The Puzzmo game designer speaks with Felix Salmon about how to make addicting, viral pastimes that turn a profit. They discuss what made Wordle such a breakout hit, how to make games for both bad and good players, and the strained relationship between art and profit. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our regular show every week. You'll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money.

COVID-19 triggered a wave of US government spending never seen before. IN 2020 total research and development spending rose in response to the need for technology to fight COVID-19. This rapid increase in funds was available to researchers around the United States and artificial intelligence was no exception. The massive influx of public funds into AI research was supplemented with private funding from companies like Microsoft and C3.ai [2]. If money solves problems and creates opportunities then surely AI would have improved health outcomes.