Nuclear Week

When Deepfakes Go Nuclear

Sarah Scoles | Coda | 28th November 2023

The proliferation of computer generated imagery that looks real has implications for nuclear warfare. The problem exists at both ends — fake satellite images could end up being analysed by a compromised AI system. But even if such a system does launch a missile by mistake, it is still our fault. "Humans created the AI systems and made choices about where to use them" (3,300 words)

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Without you knowing it, your food is already full of MSG (and that’s a good thing). If you like it you should put some MSG on it.

Last Week At Marienbad

Lauren Oyler | Granta | 23rd November 2023

Witty essay about a trip to Marienbad, a fading spa town in the Czech Republic famous as a place where Kafka fought with his fiancé, where Goethe fell in love, and as the setting for a 1961 French New Wave film written by Alain Robbe-Grillet. Here, the travellers' attempt to experience true convalescence is stymied by excessive sugar consumption and too many trips to the sauna (5,200 words)