A mysterious Twitter suspension, weird AI hallucinations, and David Bowie's crystal ball

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we're joined by a University of Washington professor whose Twitter account was abruptly suspended last week for reasons that seemed inexplicable at the time. The story is a glimpse into the erratic, arbitrary, and divided state of social media, communications, and modern economics.

We also get a reality check on the new era of artificial intelligence, including the ongoing tendency of OpenAI's ChatGPT to generate facts out of thin air.

And in the final segment, we hear why the late David Bowie was right all along about the "exhilarating and terrifying" future in which the rest of us our now living.

Our guest is Kathy Gill, a tech veteran who is an adjunct professor at the University of Washington and Bellevue College, focusing on communications and user experience. Her current courses include a writing class for UW engineering students. She's a writer, motorcyclist, and self-described news hound. Follow her @kegill or @kathygill, and read her work at wiredpen.com.

Related links and resources

• TechDirt: Twitter Suspends User For Sharing Washington Post Story About Pentagon Docs Leaker
• WiredPen: Yes, ChatGPT can answer questions. Can you trust it? Nope
• Conducting research: a guide for undergrads, by Kathy Gill
• Watch the full interview with David Bowie from the BBC in 1999, as resurfaced by Michael Warburton this week.

 

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