That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
This benchmark used Reddit’s AITA to check how a lot AI fashions suck as much as us
Again in April, OpenAI introduced it was rolling again an replace to its GPT-4o mannequin that made ChatGPT’s responses to consumer queries too sycophantic.
An AI mannequin that acts in an excessively agreeable and flattering method is extra than simply annoying. It might reinforce customers’ incorrect beliefs, mislead folks, and unfold misinformation that may be harmful—a selected threat when growing numbers of younger individuals are utilizing ChatGPT as a life advisor. And since sycophancy is troublesome to detect, it will probably go unnoticed till a mannequin or replace has already been deployed.
A brand new benchmark known as Elephant that measures the sycophantic tendencies of main AI fashions might assist firms keep away from these points sooner or later. However simply realizing when fashions are sycophantic isn’t sufficient; you want to have the ability to do one thing about it. And that’s trickier. Learn the total story.
—Rhiannon Williams
The AI Hype Index
Separating AI actuality from hyped-up fiction isn’t all the time simple. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a easy, at-a-glance abstract of the whole lot it’s essential know in regards to the state of the trade. Check out this month’s version of the index right here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Anduril is partnering with Meta to construct a complicated weapons system
EagleEye’s VR headsets will improve troopers’ listening to and imaginative and prescient. (WSJ $)
+ Palmer Luckey needs to show “warfighters into technomancers.” (TechCrunch)
+ Luckey and Mark Zuckerberg have buried the hatchet, then. (Insider $)
+ Palmer Luckey on the Pentagon’s way forward for combined actuality. (MIT Expertise Overview)
2 A brand new Texas legislation requires app shops to confirm customers’ ages
It’s following in Utah’s footsteps, which handed an identical invoice in March. (NYT $)
+ Apple has pushed again on the legislation. (CNN)
3 What occurs to DOGE now?
It has misplaced its chief and a high lieutenant throughout the house of every week. (WSJ $)
+ Musk’s departure raises questions over how a lot energy it’ll wield with out him. (The Guardian)
+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the security and stability of our crucial information. (MIT Expertise Overview)
4 NASA’s ambitions of a 2027 moon touchdown are trying much less doubtless
It wants SpaceX’s Starship, which retains blowing up. (WP $)
+ Is there a viable different? (New Scientist $)
5 College students are utilizing AI to generate nude pictures of one another
It’s a grave and rising drawback that nobody has an answer for. (404 Media)
6 Google AI Overviews doesn’t know what yr it’s
A yr after its introduction, the characteristic remains to be making apparent errors. (Wired $)
+ Google’s new AI-powered search isn’t match to deal with even fundamental queries. (NYT $)
+ The corporate is pushing AI into the whole lot. Will it repay? (Vox)
+ Why Google’s AI Overviews will get issues improper. (MIT Expertise Overview)
7 Hugging Face has created two humanoid robots 
The machines are open supply, that means anybody can construct software program for them. (TechCrunch)
8 A well-liked vibe coding app has a significant safety flaw
Regardless of being notified about it months in the past. (Semafor)
+ Any AI coding program catering to amateurs faces the identical concern. (The Data $)
+ What’s vibe coding, precisely? (MIT Expertise Overview)
9 AI-generated movies have gotten far more sensible
However not with regards to depicting gymnastics. (Ars Technica)
10 This digital tattoo measures your stress ranges
Take into account it a temper ring in your face. (IEEE Spectrum)
Quote of the day
“I feel lastly we’re seeing Apple being dragged into the kid security enviornment kicking and screaming.”
—Sarah Gardner, CEO of kid security collective Warmth Initiative, tells the Washington Put up why Texas’ new app retailer legislation might sign a turning level for Apple.
Yet another factor
Home-flipping algorithms are coming to your neighborhood
When Michael Maxson discovered his dream dwelling in Nevada, it was not owned by an individual however by a tech firm, Zillow. When he went to try the property, nonetheless, he found it broken by an enormous water leak. Regardless of providing to deal with the expensive repairs himself, Maxson found that the home had already been bought to a different household, on the similar worth he had supplied.
Throughout this time, Zillow misplaced greater than $420 million in three months of erratic home shopping for and unprofitable gross sales, main analysts to query whether or not your complete tech-driven mannequin is basically viable. For the remainder of us, a much bigger query stays: Does the arrival of Silicon Valley tech level to a greater future for housing or an trade disruption to worry? Learn the total story.
—Matthew Ponsford
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ A 100-mile real-time ultramarathon online game that lasts anyplace as much as 27 hours is about as enjoyable because it sounds.
+ Right here’s how edible glitter might assist save the standard water vole from extinction.
+ Cleansing huge statues shouldn’t be for the faint-hearted ($)
+ When is a flute trainer not a flautist? When he’s a whistleblower.
