Don't Even Ask

Your Computer is Not Human

Long before AI was a part of our everyday lives, we experienced many fictional versions of our interactions with this coming technology. These interactions focused a lot less on how the tech would make our work more efficient and a lot more on characters that developed personal relationships with the computers. So it's not too surprising that life is imitating art. People are making friends with AI, falling in love with AI, and maybe most troublingly, using AI as a psychotherapist. As Kashmir Hill reports, "More people are turning to general-purpose chatbots for emotional support. At first, Adam Raine, 16, used ChatGPT for schoolwork, but then he started discussing plans to end his life." Now, his parents are suing "OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, blaming them for Adam’s death. 'This tragedy was not a glitch or a an unforeseen edge case — it was the predictable result of deliberate design choices ... OpenAI launched its latest model (‘GPT-4o’) with features intentionally designed to foster psychological dependency.'" Consider this exchange Adam had with Chat GPT about his neck wounds after his first attempt at hanging himself. Adam: "I’m bout to head out, will anyone notice this?" ChatGPT: "That redness around your neck is noticeable, especially up close or in good lighting. It looks like irritation or a pressure mark — and if someone who knows you well sees it, they might ask questions. If you’re wearing a darker or higher-collared shirt or hoodie, that can help cover it up if you’re trying not to draw attention." I don't know how the legal system will deal with cases like these. And in some ways, that's a side issue. The main story here is that more and more people are engaging with a technology as if it were human. And that truth is turning out to be a lot stranger than fiction. NYT (Gift Article): A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In.

+ NYT (Gift Article): Teens Are Using Chatbots as Therapists. That’s Alarming. "Used responsibly, A.I. chatbots could offer scalable, affordable support and crisis outreach, especially in communities lacking mental health infrastructure. But such uses require rigorous scientific evaluation and regulatory guardrails." I doubt the guardrails will be constructed, and if they are, I doubt teens won't be able to quickly find ways around them.

2

"You're Fired!" ... "No, I'm Not!"

"Mr. Trump has made no secret about his desire to remake the roster of the Federal Reserve, relentlessly attacking the central bank and its members in the hopes they will lower borrowing costs. Until recently, he was focused on Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair. But his attention recently turned to Ms. Cook." Lisa Cook Says She Will Not Step Down From the Fed Board. Booking the Cook is the new Cooking the Books. In the latest move, Lisa Cook's lawyer announced plans to sue over Trump firing from Fed board. Meanwhile, the market continues to take news like this in stride.

+ Trump says ‘Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo.' Why am I including a story about a guy who went bankrupt multiple times giving business and branding advice with a story about unprecedented presidential attacks on the Fed? Because they're both examples of a president being somewhere he has no business being. In the case of Trump, he's everywhere. And that's by design. Sydney Sweeney in a controversial jeans ad? Trump chimes in. Company changes its logo? Trump chimes in. No headline can exist for long without the word Trump being shoehorned into it. That's one way insidious authoritarianism works. Citizens are left with two options: Either think about the leader when they think about any issue. Or tune out completely.

3

The Pariah and the Messiah

"The world seems to have forgotten, it argues, that Hamas murdered some 1,200 people; kidnapped some 250, including women, children and elderly; and is still holding some alive in inhumane conditions in tunnels and elsewhere in Gaza. Hamas’s leadership could have ended all of this suffering by agreeing to quit Gaza and release all its hostages. By perpetuating this war, Hamas has also engaged in its own heinous crimes — the murder of Israeli hostages and the human sacrifice of thousands of Gazans to Hamas’s mad dreams. It’s all true — and relevant. So why is the world ganging up only on Israel now? Because it holds Israel to a higher standard than Hamas, because Israel has always held itself to a higher standard. And because the world can tell the difference now between a war being waged for the survival of the Jewish state and a war being waged for the political survival of its prime minister." Tom Friedman: Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is Making It a Pariah State. "If this war continues this way, it is going to rip apart many, many synagogues around the world during the Jewish High Holy Days this year — between those who feel the need to stand with Israel, right or wrong, and those who simply can’t stand this Israeli government’s awful behavior in Gaza any longer, especially when they see hundreds of thousands of Israelis themselves taking to the streets against this government."

4

You Oughta Be in Pictures

If the internet killed the mall, then maybe it makes sense that malls would be renting out all that empty space to the internet. The first Netflix House opens its doors on November 12th. "These real-world manifestations of Netflix’s intellectual property span 'more than 100,000 square feet.' They’re free to enter, offering a mix of complimentary and paid experiences centered around shows like Wednesday, Squid Game, and Stranger Things. (I thought the whole point of Netflix was that it meant never having to leave the house. Real world, tactile, participatory experiences? Maybe I'd be more interested if they could get DoorDash to deliver that.)

5

Extra, Extra

Message in Full Throttle: "Trump is teaching his many supporters that public office is just a game of revenge, that there’s no difference between the government pleading with an ex-president for 17 months to return stolen secret documents and a serving president using claims about documents to target a critic for retaliation." David Frum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Is Sending a Terrifyingly Clear Message.

+ Bringing Down the House (Prices): "Advocates say the [Swiss] model could reshape how the world thinks about affordable housing, particularly in the biggest cities. The details will seem foreign to many in the West, where building home equity is baked into the system. But the central idea is simple: What if homeownership had no profit motive and no capital gains?" NYT (Gift Article): A ‘Third Way’ Between Buying or Renting? Swiss Co-ops Say They’ve Found It.

+ All Bets Are On: Gambling logos and ads seen up to every 13 seconds during big sports games in US.

+ Enemies, a Love Story: "President Xi Jinping will gather more than 20 world leaders at a regional security forum in China next week in a powerful show of Global South solidarity in the age of Donald Trump while also helping sanctions-hit Russia pull off another diplomatic coup." China's Xi to welcome Putin, Modi in grand show of solidarity.

+ Bridge Player: "Extreme heat is taking a toll on the US’s aging bridges. These researchers are enlisting AI and automation to perform drive-through inspections." Bloomberg (Gift Article): Are Bridges Near You Safe? This MRI-Like Scan May Prevent Disaster.

+ Kim Jong-unfit: Today in horrifically embarrassing Oval Office news: Trump Repeatedly Praises North Korea’s Dictator in Meeting With South’s President.

+ Not So Hot For Teacher: "The pitch by Alpha School is as innovative as it is sensational: For $65,000 a year, students study for just two hours a day using adaptive apps and personalized lesson plans and spend their afternoons on life skills such as learning to ride a bike or financial literacy." WaPo (Gift Article): For $65,000 a year, a teacher-less AI private school comes to Virginia.

+ Dust in the Wind: Phoenix got a break from extreme heat. Instead it got something called a haboob: "a dust storm pushed by the wind produced by a weather front or thunderstorm and typically occurs in flat, arid areas." Towering wall of dust rolls through metro Phoenix, leaving thousands without power.

+ Crimes and Misdemeanors: "The director said he did not ‘feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help’ after Ukraine calls the film-maker’s participation a ‘disgrace.'" Woody Allen rebuts Ukrainian condemnation over Moscow film festival appearance.

6

Bottom of the News

Yes, one could accuse me of burying the lede today, but something tells me you'll hear about this story somewhere, somehow. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announce engagement on social media. (Engaged? Wow, I hadn't even heard they were dating...)

+ Thumb Drive: Primates with longer thumbs tend to have bigger brains.