Join The Verge at the Chicago Humanities Festival this weekend for a series of panels focused on AI. I’ll be moderating a session on interesting applications of artificial intelligence, with artist X. A. Li and Google software engineer Zaria Howard. Hope to see you there!
The city’s chatbot for business owners is telling people to break the law, including telling bosses they can take employees’ tips (they can’t), and that stores can go cashless (also wrong, as of 2020). The chatbot is powered by Microsoft Azure AI.
Mayor Eric Adams has announced other AI tools recently, including a gun detection system that will soon be installed at subway turnstiles.
The Shohei Ohtani multimillion dollar gambling scandal made headlines last week — but it’s a symptom of a larger environment where online betting has become ubiquitous and perhaps too easy.
In The New Yorker, Jay Caspian Kang writes about the legalization of sports betting, the gamified apps, and the effects on players, fans, media, and the integrity of the game.
[The New Yorker]
A Poynter article about using AI in newsrooms was ripped off and rewritten by a pink slime site called Tech Gate. Guess they didn’t read the guide.
I took a browse around the site and saw some familiar faces — Tech Gate also republished a mangled version of a Vergecast segment, including using our image. My favorite line:
Simply after that, we launch Nilay Patel into his Mexican vacation, and we do a newsy lightning spherical.
