Google’s Gemini AI advert coughs out incorrect cheese facts
In the first version of its latest advert for AI, Google’s Gemini can be seen providing incorrect information on cheese. It’s an excellent example of why we shouldn’t rely entirely on AI to do the thinking for us. Honey, the Large Language Model (LLM) AI program is hallucinating again! It...
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Ed Sheeran street concert shut down by police in India
In widely-shared footage online, a police officer can be seen unplugging Ed Sheeran’s microphone at a street performance in India. Ed Sheeran had his street performance in India cut short over the weekend, despite reportedly asking permission before starting. A police offer unplugged his microphone and ushered him away,...
Is Quora on death’s doorstep?
The platform once deemed a barometer for quality responses to user queries has lost its way. AI is largely responsible – in more ways than one. Have you ever heard of ‘Dead Internet Theory?’ It subscribes to the idea that both bots and content created by algorithms will soon overtake the...
Opinion – ‘What I Eat in a Day’ videos are entirely unappetizing
The trend of sharing our daily meals invites harmful diet tropes, unhealthy comparisons, and a general disillusionment with food. So why can’t we escape ‘What I Eat in a Day’ videos? There’s a peculiar flavour to modern voyeurism, and it comes in the form of meal vlogging. Otherwise known as ‘What...
What Reddit vs X says about internet groupthink
Multiple subreddits are banning X links in protest of Elon Musk’s salute at the presidential inauguration. The implosion of ideological groupthink online highlights the fascinating potential of digital community. Elon Musk was one of a number of tech-giants who took center stage at Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration. The X...
The politics of pink Kashmiri tea
In Kashmir, savoury pink tea is a staple. But outside the valley, it’s been rebranded into something sweeter, almost sparking a quiet identity crisis. Let’s unpack the history, evolution, and brewing debate over what makes nun chai truly Kashmiri (hint: it’s salt). ‘Bas bas! Main itna nahi kha paungi! (Enough,...
Why do we love mocking scam victims online?
You can try and deny it, but we love laughing in the face of innocent scam victims. The more elaborate the scam, the louder the taunts. But at a time when anti-bullying agendas are everywhere, why are we so quick to mock the internet's most vulnerable? A very shoddy photoshop job went viral last week. The series of images featured Brad Pitt in various states of ill health; undergoing surgery,...
US court rules that elephants are not people
A court has ruled that five elephants from Colorado zoo are not people after an animal rights group argued that they were effectively imprisoned. A court has ruled that elephants are not legally regarded as people. This bizarre judgement is the result of an ongoing bid to free five elephants from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado. Named Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, an animal rights group called The Nonhuman...
Is crochet anti-capitalist?
Are we so obsessed with watching other people document their creativity for profit that we’re unable to separate our own creativity from capitalism? Crochet has gone through several evolutions since its (debated) origins in Europe. It is widely agreed that Chinese craftsmen introduced a needlework style known as tambouring to the French in the late 1700s. The first mention of crochet was in Dutch magazine Penélopé in the 1800s,...
Is it really lonely at the top?
It’s long been posited that money can’t buy happiness – apart from maybe the £9.90 it costs for prescribed antidepressants – but can alienation caused by excessive wealth harm our ability to form interpersonal connections? The other day I was walking through the display rooms in a well-known, Swedish, affordable furniture retailer, when my best mate pointed out two sinks side by side in one of the show bathrooms. She made...
