The 8 worst technological failures in 2024
Middle East Eye)
23andMe
MITTR / ADOBE STOCK
The company that pioneered direct-to-consumer gene testing is sinking fast. (Middle East Eye)
23andMe
MITTR / ADOBE STOCK
The company that pioneered direct-to-consumer gene testing is sinking fast. Its stock price is going toward zero, and a plan to create valuable drugs is kaput after that team got pink slips this November.
23andMe always had a celebrity aura, bathing in good press. The press has changed. After its independent directors resigned in September, it’s a company that is troubled and controlled by Anne Wojcicki. Customers are starting to worry about what’s going to happen to their DNA data if 23andMe goes under.
23andMe says it created “the world’s largest crowdsourced platform for genetic research.” That’s true. It never managed to make a profit.
More : 23andMe’s fall from 6 billion to almost $0 (Wall Street Journal), Can you delete your 23andMe information (MIT Technology Review), Financial Report for November 2024, 23andMe (23andMe).
AI slop
AUTHOR UNKNOWN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Slop are the scraps and left-overs that pigs eat. You and I consume more “AI slop”, now that the internet is flooded with computer-generated images and text. The New York Times calls AI slop “dubious” and Wired “dadaist”. It is frequently strange, such as Shrimp Jesus. (Don’t ask if don’t know), and deceptive. For example, the picture of the shivering rowboat girl, which was supposed to show the US Government’s poor response during Hurricane Helene. It is usually a waste to watch AI slop. AI slop has not been fact-checked. The main purpose of AI slop is to generate clicks. AI slop refers to the blue-checked account on X that posts 10-part threads about how AI is great–threads written by AI.
