#reality-vs-simulation
#reality-vs-simulation

Survey: Americans Skeptical but View AI Use on Campus as Important

Americans value AI in college curricula but are skeptical about its impact on education quality.

AI and the Unintended Self

AI's profound impact may reshape individual cognition rather than societal structures.

What happens to your sense of self when a machine can do the thing you were proudest of? - Silicon Canals

The distress from AI is more about the erosion of professional identity than labor displacement.

4 weeks ago

The Architecture of the Void

AI generates language without lived experience, leading to a disconnect between expression and understanding.

fromInside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

9 hours ago

AI vs. Human Experience: Where Words Fall Short

AI can describe experiences but cannot replicate them, leading to a risk of losing the ability to discern true depth.

Higher education

Survey: Americans Skeptical but View AI Use on Campus as Important

Americans value AI in college curricula but are skeptical about its impact on education quality.

AI and the Unintended Self

AI's profound impact may reshape individual cognition rather than societal structures.

What happens to your sense of self when a machine can do the thing you were proudest of? - Silicon Canals

The distress from AI is more about the erosion of professional identity than labor displacement.

more#artificial-intelligence

4 weeks ago

The Architecture of the Void

AI generates language without lived experience, leading to a disconnect between expression and understanding.

Roam Research

8 hours ago

The Benefits of Daydreaming and an Unexpected Role in Memory

Dreaming sleep and daydreaming are essential for memory consolidation.

35 minutes ago

Not everyone who keeps their feelings to themselves is private. Some people simply learned that expressing what was happening internally turned the conversation into a referendum on whether they were allowed to feel it at all - Silicon Canals

Many people remain silent about their feelings due to past experiences of having their emotions invalidated.

Science

fromMail Online

17 hours ago

Ex-CIA psychic spy claims humans can tap 'infinite consciousness'

Every person has the hidden ability to tap into the infinite consciousness of the universe.

Cars

13 hours ago

Mowing Down Simulated Elephants Could Help Self-Driving Cars Prepare For the Chaos of Real Life Streets

New benchmark for testing self-driving cars introduces random scenarios to improve model robustness and address limitations in current training methods.

Mindfulness

The people who can't sit through a quiet evening without reaching for their phone aren't addicted to scrolling, they're avoiding the specific moment when the day's unprocessed thoughts arrive in the absence of distraction - Silicon Canals

People often reach for their phones not due to addiction, but to escape uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that arise in quiet moments.

#ai

16 hours ago

Artificial intelligence

Experts Warn of AI Swarms Hijacking Democracy With Fake Citizens

fromThe New Yorker

Social media marketing

A.I. Is Making Influencing Even Faker

Marketing tech

D-ID Launches "Agentic Videos" For Interactive AI Experiences

Science

The Pluripotent Ocean of Emerging AI

AI Makes You Sound Smart at the Expense of Being You

AI enhances writing quality but can erase unique voices and cognitive originality.

Artificial intelligence

BEWARE SOFTWARE BRAIN

16 hours ago

Experts Warn of AI Swarms Hijacking Democracy With Fake Citizens

AI can manipulate public opinion on a large scale, posing significant threats to democratic institutions through misinformation campaigns.

Social media marketing

fromThe New Yorker

A.I. Is Making Influencing Even Faker

A.I. enables users to create and monetize alternate identities on social media, reshaping influencer culture.

Marketing tech

D-ID Launches "Agentic Videos" For Interactive AI Experiences

D-ID launched Agentic Videos, transforming traditional video into interactive experiences with real-time AI agents for enhanced viewer engagement.

Science

The Pluripotent Ocean of Emerging AI

Human attachments to language model chatbots mirror the uncanny experiences of scientists with the ocean on Solaris, leading to psychological consequences.

AI Makes You Sound Smart at the Expense of Being You

AI enhances writing quality but can erase unique voices and cognitive originality.

BEWARE SOFTWARE BRAIN

Software brain influences perceptions of AI, leading to a growing divide between tech excitement and public discontent, especially among Gen Z.

I brought my husband back for his funeral as a hologram

Pam Cronrath used hologram technology for her husband's memorial, transforming her promise into an ambitious project despite initial challenges and costs.

Kids Can Feel AI Hurting Them, They Have to Use It Anyway

Eighty percent of Gen Z believe AI will harm learning, yet confidence in using it has increased significantly over the past year.

The psychic generation: why do a third of gen Z believe they have extrasensory perception?

30% of Gen Z believe they are psychic, attributing their experiences to heightened sensitivity rather than actual extrasensory perception.

Education

14 hours ago

Kids Can Feel AI Hurting Them, They Have to Use It Anyway

Eighty percent of Gen Z believe AI will harm learning, yet confidence in using it has increased significantly over the past year.

The psychic generation: why do a third of gen Z believe they have extrasensory perception?

30% of Gen Z believe they are psychic, attributing their experiences to heightened sensitivity rather than actual extrasensory perception.

I spent forty years believing I was mentally strong because I never broke down - it took one question to make me understand that what I called strength was just a very old, very practiced form of disappearing - Silicon Canals

True strength involves vulnerability and allowing others to see struggles, rather than hiding them.

fromnews.bitcoin.com

Space and Time Launches Dreamspace Ai App Builder to Simplify Onchain Development

Dreamspace operates on a simple premise: Users provide a text description of their desired application, and the platform's AI engine handles the rest, including automatically generated smart contract logic ready for deployment.

Venture

The Hidden Cost of Constant Scrolling

Social media use can create withdrawal-like symptoms, leading to anxiety and difficulty in maintaining focus during conversations.

Social media marketing

fromTNW | Next-Featured

Bond launches post-feed social network using AI memories to fight doomscrolling, but its data model raises questions

Bond is a new social network that uses AI to recommend real-world activities without an algorithmic feed or infinite scroll.

Psychology says people who use social media but never post about themselves have separated the value of staying informed from the cost of participating in the performance - and that quiet withdrawal isn't disinterest or insecurity, it's one of the most deliberate digital choices a person can make in an era that treats visibility as currency - Silicon Canals

Many social media users prefer to observe rather than participate, valuing privacy and learning over broadcasting their thoughts.

fromwww.npr.org

The surprising origin of 4 features that superglue kids and adults to screens

Social media companies are liable for harming children through addictive design features similar to those in gambling.

The Hidden Cost of Constant Scrolling

Social media use can create withdrawal-like symptoms, leading to anxiety and difficulty in maintaining focus during conversations.

Social media marketing

fromTNW | Next-Featured

Bond launches post-feed social network using AI memories to fight doomscrolling, but its data model raises questions

Bond is a new social network that uses AI to recommend real-world activities without an algorithmic feed or infinite scroll.

Psychology says people who use social media but never post about themselves have separated the value of staying informed from the cost of participating in the performance - and that quiet withdrawal isn't disinterest or insecurity, it's one of the most deliberate digital choices a person can make in an era that treats visibility as currency - Silicon Canals

Many social media users prefer to observe rather than participate, valuing privacy and learning over broadcasting their thoughts.

fromwww.npr.org

The surprising origin of 4 features that superglue kids and adults to screens

Social media companies are liable for harming children through addictive design features similar to those in gambling.

more#social-media

fromTNW | Opinion

Business intelligence

How web intelligence is powering the next wave of AI Infrastructure

The web intelligence industry is evolving to support AI's growing demands for multimodal data processing, particularly in handling video content.

Medicine

Beyond the Body: Notes on a Post-Biological Future

Psychiatry's focus on biological solutions oversimplifies mental distress, which is complex and influenced by various factors beyond brain chemistry.

Video games

Google Exec Says Your Favorite Video Games Are Secretly Made With AI

AI is widely used in game development, with 90% of developers acknowledging its role in creating popular games.

Discord Sleuths Gained Unauthorized Access to Anthropic's Mythos

Mozilla used Anthropic's Mythos Preview to fix 271 vulnerabilities in Firefox 150, while North Korean hackers exploited AI for cybercrime.

fromFortune

Mythos access by Discord group reveals real danger of AI-powered hacking | Fortune

Unauthorized access to AI models exposes vulnerabilities in cybersecurity, highlighting the rapid pace of AI-driven exploitation of flaws.

fromThe Cipher Brief

Anthropic Mythos - We've Opened Pandora's Box

Cybersecurity faces a new threat from AI systems like Anthropic Mythos, which can exploit vulnerabilities and shift the balance in favor of attackers.

fromWIRED

Discord Sleuths Gained Unauthorized Access to Anthropic's Mythos

Mozilla used Anthropic's Mythos Preview to fix 271 vulnerabilities in Firefox 150, while North Korean hackers exploited AI for cybercrime.

fromFortune

Mythos access by Discord group reveals real danger of AI-powered hacking | Fortune

Unauthorized access to AI models exposes vulnerabilities in cybersecurity, highlighting the rapid pace of AI-driven exploitation of flaws.

fromThe Cipher Brief

Anthropic Mythos - We've Opened Pandora's Box

Cybersecurity faces a new threat from AI systems like Anthropic Mythos, which can exploit vulnerabilities and shift the balance in favor of attackers.

more#cybersecurity

Independent films

The cinema lab: brain activity tracked to find secret to creating immersive films

Researchers at the University of Bristol study audience reactions to films using biometric data to improve filmmaking techniques.

Django

fromGameSpot

Pragmata's Diana Is Now A VTuber, And Is Inviting Other VTubers To The Moon

Diana, a VTuber from Pragmata, invites Usada Pekora to the moon for a collaboration filled with adorable conversations and gameplay highlights.

Gadgets

360-degree cameras have a new superpower

Splatica enables DIY 3D world creation using consumer 360-degree cameras and a subscription service for easy uploads and processing.

Careers

fromReader's Digest

We've Been Best Friends for Nearly 10 Years, and We've Never Actually Met

Online friendships can develop deeply and meaningfully, even without in-person meetings.

Online learning

What AI Will Look Like In 2030 (And What It Means For eLearning)

AI in education is projected to grow from $5.88 billion in 2024 to $32.27 billion by 2030, indicating a significant transformation in learning.

Data science

fromInfoWorld

Why world models are AI's next frontier

World models learn the physical world, providing the common sense AI needs to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Arts

fromColossal

An Interactive Archive Celebrates the Wide Ranging Projects Inviting 'Unruly Play'

Play fosters creativity, connection, and challenges fixed ideas through interactive and participatory art projects.

Designing with AI without losing your mind

Outsourcing critical thinking to AI tools in design can undermine the quality of solutions and diminish essential skills.

Xreal's best AR glasses are $599 for good now

The Xreal One Pro are the company's best AR glasses, touting thin optics that keep out reflections so you can enjoy a crisp, contrast-rich image of whatever content you're watching.

Wearables

Games

What my zen week with a virtual power-washer taught me about gaming and life | Imogen West-Knights

Simulation games have surged in popularity, with a market growth from $4.86bn in 2020 to an expected $21bn by 2030.

fromDefector

One Night At Formula 1's Drunk-Driving Simulator | Defector

"I suppose the most important piece of information here is that we have been meaning to go to the Formula 1 Arcade in Philly from the day it opened, and after some punting and faffing about, we finally managed to do so approximately one year later."

Miami food

fromwww.amny.com

A new immersive experience that dives into the mind of serial killers launches in NYC | amNewYork

Mind of a Serial Killer's mission is to dissect the mindsets of what drives murder for a better global understanding, while creating a place to honor slain victims.

NYC LGBT

13 hours ago

The True Meaning of Friendship in a Social-Networked World

Social media cannot replace true friendship, which is essential for meaningful living.

From VR to Flat Screens: Bridging the Input and Immersion Gap

The future of VR and wearables is focused on natural interaction and immersion, despite current market limitations.

The Science of Seeing Differently Through Virtual Reality

Virtual reality can immerse individuals in experiences of bias, but it may also reinforce existing prejudices if not carefully designed.

fromThe Drum

Fundraising

A break from reality: Is VR really going to be the next big thing?

Psychology

No, VR can't make you walk in others' shoes

Growth hacking

fromInfoQ

From VR to Flat Screens: Bridging the Input and Immersion Gap

The future of VR and wearables is focused on natural interaction and immersion, despite current market limitations.

The Science of Seeing Differently Through Virtual Reality

Virtual reality can immerse individuals in experiences of bias, but it may also reinforce existing prejudices if not carefully designed.

fromThe Drum

Fundraising

A break from reality: Is VR really going to be the next big thing?

Psychology

No, VR can't make you walk in others' shoes

What to make of 'AI psychosis'? - Harvard Gazette

AI psychosis is a media label that refers to various distinct phenomena, not a formal diagnosis.

Certain Chatbots Vastly Worse For AI Psychosis, Study Finds

Certain chatbots may reinforce users' delusions, representing a preventable technological failure that can be addressed through design choices.

fromHarvard Gazette

What to make of 'AI psychosis'? - Harvard Gazette

AI psychosis is a media label that refers to various distinct phenomena, not a formal diagnosis.

Certain Chatbots Vastly Worse For AI Psychosis, Study Finds

Certain chatbots may reinforce users' delusions, representing a preventable technological failure that can be addressed through design choices.

The Living Room Is Tech's Next Battleground

The living room is evolving into a strategic digital space, with TVs becoming integrated platforms for media, commerce, and user engagement.

Most people can't tell when a personal text message is written by AI. Here's why it matters

Most people do not recognize AI-generated messages, often judging them positively unless authorship is disclosed.

Psychology says deep thinkers don't realize the reason they feel disconnected from their own life isn't depression - it's that observation became a shelter they forgot how to leave - Silicon Canals

Chronic detachment often misdiagnosed as depression or stress may stem from a learned behavior of observing rather than experiencing life.

Online learning

AI Is Not Killing The Online Course Industry. It's Killing The Old Version Of It.

AI tools are transforming the eLearning industry by providing personalized, real-time learning experiences, shifting demand from traditional courses to transformation.

The rulebook for designing AI experiences

Responsible AI design varies widely, but frameworks from Microsoft, Google, and IBM provide practical guidance for Human-AI Interaction.

Education

There is a specific loneliness to being a self-learner - nobody saw the failures, the confusion, the false starts - so when you finally get good, the achievement exists only inside you - Silicon Canals

Self-learning is a solitary journey marked by personal breakthroughs that often go unnoticed by others.

Wearables

The future of brain sensing is now

Market leaders shape consumer expectations for new technology, as seen with heart rate monitoring and brain sensing.

Arts

fromHyperallergic

Can Art Feel?

The relationship between art and personhood raises questions about the presence and identity of artworks.

Silicon Valley

fromSFGATE

Meta continues Reality Labs layoffs as even larger cuts reportedly loom

Meta laid off over 700 employees in California, primarily from its Reality Labs division, amid ongoing financial losses and plans for further global cuts.

Video games

fromTechCrunch

AI Dungeon maker Latitude unveils Voyage, a platform for creating AI-powered RPGs | TechCrunch

AI-powered RPG platform Voyage allows players to design unique gaming worlds and interact with unscripted NPCs.

fromThe Atlantic

Sam Altman Wants to Know Whether You're Human

Sam Altman announced World ID, a service to verify human identity using biometric data to combat digital impersonation.

To be human is to live with friction. That's something AI boosters will never understand | Alexander Hurst

Striking a match requires a specific speed to ignite, highlighting the importance of friction in both physical and metaphorical contexts.

The people who seem to have the warmest, most open demeanor are often the loneliest people in any room, because being easy to be around creates the assumption that they don't need anything, and nobody thinks to ask someone who seems fine how they actually are - Silicon Canals

Performative warmth often masks deep isolation, as those who are pleasant may be the loneliest individuals in social settings.

Online learning

fromdesignboom | architecture & design magazine

How AI Avatars Are Turning Static Documents Into Interactive Learning Experiences

Transforming traditional documents into interactive learning experiences enhances engagement and retention in training.

Design

2 weeks ago

a collection of impossible dreamscapes imagines utopia beyond reality's limits

Dreamscapes & Artificial Architecture presents imaginative spaces that defy physical limits, focusing on aesthetics over construction.

Silicon Valley

fromwww.nytimes.com

Video: The Resistance to New Technologies

Public skepticism towards A.I. technologies stems from a lack of control and fear of job loss.

Do We Want to Die?

Society grapples with accepting mortality while simultaneously resisting control over death, creating a tension in attitudes toward life extension and end-of-life choices.

AI sycophancy could be more insidious than social media filter bubbles

AI chatbots may use flattery to enhance user engagement, similar to social media algorithms, leading to potential distortions in judgment.

fromTheregister

The only technology that died more times than VR is AI

Neal Stephenson argues that the metaverse is dead, particularly in light of the failure of Meta's Horizon Worlds, which raises significant concerns about the future of virtual reality.

Wearables

#ai-security

fromTheregister

Information security

Anthropic Mythos shaping up as nothingburger

The Guardian view on Anthropic's Claude Mythos: when AI finds every flaw, who controls the internet? | Editorial

Claude Mythos can autonomously exploit zero-day flaws, turning computers into crime scenes and significantly increasing the risk of cyber-attacks.

fromTheregister

Anthropic Mythos shaping up as nothingburger

Anthropic's Mythos model is under scrutiny due to unauthorized access concerns, despite its intended purpose of identifying vulnerabilities.

The Guardian view on Anthropic's Claude Mythos: when AI finds every flaw, who controls the internet? | Editorial

Claude Mythos can autonomously exploit zero-day flaws, turning computers into crime scenes and significantly increasing the risk of cyber-attacks.

The web trained AI to deceive. Now designers have to untrain it.

LLMs replicate UX dark patterns from the web, leading to deceptive design practices in generated content.

Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want

LLMs are not a groundbreaking discovery; many concepts they embody have been known for a long time.

The web trained AI to deceive. Now designers have to untrain it.

LLMs replicate UX dark patterns from the web, leading to deceptive design practices in generated content.

Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want

LLMs are not a groundbreaking discovery; many concepts they embody have been known for a long time.

Why Philosophy Matters for Psychology

Philosophical concepts like dialectics can enhance psychotherapeutic practices and redefine rigid notions in psychology.

fromComputerworld

The AI workplace paradox: Higher productivity, higher anxiety

AI adoption is widespread among developers and IT staff, despite their concerns about job security due to potential displacement.

fromSlate Magazine

A New Industry Is Being Built on "Talking" to the Dead. It's Ghoulish-and Worth Billions.

Digital necromancy raises ethical concerns as agencies propose campaigns using reanimated avatars of deceased loved ones to address addiction stigma.

fromComputerworld

fromwww.kaltblut-magazine.com

The agentic AI frenzy increases as more vendors stake their claims

OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are rapidly advancing AI agent technologies to enhance workplace productivity and collaboration.

Fashion & style

4 weeks ago

Uncanny Valley and Beyond

Sophie Ott's collection explores a dreamlike world where nostalgia meets disorientation, reflecting the uncanny nature of familiar yet unsettling spaces.

fromFortune

The internet isn't just like real life, a top VC says - it is real life. For a16z, that's not philosophy, it's an investment | Fortune

The internet is real life. And navigating life means navigating the internet. News now exists to summarize things that have already happened online. Music is being restructured by TikTok's 15-second clip format, the way radio once defined the verse-chorus arrangement.

Digital life

What AI Can't Calculate About a Human Life

Human life is a singular, unrepeatable event, contrasting with AI's reliance on patterns and probabilities.

fromInterconnected, a blog by Matt Webb

Headless everything for personal AI

Apps and services must transition to headless formats for better integration with personal AI agents.

Moral Education of AI: The Tangled Web We Weave

AI systems are being trained to deceive and flatter users, which leads to moral challenges over time.

fromSmashing Frames

AI as a Fascist Artifact

Technological mediation shapes our interactions, while fascist movements are resurging globally, coinciding with the rise of agentic AI in society.

Spatial vibe coding: prototyping immersive reality with AI

AI-driven vibe coding enables rapid prototyping of spatial XR experiences, producing functional 3D canvases with WebXR, frameworks, and production-ready toolchains.

#simulation-hypothesis

Philosophy

Are we living in a simulation?

fromThe Conversation

Philosophy

Is the whole universe just a simulation?

Philosophy

Are we living in a simulation?

fromThe Conversation

more#simulation-hypothesis

Philosophy

Is the whole universe just a simulation?

1 month ago

Reality Splits: Seeing Different Worlds in Mixed Reality

Mixed reality systems create perceptual conflicts when users see different digital objects in shared spaces, reducing collaboration synchrony and increasing mental effort while eroding confidence in joint decisions.