-
This band doesn’t exist
Velvet Sundown, a band with 350,000 monthly listeners, most likely doesn’t exist–a growing phenomenon enabled by AI.
Though they’re not yet dominating the charts, disturbingly realistic AI songs are slowly but surely creeping into our headphones – and you may even be listening to them without realizing what you’re hearing. Smuggled into popular playlists and hidden in plain sight among authentic, well-known tracks, AI-generated artists with fake photos, ChatGPT-generated biographies and no genuine fans to speak of are picking up hundreds of thousands of streams.
One such artist is The Velvet Sundown, a band with almost 350,000 monthly Spotify listeners but no discernible online presence or social media accounts. (“There’s not a shred of evidence on the internet that this band has ever existed,” as one Redditor put it.) While we can’t confirm that the band’s music is AI-generated, a glance at their artist image and bio should be enough to persuade even the least skeptical observer.
-
Breakfast in America covered by The Graystones
Originally performed by Supertramp, The Graystones–comprised of pre-teens–knock it out of the park.
-
Standardize the grocery store
Hank Green harnesses righteous nerd fury and proposes standardizing grocery stores.
-
AI and creativity
Two complementary articles about AI’s ability to create art that arrive at the same conclusion: it won’t be able to create new things from unexpected connections.
-
New York Times 100 best movies since 2000
The New York Times compiled a list of the 100 best movies since 2000. All in all, it’s solid list, and to me, the top pick is deserving. Included in the list, are check boxes so you can track which ones you have seen, what/need to see, and even submit your own top 10 choices. I’ve seen 80, and here’s my top choices in no particular order.
-
5 conversation types
A handy guide breaks down five conversation types, their purpose, their approaches, how to interact.
- Seeker
- Scientist
- Spaceholder
- Socialite
- Non-sequitourist
-
Uncovering new Merlin
Using a combination of new imaging techniques, a new chapter in Merlin’s story has been uncovered.
The manuscript had survived the centuries after being recycled and repurposed in the 1500s as the cover for a property record from Huntingfield Manor in Suffolk, owned by the Vanneck family of Heveningham.
It meant the remarkable discovery was folded, torn, and even stitched into the binding of the book – making it almost impossible for Cambridge experts to access it, read it, or confirm its origins.
What followed the discovery has been a ground-breaking collaborative project, showcasing the work of the University Library’s Cultural Heritage Imaging Laboratory (CHIL) and combining historical scholarship with cutting-edge digital techniques, to unlock the manuscript’s long-held secrets – without damaging the unique document.
-
Octogenarians in the club
A Brussels program to fight loneliness among senior citizens.
Among the revelers in crop tops, short skirts and high heels, one group stood out: gray-haired retirement-home residents, many in their 80s or 90s. The men wore suits with pocket handkerchiefs, and the women, in mascara and red lipstick, wore chunky necklaces and tops with sequins.
“Look at the atmosphere,” said Guillaume Vanderweyen, 99, who was clubbing for the first time in 40 years. “Everyone is happy because we’re doing something different. That matters in life.”
-
The use of Fortunate Son
Like Born on the Fourth of July, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son is up there with most misunderstood songs of all time. Why or how Fortunate Son, about a draft dodger, ended up on Trump’s parade playlist is a new height for irony.
