Shared Links (weekly) Jan. 4, 2026
For more like this, subscribe to the newsletter and get these links and more in your email.
-
-
Worth Reading – X Users Have the Power to Edit Any Image Without Permission
Should we start a pool on the first Grok-produced image harassment case to hit the courts? Will it be simple harassment, or will it involve CSAM, revenge porn, etc.? There’s no way this doesn’t get misused, and Elon knows it. He doesn’t care.
-
Worth Reading – How to spot fake AI photos
The clues are usually there, but you have to stop and look at the details. How many of us stop to do that when we’re scrolling our social media feeds? That’s why fake images and videos spread online. They are designed to cause an immediate reaction, not for thoughtful examination.
Yet we must be thoughtful and deliberate before acting on any information we receive in a world where so many are willing to spread lies for their own benefit.
-
Linked – Most people worry about deepfakes – and overestimate their ability to spot them
Maybe those easy-to-spot ones are lulling us into a sense of overconfidence. What will we do when something is done with more effort and better quality? Heck, enough folks are being fooled by the poor ones because they display something they want to believe. None of us should assume we’d always know.
-
Stolen Data is a Risk, Here’s an Example of Altered Data That is Worse
The entire system is based on the license plate database being connected to all of the automated plate readers. All it took for this to become a problem was for part of that not to stay safe. Since the license plate database isn’t, anyone can create a fake license plate, pop it on a similar-looking vehicle, and the collected data is tainted. All those people who had nothing to hide now have a system that assumes they were driving illegally, causing accidents, etc. They are facing actual fines, increased insurance costs, and possible arrests because of surveillance data that’s been hacked. Data that should show them as innocent but false information has been injected into it.
-
AI Produced Images and Reality
Be skeptical. Learn how to identify AI-generated images, and look for inconsistencies. And, always identify who benefits from your attention on these posts.
