Weekly Review 29 August 2025

Some interesting links that I Tweeted about in the last week (I also post these on Mastodon, Threads, Newsmast, and Bluesky):

1. AI generated cat videos, designed to be addictive: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/aug/18/ai-has-created-a-new-breed-of-cat-video-addictive-disturbing-and-nauseatingly-quick-soap-operas
2. Lying about the productivity of AI chatbots has consequences for an Australian bank: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/bank-forced-to-rehire-workers-after-lying-about-chatbot-productivity-union-says/
3. Companies are shoveling AI into their productivity software: https://www.computerworld.com/article/4043243/productivity-software-firms-pivot-to-genai-by-leaning-on-legacy-strengths.html
4. AI is really good for manipulating people, but the more people know about AI the harder they are to manipulate: https://www.computerworld.com/article/4040468/puny-humans-are-no-match-for-ai.html
5. The current US administration is the most amateurish and venal in history. So it's no surprise they want to eliminate all regulation around AI: https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/20/opinion_us_govt_ai/
6. The AI bubble is about to burst, but AI companies like OpenAI will keep going: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/08/sam-altman-calls-ai-a-bubble-while-seeking-500b-valuation-for-openai/
7. How AI tools are failing users: https://www.bigdatawire.com/2025/08/20/why-your-new-ai-tools-and-the-companies-making-them-are-failing-you/
8. AI powered toys are not a good idea: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/16/ai-powered-stuffed-animals-are-coming-for-your-kids/
9. AI bots are now able to evade the defences websites use to slow them down: https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/codeberg_beset_by_ai_bots/
10. Three things to do to get into AI: https://www.kdnuggets.com/if-youre-trying-to-get-into-ai-this-is-what-you-need-to-do
11. AI generated news articles being submitted and accepted for publication: https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/wired-and-business-insider-remove-ai-written-freelance-articles/
12. This novelist used AI to write the dialogue with an AI in her novel. Is this appropriate? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/aug/18/author-rie-qudan-why-i-used-chatgpt-to-write-my-prize-winning-novel
13. Will the wealthy create AI clones of themselves to direct their businesses even after they're dead? https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/18/opinion_column_gen_ai/
14. Rolling out AI in business so far is failing to live up to the hype: https://futurism.com/ai-agents-failing-companies
15. While people are forming bonds with AI, I think it's more that humans are hardwired to want to bond with others: https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/wellbeing/relationship-she-might-not-have-had-hayley-s-ai-partner-changed-her-life
16. Will AI enabled toys lead to more spying on children? https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-barbie-dolls
17. AI will see optical illusions where they don't exist: https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/19/vision_language_models_see_illusions/
18. AI shows that people are walking faster and interacting less in public: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/18/ai-walk-more-quickly-socialise-less-public-spaces
19. 95% of generative AI projects are not meeting expectations, mostly due to not integrating them into the business properly: https://www.computerworld.com/article/4042361/study-95-percent-of-corporate-generative-ai-projects-fail.html
20. Students need to learn about AI, even though they can use it to cheat: https://www.computerworld.com/article/4042380/ai-in-the-classroom-is-important-for-real-world-skills-college-professors-say.html
21. Higher education institutions need to help students before they turn to AI for emotional support: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/health-wellness/2025/08/21/helping-college-students-emotionally-they-turn-ai
22. Using AI to help satellites avoid space junk: https://spectrum.ieee.org/kessler-syndrome-esa-cream-ai
23. Can AI make government procurement more efficient? Or will it just create a whole new pile of problems? https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/19/us_government_ai_procurement/
24. Is it better for a country to develop its own AI technology, or to lease it from another? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/18/the-guardian-view-on-britains-ai-strategy-the-risk-is-that-it-is-dependency-dressed-up-in-digital-hype