Technology

The Real Taylor Swift Would Never

Fans are using AI tools to synthesize the star’s voice, demonstrating how new technology is blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction.

The Influencer Industry Is Having an Existential Crisis

People who make their living by sharing content on giant social-media platforms have tried to strike, organize, and even unionize, but they don’t have much to show for it.

Something Odd Is Happening With Handbags

Where do shoppers turn when an industry built on novelty runs out of new ideas?

Why You Fell for the Fake Pope Coat

The pope didn’t actually wear that great jacket, but a lot of people were ready to believe he did.

ChatGPT Has Impostor Syndrome

AI doesn’t know its own strengths.

A Classic American Car Is Having an Identity Crisis

Ford’s electric Mustang, the Mach-E, is attracting an unusual bunch of drivers—including me.

Nine AI Chatbots You Can Play With Right Now

The machines may change the world as you know it. But first, they’ll write a sonnet based on your favorite cereal.

AI Is Exposing Who Really Has Power in Silicon Valley

Your data helped build ChatGPT. Where’s your payout?

AI Is Like … Nuclear Weapons?

The new technology is beyond comparison.

People Aren’t Falling for AI Trump Photos (Yet)

Fake images of Trump getting arrested may not fool anyone—but the next thing cooked up by AI might.

Blue Check Marks Were Always Shameless

Twitter verification was first a tool for vanity.

How Ivermectin Became a Belief System

The deworming drug is central to an improvisational, alternative medical subculture that was forming even before the pandemic.

Is This the Singularity for Standardized Tests?

GPT-4’s mastery of the SAT will re-entrench the power and influence of rote exams.

Cool People Accidentally Saved America’s Feet

Millennials popularized bulky, super-cushioned shoes. Then Millennials got old.

Please Get Me Out of Dead-Dog TikTok

TikTok's algorithms have people stuck on a viral-grief loop.

GPT-4 Has the Memory of a Goldfish

Large language models know a lot but can’t remember much at all.

Welcome to the Big Blur

Thanks to AI, every written word now comes with a question.

ChatGPT Changed Everything. Now Its Follow-Up Is Here.

Behold GPT-4. Here’s what we know it can do, and what it can’t.

Why Are We Letting the AI Crisis Just Happen?

Bad actors could seize on large language models to engineer falsehoods at unprecedented scale.

Silicon Valley Was Unstoppable. Now It’s Just a House of Cards.

The bank debacle is exposing the myth of tech exceptionalism.