941 tacks
Is AI the greatest art heist in history?
Generative AI, trained on billions of images scraped from the internet without consent, is seen as a threat to artists and creative industries. The author, an artist, recounts how AI-generated images, resembling their work, began appearing online, leading to job losses and the devaluation of human creativity. The author argues that this is not inevitable progress but a power grab by the tech elite, who view human interaction and creativity as obstacles.
The Downfall of Skibidi Toilet
Taylor Lorenz examines the growing backlash surrounding Skibidi Toilet after its shift from an internet-native phenomenon into a studio-managed franchise. She explains how DaFuqBoom’s surreal viral series became a massive cultural hit, then lost fan confidence once Invisible Narratives took control and launched Emergence. The video explores the leaked call that deepened the controversy, the #BringBackBoom movement, and the broader tension between online creator culture and Hollywood ownership.
Fifteen-year-old Noah hasn’t been kicked off any social media platforms – he’s still fighting Australia’s under-16 ban in court
Fifteen-year-old Noah Jones, challenging Australia’s under-16 social media ban in court, claims the ban is ineffective as he and many others have circumvented it. The Digital Freedom Project argues the ban infringes on the constitutional right to freedom of political communication, as it prevents teens from engaging in political discussions on social media. The government defends the ban, stating it aims to reduce harm to users on platforms with potentially harmful features.
AI influencers are here. Can you spot them?
On this week’s “Galaxy Brain” episode, Charlie Warzel is joined by New York Times technology reporter Tiffany Hsu to discuss the rise of AI influencers—synthetic avatars, often indistinguishable from real people, that are flooding social-media feeds to sell supplements and promote brands. Hsu unpacks her reporting on the combination of forces converging around it, including the wellness industry, a historically fertile ground for scammers. The pair discuss how the volume of synthetic content online is producing a new kind of epistemic exhaustion: a fatigue so deep that many people have simply stopped caring whether what they're seeing is real. So is authenticity already beside the point? And is an audience’s emotional response—rather than the truth behind the image—the only currency that matters?
The enshittification of the internet, explained
Cory Doctorow says the internet is getting worse and he has a theory why. In conversation with The National’s Ian Hanomansing, the Canadian author explains his term ‘enshittification’ and the questions it raises about the power of big tech.
The Gray Area: How capitalism ate the culture
Kalle Lasn has been trying to jam consumer culture for decades. Now he thinks that was only the beginning. The Gray Area talks with the Adbusters founder about advertising, culture jamming, meme warfare, surveillance capitalism, and why he believes the old left-right political script is dead. Lasn argues that consumer culture is not just shallow or manipulative but part of a system pushing us toward collapse. His answer is bigger than protest and weirder than reform. He wants a cultural revolution that starts with new ideas, new language, and maybe an entirely new politics.
Is the UK falling out of love with social media?
The Guardian reports that social media is losing its ‘social aspect’. As the article notes: “In an age of video posts, people are consuming their feed more as entertainment than as interaction. Matt Navarra, a social media consultant, says it is a case of social media now entering into a mature phase with ‘smarter, safer participation’ where people are ‘less willing to perform for a broad audience’. This concentrates content creation in the hands of creators and influencers, says Navarra, while everyone else plays the role of consumer. ‘The gap between who creates and who consumes is widening and that is reshaping what social media actually is.’”
Fewer UK adults posting on social media, Ofcom finds
Fewer UK adults are actively posting on social media, opting for more private interactions, according to Ofcom’s latest survey. This shift, driven by concerns about online privacy and a desire for “digital self-preservation,” indicates a rise in “passive” social media use. The survey also found increased AI tool usage, particularly among young people, and a growing concern about screentime.
"Cognitive surrender" leads AI users to abandon logical thinking, research finds
Research from the University of Pennsylvania explores “cognitive surrender,” where users uncritically accept AI-generated answers. Experiments using Cognitive Reflection Tests showed that users often accepted faulty AI reasoning, especially when presented confidently.
A New York Times critic used AI to write a review. This is why it matters
A New York Times book review by Alex Preston was found to contain plagiarised content from a Guardian review and phrases generated by AI. The incident raises ethical concerns about the use of AI in art criticism, highlighting the importance of human emotional engagement and individual perspective in the role of a critic. The use of AI in creative expression, including criticism, risks eroding trust between writers, critics, and readers.
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