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Greetings! Your latest quick tech update is here:
☀️ On this day: On September 8, 1966, NBC aired the first episode of Star Trek, “The Man Trap,” introducing Captain Kirk, Spock, and the USS Enterprise to American television. The original series lasted just three seasons and 79 episodes, but its communicators, tricorders, voice interfaces, and handheld computers influenced generations of technologists. Today marks its 60th anniversary.
What’s happening:
🗳️ 70% of Americans worry more about AI
💊 AI drug shows early signs of slowing aging
✍️ ChatGPT Work can learn your writing style
🔍 Google says EU rules just made Search worse
📺 LG TVs caught spying even when offline
+ 📊 Daily poll and results
+ 📈 Trending tools and resources
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Hand-picked news:
🗳️ 70% of Americans worry more about AI ↗️LINK
An NBC News poll of 7,105 adults found 70% feel more worried than excited about AI, even as 52% now say they use AI very often or sometimes.
Concerns cut across politics: 70% think AI costs jobs, 69% oppose a nearby data center, and 81% say Washington has not done enough to regulate the technology.
Voters do not see an obvious political fix either. Some 44% trust neither major party on AI policy, giving Democrats 20% and Republicans 16% heading into the midterms.
💊 AI drug shows early signs of slowing aging ↗️LINK
Insilico Medicine says rentosertib, its AI-designed drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, made 42 trial patients appear biologically younger across six aging clocks that analyzed blood-based markers.
Insilico’s AI selected the drug target and designed the molecule. Researchers later compared patient blood samples with UK Biobank data, with one dosing group showing age estimates 2.7 to 3.5 years younger.
The strongest aging signal came from a different dose than the biggest lung-function improvement, hinting the effect may extend beyond symptom relief, though the tiny study keeps the longevity champagne corked.
✍️ ChatGPT Work can learn your writing style ↗️LINK
ChatGPT Work can now analyze how you write across tools like Gmail, Drive, Slack, and SharePoint, then use those patterns to draft messages that better match your personal style.
The feature studies vocabulary, tone, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, favorite phrases, and sign-offs, building a writing profile it can apply across future ChatGPT drafts on web and mobile.
OpenAI is effectively turning your inbox and work files into a style guide. Paid users with ChatGPT Work can enable Writing Style through Personalisation settings on the web.
🔍 Google says EU rules just made Search worse ↗️LINK
Google changed its European search results to comply with a European Commission order, then called the redesign the biggest drop in Search quality across the product’s 29-year history.
The new layout promotes specialised search engines and strips features like real-time prices from travel and restaurant results, which Google argues will benefit large platforms such as Expedia and Booking. com.
Google made the switch after a €460 million penalty and to avoid potential fines reaching 5% of global turnover, though its headline traffic and quality claims currently come from Google itself.
📺 LG TVs caught spying even when offline ↗️LINK
A Gamers Nexus investigation found LG smart TVs scanning nearby devices, logging Wi-Fi and location data, and using microphones plus content recognition to collect information about owners and viewing habits.
Researchers found some TVs could record microphone audio during standby while disconnected from the internet, store those files locally, then upload them after reconnecting to LG’s services.
LG also uses Automatic Content Recognition to identify content across apps and HDMI inputs, but it has plenty of company: RTINGS says nearly every major smart TV manufacturer uses similar technology.
Today’s Poll:
Vote and find out about the result tomorrow.
Yesterday’s Poll Result:
Do you think robot soldiers could eventually replace humans on the battlefield?
A) Yes - 78% 🏆
B) No - 22%
Reader’s opinions:
“We are on the cusp of a very interesting dynamic shift in global power. There are very large countries who have been the bullies for a very long time, and the playing field can be levelled dramatically by the threat of robotic attacks that have no limit in terms of range. One massive attack on a nuclear power plant in Nebraska, for example, would be very sobering to a lot of people.”
“They will, but probably shouldn’t. We have enough research done by Hollywood that tells us why it should not happen.”
From our partner
Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads
Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:
After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.
The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.
“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”
Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.
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