🤖 New Study: AI is making office work worse

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Greetings! Your latest quick tech update is here:

☀️ On this day: On September 24, 1979, CompuServe launched MicroNET, the first consumer-oriented online information service. Originally aimed at owners of personal computers like the TRS-80, MicroNET offered access to e-mail, news, bulletin boards, and software downloads—paving the way for the online services and communities that would later evolve into the modern internet.

What’s happening:

• 🤖 AI 'workslop' is making office work worse

• 🔍 Google rolls out real-time AI voice search

• 🏛️ Meta bankrolls PAC to block strict AI rules

• 🎭 Google launches an AI-powered mood board app

• 📈 Disney+ and Hulu prices jump again in October

• + 📊 Daily poll and results

• + 📈 Trending tools and resources

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Hand-picked news:

🤖 AI 'workslop' is making office work worse ↗️LINK

• What: Stanford researchers found that AI is flooding offices with “workslop”—content that looks professional but adds little value. Think dull reports or unclear memos written by AI and passed off as real work. In a survey of 1,150 companies, 40% of employees said they received this kind of low-quality output in the last month.

• Why: Many workers use AI carelessly, copying and pasting its output without checking if it’s accurate or useful. Companies often push AI without teaching employees how to use it well.

• Impact: Instead of saving time, AI is wasting it. Poor-quality AI work is hurting collaboration, causing confusion, and making coworkers lose trust in each other.

🔍 Google rolls out real-time AI voice search ↗️LINK

• What: Google is launching Search Live in the US, letting users ask questions out loud and get real-time AI answers with supporting web links. The tool works in the Google app on iOS and Android, plus Google Lens, and allows camera input for visual queries.

• Why: After testing in Google Labs, the feature aims to make search more natural and interactive, combining AI conversation with traditional search results.

• Impact: This upgrade could change how people use Google daily—blurring the line between voice assistants and search engines—while raising the bar for AI-powered search rivals.

🏛️ Meta bankrolls PAC to block strict AI rules ↗️LINK

• What: Meta is funding a new PAC—the American Technology Excellence Project—with tens of millions to fight against tough state-level AI regulations. The group will back pro-tech politicians from both parties and push policies that favor AI development while promoting parental controls for kids’ AI use.

• Why: Meta and other tech leaders fear state laws could slow AI progress. By shaping elections, they aim to keep the U.S. ahead in AI innovation and avoid what they see as overregulation.

• Impact: Big Tech is moving politics directly, signaling a power struggle between regulators and AI firms. With OpenAI and a16z also funding PACs, the 2026 races could become a battleground over the future of AI rules.

🎭 Google launches an AI-powered mood board app ↗️LINK

• What: Google launched Mixboard, an app that builds AI-powered mood boards directly from text prompts. It uses the new Nano Banana model for image generation and editing, letting users create, tweak, and combine visuals without collecting photos first.

• Why: The tool aims to simplify brainstorming and creative workflows, offering features like “more like this,” image regeneration, and even AI-generated text support.

• Impact: Mixboard could speed up design, marketing, and personal projects, while also showing how AI tools are moving deeper into everyday creative processes.

📈 Disney+ and Hulu prices jump again in October ↗️LINK

• What: Starting Oct. 21, Disney+ and Hulu plans will cost more. Disney+ with ads rises to $11.99/month (+$2), while ad-free Disney+ hits $18.99/month (+$3). Hulu with ads jumps to $11.99, though ad-free stays $18.99. Bundles with ESPN Select also increase, with the full trio climbing to $19.99/month.

• Why: Disney cites rising costs, though the move comes right after a wave of cancellations tied to Disney pulling Jimmy Kimmel off air.

• Impact: Viewers face higher bills, continuing a trend of steady streaming price hikes since Disney+’s $6.99 launch in 2019, potentially pushing more users to cancel or bundle selectively.

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Yesterday’s Poll Result:

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Reader’s opinion:

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