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A profile of Alexander Reben, who will become OpenAI’s first artist in residence for three months starting January 2024, amid a debate over the use of AI in art (Leslie Katz/New York Times)

Leslie Katz / New York Times: A profile of Alexander Reben, who will become OpenAI’s first artist in residence for three months starting January 2024, amid a debate over the use of AI in art  —  Alexander Reben is taking his tech-savvy perspective to OpenAI, a company that some in the art world believe is

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An Electronic Orchestra Baton

The conductor of an orchestra may look unassuming on the street, but once they step onto their podium, they are all powerful. If you’ve ever wanted to go mad with power in the comfort of your own home, try this electronic orchestra baton by [Larry Lu] and [Kathryn Zhang]. The wireless baton “peripheral” part of

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In his year-end report, US Chief Justice John Roberts says AI is a mixed blessing for the legal field and urges “caution and humility” as the tech is adopted (John Kruzel/Reuters)

John Kruzel / Reuters: In his year-end report, US Chief Justice John Roberts says AI is a mixed blessing for the legal field and urges “caution and humility” as the tech is adopted  —  Artificial intelligence represents a mixed blessing for the legal field, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts …

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How IBM Stumbled Onto RISC

There are a ton of inventions out in the world that are almost complete accidents, but are still ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives. Things like bubble wrap which was originally intended to be wallpaper, or even superglue, a plastic compound whose sticky properties were only discovered later on. IBM found themselves in a similar predicament

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A look at AI chatbots modeled on real experts, like US psychologist Martin Seligman, that are often created without permission, highlighting a policy gray area (Mohar Chatterjee/Politico)

Mohar Chatterjee / Politico: A look at AI chatbots modeled on real experts, like US psychologist Martin Seligman, that are often created without permission, highlighting a policy gray area  —  New AI-generated digital replicas of real experts expose an unnerving policy gray zone.  Washington wants to fix it, but it’s not clear how.

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California laws leave driverless vehicles immune from traffic tickets, while Texas and Arizona rewrote traffic laws to issue tickets to owners for AV violations (NBC News)

NBC News: California laws leave driverless vehicles immune from traffic tickets, while Texas and Arizona rewrote traffic laws to issue tickets to owners for AV violations  —  City streets are the testing ground for hundreds of self-driving cars in California, despite safety concerns and gray areas surrounding traffic laws.

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3D Printing Your Own Triboelectric Generators

A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) certainly sounds like the sort of thing you’d need to graduate from Starfleet Engineering to put together, but it actually operates on the same principle that’s at work when you rub a balloon your head. Put simply, when friction is applied to the proper materials, charges can build up enough to produce

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The scale of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 was far beyond a typical year, with an estimated 9,000+ workers losing their jobs globally (Ash Parrish/The Verge)

Ash Parrish / The Verge: The scale of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 was far beyond a typical year, with an estimated 9,000+ workers losing their jobs globally  —  Layoffs are an unfortunate reality of any industry, but the scope and scale of video game layoffs in 2023 are far beyond a typical

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The lawsuits against AI companies could shape the future of copyright or may simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals (J. Edward Moreno/New York Times)

J. Edward Moreno / New York Times: The lawsuits against AI companies could shape the future of copyright or may simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals  —  The use of content from news and information providers to train artificial intelligence systems may force a reassessment of where to draw

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Our picks for the best streaming movies of 2023

Following a few years of getting spoiled with theater-quality exclusives on streaming platforms, 2023 was somewhat of a return to business as usual, with only a few big-budget movies launching on streaming services instead of having a traditional theater run (or even simultaneously). Regardless, it was a good year for streaming, and there were plenty

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With its emphasis on user privacy, Apple is one of the few tech companies that can develop new AI data usage paradigms, setting much-needed industry standards (Joan Westenberg)

Joan Westenberg: With its emphasis on user privacy, Apple is one of the few tech companies that can develop new AI data usage paradigms, setting much-needed industry standards  —  Apple has carved out a prestigious position in the consumer tech market through sleek designs, user-friendly interfaces, and a robust ecosystem.

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The scale of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 was far beyond a typical year, with an estimated 9,000+ workers losing their jobs globally (Ash Parrish/The Verge)

Ash Parrish / The Verge: The scale of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 was far beyond a typical year, with an estimated 9,000+ workers losing their jobs globally  —  Layoffs are an unfortunate reality of any industry, but the scope and scale of video game layoffs in 2023 are far beyond a typical

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