All posts tagged: Cursed

AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World

AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World

Published by skeptic

She introduced herself as Eve, but Ben knew right away that the voice on the other end of the line was a bot. Eve knew his name. She also knew how much money he’d owed a former landlord ($266). She didn’t seem to know that he’d settled with a collection agency five months prior. Eve said she was an AI agent from ProCollect and was calling to collect a debt. “Would you like to resolve it today by card or bank transfer?” she asked. Ben had stepped outside on a balmy April afternoon in Portland, Oregon, to take the phone call. (He asked that WIRED use a pseudonym so he could speak freely about a financial issue.) As he stood in the sun, he wondered what he’d have to say to make Eve hand off a call to a human. “I figured it was just going to kick me over to a person when I asked about repayment structure or anything more technical,” he says. But Eve stayed on the line, so Ben did, too. …

Cursed New AI Service Writes a Mother’s Day Card and Mails It to Your Mom, Without Any Human Involvement Except Inputting Your Credit Card Details

Cursed New AI Service Writes a Mother’s Day Card and Mails It to Your Mom, Without Any Human Involvement Except Inputting Your Credit Card Details

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Hey kids! Want to tell your mom you love her, but without expending a single iota of emotional effort? If so, you’re in luck: a new service called Cards for Agents fulfils that exact grim service, presaging a dystopian future in which you can express love to your family members without ever having to actually interact with them. “Your AI can finally send your mom a real card,” the site enthuses. “Ask for one, review the preview, and we hand you off to Postable to pay — they print it, handwrite it, and drop it in the mail.” As the site chipperly explains, the service works with popular AI systems like Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Paste in the code, and it “composes the order via our API, runs the checkout CLI on your laptop, pays on Postable.” The whole thing costs $7.23, card and stamp included. Public reactions, unsurprisingly, weren’t quite rapturous. “Too lazy to write, stamp, …

Data Centers in Space Are Even More Cursed Than Previously Believed

Data Centers in Space Are Even More Cursed Than Previously Believed

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Elon Musk and other AI leaders have repeatedly insisted that the solution to the industry’s extremely costly and energy-intensive data centers is to launch them into space, taking advantage of unfettered access to solar energy and virtually limitless real estate. Late last month, SpaceX — now merged with xAI — filed a patent for an orbital data center constellation with the Federal Communications Commission. The idea is to have up to one million satellites circle the Earth at altitudes between 310 and 1,200 miles at a Sun-synchronous orbit to maximize the amount of solar energy captured. The application didn’t elaborate on any of the specifics, suggesting SpaceX had only begun to ponder the idea. That’s despite Musk promising that space-based data centers could overtake their Earthbound counterparts as the most affordable way to power AI within just three years — likely yet another one of his characteristically overambitious timelines. Many experts remain highly skeptical, questioning the financial feasibility …

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to be shortened to single play in London

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to be shortened to single play in London

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the hit West End show based on JK Rowling’s wizarding world, is being shortened to a single production after a decade as two separate plays. Set 19 years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Cursed Child was originally conceived as a theatrical double bill where parts one and two could be seen consecutively over a single day or two evenings. But on Wednesday (28 January), producers announced that the play would later this year follow in the footsteps of the Broadway show and become a single two-act production clocking in at 175 minutes with an interval. In a joint statement, producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender said that this would make the production “more accessible than ever before”. “Now running at under three hours, the reimagined production retains its scale, …

Is the Grammy Award for Best New Artist Actually Cursed?

Is the Grammy Award for Best New Artist Actually Cursed?

Published by Sam Flores

Perhaps the 1998 Grammys best illustrate the dilemma that faces the Recording Academy when its members turn in their ballots every year. Paula Cole, Erykah Badu, and Fiona Apple, young women who found commercial success with artistically impeccable albums, were the big contenders that year. (The artist formerly known as Puff Daddy and boy band Hanson were also nominated.) Ultimately, the Grammys chose Cole—who was also up for album, record, and song of the year. How could voters have known that Badu and Apple would have long, prolific careers, continuing to inspire generations even in the age of social media? Those who believe in the curse would argue that losing best new artist may actually be a better indication of career longevity. For proof, look at the lengthy list of contemporary stars who have had successful careers despite missing out on the award; in addition to Lamar, Musgraves, and Sheeran, there’s Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Drake, SZA, and Nicki Minaj. Due to the Recording Academy’s arcane rules, some artists, including Beyoncé and Cardi B, were …

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Published by Jenni Sidey

Oyinkan Braithwaite made waves in the literary world with her debut, My Sister, the Serial Killer, a razor-sharp dark comedy that earned widespread acclaim for its biting wit and unflinching examination of sisterly devotion. With Cursed Daughters, Braithwaite ventures into more complex territory, weaving together generational trauma, supernatural belief, and romantic longing into a narrative that is both haunting and unexpectedly tender. The result is a novel that expands her range considerably, though it demands more patience from readers than her tightly wound debut. The story opens with a striking image. A baby girl named Eniiyi is born on the very day her cousin Monife is buried. The resemblance between the infant and the dead woman is uncanny, right down to the scars on their thighs. From this moment, the family begins whispering what everyone thinks but nobody wants to say aloud. The child is the reincarnation of the deceased. She has returned. The Architecture of Inherited Pain Braithwaite constructs her narrative across two timelines that echo and illuminate each other. In the past, we …