AI Swarms, Elon v Altman, Dark Money, AI Oscars, and Neanderthals
Your Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI
Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
📊 AI in Healthcare
🐝 AI Swarms
🤡 Elon v Altman
💵 Dark Money
💹 AI Expenses
😱 UX Nightmares
🏆 AI Oscars
🪦 Neanderthals
Podcast
Harnessing AI in Healthcare: Insights from RJ Kedziora
In this episode of Product by Design, Kyle Evans interviews RJ Kedziora, co-founder of Estenda, a company specializing in custom software and data analysis for healthcare. We discuss RJ’s journey in technology and entrepreneurship, the importance of energy management over time management, and the role of AI in healthcare. RJ shares insights into the challenges and future of AI applications, the need for ethical considerations, and the potential for personalized healthcare solutions. He also offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make a difference in the industry.
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News and Useful Reads
AI swarms could hijack democracy without anyone noticing
Not only can AI agents delete entire production databases, but they can also infiltrate online groups and affect elections and other opinions.
AI-powered personas are becoming so realistic that they can infiltrate online communities and subtly steer public opinion. Unlike traditional bots, they adapt, coordinate, and refine their messaging at a massive scale, creating a false sense of consensus.
Elon Musk’s courtroom showdown with Sam Altman started this week. The biggest takeaways so far
Elon is obviously famous for his charitable giving, so it’s no surprise he’s really upset that OpenAI transitioned to a for-profit company. It certainly would have nothing to do with a personal feud or OpenAI being a major competitor.
Elon Musk spent the better part of three days on the stand, accusing OpenAI and its executives of deceiving him into donating money to help found what is now one of the world’s biggest AI companies.
A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to frame Chinese AI as a Threat
I’m currently seeing this happen in Utah as companies, millionaires, and the government are pushing for a massive data center here. One of the main pitches for it is to “win the AI war” against China. The fact that those with massive investments in AI would fund this isn’t surprising.
Build American AI, a nonprofit linked to a super PAC bankrolled by executives at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, is funding a campaign to spread pro-AI messaging and stoke fears about China.
AI is so expensive that humans look cheap again
It may happen faster than even I predicted. AI companies are going to capture the value of employees they’re replacing, and humans will certainly be the better option at some point.
AI bills at some companies are now running so high that human labor may actually be cheaper than the tech that was supposed to automate jobs.
The UX Designer’s Nightmare: When “Production-Ready” Becomes A Design Deliverable
AI is becoming more integrated into UX design. And the lines between product, UX, and engineering are getting more blurred.
For many, including myself, this is the ultimate design job nightmare. We are being asked to deliver both the “vibe” and the “code” simultaneously, using AI agents to bridge a technical gap that previously took years of computer science knowledge and coding experience to cross. But as the industry rushes to meet these new expectations, they are discovering that AI-generated functional code is not always good code.
AI performances and screenplays won’t be eligible for Oscars
AI actors, writers, etc. won’t be eligible for Oscars. We’ll see if that stops AI from becoming more prevalent in movies.
The Academy’s updated rules state that while filmmakers can use AI tools, “synthetic” performers can’t win any awards. Ditto for AI-written screenplays, which must be “human-authored.” The Academy can request more information from submissions to confirm that they were created by humans.
Other Interesting Finds
Scientists think they finally know why Neanderthals vanished
A new study suggests Neanderthals didn’t go extinct simply because of climate change or competition with Homo sapiens. Instead, the key difference may have been social connectivity