Axios

How AI will turbocharge misinformation—and what we can do about it

Attention-grabbing warnings of artificial intelligence's existential threats have eclipsed what many experts and researchers say is a much more imminent risk: A near-certain rise in misinformation. The struggle to separate fact from fiction online didn't start with the rise of generative AI — but the red-hot new technology promises to make misinformation more abundant and more compelling. By some estimates, AI-generated content 

Threads poses rare threat to Twitter's political monopoly

Meta’s new microblogging app Threads is emerging as a potential threat to Twitter’s lock on politicians and political observers seeking real-time news and debate.  Most Twitter competitors have struggled to match the size and bipartisanship of its user base, but Threads is garnering significant participation from both parties.

Finding the good side of social media

Social media gets a bad rap these days—our polarized society, its impacts on self-esteem, all that stuff—but there's a group of creators out there dedicated to using their talents to bring you good vibes only. These artists—mostly centered on Instagram, though they cross-post to other platforms—have built vast followings by generating smiles via their signature characters. A by-no-means comprehensive selection of some popular accounts include:

Tech rolls out two revolutions at once

Silicon Valley is hatching new futures faster than the rest of the world can digest them. The artificial-intelligence wave, driven by the astonishing ne

A modest proposal: Ban cellphones in schools

Phones at school are "a disaster," said Jonathan Haidt, the prominent social psychologist, making the case for phone-free schools. "Smartphones impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging," says Haidt. Teachers and administrators see "clear links between rising phone addiction and declining mental health, to say nothing of declining academic performance. Back in 2019, Haidt asked school leaders why they couldn't just ban phones during school hours. "They said too many parents would be upset if they could not reach their children during the school day," he said.

Tech's money isn't buying candidates' 2024 love

Presidential politics is serving tech leaders something they're not used to: irrelevance. From low-polling tech founder candidates to low-impact mega-donors, big tech wallets are finding it hard to make a dent in the 2024 race. The leading 2024 candidates — President Biden (D) and former President Trump (R) — are the biggest Silicon Valley skeptics in the field.

Why TikTok wants its new data privacy trial held in Illinois

TikTok is being sued over data privacy — again.

What Minnesota wants in the federal farm bill

A sweeping food and agriculture bill in the works in Washington (DC) is set to reshape the future of farming in Minnesota. Minnesota lawmakers are set to play a big role in shaping the final bill. Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) are members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, while Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Brad Finstad (R-MN) are on the House panel. In terms of broadband, an estimated 144,000 Minnesota households still don't have access to high-speed internet.