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FTC report on predatory social media data hoarding hints at future regulations

A new FTC report on how social media and streaming sites collect and monetize their hoards of user data doesn’t really feature a lot of surprises for anyone who’s followed the space. It’s more helpful to consider this part of a paper trail the agency is laying down in order to justify new regulations in […]

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Governor Newsom on California AI bill SB 1047: ‘I can’t solve for everything’

California Governor Gavin Newsom said there are 38 bills on his desk that would create laws around artificial intelligence on Tuesday, but one looms larger than all of them: SB 1047, California’s bill that tries to prevent AI systems from causing catastrophes. For the first time, California’s Governor shared how he’s thinking about the controversial […]

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Here is what’s illegal under California’s 8 (and counting) new AI laws

California Governor Gavin Newsom is currently considering 38 AI-related bills, including the highly contentious SB 1047, which the state’s legislature sent to his desk for final approval. These bills try to address the most pressing issues in artificial intelligence: everything from futuristic AI systems creating existential risk, deepfake nudes from AI image generators, to Hollywood […]

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My dead father is “writing” me notes again

An AI-generated image featuring Dad's Uppercase handwriting.

Enlarge / An AI-generated image featuring my late father's handwriting. (credit: Benj Edwards / Flux)

Growing up, if I wanted to experiment with something technical, my dad made it happen. We shared dozens of tech adventures together, but those adventures were cut short when he died of cancer in 2013. Thanks to a new AI image generator, it turns out that my dad and I still have one more adventure to go.

Recently, an anonymous AI hobbyist discovered that an image synthesis model called Flux can reproduce someone's handwriting very accurately if specially trained to do so. I decided to experiment with the technique using written journals my dad left behind. The results astounded me and raised deep questions about ethics, the authenticity of media artifacts, and the personal meaning behind handwriting itself.

Beyond that, I'm also happy that I get to see my dad's handwriting again. Captured by a neural network, part of him will live on in a dynamic way that was impossible a decade ago. It's been a while since he died, and I am no longer grieving. From my perspective, this is a celebration of something great about my dad—reviving the distinct way he wrote and what that conveys about who he was.

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