Technology

The Supreme Court Considers the Algorithm

A very weird Section 230 case is headed to the country’s highest court.

My Printer Is Extorting Me

Subscriptions such as HP’s Instant Ink challenge what it means to own our devices.

The Difference Between Speaking and Thinking

The human brain could explain why AI programs are so good at writing grammatically superb nonsense.

Angry Football Fans Keep Punching Their TVs

And shooting them, and knifing them, and running them over with trucks

We’ve Lost the Plot

Our constant need for entertainment has blurred the line between fiction and reality—on television, in American politics, and in our everyday lives.

Television Is Better Without Video Games

HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us offers a definitive case for games’ narrative impoverishment.

Death by a Thousand Personality Quizzes

AI-assisted internet posting is already in a race to the bottom.

Even When Ticketmaster Works, It Doesn’t

The site’s woes go far beyond Taylor Swift.

Trump and Facebook’s Mutual Decay

At least the platform finally added a user.

Will the 2016 Election Ever End?

New research about the Kremlin’s election interference raises more questions than it answers.

Twitter Has No Answers for #DiedSuddenly

The latest anti-vaccine conspiracy theory is taking off easily on platforms that have no interest in shutting it down.

The Culture Wars Look Different on Wikipedia

The site is tackling more controversial edits, the results of which can reverberate across the internet.

What Happens When AI Has Read Everything?

The dream of an artificial mind may never become a reality if AI runs out of quality prose to ingest—and there isn’t much left.

Elon Musk Can’t Solve Twitter’s ‘Shadowbanning’ Problem

For several years, social-media users have expressed anxiety about algorithmic suppression. Now they’re getting some unexpected clarity.

Generative Art Is Stupid

And that’s how it should be.

You Don’t Know How Bad the Pizza Box Is

The delivery icon hasn’t changed in 60 years, and it’s making your food worse.

Twitter Was the Ultimate Cancellation Machine

If the platform dies, how will people find quick justice?

Tipping Is Weird Now

Technology and the pandemic have transformed the meaning of gratuity.

The Hidden Cost of Cheap TVs

Screens have gotten inexpensive—and they’re watching you back.

Hollywood’s Love Affair With Fictional Languages

In Avatar, the fictional language Na’vi is built on a painstakingly detailed world.