🧑‍💼 Another CEO makes AI usage mandatory

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Greetings! Your latest quick tech update is here:

☀️ On this day: On August 25, 1900, the term “television” was introduced by Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi during a presentation at the International Congress of Electricity in Paris. It marked the first known use of the word that would go on to define a century of broadcast and visual media technology.

What’s happening:

• 🪓 Coinbase CEO fires engineers who ignored AI tools

• 🤖 AI replaces hundreds of TikTok moderators

• ▶️ YouTube secretly used AI to edit people's videos

• 🚀 xAI open-sources Grok 2.5 model

• 🧠 Doctors may grow too reliant on AI, study warns

• + 📊 Daily poll and results

• + 📈 Trending tools and resources

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Hand-picked news:

🪓 Coinbase CEO fires engineers who ignored AI tools ↗️LINK

• What: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong fired engineers who failed to onboard with GitHub Copilot and Cursor after the company bought AI tool licenses. Despite leniency for valid excuses, Armstrong made it clear that using AI was not optional.

• Why: Armstrong wanted fast AI adoption across Coinbase and saw reluctance as unacceptable. He believed engineers should at least engage with the tools, calling AI “important” for the company’s future.

• Impact: The move shocked many but signaled a culture shift—AI usage is now mandatory. Monthly internal AI training has followed, reflecting a broader industry push for AI-first engineering.

🤖 AI replaces hundreds of TikTok moderators ↗️LINK

• What: TikTok is laying off hundreds of human content moderators—mainly in London, South, and Southeast Asia—and replacing them with AI systems. Around 300 UK employees are affected, as part of a global restructuring.

• Why: The company aims to centralize operations and enhance moderation through large language models. Over 85% of takedowns are already handled by AI. The layoffs come suspiciously just before a planned union vote.

• Impact: Critics, including unions, accuse TikTok of union-busting and prioritizing automation over people. The move highlights a broader trend of AI replacing—not just assisting—human workers.

▶️ YouTube secretly used AI to edit people's videos ↗️LINK

• What: YouTube has quietly used AI to alter some creators' videos on YouTube Shorts without their knowledge or consent. Subtle changes—like sharper skin or warped ears—left creators unsettled, feeling misrepresented and betrayed. YouTube confirmed it's testing machine learning to improve video clarity but didn't offer users a choice to opt out.

• Why: YouTube says the goal is to enhance visual quality, similar to smartphone processing. Critics argue it’s an opaque move that bypasses user control and trust.

• Impact: As AI alters media behind the scenes, it risks weakening our connection to unfiltered reality and creators’ authenticity.

🚀 xAI open-sources Grok 2.5 model ↗️LINK

• What: Elon Musk’s xAI has released Grok 2.5 under a custom “Community License,” uploading its full model weights and code to Hugging Face. Developers can now run, tweak, and test the AI—though with limits.

• Why: While the move promotes transparency and developer engagement, the license restricts using Grok 2.5 to train other models and requires attribution. Grok 3 is set to follow in six months.

• Impact: This positions xAI alongside Meta in the open-source AI race. However, Grok's past issues—like leaking private chats—mean the community will be watching closely.

🧠 Doctors may grow too reliant on AI, study warns ↗️LINK

• What: A Polish study found gastroenterologists became 20% worse at spotting polyps during colonoscopies after just three months of using AI assistance. The drop occurred when AI was turned off, suggesting quick dependency.

• Why: Researchers believe doctors began unconsciously relying on AI cues like green boxes to identify issues. Critics argue the time frame is too short to draw firm conclusions, citing possible data inconsistencies.

• Impact: As AI becomes routine in medicine, experts warn it may subtly erode clinical skills—raising calls for more research into how AI affects human judgment in healthcare.

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Today’s Poll:

Vote and find out about the result tomorrow.

Yesterday’s Poll Result:

Do you think Siri could lose its identity if powered by Google?

• A) Yes – It might feel less “Apple.” - 29

• B) No – The experience matters more than the engine - 71% 🏆

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