{"id":111475,"date":"2024-09-23T15:45:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T19:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T09:03:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T13:03:54","slug":"the-digital-frontier","status":"publish","type":"ftm_section","link":"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/the-digital-frontier","title":{"rendered":"The Digital Frontier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Digital Frontier<\/span><\/h1> <\/div>\n\n
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30 years ago, the Internet opened up a new frontier, and today we\u2019re all citizens of a digital Wild West, where how we live, work and govern is changing everyday.<\/span><\/div> <\/div>\n \n \n<\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\n \n AI <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Has AI made \u201clearn to code\u201d obsolete? <\/a>\n
\n Freethink talks to the creator of the world’s most popular AI coding assistant to find out whether learning to code is still worthwhile. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div> <\/div>\n
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\n \n Misinformation <\/a>\n<\/div> \n How consensus can undermine science <\/a>\n
\n The main objective of consensus statements appears to be to reduce doubt, which may stifle scientific inquiry. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div> <\/div>\n\n
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\n \n Misinformation <\/a>\n<\/div> \n How proof-of-human tech could save the internet <\/a>\n
\n Sam Altman\u2019s World Network uses iris-scanning Orbs to give people a way to prove that they are people \u2014 and not AIs \u2014 online. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div> <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\n\t\t\t\tMore\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n \n<\/a>\n
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\n \n Misinformation <\/a>\n<\/div> \n America tried to ban fake photos in 1912 <\/a>\n
\n Mistakes made by the US government 100 years ago could help us determine the best way to regulate AI-manipulated images and videos today. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Computer Science <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Skype is dead. Here\u2019s why it almost wasn\u2019t born. <\/a>\n
\n Threatened by their low cost, traditional telephone companies tried to get long-distance internet phone services banned in the 1990s. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n AI <\/a>\n<\/div> \n All PCs will be AI PCs “pretty soon,” says Intel exec\u00a0 <\/a>\n
\n Manufacturers are now equipping their PCs with the hardware needed to run the latest AI applications locally. Here’s what that means for you. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n \"Stylized <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Biohacking <\/a>\n<\/div> \n We\u2019re able to create new creatures through gene editing. What\u2019s stopping us? <\/a>\n
\n The question isn\u2019t whether we can sculpt new life. The question is what comes next. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n AI <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Pantheon creator Craig Silverstein on uploading our brains to the internet <\/a>\n
\n How the cult hit sci-fi show imagines a \u201ctechno-realist\u201d future. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n \"Children <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Global Development <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Google\u2019s $1 billion bet on Africa\u2019s digital future <\/a>\n
\n Just 37% of sub-Saharan Africans use the internet today, but Google predicts the next 10 years will be the region\u2019s \u201cdigital decade.\u201d <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Misinformation <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Can humans purge the bots without sacrificing our privacy? <\/a>\n
\n A group backed by Sam Altman is pursuing the creation of “personhood credentials” that would prove an internet user is a real person. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Citizen Science <\/a>\n<\/div> \n How tech is turning science into a hobby <\/a>\n
\n From astronomy to video games, consumer technology is helping people pursue their interests while also advancing community science. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n \"Close-up <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Computer Science <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Silicon chips are no longer sustainable. Here\u2019s what\u2019s next. <\/a>\n
\n To take our tech to the next level, we need a more energy-efficient semiconductor. Gallium nitride could be it. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Computer Science <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Is this the biggest industrial espionage campaign in history? <\/a>\n
\n The cat-and-mouse game between China and the world\u2019s semiconductor companies is already having enormous consequences. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n AI <\/a>\n<\/div> \n AI is now designing chips for AI <\/a>\n
\n AI-designed microchips have more power, lower cost, and are changing the tech landscape. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n AI <\/a>\n<\/div> \n AI chatbots may ease the world\u2019s loneliness (if they don\u2019t make it worse) <\/a>\n
\n AI chatbots may have certain advantages when roleplaying as our friends. They may also come with downsides that make our loneliness worse. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Big Tech <\/a>\n<\/div> \n The next big tech trend will start out looking like a toy <\/a>\n
\n In “Read, Write, Own: Building The Next Era of the Internet,” investor Chris Dixon explains why the biggest trends often go overlooked. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Apps <\/a>\n<\/div> \n My anxious generation: The unforeseen toll of a digital childhood <\/a>\n
\n In this op-ed, columnist Rikki Schlott draws from personal experience to argue that a digital childhood is a childhood squandered. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Computer Science <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Replit CEO Amjad Masad on bringing the next 1 billion software creators online <\/a>\n
\n Freethink spoke with Masad about the future of software development, the outsized power of Silicon Valley, and the absurdity of the AI extinction theory. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Mental Health <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Potato chips or heroin? The debate on social media and mental health <\/a>\n
\n Experts disagree on whether social media causes mental health issues in adolescents despite looking at the same data. Here’s why. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Censorship <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Constitutional warning shot for social media “deplatforming” laws <\/a>\n
\n Can the government tell private websites what they have to publish? <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n Metaverse <\/a>\n<\/div> \n You’re thinking of the metaverse all wrong, says Matthew Ball <\/a>\n
\n Rumors of the metaverse\u2019s demise have been greatly exaggerated. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n \"Digitized <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Misinformation <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Hugo Mercier says we’ve been misinformed about misinformation <\/a>\n
\n Cognitive scientist Hugo Mercier argues the problem isn\u2019t that people are too gullible but too stubborn. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>
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\n \n AI <\/a>\n<\/div> \n Ray Kurzweil explains how AI makes radical life extension possible <\/a>\n
\n Life expectancy gains in developed countries have slowed in recent decades, but AI may be poised to transform medicine as we know it. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n