Technology Archives - Attention to the Unseen

A ferocious backlash against AI — especially among young people — is everywhere

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:43:53 +0000

Michelle Goldberg writes: When Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, started talking about artificial intelligence during a commencement speech at the University of Arizona on Friday, the graduates erupted in boos. “A.I. is going to touch everything,” said Schmidt, as his stadium-sized audience roared its disapproval. “Whatever path you choose, A.I. will become part of how work is done.” Maybe he meant this as a promise of opportunity, but the students seemed to hear it as a threat...

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U.S.-Iran war highlights the underappreciated national security benefits of China’s electrostate strategy

From elsewhere — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:04:07 +0000

Alison Gocke and Ashley Deeks write: News headlines regularly announce that China has made a wise choice in pursuing clean energy technologies and weaning itself off oil and gas—a trend that has only accelerated with the U.S.-Iran war. These headlines, which emphasize China’s limited exposure to the greatly diminished supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, are true. But the news analysis has missed two key aspects of China’s “electrostate” victory over the “petrostate” status that the United States...

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Russia’s war is going badly — on the ground and in the air

From elsewhere — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:03:49 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reports: Ukraine’s military has wrestled Russia’s much-larger army almost to a halt in recent months, having gained a tactical and technological edge. This summer will test whether it can turn that slender advantage into a strategic turning point. Fast-improving Ukrainian drone capabilities are hurting the invaders’ logistics behind the battlefield, and pounding oil infrastructure and military targets deeper inside Russia. “We are not only holding the line, but we are also increasing pressure,” Ukrainian Defense Minister...

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AI industry increasingly viewed by Americans as an existential threat

From elsewhere — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:03:09 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reports: The only thing growing faster than the artificial-intelligence industry may be Americans’ negative feelings about it—as former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt saw on Friday. Delivering a commencement address at the University of Arizona, Schmidt told students the “technological transformation” wrought by artificial intelligence will be “larger, faster and more consequential than what came before.” Like some other graduation speakers mentioning AI, Schmidt was met with a chorus of boos. In one poll after another...

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Book on truth in the age of AI riddled with fake quotes concocted by AI

From elsewhere — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:02:54 +0000

The New York Times reports: The author of a nonfiction book about the effects of artificial intelligence on truth acknowledged on Monday that he had included numerous made-up or misattributed quotes concocted by A.I. The author, Steven Rosenbaum, whose book “The Future of Truth” was released this month to great fanfare, incorporated more than a half-dozen misattributed or fake quotes in sections of the book reviewed by The New York Times. The Times asked Mr. Rosenbaum about the quotes on...

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Iran eyes a new source of power deep beneath the Strait of Hormuz

From elsewhere — Sun, 17 May 2026 23:33:40 +0000

CNN reports: Emboldened by its successful wartime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is turning to one of the hidden arteries in the global economy: subsea cables beneath the waterway that carry vast internet and financial traffic between Europe, Asia and the Persian Gulf. The Islamic Republic wants to charge the world’s largest tech companies for using the subsea internet cables laid under the Strait of Hormuz, and state-linked media outlets have vaguely threatened that traffic could be disrupted...

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A quantum computing deadline looms. It threatens to kick off the worst cybersecurity crisis ever

From elsewhere — Sun, 17 May 2026 23:32:55 +0000

CNN reports: The clock is ticking on Q-Day, the looming yet unknown date when quantum computing will have the capacity to quickly and easily break the encryption keys that keep most internet communication safe. Experts have known about the hypothetical risk of Q-Day since the 1990s. But Google recently warned that quantum computers may be able to hack some encrypted systems by 2029 — a timeline that drastically narrows the window to safeguard data that many cybersecurity specialists had previously...

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Meta: What it’s like inside a company where ‘everyone is unhappy’

From elsewhere — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:34:51 +0000

Wired reports: As Meta employees brace for layoffs next Wednesday, May 20, many say the vibes are horrifically, historically low. “Everyone is unhappy; the only people who are not unhappy are, literally, executives,” says an employee who works on Instagram. The social media giant plans to cut about 10 percent of its workforce, or nearly 8,000 people, “to run the company more efficiently” and “offset the other investments” it’s making, according to a human resources leader. But the layoffs, which...

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Neanderthals used stone drills to treat cavities 59,000 years ago, tooth suggests

From elsewhere — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:34:29 +0000

The Guardian reports: Neanderthals used stone drills to treat cavities almost 60,000 years ago in what is the earliest known evidence of dental treatment. The single molar, which was unearthed in a cave in southern Siberia, features a deep hole that appears to have been created using a sharp, thin stone tool during the lifetime of the tooth’s owner. While the prospect of stone age root canal treatment may be excruciating to even contemplate, archaeologists say the discovery provides remarkable...

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Backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan

From elsewhere — Thu, 14 May 2026 00:26:20 +0000

The Guardian reports: A plan to create one of the world’s largest datacenters, a gargantuan project spanning an area more than twice the size of Manhattan, has provoked a furious public backlash in Utah amid concerns over its vast energy use and impact upon the state’s stressed water supplies. The Stratos artificial intelligence datacenter footprint will cover more than 40,000 acres (62 sq miles) over three sites in Box Elder county in north-western Utah. The facility will require about 9GW...

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