ALPR
'I Saw a Shiny Thing': Cop Explains Why He Used License Plate Reader to Stalk Woman
Body camera footage shows police surveillance abuse is common: "We’ve told them over and over again: 'You see a hot chick, you don’t look them up in a database.'"
Podcast
Podcast: Amazon is Destroying Rare Books to Train AI
Amazon buying and destroying rare books to train AI; a bunch of wild AI use in the courts; and Meta's new patent for its AI smart glasses.
The Abstract
Lifeforms Can Survive on ‘Significant’ Regions of the Moon, Study Finds
The Moon was long thought to be inhospitable to life, but scientists have discovered that common Earth microbes could survive for up to a week in shadowed regions of the lunar south pole, a region targeted for future human exploration.
ALPR
'I Saw a Shiny Thing': Cop Explains Why He Used License Plate Reader to Stalk Woman
Body camera footage shows police surveillance abuse is common: "We’ve told them over and over again: 'You see a hot chick, you don’t look them up in a database.'"
Anthropic
Anthropic’s Text Watermarking Proves AI Companies Do Not Care at All About Writing
AI companies see words as interchangeable and have zero clue how to judge the “quality” of writing.
News
X's Algorithm Feeds Off Ragebait and Impacts Democrats More, Study Finds
X is driving engagement by making users fight in the replies.
Flock
The National Park Service Is Using Flock. Rangers Are Pissed
“I fear for the day when a visitor's National Park experience is interrupted by being pulled over and held at gunpoint because a license plate reader misread their plate.”
aylo
Pornhub's Parent Company to Pay $120 Million to Settle Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
The deal settles class action lawsuits claiming Mindgeek's sites hosted and profited from abuse videos of minors.
AI
‘Show How 3M Is 0% at Fault:’ Expert Witness Used ChatGPT to Write Report Defending Company in Deadly Explosion Lawsuit
ChatGPT prompts show how an expert witness report was created in a $61 million lawsuit over an explosion that killed three people.
Podcast
The Future of Deepfakes and the Decline of Reality (With Hany Farid)
The past, present, and future of deepfakes, as seen by the world’s leading expert on synthetic media.
AI
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
The Abstract
Memories Mysteriously Survive After Brain Shutdown, And Scientists Don’t Know Why
Mice can access memories after hibernation, a state that largely shuts their brains off and reduces synapses, suggesting that memories are stored across shifting neural systems.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Endless Scam Parade
This week, we discuss the mainstreaming of Flock, media appearances, and Spotify's AI move.