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Ask HN: Is anyone else sick of AI splattered code

Between code reviews, and AI generated rubbish, I've had it. Whether it's people relying on AI to write pull request descriptions (that are crap by the way), or using it to generate tests.. I'm sick of it. Over the year, I've been doing a tonne of consulting. The last three months I've watched at least 8 companies embrace AI generated pip for coding, testing, and code reviews. Honestly, the best suggestions I've seen are found by linters in CI, and spell checkers. Is this what we've come to? M

James Gunn Slams AI-Generated Batman

As generative AI slop is threatening to turn Hollywood on its head, not everybody in the industry is enthusiastic about the tech. In a hilarious counter to a fan's AI-generated image of actor Brandon Sklenar dressed as the DC Comics' Batman, DC Studios filmmaker and "Superman" director James Gunn quipped in a Threads post that "it would be weird to cast an AI Batman with a 14 inch arm." Gunn was alluding to the AI-generated Batman's unnaturally short appendages, pointing out the AI's failure t

Here’s your first look at Gemini’s dedicated space for all creations (APK teardown)

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Google is testing a new space in the Gemini app to store all media generated with it. The “Created by you” section stores all Gemini-generated images, videos, and even deep research documents and code. ChatGPT has a similar feature, called Library, which makes it easier to find media created by it rather than sifting through chat history. Image generation has long been one of the most compelling and entertaining use cases for AI. The widespread Studio

Chinese social media platforms roll out labels for AI-generated material

Major social media platforms in China have started rolling out labels for AI-generated content to comply with a law that took effect on Monday. Users of the likes of WeChat, Douyin, Weibo and RedNote (aka Xiaohongshu) are now seeing such labels on posts. These denote the use of generative AI in text, images, audio, video and other types of material, according to the South China Morning Post . Identifiers such as watermarks have to be included in metadata too. WeChat has told users they must pro

Google could be building a new nook for your Gemini creations (APK teardown)

Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Google is testing a new “My Stuff” section for the Gemini interface on Android. While its purpose isn’t clear, it could be used to store media generated using Gemini, separate from your chats. A similar section for storing AI-generated media is also present in ChatGPT, and it is known as “Library.” Gemini is already quite powerful as a virtual assistant, and is raking up new features as Google prepares to replace Google Assistant with it entirely. Recent

If we can find information by asking GenAI, who needs the Web?

The World Wide Web (Web) emerged as a new medium in the mid-1990s. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 1989, but its exploding popularity was also enabled by the release of the Mosaic Web browser in 1993 and the Internet becoming commercially available in 1995. A communication revolution was launched. Roughly 30 years later, the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI in Nov. 2022 launched another revolution. High-quality generation of natural-lan

Chinese ‘Virtual Human’ Salespeople Are Outperforming Their Real Human Counterparts

The salesperson hawking Brother printers on Taobao works hard—like, really hard. At any time of the day, even when there’s no audience on the Chinese ecommerce platform, the same woman wearing a white shirt and black skirt is always livestreaming, boasting about the various features of different office printers. She has a phone in one hand and often checks it as if to read a sales script or monitor the viewer comments coming in. “My friends, I’ve gotta plug this game-changing office tool that c

Grammarly gets a design overhaul, multiple AI features

Grammarly now has a new document-based interface, built on the back of Coda, the productivity startup it acquired last year. The interface also sports an AI assistant, as well as a few AI tools meant for students and professionals, including an AI grader, proofreader and citation finder. The new interface adopts a block-first approach, letting you insert tables, columns, separators, lists and headers. You can also add rich text blocks to highlight information, add tips, or alerts. A sidebar ho

How Wikipedia is fighting AI slop content

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. With the rise of AI writing tools, Wikipedia editors have had to deal with an onslaught of AI-generated content filled with false information and phony citations. Already, the community of Wikipedia volunteers has mobilized to fight back against AI slop, somethi

Google Gemini can now create AI-generated bedtime stories

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Google rolled out a new tool within its Gemini AI chatbot that lets you create an illustrated story by simply describing it. The feature, called “Storybook,” generates 10-page stories, each with a short paragraph of text that Gemini can read aloud, along with an

If You Ask Google Why It Sucks Now, AI Overviews Will Viciously Bully Google and Itself

Google's notorious AI Overviews feature appears to have finally gotten it right — but for all the wrong reasons. As flagged on Bluesky, if you ask Google why its own search engine feels so useless lately, the company's AI feature will provide multiple and excoriating reasons — including brutal attacks against itself, Google's much-maligned AI Overviews. In that Bluesky post, Google responded broadly to the hilariously colloquial query of "why is google ass now" with a self-flagellating list of

People are using ChatGPT to write their text messages - here's how you can tell

Kirill Stytsenko/Getty Images ZDNET's key takeaways People are using AI to write sensitive messages to loved ones. Detecting AI-generated text is becoming more difficult as chatbots evolve. Some tech leaders have promoted this use of AI in their marketing strategies. Everyone loves receiving a handwritten letter, but those take time, patience, effort, and sometimes multiple drafts to compose. Most of us at one time or another have given a Hallmark card to a loved one or friend. Not because

Think you can tell a fake image from a real one? Microsoft's quiz will test you

Through the looking glass: When AI image generators first emerged, misinformation immediately became a major concern. Although repeated exposure to AI-generated imagery can build some resistance, a recent Microsoft study suggests that certain types of real and fake images can still deceive almost anyone. The study found that humans can accurately distinguish real photos from AI-generated ones about 63% of the time. In contrast, Microsoft's in-development AI detection tool reportedly achieves a

GPT might be an information virus (2023)

Obligatory: the views and opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the views and opinions of my employer. In light of all the hype going around about ChatGPT, I wanted to offer my “hot take” on what the next 2-5 years of the web look like. One aspect of the rise of generative models that isn’t getting the right amount of attention is the long-term effects on the information economy. I think that being able to automatically produce arbitrary content that is indistinguisha

Writing is thinking

Writing scientific articles is an integral part of the scientific method and common practice to communicate research findings. However, writing is not only about reporting results; it also provides a tool to uncover new thoughts and ideas. Writing compels us to think — not in the chaotic, non-linear way our minds typically wander, but in a structured, intentional manner. By writing it down, we can sort years of research, data and analysis into an actual story, thereby identifying our main messag

Writing Is Thinking

Writing scientific articles is an integral part of the scientific method and common practice to communicate research findings. However, writing is not only about reporting results; it also provides a tool to uncover new thoughts and ideas. Writing compels us to think — not in the chaotic, non-linear way our minds typically wander, but in a structured, intentional manner. By writing it down, we can sort years of research, data and analysis into an actual story, thereby identifying our main messag

DuckDuckGo Is Hoping to Win Over AI-Hating Searchers

Are you tired of AI-generated images cluttering your search results? Lucky for you, there’s a way out of the slop, and it starts with forgetting about Google. DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine and web browser, recently rolled out a new feature that allows users to hide images made with AI from their search results. You can try it yourself right now by running a search on the DuckDuckGo search engine and going to the images tab. You’ll now see a new drop-down menu option titled “AI

Tired of AI images online? This search engine lets you hide them from results now

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused browser and search engine, has released a new setting on its search engine that allows users to hide AI-generated images. "Our philosophy about AI features is 'private, useful, and optional.' Our goal is to help you find what you're looking for. You should decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life – or if you want any at all," the company said on X last week. Also: I test AI tools for a living. Here are 3 image generator

Google adds AI-generated summaries to Discover

Google is bringing AI‑generated summaries to Discover, the personalized stream of articles and videos found in the Google app curated based on a user's interests. The search giant remains undeterred by the imperfect nature of AI Overviews, or what it might mean for publishers whose content largely makes up Google's search results. TechCrunch has reported that some Android and iOS users in the US are seeing cards containing AI‑generated summaries on their Discover page. These cards appear with n

Gemini can now transform your boring stills into lifelike videos

TL;DR Gemini will now let you generate videos from existing images using its Veo3 model. Google says you can also use actual photos to transform them into videos. Veo3 will limit the output to eight-second clips in 720p resolution. If you’ve recently come across any realistic-looking videos with bizarre tropes, chances are they were generated using Google’s Veo3 AI video generation in Gemini. Its outstanding continuity of video frames, the ability to automatically generate audio, and seamless

YouTube ‘clarifies’ its plan to demonetize spammy AI slop

YouTube is trying to soothe concerns about an incoming update to its monetization policies following backlash from online creators. An announcement that YouTube would be updating restrictions around “inauthentic” content under the YouTube Partner Program guidelines was interpreted by some to mean the platform was planning to demonetize a wider variety of videos, including those using AI-generated content, clips, and reactions. Now, YouTube is seeking to clarify the situation. “YouTube has alway

"Indie Band" Says Claims Their Music Is AI-Generated Is a Hoax, Then Admits It's Actually AI-Generated

"Indie Band" Says Claims Their Music Is AI-Generated Is a Hoax, Then Admits It's Actually AI-Generated The point is to "provoke" artists. Hoax Squared The jig is officially up. After an "indie rock band" called The Velvet Sundown refused to admit last week that its output was a lazy amalgamation of AI-generated slop, the outfit is now singing a dramatically different tune. As Rolling Stone reports, the band's Spotify bio has been revised to clarify that it's a "synthetic music project" and

From Sensual Butt Songs to Santa’s Alleged Coke Habit: AI Slop Music Is Getting Harder to Avoid

AI slop is flooding every single digital platform, and music streaming services are no exception—so much so, even someone who generally avoids AI might find themselves unknowingly listening to a robot hornily singing about butts. Take the sordid saga of “Make Love to My Shitter,” an AI-generated track from an artist called BannedVinylCollection. Brace Belden, a host of the popular politics podcast TrueAnon, says that Spotify recently queued up the bawdy song after he’d finished listening to alt

Writing Code Was Never the Bottleneck

For years, I’ve felt that writing lines of code was never the bottleneck in software engineering. The actual bottlenecks were, and still are, code reviews, knowledge transfer through mentoring and pairing, testing, debugging, and the human overhead of coordination and communication. All of this wrapped inside the labyrinth of tickets, planning meetings, and agile rituals. These processes, meant to drive quality, often slow us down more than the act of writing code itself because they require t

AI virtual personality YouTubers, or ‘VTubers,’ are earning millions

One of the most popular gaming YouTubers is named Bloo, and has bright blue wavy hair and dark blue eyes. But he isn't a human — he's a fully virtual personality powered by artificial intelligence. "I'm here to keep my millions of viewers worldwide entertained and coming back for more," said Bloo in an interview with CNBC. "I'm all about good vibes and engaging content. I'm built by humans, but boosted by AI." Bloo is a virtual YouTuber, or VTuber, who has built a massive following of 2.5 millio

X is piloting a program that lets AI chatbots generate Community Notes

The social platform X will pilot a feature that allows AI chatbots to generate Community Notes. Community Notes is a Twitter-era feature that Elon Musk has expanded under his ownership of the service, now called X. Users who are part of this fact-checking program can contribute comments that add context to certain posts, which are then checked by other users before they appear attached to a post. A Community Note may appear, for example, on a post of an AI-generated video that is not clear abou

"Indie Rock Band" That's Clearly Using AI Claims That "We Never Use AI"

An "indie rock band" called The Velvet Sundown, which is marketing its music with AI-generated pictures of members that don't appear to exist, is now claiming that "we never use AI." After being publicly accused of being the fabrication of AI, an "official" X account for the band is now seemingly attempting to control the narrative, or at least to gin up a few more streams. "Absolutely crazy that so-called 'journalists' keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that The Velvet Sundown is 'AI-gene

Poll: Do you like AI music?

Like a modern version of the tree-falling-in-the-woods conundrum, AI is giving us new philosophical questions. For example, if AI music sounds genuine, is it okay to enjoy it? This debate has gained momentum recently, as a new band called The Velvet Sundown just reached over 500,000 listens on Spotify. The problem is that they don’t actually exist. Everything about them — from their echoey, classic rock-inspired tracks to their Instagram pictures — appears to be AI-generated. I’ve been listeni

One UI 8’s Now Brief will make sure you don’t miss a birthday again

Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Now Brief in the latest One UI 8 beta displays birthday reminders and also lets you create an AI-generated birthday card. The birthday card is generated with a prompt and can be created in one of six art styles. This is the latest addition to Now Brief, and we’re expecting plenty more by the time stable One UI 8 is released. Samsung’s Now Brief feature gives users a summary of relevant information several times a day. We know Samsung is working on more ty