Hard Fork

Last week, two separate juries held social media companies liable for harming young users. We unpack what these landmark decisions mean — not only for the future of social platforms like Meta and YouTube, but also for A.I. chatbots. Then, Sebastian Mallaby, the author of “The Infinity Machine,” joins us to talk about the three years he spent with Demis Hassabis and those closest to Google DeepMind. And finally, we catch up on some of our favorite tech headlines from the week with a round of HatGPT.

 

Guest:

Sebastian Mallaby, author of “The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence.”

 

Additional Reading:

Juries Take the Lead in the Push for Child Online Safety

An A.I. Agent Was Banned From Creating Wikipedia Articles, Then Wrote Angry Blogs About Being Banned

I Met Olaf — the Frozen Robot who Might be the Future of Disney Parks

Claude’s Code: Anthropic Leaks Source Code for A.I. Software Engineering Tool

What’s With All the A.I. Videos of Cheating Fruit?

This Company Is Secretly Turning Your Zoom Meetings into A.I. Podcasts

North Korean Hackers Suspected in Axios Software Tool Breach

 

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The “Hard Fork” team is off this week, taking a much-needed break. While we’re away, we wanted to draw your attention to a recent episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”

In this conversation, Ezra speaks with Jack Clark, a co-founder of Anthropic, about how he is using A.I. agents; how the technology is leading to meaningful changes in the ways we work and think; and how policy can or must change to anticipate potential job displacement on the horizon.

We’ll be back with a new episode next week.

Guest:

Jack Clark, a co-founder and the head of policy at Anthropic. 

Additional Reading:

A full transcript and video of this episode can be found here.

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, we start by talking about the new wave of tech layoffs at Atlassian and Block, as well as reports that Meta plans to cut up to 20 percent of its work force. This raises the question of whether A.I. job loss has truly begun, or if there are other factors at play. Then, we’re joined by the writer Jasmine Sun to talk about why chatbots are still so bad at creative writing. And finally, it’s tokenmaxxing time! Kevin takes us behind the scenes of his latest reporting about why tech companies are building leaderboards to measure who is using the most A.I.

 

Guest:

Jasmine Sun, journalist and writer at jasmi.news

 

Additional Reading:

I Worked for Block. Its A.I. Job Cuts Aren’t What They Seem.

Meta Planning Sweeping Layoffs as A.I. Costs Mount

Meta Delays Rollout of New A.I. Model After Performance Concerns

The A.I.-Washing of Job Cuts Is Corrosive and Confusing

The Human Skill That Eludes A.I.

 

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A.I. is changing the ways war is waged. This week, we explore how the U.S. and Israel are using A.I. to identify targets in the conflict with Iran — and why data centers and fiber optic cables are targets on the front lines. Then, researcher Julie Bedard breaks down “A.I. brain fry,” a new condition she and her colleagues studied among A.I. users at work. And finally, Casey shares his battle with Grammarly after the company used his identity in a new A.I. feature, without his consent.

Guest:

Julie Bedard, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group who is also the lead author of a survey of “A.I. brain fry” in the workplace.

Additional Reading:

U.S. at Fault in Strike on School in Iran, Preliminary Inquiry Says

How A.I. Is Turbocharging the War in Iran

Anthropic’s A.I. tool Claude central to U.S. campaign in Iran, amid a bitter feud

A.I. Fatigue Is Real and Nobody Talks About It

Token Anxiety

A.I. Doesn’t Reduce Work — It Intensifies It

Grammarly Is Using Our Identities Without Permission

 

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, the fallout continues as OpenAI scrambles to rework its deal with the Pentagon, while government agencies adapt to life without Claude. Then we break down the grim new reality of prediction market bets on the U.S.-Israel led war with Iran. Finally, it’s time for another edition of The Hard Fork Review of Slop. This time we’re joined by Arijeta Lajka, a New York Times reporter, to discuss her recent article about the short form A.I.-generated slop YouTube is feeding to young children.

Guest:

Arijeta Lajka, New York Times video journalist

Additional Reading:

The Pentagon Officially Notifies Anthropic That It Is a ‘Supply Chain Risk’

OpenAI Amends A.I. Deal With the Pentagon 

How Talks Between Anthropic and the Defense Dept. Fell Apart 

How Anonymous Bettors Cashed In on the Iran Strike, Just Hours Before It Happened

Israeli Army Reservists Are Suspected of Using Inside Knowledge to Bet

How A.I.-Generated Videos Are Distorting Your Child’s YouTube Feed

 

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.