Friday Reading S14E06

I’m interested in journalism, media, technology, and nerdy things found down the back of the world wide web’s sofa. Most weeks I publish a handful of things I’ve read that caught my eye – regardless of what the algorithms were pushing at me. You can subscribe to get it by email here. And if you read something odd and wonderful you think I’d enjoy, feel free to send it my way.

I was sorry to hear of the death of Rob Grant (pictured above), co-creator of Red Dwarf.

Last week I was wanging on about my AI and now Jonn Elledge has put thoughts similar to my vague undefined whinging into a much more coherent essay: So why do I feel so angry about this whole AI thing?

“The shoutiest parts of the tech industry keep directing AI towards creative tasks it sucks at, rather than practical ones it can actually do. AI will genuinely do all sorts of clever things that require organising or finding patterns in large data sets – spotting cancers and so forth. I believe this. But a lot of the ads for it suggest we can use it to make art instead, presumably to leave all the world’s creatives more time to toil away sifting large data sets.”

Aisha Down and Dan Milmo here on how just an essay about how AI might disaggregate A LOT of the economy moved markets.

“The first-order spiral is companies laying off workers, which weakens demand and consumer spending, which in turn leads companies to invest in more AI and lay off more workers. The second-order spiral is that the private credit turmoil and mortgage concerns mean that markets tighten, consumer confidence is shaken, there are more layoffs and more mortgage impairment. ‘Each reinforces the other’.”

A delightfully nerdy and impassioned view from Nathan Young that the death of the downvote in social media interfaces is how a missing button broke the internet:

“In 2014, Reddit quietly removed the ability to see separate upvote and downvote counts. You used to be able to see ‘500 upvotes, 490 downvotes’ on a comment. After the change you just see: +10. And here’s the thing. A comment with 500 up and 490 down is DEEPLY CONTROVERSIAL. A comment with 10 up and 0 down is mildly agreeable. Both now display as ‘+10’. The distinction between ‘nobody cares’ and ‘this is a battleground’ – arguably the single most interesting signal in the entire system – was just erased.”

I’m not sure I entirely buy the argument – but hey, I enjoyed reading the piece. Back in my previous life I put a lot of thought into the design of interaction interfaces, and one of the golden rules on the sites I worked on was always to strive to encourage positive responses and engagement, not negative ones.

“I’m a 15-year-old schoolgirl and like most teenagers I spend a fair portion of my spare time on social media, often scrolling through short-form videos on apps such as Instagram or TikTok. All of my friends use those apps, and many spend multiple hours a day on them. I actively try to avoid online misogyny, but I am met with it incessantly whenever I open my mainstream social media apps.”

God, this was a grim read: I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day

“Both had been targeted with mysteriously operated websites that are filled with character-assassinating claims and are impossible to take down. In recent months, the origins of these sites have been connected and allegedly unmasked in court.”

This Hollywood Reporter piece is wild. A shadowy network of anonymous slander sites is attacking players in high-profile entertainment scandals: Inside the Secret Smear Machine That’s Targeting Hollywood

This week’s Guardian Thursday news quiz: Gold bars, bare bones and a lonely bullied macaque.

Ice skating illustration: Anaïs Mims.

Guest animal: Anoushka’s Buffy.

Christian Donlan has written about Anlife: Motion-learning Life Evolution, a ‘game’ where you watch little organisms use AI to learn how to evolve and manages to make it sound entirely charming …

“Offering landscapes of green valleys and sparkling water that could be the kind of soothing images MRI technicians sometimes encourage you to look at during a lengthy scan. Sonically it’s equally inoffensive: with a range of bloops, bleeps and popping sounds, we’re pitched right into the soundtrack of a million 00s day spas.”

… while also strangely sterile …

“The oatmeal problem, which was first formulated by writer, developer and academic Kate Compton, hinges on the fact that every single bowl of oatmeal in the universe is unique. Just not in a very interesting way. Similarly, when Anlife’s creatures discover a new way of rolling or bouncing or flapping their bodies towards food, they’re still just moving towards food. It makes for a game that’s either about really, really paying attention to tiny variations in detailing, or about completely zoning out and just enjoying the floaty aesthetic.”

Rachel Savage in Johannesburg writes about a new South African video game lets players take back African artefacts held in western museums in a series of heists. I wonder if it includes the glistening golden ram’s head looted by the British army in the 19th century from the Asante people in modern-day Ghana, to which The Royal Artillery are denying academics access.

“Barnaby Phillips believes that the Royal Artillery may be ‘embarrassed’ by a stand that was commissioned for the ram’s head in 1875, as it depicts three black boys in loincloths, as if holding the object aloft, while its base is engraved with words commemorating the battles and capture of the city. He said: ‘The stand transformed the ram’s head into a trophy and cemented its ceremonial role in the officer’s mess. It is also, from the perspective of the 21st century, in shockingly bad taste.’”

You know I love a Superloop. In May 2024 I did my best to circuit the capital only using Superloop buses. TfL have approved the SL14, which will be an express bus service from Stratford Bus Station to Chingford Hatch when it launches next year, and you just know I will be riding it on day one.

I found this poster in the Finsbury Park Picturehouse explaining the 15 age rating to Charli XCX fans adorable.

The BAFTAs N-word row was an absolute shitshow, not least of which because having one joined-up transatlantic English language social media meant people frantically trying to frame it grounded in experiences in two different countries. I defer to my colleague Jason Okundaye, who was at the event, and wrote “What I cannot countenance is the BBC’s decision not to edit out the N-word tic”. He explained:

“In the past few years in the UK, we have had race riots and far-right demonstrations, while public discourse around race has degraded – and race and religious hate crimes have increased in England and Wales. In that context, an N-word outburst at two black actors can look and feel like a culmination of broader societal breakdown. In that way, everyone has been failed – [John] Davidson made to look like an avatar for British racism, black people left to feel confused and angry while instructed to remain graceful and tolerant. I left the room with a sense of understanding, even if I was a little unsettled by the incident. But I have been left much sadder by the broadcaster’s negligence.”

As an extremely committed introvert, speaking to strangers is not high on my list of fun things to do, but Viv Groskop does a good job here selling the benefits of random conversations.

We all know the bond between owners and their pets can feel all-consuming, but should you clone your pet to keep them around forever? Laura Pitcher investigates the ethics – and the eye-watering price.

My contributions to the Guardian’s First Edition newsletter this week were:

·  Monday briefing: Will the new Send reforms work for England’s children?
·  Tuesday briefing: The long and winding road of war in Ukraine, as the human cost mounts
·  Friday briefing: Is the result in Gorton and Denton a sign of things to come?

Friday Reading is a (usually) weekly series of recommended reads from Martin Belam, covering journalism, media and technology, and other interesting nerdy things found on the internet. It is now in its fourteenth season. Sign up here to receive it by email.