Pluralistic: A world without people (05 Jan 2026)

Today's links

A world without people: AI is a promise to wire the boss's toy steering wheel directly into the company's drive-train.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Adding exclusive rights make economies weaker; Bloggers after the collapse; Why the media can't figure out Wikipedia; Who are these sf legends?; Anne Frank is in the public domain; Hollywood's MP in Canada; Piketty on Piketty; Vanilla ISIS; India throws out Facebook's astroturf emails; Google unionizes; "The Data Detective"; Breaking Apple ][+ DRM.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

A tale of three customer service chatbots: Two were worse than useless, one betrayed its masters.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: General strike; We won't fly; Green tea doesn't promote weight-loss.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The AI that we'll have after AI: Cheap GPUs, unemployed engineers, and open source models.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: FBI confuses KISS and Dr Who; How the NSA breaks crypto: Bricked Ferrari; Taxing billionaires.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The billionaires aren't OK: They're going to give us all Howard Hughes disease.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: KY Republican says the First Amendment protects bribes; Walt Disney's FBI; "The Sapling Cage."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

AI psychosis and the warped mirror: When you stare into the LLM…
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: No such thing as shareholder supremacy; Intel's DRM'ed CPU; THIS COMPUTER IS NEVER OBSOLETE.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

LLMs are slot-machines: You only remember the jackpots.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Heinlein bio; Amazon bans Amazon-critical podcasts; How to Argue With a Racist.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Your Meta AI prompts are in a live, public feed: Zuck thinks we've all forgotten about Beacon.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: 2015, 2020
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Anyone who trusts an AI therapist needs their head examined: Same goes for trusting an AI with your trade secrets.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The Brave Little Toaster: Gen AI in your appliances was a warning, not a pitch deck.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2020, 2024.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Neither the devil you know nor the devil you don't: Creative workers deserve better than a choice as to who rips them off.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2004, 2014, 2019
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.