Are people actually falling in love with Artificial Intelligence?
No longer just the stuff of Spike Jonze’s storytelling, users of GTP-40 – OpenAI’s latest generation chatbot that speaks aloud in its own voice – have been forming emotional relationships with it. Written and directed by Spike Jonze, Her is an ahead-of-its-time contemporary romance film that explores the state...
Current in Offbeat
What is Jai Ho summer?
The latest Gen-Z internet trend is all about celebrating South Asian culture, without South Asians. You’d be forgiven for thinking 2024 was the summer of all this Brat. But the internet’s latest obsession isn’t just about wearing lurid green and smoking a packet of Marlboro Reds. This year, a new vibe...
Where in the UK is best for Northern creatives?
Though creative brain drain has seen Northern graduates move South for years, Manchester now boasts more jobs per person than the UK’s capital – but is it affordable to live there? Already regarded as the powerhouse of the North thanks to its rich (literally) industrial history and iconic music scene,...
Is mukbang content dangerous for creators and audiences?
As mukbang creators raise the stakes of their eating to compete for audience attention online, experts are worried about the consequences this could have on the mental and physical wellbeing of both viewers and stars. Mukbang videos – livestreamed or prerecorded video content of creators eating food and chatting to...
Unpacking why everyone’s ‘very demure, very mindful’ online
Forget Brat summer, it’s time for another new trend. Hot on the heels of the brash and bold mentality that Charli XCX had us embracing with her latest album, its antithesis has blown up on TikTok, seeing users satirically favour modesty over lime green hedonism. I. Cannot. Keep. Up. In tangent...
Kamala Harris’s unexpected cultural transformation
In an out-of-the-blue turn of events, Vice President Kamala Harris finds herself at the heart of ‘bratcore.’ Catapulted into this phenomenon by a blend of pop culture, political memes, and a concerted rebranding effort, it’s sparked criticism from sceptics and a cult-like devotion among her supporters. In the ever-evolving...
What is the recent obsession with ‘raw dogging’?
The colloquial phrase is popping up everywhere, despite its unfortunate origins. What does it mean and why can’t I have a wee on a plane? People keep telling me I’m ‘raw dogging’ the city because I refuse to carry a rucksack to work. Of the endless colloquial terms that seem to spawn from Gen Z and TikTok, this is probably my favourite – along with saying ‘pause’ at anything that unintentionally...
my stupid ‘incurable’ disorder(s)
one truly sh*t medical marvel. So, my name has once again popped up on the Wildcard rotation and to be honest I don’t have a tonne of topics I’d like to explore. However, yesterday evening the night sky was full of static again and my ears were ringing till my offspring woke me up early this morning. I guess I’ll just talk about that. Apologies in advance if this is lacking any...
Scientists are attempting to prove that we’re living in a simulation
Humans have questioned the authenticity of our existence for centuries, but former NASA scientist Thomas Campbell is aiming to ratify once and for all whether we’re living in a simulation. René Descartes in the 1600s came up with the immemorial Latin phrase ‘cogito, ergo sum’ – translated to ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Preoccupied with thoughts that his senses may have been fooled by an intangible faux existence, he posited that...
What happens to our online data after death?
Our digital footprints will long outlive us, inadvertently leaving our loved ones to tackle a privacy conundrum. Should we care? Fear of death is an existential crisis most people contend with at several stages of life. When getting our affairs in order, however, little thought is given as to what will happen to our digital data once our clogs are popped. When cleaning through the effects of a recently departed loved...
