AI
Airbnb Hosts Don't Want to Talk to Guests Anymore, Are Outsourcing Messages to AI
An entire industry of companies offers Airbnb hosts AI to speak to guests on their behalf. 404 Media poked around the industry after one AI tool offered a guest a recipe for French toast.
ICE
Thomson Reuters Fired Worker For Speaking Out About ICE, Former Employee Says
“When I saw evidence that our products were being used to harm people and undermine the law, I did what anyone should do—I raised the alarm. Thomson Reuters’ response was to fire me.”
AI
Airbnb Hosts Don't Want to Talk to Guests Anymore, Are Outsourcing Messages to AI
An entire industry of companies offers Airbnb hosts AI to speak to guests on their behalf. 404 Media poked around the industry after one AI tool offered a guest a recipe for French toast.
News
Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit
“This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”
Hacking
Hacker Compromises a16z-Backed Phone Farm, Tries to Post Memes Calling a16z the ‘Antichrist’
Doublespeed uses a phone farm to flood social media with AI-generated influencers. A hacker managed to get into a backend system of the company.
Podcast
How the Internet Became Hell (with Whitney Phillips)
‘The Ambivalent Internet’ and ‘The Shadow Gospel’ author Whitney Phillips on how online got so bad.
News
WebinarTV Secretly Scraped Zoom Meetings of Anonymous Recovery Programs
WebinarTV scraped and shared 12 steps-based anonymous meetings for people recovering from addiction and other private support groups.
The Abstract
The Oldest Octopus Fossil Ever Isn’t An Octopus At All, Scientists Discover
A re-examination of a 300-million-year-old fossil that was long thought to be the earliest octopus revealed that the animal was actually part of the nautilus family.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Smoking the Whole Carton
This week, we discuss gun violence and chatbots and acceptance of depravity.
The Abstract
World’s Largest Group of Chimps Waging Deadly ‘Civil War,’ Scientists Discover
At least 24 chimpanzees have been killed in a war that has split the Ngogo group of wild chimpanzees in two, turning former kin into enemies.
News
Farmer Arrested for Speaking Too Long at Datacenter Town Hall Vows to Fight
Darren Blanchard went a few seconds over his three minute time limit and found himself in handcuffs.
Privacy
FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
The case was the first time authorities charged people for alleged “Antifa” activities after President Trump designated the umbrella term a terrorist organization.
Podcast
Podcast: Wildlife Cops Are Searching AI Cameras for ICE
How Florida conservation police are tapping into Flock for ICE; Wikipedia's AI ban; and how the app TeleGuard uploads users' private keys.