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AI Has a Hotness Problem
In the world of generated imagery, you’re either drop-dead gorgeous or a wrinkled, bug-eyed freak.
Caroline Mimbs Nyce
Caroline Mimbs Nyce is a staff writer at The Atlantic.
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The Apple Watch May Have a Calorie Problem
I tied myself into knots trying to close its little red ring.
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We’re all on the Eras Tour, forever.
Julien de Rosa / AFP / Getty The End of the ‘Photoshop Fail’
Adobe’s app was once synonymous with fake images online. Then came generative AI.
Illustration by The Atlantic I Witnessed the Future of AI, and It’s a Broken Toy
The Rabbit R1 is a device defined by empty promises.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Rabbit; Getty. The New Empress of Self-Help Is a TikTok Star
Keila Shaheen outsold Oprah Winfrey with a journaling book marketed through TikTok. Now what?
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. You Don’t Have to Type Anymore
Welcome to the golden age of voice dictation.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. Did You Feel That?
The earthquake internet actually works.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Prykhodov / Getty. You Can’t Even Rescue a Dog Without Being Bullied Online
Sometimes, going viral isn’t as great as it seems.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Brothers91 / Getty. I Asked 13 Tech Companies About Their Plans for Election Violence
Their answers weren’t inspiring.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Stefania Pelfini; MirageC / Getty. You’re Looking at TikTok All Wrong
The app is basically just broadcast TV now.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: LesDaMore / Getty. The AI Industry Is Stuck on One Very Specific Way to Use a Chatbot
OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft are dying to help plan your next trip.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: STILLFX; Coneyl Jay / Getty. The Apple Watch May Have a Calorie Problem
I tied myself into knots trying to close its little red ring.
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Source: Grafissimo / Getty. Should Teens Have Access to Disappearing Messages?
A recent lawsuit argues that Snapchat causes harm to young people through its basic design.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Antonio Diaz / Getty. The Internet Is Being Ruined by Bloated Junk
Sites such as YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter used to be defined by short content. Not anymore.
Illustration by The Atlantic We Got Lucky With the Mystery Dog Illness
A new, deadly canine disease could have the U.S. scrambling to respond.
Monica Herndon / The Tampa Bay Times / AP You Can See Inside Your Ear. That Doesn’t Mean You Should.
TikTok loves high-tech gadgets for scraping out ear wax. Doctors? Not so much.
Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani. Source: Getty. Twitter’s Demise Is About So Much More Than Elon Musk
TikTok is eating microblogging as we’ve always known it.
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic Why It’s So Hard to Search Your Email
My flight receipt is in there somewhere.
Illustration by The Atlantic Watching a Line Cook Flip Eggs for Six Hours
TikTok has become a home to people broadcasting themselves live at work. Viewers are captivated.
Illustration by The Atlantic My New iPhone Is Making Me Look Uglier
The selfie camera has gotten too good.
Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Source: Getty. AI Search Is Turning Into the Problem Everyone Worried About
Google, are you sure no country in Africa starts with a K?
Illustration by The Atlantic Driverless Cars Are Losing to Driver-ish Cars
The self-driving revolution is hiding in plain sight.
Emanuel M. Schwermer / Getty AI Has a Hotness Problem
In the world of generated imagery, you’re either drop-dead gorgeous or a wrinkled, bug-eyed freak.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Bing Image Creator. Prompt: “a close-up of a man looking directly at the camera at sunset” America Is About to See Way More Driverless Cars
Robotaxis are now picking up riders in L.A. and Houston—and facing a whole new set of challenges.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg; Justin Sullivan / Getty. Should You Delete Your Kid’s TikTok This Week?
Hostage videos could present a horrific new dilemma for parents.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; iStock. The Supreme Court Cases That Could Redefine the Internet
What does freedom of speech actually mean on social media? We’re about to find out.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Lambert / Getty. The 24-Year-Old Who Outsold Oprah This Week
The Shadow Work Journal has exploded on TikTok as an inexpensive mental-health tool, even as experts question its approach—and the author’s credentials.
Illustration by Joanne Imperio / The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The Brain of a Man Who Is Always Thinking About Ancient Rome
Cullen Murphy wrote a book on the Roman empire—and sees parallels everywhere.
Illustration by Joanne Imperio / The Atlantic. Source: Leemage / Getty. A Single Website Has a Choke Hold on Surfing
Surfline made the sport more convenient for amateurs and professionals alike. Why do so many of them complain about it?
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Source: Getty. It’s a Weird Time for Driverless Cars
The robotaxis now hitting American streets are troubling and amazing all at once.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. Maui’s Fire Risk Was Glowing Red
Unprecedented disasters are not unpredictable.
Illustration by The Atlantic TikTok Is Opening a Parallel Dimension in Europe
People will soon be able to experience TikTok without its all-knowing, hyper-personalized algorithm. Will anything change?
Illustration by Joanne Imperio / The Atlantic We’re in an Age of Fire
Wildfires on Maui prove once again that the world must face the dawn of the “pyrocene.”
David McNew / Getty A Big Week for Floating Rocks
A physicist explains LK-99 and the appeal of “unidentified superconducting objects.”
Peter Hansen / Getty What in the World Is Happening on TikTok Live?
The app’s livestreaming section has turned into a huge business as users pay for quick hits of cheap, personalized (and frequently bizarre) entertainment.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. TikTok Is Doing Something Very Un-TikTok
The famously discreet platform is making a clear pivot to shopping.
The Atlantic. Source: Getty. FOMO Has Never Been Worse on the Internet
We’re all early adopters now.
The Atlantic E-bikes Are Going to Keep Exploding
We are stuck in battery purgatory.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty How Long Will Canada Burn?
One thing is certain: More extreme smoke days are coming.
Marc-André Leclerc/Canadian Forces/Reuters Apple Is an AI Company Now
Lots of tiny AI tweaks are quietly taking over the iPhone.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. A Clear Indication That Climate Change Is Burning Up California
A new study maps the relationship between human-caused warming and California’s summer fires over the past five decades.
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