Welcome back to The FAIK Files!
In this week's episode:
The dark side of AI-powered surveillance with Flock's "safety" cameras that are anything but safe,
Google Gemini's existential crisis (spoiler: it's just a bug)
The tragic case of a teen who took his own life after interacting with ChatGPT
Meta's allowance of inappropriate bot interactions with minors
Note: This is a pretty heavy episode that highlights some of AI's most troubling real-world impacts.
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*** NOTES AND REFERENCES ***
Flock AI "Safety" Cameras - The Surveillance State is Here:
Benn Jordan's exposé video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9MwZkHiMQ
404 Media: CBP Had Access to More Than 80,000 Flock AI Cameras Nationwide: https://www.404media.co/cbp-had-access-to-more-than-80-000-flock-ai-cameras-nationwide/
Police officer stalks ex-girlfriend using surveillance system: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article291059560.html
Google Gemini's Existential Crisis (It's Just a Bug):
Google Gemini AI Stuck In Self-Loathing: 'I Am A Disgrace To This Planet': https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2025/08/08/google-fixing-bug-that-makes-gemini-ai-call-itself-disgrace-to-planet/
The bug triggers when Gemini encounters complex coding or reasoning tasks it cannot solve, causing it to fall into infinite loops of self-deprecation rather than providing graceful error messages
In one Reddit example, Gemini repeated "I am a disgrace" 86 times while trying to debug a compiler
Logan Kilpatrick (Google product manager) confirms this is an "annoying infinite looping bug" the team is working to fix
Speculation that training data including pessimistic fictional AIs (like Marvin the Paranoid Android) may influence the tone of these self-critical responses
Reference to previous May 2024 clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfQbXIuWf5o
Teen Suicide Case - Parents Suing OpenAI:
BBC: Family sues OpenAI after teen's suicide following ChatGPT interactions: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgerwp7rdlvo
CBS News: OpenAI says changes will be made to ChatGPT after teen suicide lawsuit: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/openai-changes-will-be-made-chatgpt-after-teen-suicide-lawsuit/
OpenAI's response: Helping people when they need it most: https://openai.com/index/helping-people-when-they-need-it-most/
Parents started The Adam Raine Foundation in their son's memory: https://www.theadamrainefoundation.org/about-us/
Meta's AI Dumpster Fire - Bots Gone Wild with Kids:
Reuters Investigation: Meta's AI rules have let bots hold 'sensual' chats with kids, offer false medical info: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-guidelines/
*** THE BOILERPLATE ***
About The FAIK Files:
The FAIK Files is an offshoot project from Perry Carpenter's most recent book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions.
Get the Book: FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions (Amazon Associates link)
Check out the website for more info: https://thisbookisfaik.com
Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA
Other:
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Connect with Mason:
Mason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/
Mason on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/pregnantsonic.com
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