow’s food systems
New media artist Helena Nikonole is taking the art of sound to an unusual place – a city-based hydroponic plant farm. Together with a group of scientists, she is playing different urban sounds to plants grown in water. The goal is to determine how this affects their growth.According to the European Environment Agency, at least 20% of Europe’s city dwellers are exposed to chronic levels of noise that can be harmful to their health.Billions of phones can detect and warn about nearby earthquakes
Google’s Android Earthquake Alerts program is a globe-spanning earthquake early-warning system that uses billions of phone sensors to detect seismic shaking and alert those at risk
#SOCIALMEDIA
AI-generated fake copies of real videos circulate on TikTok
TikTok researchers and users say there is yet another type of deception to look out for on the hit video app: deepfake videos that copy the exact words of a real creator but in a different voice.
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#THEDARKSIDE
Delta moves toward eliminating set prices in favor of AI that determines how much you personally will pay for a ticket
The airline touted a partnership with an AI-enabled revenue system as a step on the road to fully personalized ticket pricing, part of its goal to raise profit margins long-term.Colombia Seizes First Unmanned Narco-Sub Equipped With Starlink Connection
The vessel was found off Colombia’s Caribbean coast and is believed to be a test run for drug smuggling using remote-controlled technology.How incel language infected the mainstream internet
This excerpt from Adam Aleksic’s book Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language digs into the spreading use of “incel” terms.
That's it for now.
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