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X weighs adding a downvote button to replies — but it doesn’t want to emulate Reddit Jul 05, 2024

Show notes

Code references found in the X iOS app indicate that the company could be considering adding downvotes for replies only to improve how they're ranked.

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Twitter/X alternative Mastodon appeals to journalists with new ‘byline’ feature Jul 04, 2024

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Mastodon, the open source, decentralized alternative to X (formerly Twitter), is today rolling out a new feature meant to make the app more appealing to those who use it to keep up with news and information from writers and journalists

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Google’s environmental report pointedly avoids AI’s actual energy cost Jul 04, 2024

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Google totally dodges the question of how much energy is AI is using — perhaps because the answer is "way more than we'd care to say."

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Figma disables its AI design feature that appeared to be ripping off Apple’s Weather app Jul 03, 2024

Show notes

Figma CEO Dylan Field says the company will temporarily disable its “Make Design” AI feature that was said to be ripping off the designs of Apple’s own Weather app. The problem was first spotted by Andy Allen, the founder of NotBoring Software, which makes a suite of apps that includes a popular, skinnable Weather app

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Anthropic looks to fund a new, more comprehensive generation of AI benchmarks Jul 03, 2024

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Anthropic is launching a program to fund the development of new types of benchmarks capable of evaluating the performance and impact of AI models, including generative models like its own Claude.

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MIT’s soft robotic system is designed to pack groceries Jul 02, 2024

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RoboGrocery combines computer vision with a soft robotic gripper to bag a wide range of different items.

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Meta changes its label from ‘Made with AI’ to ‘AI info’ to indicate use of AI in photos Jul 02, 2024

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After Meta started tagging photos with a “Made with AI” label in May, photographers complained that the social networking company had been applying labels to real photos where they had used some basic editing tools.

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MagicSchool thinks AI in the classroom is inevitable, so it’s aiming to help teachers and students use it properly Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

These days, when you hear about students and generative AI, chances are that you’re getting a taste of the debate over the adoption of tools like ChatGPT. Are they a help? (Yay! Great for research! Fast!) Or are they a harm? (Boo! Misinfo! Cheating!).

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Zuckerberg disses closed-source AI competitors as trying to ‘create God’ Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

In the conversation, Zuckerberg said there needs to be a lot of different AIs that get created to reflect people's different interests.

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Directo turns a TikTok travel hack into a deal-finding Chrome extension Jun 29, 2024

Show notes

A travel hack that went viral on TikTok teaches users how to save money on hotels and Airbnbs by booking directly with the properties themselves. Now, a new startup, Directo, will help travelers find those same deals with the help of a Chrome extension that points you to the property’s website,

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