Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

The LLM Data Scraping Wars: A Copyright Battle and the Fightback

2025-09-14

The evolution of how large language models (LLMs) acquire training data has sparked intense copyright battles. Initially, data scraping lacked ethical and legal considerations. However, with the commercialization of apps like ChatGPT, copyright issues became increasingly prominent, leading authors and publishers to sue AI companies. Companies like OpenAI began making deals with publishers to access data, but data scraping continued unabated and even became more brazen. In response to this data abuse, Cloudflare and others introduced anti-scraping tools, and the RSL standard emerged, allowing websites to set prices for data access. This marks a proactive fightback by website owners, and AI companies may eventually be forced to pay for data, changing the data acquisition ecosystem.

(nymag.com)

Tech

The Coming Demographic Cliff in Higher Education: A Looming Crisis?

2025-09-13

A perfect storm is brewing in US higher education. Declining birth rates, exacerbated by the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, are creating a "demographic cliff." Over the next decade, the number of high school graduates will fall by 13%, forcing colleges to adapt or face closure. While elite universities will likely weather the storm, smaller regional colleges and liberal arts schools face an existential threat. Families need to carefully consider financial stability and long-term prospects when choosing a college, as tuition discounts will become more prevalent, but resource cuts may also follow.

(nymag.com)

Tech Demographics

Prince's Custom Font: A 90s Tech Legend

2025-06-09

In 1993, Prince's name change to an unpronounceable symbol created chaos for his record label and computer users. His solution? A custom font featuring his new glyph, distributed on floppy disks and CompuServe. This unconventional move not only highlighted Prince's personality but also showcased his early adoption of technology. While later known for his skepticism of streaming, this anecdote reveals his early enthusiasm for computers and innovation, and how he integrated technology into his artistic expression.

(nymag.com)

Misc

Google's AI Search: Burying the Web to Win the AI Race?

2025-05-26

Google's aggressive push into AI search, with features like AI Overviews and AI Mode, is changing how we interact with the web. AI Overviews provide summaries at the top of search results, reducing the need to click through to websites. AI Mode goes further, replacing traditional search with a conversational interface that answers questions and allows follow-up inquiries. While initially promising, AI Mode's reduced reliance on web links raises concerns about the impact on the website ecosystem. This article explores the trade-offs of Google's approach and its implications for the internet as a whole, suggesting that Google's prioritization of winning the AI race may come at the cost of the very web that fuels it.

(nymag.com)

Tech AI search web ecosystem

AI Cheating Sweeps College Campuses: The Silent Revolution in Education

2025-05-07

The proliferation of generative AI has led to unprecedented levels of cheating in colleges and universities. Students are using tools like ChatGPT to complete assignments, exams, and even papers, leaving professors struggling to cope. AI detection tools are limited in effectiveness, and students have found various ways to circumvent them. This article explores the impact of AI cheating on education, and the responses and reflections of both universities and students. The story of a student who used AI to cheat and then founded an AI-assisted learning tool illustrates the complexity and future direction of this phenomenon.

(nymag.com)

Misc

The Guardian US: Thriving on Reader Donations, Defying Traditional Media

2025-03-31

During the Trump era, many US media outlets lost credibility due to their owners' political leanings. The Guardian US, however, took a different approach, relying on reader donations to sustain its operations and achieving remarkable success. Its anti-Trump fundraising strategy cleverly capitalized on the public's yearning for press freedom and reliable information, leading to explosive audience growth and significant revenue increases, even surpassing the Wall Street Journal's US readership. While the donation-based model has inherent volatility, The Guardian's global perspective and high-quality journalism have successfully challenged traditional media business models, offering a new paradigm for other publications.

(nymag.com)

Startup media operations reader donations

Levi's Jeans from Amazon: A Quality Mystery?

2025-03-28

This article investigates whether Levi's jeans purchased from Amazon differ in quality from those bought directly from Levi's. The author bought matching pairs of Levi's Wedgies, Ribcage, and 501 jeans from both sources and sent them to a textile lab for testing. While noticeable differences in wash, color, and handfeel existed, the lab found no significant difference in strength or overall quality. The variation is attributed to Levi's global supply chain, with different mills, factories, and wash processes resulting in inconsistencies. The conclusion is that Amazon Levi's are not inferior, allaying consumer concerns.

(nymag.com)

Misc jeans

Meta's Gamble: Flooding Facebook and Instagram with AI Bots

2025-01-02

Meta is deploying AI-powered chatbots across Facebook and Instagram, aiming to engage younger users and capitalize on its substantial investment in generative AI. While presented as an innovation, analysts see this as a continuation of Meta's automation strategy, subtly replacing organic social interaction with algorithmic content curation and AI-generated posts. These bots will have profiles, share content, and integrate seamlessly into user feeds. The move represents a bold, if somewhat strange, bet on the future of social media.

(nymag.com)

Tech Social Media

Rolling the Dice on Bird Flu: Are We Prepared for Another Pandemic?

2024-12-30

Avian influenza (H5N1) is spreading globally in late 2024, infecting poultry, livestock, and even humans. While human-to-human transmission remains rare, scientists warn a single mutation could make it pandemic-capable. While we have more vaccine stockpiles and tests than during COVID-19, public sentiment toward government interventions remains uncertain. The article explores the tension between concerns about another pandemic and preparedness, questioning whether American society could effectively handle a potential bird flu pandemic.

(nymag.com)

Tech pandemic