Machine Punk, drawings by Laurie Lipton

Five hauntings from the other side of technology.

This week on Uncanny Valley, we discuss where Elon Musk’s PAC is spending millions, the latest ideology Trump claims is dangerous, and the backlash against the designer behind Muse’s logo.

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.”

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.

a certain kind of person writes in all lowercase now. why?

OpenAI is updating ChatGPT for all users with an “Intelligent UI” that’s more visual—generating interactive elements as part of the chatbot’s outputs.

Jessica Hische knew working for Meta might upset some people. But she didn’t anticipate just how angry they would get.

TikTok and other sites were told to curb protest footage and AI-altered images, while online retailers like Vinted and eBay reportedly signed an agreement stop looted goods from flooding resale sites.

MIT professor Sherry Turkle warns that people have become dangerously enmeshed with chatbots.

In a world of AI Overviews, Wikipedia usage declines. But the real loss may be far more existential than website traffic.

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.

Dots are designed to automate online tasks, like buying furniture. In my initial experience, the always-on agent was a bit buggy and couldn’t complete a captcha.