The Download: how people really use AI, and Flock's design choices Plus: a child privacy trial starting today could change Meta forever. We still don't know how people are really using AI AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI regularly publish reports on how people are using their products. But they only release the data they want us to see, AI researchers say, and there's no independent source to corroborate it. A new research project called the AI Observatory aims to fill in the gap. Its analysis shows many more sensitive behaviors than are captured in reports from major AI companies, which focus more on work than on personal use. The researchers also found significant differences between models.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. I'm reclining in a large blue chair in a small dark room: earbuds in, tinted glasses on, eyelids closed. Clasping my head is a swimmer's cap of electrodes fastened under my chin. My fingers are wrapped in sensors.

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After getting some ideas from The Full Nerd, this week's Boost Mode newsletter is all about Game Pass. How can it stay relevant and valuable, as gamers feel the crunch of higher and higher prices? On last week's episode of The Full Nerd podcast, we talked a lot about Game Pass. It got me thinking: What would Microsoft have to offer to get me to subscribe, regularly, not just in passing to try out an interesting new title? And how long might it stick around if things keep going poorly?

Here's how to keep your privates, private Sexortion is an old concept, but the FBI's latest warning about it is new. Long before the internet, people blackmailed others over sexually explicit photos or videos. But this week, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation released a fresh warning around hackers and sexortion--an alert aimed at both adults and children. In its public service announcement, the FBI says sexual exploitation actors have been breaking into "social media and personal accounts" to download any saved explicit content. The stolen images and video then gets spread to criminal forums and marketplaces, often with personal details like name, email, phone number, social media username, and date of birth also shared.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I found an Android magnifier app for my aging eyes that beats camera zoom - and it's free Is the fine print getting harder to read? There's an app that can help with that. The free Magnifier + Flashlight app works with any Android phone. It magnifies small text or far-off signs, making things easy to read. The app also features a flashlight for dim settings.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I asked Canonical if Ubuntu on Windows will outgrow native installs as rumored - it's a no There's some confusion about Ubuntu's popularity on Windows Subsystem for Linux, so I asked Canonical's Jon Seager directly. Linux on WSL is popular for enterprises and AI developers. WSL helps programmers work across Windows and Linux. There have been reports that Ubuntu on Windows may one day outgrow native Ubuntu installs. I interviewed Jon Seager, Ubuntu Linux parent company Canonical's VP of engineering, and he told me, No, not really, only that the growth rate is faster!

The House Office of Legislative Counsel is swamped with AI-generated bills that are riddled with wrong terms, incorrect citations and other mistakes, according to Politico. More and more representatives' offices are using publicly available general AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to write their legislative proposals. Politico's sources said lawyers at the US House Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC) are spending more time to review and rewrite them than they would have if they had written the bills from scratch. The sources explained that AI tools tend to miss nuances and tiny crucial details, which could have a huge effect on how a law is interpreted and enacted. Wade Ballou, who headed the office for almost 10 years until 2024, said AI can't determine whether a pot of money should be a "tax credit, tax deduction, tax exclusion or a grant," for instance.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen Your iPhone's built-in magnifier does way more than help you see the fine print - how to use it You can easily use your iPhone to read small text, or words from far away. Apple's Magifier app can help you read small or faraway print. The preinstalled app is free and easy to use. It also includes other features, such as text-to-speech. Forgetting your glasses or finding yourself squinting at the minuscule text on the back of a medicine bottle or a food box can be frustrating.

OpenAI makes ChatGPT less'human' for teens in new safety update The maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a range of new safety features today for under-18s who use the AI chatbot. Those with new teen accounts will be able to switch off the human voice response, in order to minimise the tech's ability to appear like a person. OpenAI is also introducing regular reminders for young people to take a break from using the tool, reminding them ChatGPT is AI, and saying it can wait. The firm insisted this was not in response to a particular issue with children believing ChatGPT to be alive - but there are growing concerns about people becoming convinced that the AI tools they interact with are sentient . Last year Mustafa Suleyman, the head of AI at rival firm Microsoft, said seemingly conscious AI products kept him awake at night because he was so worried about their impact on society .