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Generative AI has infiltrated almost every aspect of our daily lives, whether we like it or not. It’s nearly impossible to avoid on social media, and it’s even showing up on dinner menus at the local diner. Some researchers have suggested that we’re already adapting our own behavior to suit the demands of AI tech.AI’s wide proliferation shares some striking similarities with the ways viruses spread, as an international team of researchers argue in a new paper that has yet to be peer reviewed. They set out to lay out a new theoretical framework about how we’re increasingly becoming hooked…

There are many ways to honor someone who’s recently passed. Flowers. Murals. Candlelight vigils.And in today’s age, unfortunately: AI slop.Weeks after Dolly Parton died, the legendary country singer’s sister, Stella Parton, has begged fans to stop posting “fake AI garbage” as supposed tribute, saying it’s making it hard to move on.“Sadly, because of the way our lives have been lived in front of the public, we have no choice but to be subjected to incredible pressure and insensitivity from strangers,” Stella wrote in a statement posted to social media. “There is a tremendous amount of AI and endless garbage being…

This is not the real Slim Shady.In a world dominated by cheaply-produced AI content, it’s never been easier to imitate your favorite artist. YouTube, for instance, has succumbed to a tidal wave of AI-generated music released under the names of real artists without their permission — and a baffling number of its unknowing users are blissfully unaware they’re being served a microwaved counterfeit.A track titled “I’m Back” by rapper Marshall “Eminem” Mathers — not to be confused with the musician’s now 26-year-old song of the same name — offers YouTube users almost 12 minutes of painful AI mimicry.The track, which…

A journalist has accused Cleveland.com — the online home of The Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper — of publishing an article under her byline without her consent, knowledge, or approval. The article was generated by the “Cleveland.com Express Desk,” which “uses AI tools to assist in producing content” that the newspaper claims is “reviewed and edited by staff.”In an X post on September 7, Cleveland.com government reporter Kaitlin Durbin said that she’d been away on her honeymoon when her employer published the AI article under her name.The article — a local news story informing readers that the law director of Ohio’s Cuyahoga…

A man is facing numerous felony charges in Georgia after police allege he allegedly used a bizarre projectile to melt automatic license plate readers into smoldering heaps of metal and plastic.According to Fox5 in Atlanta, 25-year-old Colby Williams was hauled into jail after allegedly setting fire to three automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) installed by the extremely controversial company Flock.Though it isn’t known how the fires started, at least one camera was found “completely melted,” and had a “DeFlock” sticker slapped onto what remained of the pole. A fourth camera nearby was reportedly found with two bullet holes, the news…

Is being the world’s richest man not enough for Elon Musk?He must also have us all believe that he’s a genius, sui generis, with a mind so mighty that it’s wasted on supposedly intellectual pastimes like “chess.”He’s so convinced that the board game is beneath him, in fact, that he’s begun arguing about it with… Chess.com, a leading source of expertise and chess AI. The inane saga kicked off yesterday on X — where else — when Musk responded to a post about all the possible moves you can make in chess. To a mind as omniscient as Musk’s, the number…

When the Denver board of Water Commissioners approved stage one drought restrictions back in March, they did so facing some of the driest conditions in decades. According to the US Drought Monitor, the watershed sourced for Denver’s water utility is experiencing a “severe to exceptional drought,” while the Denver metropolitan area has been in a “severe drought.”As a result, residents and businesses have been asked to scale back. Denverites now have to limit watering their lawns to two days a week, chosen by address. And even on those days, customers are prohibited from watering between the hours of 10am and…

In an affront to creeps everywhere, Meta has started remotely bricking the smart glasses of wearers who try to secretly record other people.Earlier this month, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company said it would crack down on customers who modified the spectacles to disable or cover up their lights that indicate when they’re recording, amid incredible public backlash against how the glasses are being used to film people without their consent — girls and women especially — and harass them.Now, it looks like more than a few weirdos have gotten the ax. On Tuesday, Meta said it’s bricked the photo and video-taking…

The surveillance state costs money, people!Well, tell that to president Trump. On Thursday, he slapped a 100 percent tariff — he sure loves round numbers and levying imports — on larger foreign-made drones.Trump claimed that this “bolsters national security.” But, ironically, it could be undermining domestic security — at least according to surveillance-happy police departments who’ve gotten used to overlooking their subjects from above, according to a roundup of commentary from Ars Technica.Speaking to the New York Times, Scott Mlakar, chief of the Lake County Drone Unit outside Cleveland, called the tariffs financially onerous and lamented that it would prevent…

As Americans are being hailed as folk heroes for sawing down Flock surveillance cameras across the country, British home appliance company Dyson has come up with a form of video surveillance that we didn’t even know was possible.Yes: the company has launched a new AI-infused electric toothbrush that features a “100k pixel macro lens camera,” allowing users — brushers? — to “see what their dentist sees.”The appropriately named Dyson CameraJet claims to analyze 28 images per second and employ an “AI machine-learning algorithm” to identify and target “interdental gaps.” In case you’re wondering how it can take pictures in the…