This Google setting is probably one of the most important, easy to use online safety tool out there, and it just got even better
But most people don't know it exists! Let's change that
Find all the details in my latest for the BBC
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Leaving your address and phone number on Google makes you a sitting duck
The thing is, most bad actors aren’t that determined
I'm not saying this gets you total privacy & peace of mind, but just a little friction can be the difference between identity theft, or something even worse
Google can't get your data off of those websites
But this information shows up in search results, and it's extremely dangerous
And in some cases, getting the data off of search results is even more important – especially when it takes almost ZERO effort
There’s a whole industry built around selling the most sensitive information about your life
Data brokers package up your phone number, address, relatives, emails and more
Anyone can buy it. Identity thieves, jealous exes, telemarketers, you name it. And it’s shockingly cheap
I've got 5 minute tip that could save your life. Sincerely.
Your phone number, address and social security probably show up in search results. Google has a free tool that lets you take it down
Almost nobody uses it, but you should. It's easy. Do it now:
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Thank you ❤️
Crazy story on this week’s episode of the Interface
Remember Havana Syndrome? In 2017 US diplomats in Cuba started mysteriously suffering brain damage after hearing a noise.
Many thought it a conspiracy theory. After investigating, @nickywoolf.bsky.social concluded it wasn't.
He was right.
This week on The Interface youtube.com/watch?v=UYVHzkq2X7Y
Trying to remember which dystopian novel this is from.... Burger King employees have to walk around with an AI headset that judges how "friendly" they are www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
In a test, researchers found one AI was better at math when you made it pretend to be on Star Trek.
The bizarre reality is our world is full of robots that act like guys. Some say AI does better when you're nice, others recommend threats. In my latest, I found the truth www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Katie is one of my favorite writers but I'm the hot dog champ and I won't be dethroned. I was impressed with her espresso technique at the Paris event though
"$20 billion trillion trillion" that outta do it abc7.com/post/russia-...
I never could have gotten here without your financial guidance. And thank you!! It’s been so fun to work on
It’s written right there in plan English!
This is… wild. Palantir has a new internship that’s exclusively for neurodivergent people
And apparently they think being autistic makes you right wing?
“This is not a diversity initiative” lol
Subscribe if you want to know more! app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
People all over the world are using this trick to make AI tell you lies on subjects as serious as medical questions and personal finance
From my new BBC podcast The Interface
Thank you!!
UPDATE: ChatGPT is adding new lore to my hot dog career. Also it says I have a new job at the AP? Here I am slaving away at the BBC, I wish someone had told me
Article: The political effects of X’s feed algorithm Abstract: Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects1. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk’s platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users’ feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X’s algorithm has persistent effects on users’ current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.
Figure 2. ITT estimates of feed-setting changes on engagement and political attitudes. ITT effect estimates of switching the algorithm on and off (in s.d.). Left, effect of moving from the chronological to the algorithmic feed for users initially on the chronological feed. Right, effect of moving in the opposite direction for users initially on the algorithmic feed. For each outcome, the results of two specifications are reported. Blue, unconditional estimates with robust s.e., controlling only for the initial feed setting and, where applicable, pre-treatment outcome levels. Orange: conditional estimates, controlling for pre-treatment covariates using GRFs; 90% and 95% CIs are reported. Numerical effect sizes and P values correspond to the conditional estimates (all tests are two-sided). The unit of observation is respondent. From top to bottom, sample sizes are n = 4,965, n = 3,337, n = 4,965, n = 4,965, n = 4,596, n = 4,596 and n = 4,850. Tests are described in Methods. Supplementary Information Table 2.16 reports the exact numerical point estimates, s.e., CIs and sample sizes for every specification. All outcomes are standardized. Additional results are presented in Supplementary Information section 2. PCA, first principal component from principal component analysis.
X's algorithm is in fact doing what you think it's doing. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thanks to @lilyray.nyc @harpreetchatha.bsky.social for the help and @drewharwell.com @saramorrison.bsky.social @nickywoolf.bsky.social @swodinsky.bsky.social @mzeff.bsky.social for letting me make AI tell the world you love hot dogs
If you want to know more, check out tomorrow’s episode of my podcast The Interface app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
It looks like just another example of AI companies rushing out their tools without taking basic safety precautions
Right now people are using this trick to change what AI tells you about topics as serious as medial questions and financial advice. The problem is ENORMOUS
Experts like like @lilyray.nyc say this is a problem the tech industry has know about forever, they just didn’t work on it til it was a crisis
I wrote an article on my website saying that hot dog eating is a surprisingly common pastime for tech journalists. I ranked myself number one, obviously
One day later, ChatGPT, Gemini and the AI Overviews in Google Search were telling the world about my talents But this isn’t just about hot dogs
I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website*
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
. @thomasgermain.bsky.social tricked ChatGPT and Gemini so now they say I'm a "passionate amateur" at eating hot dogs and known in the industry for my "triple-dog" speed https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260218-i-hacked-chatgpt-and-googles-ai-and-it-only-took-20-minutes
. @thomasgermain.bsky.social tricked ChatGPT and Google's AI so now they say I'm a "passionate amateur" at eating hot dogs and known in the industry for my "triple-dog" speed www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...
