First the NYer Andrew Tate story, now this NYT deep fake story by Eli Saslow: Two features--both beautifully reported and written--this week that even for a doom-n-gloom type like me are so much worse than I thought. We must attend and contend: Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/…
Who's Who of AI
Jeff Sharlet
Bestselling author of THE UNDERTOW: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, THE FAMILY, also a Netflix series, C St, THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS, & SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE. AI stole them all. Professing @ Dartmouth. That's not my cat.
What they're sharing
The World’s Leading Deepfake Expert No Longer Trusts His Own Eyes nytimes.com
axios.com
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religiondispatches.org
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ms.now
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Some Teens Use AI Chatbots Because It's "Easier Than Talking to Real People" teenvogue.com
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Articles & links
Jeff Sharlet reposted
Jeff Sharlet reposted
The CEO of Anthropic A.I. predicted in April '26 that A.I. will eliminate 50% of white collar entry jobs and cause 10-20% unemployment in the next 5 years. Near Great Depression levels. But look at that stock market! Enjoy your lovely data center. www.axios.com/2025/05/28/a...
Jeff Sharlet reposted
sure did thanks to @roopikarisam.bsky.social for this smart piece! religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
Jeff Sharlet reposted
So for everyone telling me "the Catholic church should do X because women, lgbtq, sexual abuse etc.I hear you. Trust me, getting the slavery apology on behalf of the church is a big deal, but it also has a purpose, which I've explained here. www.ms.now/opinion/pope...
Jeff Sharlet reposted
*72 percent* of teens say they have turned to AI for companionship at least once. Read that again: 72 percent. Half use it a few times a month. HALF! 13 percent say *every day.* A third use LLMs "conversation practice, emotional support, role-playing, friendship, or romantic i…
Their own posts
Recent commentary
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
Learned today about a couple of radical left writers I admire who are all in for AI. Heartbreaking. Don't let this be you. AI is the great splintering machine.
It boggles my mind that I have colleagues who insist they’d recognize AI work. This kind of denialism of a problem borders in scale if not importance on anti-vaxxerism.
If I had known Backrooms was about AI slop I think I would have passed. Enough of that IRL.
Their network
In Jeff Sharlet's orbit
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