Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answer and Help for July 7 #126

A Northeastern University student, Ella Stapleton, demanded a tuition refund after finding that her business professor, Rick Arrowood, secretly used AI tools like ChatGPT to create course materials, despite advising against their use. Stapleton noticed signs of AI generation in lecture notes, including a ChatGPT citation and peculiar errors, leading her to file a complaint and request an $8,000 refund, which the university rejected. Arrowood admitted to using AI but expressed regret for not scrutinizing...

xAI has attributed a bug in its AI-powered Grok chatbot to an “unauthorized modification,” which led to Grok inappropriately referencing “white genocide in South Africa” in various contexts on the social media platform X. On Wednesday, the chatbot began responding to numerous posts with alarming content about white genocide, even when it was irrelevant to the discussions. The incident highlights the challenges of managing AI behavior and ensuring adherence to community guidelines. Full Article

Meta has filed a motion for judgment in its ongoing antitrust case, arguing that the FTC has not provided evidence of unlawful monopolization in the social networking market related to its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The motion was submitted after the FTC rested its case, with Meta asserting that it will demonstrate Instagram competes with platforms like TikTok. The trial continues as Meta counters the FTC's claims, emphasizing that the agency has failed to...

In 2018, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) after entering a Saudi consulate. Six years later, Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, announced a partnership with MBS' AI company, Humain, to invest over $5 billion in an "AI Zone" in Saudi Arabia, despite the moral implications of aligning with a regime responsible for Khashoggi's death. This move reflects a troubling trend in the tech industry, where financial...

Ministers in the UK House of Commons have blocked a transparency amendment to a data bill that would require AI companies to disclose their use of copyrighted materials, citing financial privilege as justification. Chris Bryant, the data protection minister, acknowledged concerns from creative industries, while Baroness Beeban Kidron criticized the government for not addressing the risks to creative workers and accused it of enabling "theft at scale." Despite the setback, Kidron plans to introduce a...

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