Chaos & Amazement #2511 Gossiping Cars, AI Fortune Telling, and Sony’s Bouncy Ball Chaos
This week’s edition covers AI’s growing influence—from Flanders to China—alongside a fresh look at innovation, unexpected creator economy shifts, and some delightfully weird internet finds.
Tech news
France launches "safe place for science" program for American scientists fearing Trump censorship, echoing how German scientists fled to America before WWII. History shows brain drains can reshape global innovation leadership. https://www.404media.co/french-university-to-fund-american-scientists-who-fear-trump-censorship/
AI usage is booming in Flanders, but not for everyone. Belgian research organisaton imec’s latest Digimeter report [in Dutch] highlights the AI paradox: while some embrace the benefits, others fall behind due to lack of access, skills, or trust. The digital divide is real. https://www.imec.be/sites/default/files/2025-03/imec.digimeter-2024-rapport.pdf
Self-driving cars just got street smart! NYU Tandon’s new tech lets autonomous vehicles gossip like locals—sharing road intel indirectly via a decentralized network. No direct contact needed, just a digital relay of AI knowledge. Smarter, faster, and more private. Well, more private for the cars. They’d probably warn each other about my driving style. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250227165756.htm
Fresh AI
Young adults in China are turning to AI chatbot DeepSeek for fortune-telling, looking for guidance in uncertain economic times. But with potential biases and inaccuracies, can an algorithm really predict the future? https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/03/03/1112604/deepseek-fortune-teller-china/
Chinese startup unveiled Manus, claiming it's the "world's first fully autonomous AI agent," drawing comparisons to DeepSeek. Early reactions show a painful contrast between marketing hype and actual user experience, with reports of long wait times, errors, and performance issues. And under the hood, it’s mostly Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet and fine-tuned versions of Alibaba's open-source Qwen. https://manus.im
From my blog
Beyond adult content: What Belgian speed skater Bart Swings' OnlyFans deal means for the creator economy https://bnox.be/2025/03/beyond-adult-content-what-bart-swings.html
AI is everywhere—but without a strategy, it creates chaos. At the AI5050 conference on April 3 in Brussels, I’ll share how to use AI for real business impact.
Weird and wonderful
Want to get out of here? Numbeo is the world's largest crowd-sourced database of cost of living and quality of life metrics. It collects data on housing, crime rates, healthcare, transportation, and other statistics to help people compare living conditions across different locations https://numbeo.com/cost-of-living/
The 2005 Sony Bravia ad has won countless awards and racked up millions of YouTube views. But behind the scenes, it was total chaos. They emptied the US bouncy ball supply, invented special cannons, paid $74k for broken windows, and had crews collecting stray balls for YEARS afterward. https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/san-francisco-sony-bouncy-ball-ad-20204385.php
Very excited about Black Mirror: Season 7 coming up on Netflix! High-quality dystopian fiction to help us escape dystopian reality.
I really enjoyed Andrew Ball's latest video, "The WORST Rated Morning Show (1988)." It's a well-produced parody with impressive set design and attention to 80s aesthetic.
For even more nostalgia plus escapism: tune into the ultimate 24/7 video game nostalgia radio. Over 8,000 classic tracks from retro games across all consoles—new ones added every month! Live now: https://youtube.com/live/cse6YmrS6q0?si=7s-OWKDYKfbmA-Ep
368 Chickens web game. Like OXO, but with chickens. That is all.