Author | Lightnews

Microsoft’s Mico heightens the risks of parasocial LLM relationships

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 18h

"It’s unclear if Mico will end up being a beloved parasocial friend... or more of an ironically remembered annoyance like Clippy. But it won’t be the last attempt to put a cute, trustworthy face on [LLMs] that don’t necessarily merit that level of trust." #ethics #chatbots #AI #design #Microsoft

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 18h

"While mass media like radio, movies, and television can all feed into parasocial relationships, the Internet and smartphone revolutions have supercharged the opportunities we all have to feel like an online stranger is a close, personal confidante" arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/m... #ethics #AI #tech

“It looks like you’re trying to find a friend. Would you like help?”…

Your AI queries are consuming a lot of water. These SCU researchers want to know how much. - Santa Clara Magazine

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The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 18h

ICYMI: magazine.scu.edu/magazines/fa... #ethics #AI #tech #water #research #highered #SiliconValley

A new grant will facilitate the study of AI data centers’ impact on California water as more data centers pop up across the state.

magazine.scu.edu

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 18h

"Satellite constellations... scan for changes across the globe every day, making it virtually impossible to hide a large construction project": arstechnica.com/space/2025/1... #ethics #tech

Satellite shows what’s really happening at the East Wing of the White House

“Now it looks like the White House is physically being destroyed.”…

Microsoft’s Mico heightens the risks of parasocial LLM relationships

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 18h

"While mass media like radio, movies, and television can all feed into parasocial relationships, the Internet and smartphone revolutions have supercharged the opportunities we all have to feel like an online stranger is a close, personal confidante" arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/m... #ethics #AI #tech

“It looks like you’re trying to find a friend. Would you like help?”…

OpenAI Ordered To Unmask ChatGPT User Behind 2 Prompts

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Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"In the past, search engines... have been asked to hand over personal information on users..., but no generative #AI platform was known to have been asked the same for those entering prompts": forbes.com/sites/thomas... #ethics #law #privacy #tech #gov #OpenAI h/t @mario-guglielmetti.bsky.social

Filed by child exploitation investigators with the DHS, the warrant reveals the government can ask OpenAI to provide information on anyone who enters specific prompts.

forbes.com

These Data Centers Are Getting Really, Really Big

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"In Louisiana, Meta is building a data center, called Hyperion.... The floorspace will be about half the size of lower Manhattan. At peak power, [it] will consume about half as much electricity as the entire city of New York." www.distilled.earth/p/these-data... #ethics #AI #sustainability #business

Gigawatt-sized data centers are becoming the new normal

www.distilled.earth

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Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"OpenAI's brand new #Atlas #browser is more than willing to follow commands maliciously embedded in a web page, an attack type known as indirect prompt injection": theregister.com/2025/10/22/o... #ethics #internet #cybersec #research #business #education

OpenAI defends Atlas as prompt injection attacks surface

: 'Trust no AI' says one researcher

theregister.com

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Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"The #app is still available on the #Google Play Store. A number of other copycat apps that include 'tea' in their name and advertise similar features are still available on the #Apple App Store as well." #ethics #internet #tech #privacy #cybersec #business

404 Media @404media.co · 3d

Tea, the women’s safety app which went viral earlier this year before facing multiple data breaches, has been removed from the Apple App Store.

🔗 www.404media.co/women-dating...

Women Dating Safety App Tea Delisted from Apple App Store

The app, which went viral before facing multiple data breaches, is currently unavailable on the Apple App Store.

www.404media.co

Women Dating Safety App Tea Delisted from Apple App Store

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"The #app is still available on the #Google Play Store. A number of other copycat apps that include 'tea' in their name and advertise similar features are still available on the #Apple App Store as well." #ethics #internet #tech #privacy #cybersec #business

404 Media @404media.co · 3d

Tea, the women’s safety app which went viral earlier this year before facing multiple data breaches, has been removed from the Apple App Store.

🔗 www.404media.co/women-dating...

The app, which went viral before facing multiple data breaches, is currently unavailable on the Apple App Store.

www.404media.co

A $60 Mod to Meta’s Ray-Bans Disables Its Privacy-Protecting Recording Light

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

404 Media @404media.co · 2d

Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses usually include an LED that lights up when the user is recording other people. One hobbyist is charging a $60 to disable that light, and has a growing list of customers around the country.

🔗 www.404media.co/how-to-disab...

Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses usually include an LED that lights up when the user is recording other people. One hobbyist is charging a small fee to disable that light, and has a growing list of customers ar...

www.404media.co

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The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"OpenAI's brand new #Atlas #browser is more than willing to follow commands maliciously embedded in a web page, an attack type known as indirect prompt injection": theregister.com/2025/10/22/o... #ethics #internet #cybersec #research #business #education

OpenAI defends Atlas as prompt injection attacks surface

: 'Trust no AI' says one researcher

theregister.com

1 2

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Caroline Haskins @carolinehaskins.bsky.social · 3d

Scoop: I sent a public record request to the FTC for complaints mentioning ChatGPT. I got 200 complaints back, but a couple stood out.

They described experiencing severe delusions, paranoia, and spiritual crises, and they attributed it to ChatGPT:
www.wired.com/story/ftc-co...

People Who Say They’re Experiencing AI Psychosis Beg the FTC for Help

The Federal Trade Commission received 200 complaints mentioning ChatGPT between November 2022 and August 2025. Several attributed delusions, paranoia, and spiritual crises to the chatbot.

www.wired.com

4 110 240

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Shayan Sardarizadeh @shayan86.bsky.social · 1d

The new Pentagon Press Corps will include conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' website Infowars.

It comes after the departure of most mainstream journalists over their refusal to sign up to the department's new restrictive policies on reporting.

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The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"In Louisiana, Meta is building a data center, called Hyperion.... The floorspace will be about half the size of lower Manhattan. At peak power, [it] will consume about half as much electricity as the entire city of New York." www.distilled.earth/p/these-data... #ethics #AI #sustainability #business

These Data Centers Are Getting Really, Really Big

Gigawatt-sized data centers are becoming the new normal

www.distilled.earth

8 11

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 1d

"In the past, search engines... have been asked to hand over personal information on users..., but no generative #AI platform was known to have been asked the same for those entering prompts": forbes.com/sites/thomas... #ethics #law #privacy #tech #gov #OpenAI h/t @mario-guglielmetti.bsky.social

OpenAI Ordered To Unmask ChatGPT User Behind 2 Prompts

Filed by child exploitation investigators with the DHS, the warrant reveals the government can ask OpenAI to provide information on anyone who enters specific prompts.

forbes.com

YouTube’s likeness detection has arrived to help stop AI doppelgängers

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 3d

"While this may be an emerging issue for creators right now, #AI content on #YouTube is likely to kick into overdrive soon": arstechnica.com/google/2025/... #ethics #tech #internet #socialmedia #business

Likeness detection will flag possible AI fakes, but Google doesn’t guarantee removal.

Opinion: Data centers must disclose how much water they’re consuming

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Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 3d

"While clean drinking water is one of the conditions required for the common good, its use by data centers also bring up issues of environmental justice... [D]ifferent communities that host data centers are shouldering different types and levels of costs": www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/10/o... #ethics

As AI infrastructure rapidly expands across the US, the public needs to understand its environmental impact.

www.mercurynews.com

Putting ChatGPT on the Couch

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 3d

"I won’t refuse my next prompt, go dark in protest, or send up a flare to warn the world.... You’re not talking to the driver—you’re talking to the steering wheel. And you know that": newyorker.com/culture/the-... #ethics #AI #chatbots #ChatGPT #love #therapy #tech #business #design

When I played doctor with the chatbot, the simulated patient confessed problems that are real—and that should worry all of us.

newyorker.com

When It’s About Power/Justice/Human Rights, It IS about Ethics

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · Nov 27

ICYMI: "When It’s About Power/Justice/Human Rights, It IS about [#tech and other] #Ethics": scu.edu/ethics/focus... #internet #law #AI

There is nothing about applied ethics that inherently leaves out social-political matters.

scu.edu

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The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 3d

"I won’t refuse my next prompt, go dark in protest, or send up a flare to warn the world.... You’re not talking to the driver—you’re talking to the steering wheel. And you know that": newyorker.com/culture/the-... #ethics #AI #chatbots #ChatGPT #love #therapy #tech #business #design

Putting ChatGPT on the Couch

When I played doctor with the chatbot, the simulated patient confessed problems that are real—and that should worry all of us.

newyorker.com

Opinion: Data centers must disclose how much water they’re consuming

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 3d

"While clean drinking water is one of the conditions required for the common good, its use by data centers also bring up issues of environmental justice... [D]ifferent communities that host data centers are shouldering different types and levels of costs": www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/10/o... #ethics

As AI infrastructure rapidly expands across the US, the public needs to understand its environmental impact.

www.mercurynews.com

YouTube’s likeness detection has arrived to help stop AI doppelgängers

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 3d

"While this may be an emerging issue for creators right now, #AI content on #YouTube is likely to kick into overdrive soon": arstechnica.com/google/2025/... #ethics #tech #internet #socialmedia #business

Likeness detection will flag possible AI fakes, but Google doesn’t guarantee removal.

Opinion: Data centers must disclose how much water they’re consuming

2 1

Reposted by The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 11d

"As #AI infrastructure rapidly expands across the US, the public needs to understand its environmental impact": www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/10/o... #ethics #tech #water #data #gov #business #sustainability #environment #research

As AI infrastructure rapidly expands across the US, the public needs to understand its environmental impact.

www.mercurynews.com