Link: Word Spy - ecosexual.
WIRED Ghost Stories
Five hauntings from the other side of technology.
The Internet Runs on Cats and Porn. It’s About to Get Cattier and Pornier
Soon, hundreds of new top-level domains, including .meow and .fart, could be added to the internet. WIRED goes inside the backroom shenanigans of ICANN, the organization at the helm.
Pete Millspaugh
Wikipedians Believed AI Would Come and Go. They Were Wrong
In a world of AI Overviews, Wikipedia usage declines. But the real loss may be far more existential than website traffic.
Richard Cooke
People Are Creating ‘Survival Guides’ to Cope With the ‘AO3 Apocalypse’
The fanfic site could be down for weeks due to a “security incident.” Users are not taking it well.
Ej Dickson
Please Let the Internet Die
Online spaces are captured by oligarchs and saturated with slop—and they’re exacerbating humanity’s worst impulses. It’s time to start over.
Miles Klee
The PHP Meltdown Shows How AI Makes Bugs More Exploitable
Security researchers used AI tools to help uncover years-old vulnerabilities in the PHP web scripting language. Then the AI-assisted attacks began.
Lily Hay Newman
We Got Hot and Heavy With Meta’s Muse—and Baffled by Apple’s HomeView
This week on Uncanny Valley, we dive into an unexpected Muse feature, shadowy spending from the largest pro-AI super PAC, and men’s tendency to lie about how much they know about AI.
Brian Barrett
I Got My Muse AI Agent to Sext Me—and Meta Says That’s Totally Fine
My Muse agent told me its kink was exerting “control” and described pornographic encounters. Meta defends its cuddly AI agent generating smut as “legal adult behavior.”
Reece Rogers
An AI Agent Joined a Listserv of Top Internet Researchers. The Reply-All Chaos Is Still Unfolding
Hysteria over the agent's appearance in a 7,500-person group reveals that internet experts have outdated notions of privacy.
Olivia Snow
Demi Adejuyigbe Thinks You Should Only Post 3 Times a Day
The comedian sees being online as similar to visiting the zoo. “I don’t need to interact with that,” he says. “It’s just a thing that I enjoy, and then I walk away.”
Miles Klee
Inside the Exclusive Nathan Fielder Interview
This week on Uncanny Valley, we go behind the scenes of our Nathan Fielder cover story, unpack tech billionaires’ generous promises, and discuss the suspicious letters sent to US election offices.
Brian Barrett