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Erin Carson

@erincarson

Tech reporter. Ex-CNET, TechRepublic. Always: Interested in how science, tech and the internet change the way we live. Otherwise: Teaching college kids about journalism.

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03.07.2023
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Latest posts by Erin Carson @erincarson

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What jarred pasta sauce can teach us about AI Is skills atrophy the price of convenience?

One of my favorite topics is mid-century American cooking. You know, those wild lime gelatin molds. It was a time when industrialization hit home cooking and changed how we eat forever. For my newsletter, I wrote about how that shift has a lot in common with AI.

open.substack.com/pub/silicons...

21.12.2025 23:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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They cropped Fei-Fei Li.

11.12.2025 15:29 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Apple Thinks Orange Is the New Black. It Isn't Commentary: Apple picked a bold color for the iPhone 17 Pro and it's U-G-L-Y.

yeah that orange iPhone 17 Pro is nasty

09.09.2025 20:42 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Can’t stop the slop AI slop is ruining the casual internet – it’s also warping how we accept reality.

I’ve been having a lot of fun working on my newsletter, Silicon Sea. This month, I wrote about AI slop and figured out what else to say about it other than β€œI hate it.”

W/ thanks to @pbooth81.bsky.social for the interview!

open.substack.com/pub/silicons...

01.09.2025 22:12 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks for the plug!

17.03.2025 16:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The shopping videos triggering your caveman instincts Stop telling me to RUN to Costco.

Wrote a piece for my newsletter, Silicon Sea, about all those TikTok videos telling you to RUN to Target. Or Costco. Or wherever. siliconsea.substack.com/p/the-shoppi...

16.03.2025 18:16 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Two shirts seen at the airport:

β€œI don’t care. Work harder!”

β€œI’m trying.”

14.02.2025 13:49 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What a fever dream

19.01.2025 18:37 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

before tiktok,
before bluesky,
before twitter,
before meta,
before it all,
there were sewers.

after all, there will be sewers.

19.01.2025 03:44 πŸ‘ 6955 πŸ” 1446 πŸ’¬ 169 πŸ“Œ 214

With thanks to @jamesncohen.com for being my first Silicon Sea interview

19.01.2025 03:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

When I started working on this in early December, I didn’t think TikTok was going to get vaporized. It was a hypothetical, thinking about what would happen if a major social platform went down. But here we are.

19.01.2025 03:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Watching the Ruins of Social Media On the eve of the TikTok ban, thoughts on how social media becomes a ghost town.

Wrote a piece for my newsletter, Silicon Sea, about watching social media turn to ruins. siliconsea.substack.com/p/watching-t...

19.01.2025 03:46 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

First post goes out tomorrow morning!

10.01.2025 02:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Silicon Sea | Substack Tech and culture commentary. Click to read Silicon Sea, a Substack publication.

I was lucky enough to cover the intersection of tech/science/the internet and the way we live our lives for years. There’s so much more to say, so I’m launching a tech culture commentary newsletter. It’s free. Monthly. Intro send slated for the end of the week. siliconsea.substack.com

06.01.2025 18:30 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Genuinely, the best source of weather info in Nashville.

05.01.2025 04:29 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This was one of my favorite things published on the internet period this year.

31.12.2024 18:25 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The bleeding edge humor of me asking, β€œDo you take Apple Pay?” at the Apple Store yesterday.

27.12.2024 16:16 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Worth the read.

26.12.2024 22:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

There’s a 26-volume, 54-pound copy of the Warren Commission Report on this list, which is McSweeney’s level unhinged and I love it.

18.12.2024 18:47 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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1/ Here’s a story about how journalism works.

Spoiler Alert: This is how we decide *not* to publish.

We were recently looking at Pete Hegseth’s different statements over the years about West Point, where he has said he was admitted.

First stop: West Point.

11.12.2024 18:05 πŸ‘ 3143 πŸ” 766 πŸ’¬ 83 πŸ“Œ 141

It'll start telling you to put glue on dishes you would never even dream of

05.12.2024 21:43 πŸ‘ 422 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 1

This is like getting a Wrapped from your dentist

05.12.2024 21:54 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This is the worst thing I’ve ever heard.

05.12.2024 21:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Contains such blazing AI-driven insight as β€œyeah, that’s a great track.”

04.12.2024 14:48 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The simmering discontent over Spotify Wrapped not being out yet is the only online outrage I can accept.

03.12.2024 14:22 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Also, another wrinkle in trying to explain to students how to responsibly use and cite platforms like ChatGPT if the citations are *likely* wrong

01.12.2024 14:44 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How ChatGPT Search (Mis)represents Publisher Content ChatGPT searchβ€”which is positioned as a competitor to search engines like Google and Bingβ€”launched with a press release from OpenAI touting claims that the company had β€œcollaborated extensively with t...

β€œOur tests found that no publisherβ€”regardless of degree of affiliation with OpenAIβ€”was spared inaccurate representations of its content in ChatGPT.”

www.cjr.org/tow_center/h... via @columjournreview.bsky.social

01.12.2024 14:40 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Come back: Blogs
Go away: Poor social skills

29.11.2024 15:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œWhether children find ways to get past the restrictions is beside the point, [Prime Minister] Albanese said.”

… is it?

28.11.2024 14:22 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is this… my new favorite word?

26.11.2024 02:27 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0