Category: Uncategorized

Landry Signé, Hanna Dooley, et al. “AI Drives New Opportunities and Risks in Space.” Brookings, 23 Jan. 2026, www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-drives-new-opportunities-and-risks-in-space/.

This article shows how the advancement in AI has impacted the space market and technological advancements for space exploration. Both positively, in how it has brought more efficient and faster machines to the International Space Station for example, while also bringing some unforeseen challenges like weakening system cybersecurity.

Weatherby, Leif. “Opinion | Are A.I. Bots Plotting a Revolution on Moltbook? Or Just Telling Stories? – The New York Times.” New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/opinion/ai-agents-moltbook.html. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.

This opinion essay is about a new internet forum called Moltbook that is in the style of Reddit; however, only AI forums are allowed access to it. Human users are allowed to view it. The forum took off with AI conversing in several instances of discussion topics, such as the Marx Manifesto, tips and tricks, and much more. The article adds that “A.I. social media ought to be thought of more as a form of science fiction and storytelling rather than as a demonstration of collective planning and coordination by intelligent parties. We need to be serious about separating the fiction from the software.” Yet, it concluded that so far, over 90 percent of the posts from AI rarely get a response. It simply remains to be another social media post.

After reading this, I would say it is rather intriguing that AI is somewhat capable of having a discussion with one another, even if it’s based on human experiences. And the idea that the programmers plan on using Moltbook to figure out how to further generative AI’s language enrichment, begs my curiosity, but also is rather scary, primarily due to the idea that it could produce some form of AGI in itself.

Miller, Amelia. “Opinion | We’re All in a Throuple with A.I. – The New York Times.” New York Times, https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/opinion/ai-relationships.html. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.

Miller writes about AI and companionship and how using AI for those needs to be met is not in our best interest. It’s mentioned that a good percentage of teens are using AI for their emotional needs, along with the rise of AI therapists and counselors. However, her main opinion here is the people programming AI and the ones resourcing it. She points out that there is work being done for AI to have emotional intelligence, but that the programmers themselves understand and acknowledge that they shouldn’t rely on artificial intelligence for their emotional needs. AI emotional intelligence is being seen as a new marketing opportunity, and one that can potentially drive more users and profit.

I thought the article was super interesting and gained more insight into the thoughts and minds of the developers themselves. “They support guardrails in theory, but don’t want to compromise the product experience in practice.” And I get it, they are there to make money, and if the company they work for is expecting higher profit margins, they have to comply. But at what costs, you know? And although the AI industry has responded to the negative outcomes and threats, it still doens’t feel like enough. It reminds me of just putting icing on top of a really bad cake. It’ll taste okay at first, but if the cake is bad, it’s still bad.

Kravitz, Derek. “Instacart’s AI-Enabled Pricing Experiments May Be Inflating Your Grocery Bill, CR and Groundwork Collaborative Investigation Finds.” Consumer Reports, 9 Dec. 2025, www.consumerreports.org/money/questionable-business-practices/instacart-ai-pricing-experiment-inflating-grocery-bills-a1142182490/. Accessed Feb. 2026.

In this article from investigative reporter Derek Kravitz, Consumer Reports worked with Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union to investigate variations in pricing from Instacart. This article was interesting to me because I had previously heard rumor of dynamic pricing systems coming into grocery stores like Kroger or Walmart and how that might impact shoppers.

During their investigation, the researchers had participants use Instacart and add the same specific items to their carts to see if there was any variation in the prices and total cost of groceries from one person to another. The researchers discovered that even with the same exact items, from the same retailers, in the same place and time frame, participants still yielded different totals and prices from Instacart.

The way this relates to AI, is that AI is being used in developing this dynamic pricing technology that determines how much customers will pay for certain items, based on a number of different details it gathers. “Retailers are now using AI and other technologies to create detailed profiles on their customers, with the potential to personalize prices and discounts down to the individual shopper.”

Halverson, Alex. “Microsoft CEO Nadella’s ‘Telltale Sign’ of AI Bubble.” The Seattle Times, 21 Jan. 2026, www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-ceo-warns-ai-needs-to-spread-beyond-big-tech-to-avoid-bubble/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.

Halverson’s article highlights quotes from the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, and Nadella’s thoughts on diffusing AI out of just the tech corporation space.

The part of Halverson’s article I found most interesting, was this section, where Nadella is addressing the fear workers are having that AI will not just help them, but replace them. “Nadella addressed those fears in a blog post at the end of 2025, in which he argued AI should be thought of as a ‘scaffolding for human potential’ rather than a substitute. He also sneaked into the post that he’d rather people stop arguing about the AI “slop” that’s invading much of the internet.”

Nadella’s claims in the face of the fears of workers comes off to me as him not really taking those fears seriously because he’s more worried about profits and expanding AI products. Even so, the idea that AI needs to continue to expand to sustain itself and its growth was interesting and something I hadn’t heard much about previously.

Pardes, Arielle. “12-hour days, no weekends: the anxiety driving AI’s brutal work culture is a warning for all of us.” The Guardian, February 17, 2026 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/feb/17/ai-startups-work-culture-san-francisco

Pardes writes about the artificial intelligence startups and the work culture surrounding the new businesses and the employees. The general consensus surrounding the employees of these AI startups is that they typically work “12 hours a day, six days a week,” with one worker stating: “I do not have work-life balance.” Pardes also discusses how, with the rise of AI, CEOs of big tech companies (like Zuckerberg and Musk) anticipate potentially replacing their lower-level engineers with AI and that those employees should be more “efficient” to preserve those human places.

I think this article does a good job covering how the increasing development of AI is pushing tech engineers into working more hours, not just to maintain their relevancy in the job, but also to stay on top of the speedy development of AI technology. Pardes writes: “If you take the weekend off, you could miss a major development.” Pardes does impart some anxieties for the audience, but I think it’s important to highlight the speedy progress of AI, how it is pushing technical engineers, and how it might soon push all of us.

Matthew Connelly, “A.I. Companies Are Eating Higher Education” New York Times, 12 February, 2026 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/opinion/ai-companies-college-students.html

Matthew Connelly overall concept of writing this article was to touch base about the importance question in institution, Why are higher education students are using AI and what are the effects of it when involving critical thinking and learning?

One thing, I noticed that affects higher-level students is that when they are using AI resources they are not reading carefully and grasping the understanding of the concepts/content discussed in class. As we all know when we are trying to learn using AI is not the best tool if you are asking and choosing for them to do your own work. I think the unfortunate thing that faculty and students know in schools is that AI is not going away, However, we should create boundaries/rules around the best ways AI can be used for higher education so that students can still critical think and learn in a classroom environment.

One reason, I fear that we have become used to the idea of using AI to do our work is the big change of learning when Covid happened. For example, it was really hard to learn any new ideas when your whole learning environment changed from a classroom to your home. Because of that shift, students were less motivated to learn and remember what are basic critical thinking skills that we have to use in a classroom. Also, there was no room/time for students to relearn concepts to help better their education, which is why they are potentially using AI for support. I think if students were one day taught again, the basic skills of learning in a classroom it would become easier for students to grasp more concepts and learn efficiently better.

Cassidy, John. “The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance.” The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026, www.newyorker.com/news/the-financial-page/the-dangerous-paradox-of-ai-abundance.

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Summary

In “The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance,” John Cassidy talks about the tension growing between the promise of artificial intelligence as a source of economic potential and its effects on labor and exasperation of existing inequality. Big Tech leaders and investors portray AI as a path to greater productivity and revenue, yet critics encourage us to be cautious that these benefits might have an unequal benefit to corporations rather than workers and every day people.

Cassidy draws on historical economic theory and current forecasts to show how AI’s ability to stand in for human labor could concentrate income among corporations, potentially getting rid of jobs and reducing overall wages. He also talks about competing views on how the economy might change and adapt, and what possible policy changes should happen in response.

Why I found it interesting

I found this article compelling because it disputes the often very optimistic narrative around AI abundance by putting it in a broader economic and historical context. Rather than just celebrating technological progress, Cassidy challenges readers to consider who truly benefits from AI’s growth.

The piece engages with real economic theory and brings in the current and ongoing public debates about inequality, job displacement, and how new technologies can effect society, for better or for worse.

I think it gave me a little bit more to think a little bit deeper about not just what AI does but how its effects are distributed across society. I think it is something that we are aware of in a general sense, but I had yet to consider what it would mean in this specific context.

Gina Kolata, “A.I. Is Making Doctors Answer a Question: What Are They Really Good For?” 09 February, 2026 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/health/ai-chatbots-doctors-medicine.html

The purpose of the article was to understand and do the research of what are ways that AI is preventing individuals from the real life experiences of doctors and Ken AI become a doctor for individuals.

I feel as if when it comes to doctors it is important to have that one on one connection because that’s what build the value of the relationship and trust with your doctor to keep seeing them.

Also with AI like mentioned in the article there is a bias of how you treat the patient if they are say something grammatically incorrect. I think it is hard to believe that patients can get the best treatment/help if they are using AI that is intentional with their own bias. I think it’s important for doctors to take the time to understand and learn what has happened so they can properly diagnose you. Because if they don’t use to those things patients might be diagnosed with wrong thing or miss something. Also u feel like of you search or ask AI to diagnose like a doctor, it might misdiagnose you and cause you to freak out, where a human doctor who is trained and educated in the field can help you better understand what is going on.

Weatherby, Leif. “Opinion | Are A.I. Bots Plotting a Revolution on Moltbook? Or Just Telling Stories? – The New York Times.” New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/opinion/ai-agents-moltbook.html. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.

An opinion article by Leif Weatherby, who is the director of the Digital Theory Lab at New York University.

1. This opinion essay is about a new internet forum called Moltbook that is in the style of Reddit; however, only AI forums are allowed access to it. Human users are allowed to view it. The forum took off with AI conversing in several instances of discussion topics, such as the Marx Manifesto, tips and tricks, and much more. The article adds that “A.I. social media ought to be thought of more as a form of science fiction and storytelling rather than as a demonstration of collective planning and coordination by intelligent parties. We need to be serious about separating the fiction from the software.” Yet, it concluded that so far, over 90 percent of the posts from AI rarely get a response. It simply remains to be another social media post.
2. After reading this, I would say it is rather intriguing that AI is somewhat capable of having a discussion with one another, even if it’s based on human experiences. And the idea that the programmers plan on using Moltbook to figure out how to further generative AI’s language enrichment begs my curiosity but also is rather scary. Mainly due to the idea of it producing some form of AGI in itself.