Chaos & Amazement #2508: Delightmare Vibes, AI Workers, and Project 2025 in Motion
The world is getting stranger: The White House made an ASMR deportation video, AI is replacing human jobs, and the internet is here to remind us that birds might not be real.
Tech News
This week I learnt a new word: delightmare - the eerie mix of absurdity and dread It matters because it captures how pop culture, politics, and the internet warp our sense of reality. Found here: https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/marshmallow-horror-2509289
Meanwhile, in the US, they’re already a third of the way through implementing Project 2025. If you're trying to keep up (or brace yourself), there’s a tracker. This isn’t just a blueprint anymore—it’s happening. https://project2025.observer
Just when I thought I'd seen it all, the White House dropped an ASMR video about deportation flights to Guantánamo Bay. The US government really looked at the attention economy and said, 'Let’s go viral with soft chain clanks.' And guess what, they did. https://www.instagram.com/whitehouse/reel/DGOclSlxOev/
Fresh AI
ByteDance just released a new paper for a model called Phantom that can generate video with consistent actors and products: https://phantom-video.github.io/Phantom/
I don’t think these are just for TikTok. Some demo videos in this X post: https://x.com/EHuanglu/status/1892277720723423315
A new paper by Anthropic AI reveals that about 36% of occupations involve AI for at least 25% of their tasks. High use is found in software, writing, and analytical roles, while physical tasks show minimal AI integration. https://assets.anthropic.com/m/2e23255f1e84ca97/original/Economic_Tasks_AI_Paper.pdf
Estonian startup Hertwill is hiring AI agents—not humans—to run their Shopify store and source new brands. They’re part of a growing trend of companies replacing human roles with AI. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4153201227
Weird and Wonderful
WorldCat helps you find books in libraries. Like, for example, my books: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=willaerts&author=Willaerts
Or you could explore the World Map of Books, e.g. books where the setting is Belgium. https://www.whichbook.net/world-map/
Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine, is a futurist and writer known for his insights on technology, culture, and travel. He just published « 50 Years of Travel Tips ». “Laser out, meander back” is actually a great tip! https://kk.org/thetechnium/50-years-of-travel-tips/
Cursor Dance Party! Put on your red shoes
Was Bigfoot Real? With (the real) David Attenborough. “I’ll get out of the way.”
Real Bird Fake Bird - Sort the reals from the fakes, with new topics daily.
On the topic of actual fake birds:
https://birdsarentreal.com An internet classic