Monday, March 2

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AI Chatbots Are Even Worse at Giving Medical Advice Than We Thought
Life Style

AI Chatbots Are Even Worse at Giving Medical Advice Than We Thought

It’s tempting to think that an LLM chatbot can answer any question you pose it, including those about your health. After all, chatbots have been trained on plenty of medical information, and can regurgitate it if given the right prompts. But that doesn’t mean they will give you accurate medical advice, and a new study shows how easily AI’s supposed expertise breaks down. In short, they are even worse at it than I thought.In the study, researchers first quizzed several chatbots about medical information. In these carefully conducted tests, ChatGPT-4o, Llama 3, and Command R+ correctly diagnosed medical scenarios an impressive 94% of the time—though they were able to recommend the right treatment a much less impressive 56% of the time. But that wasn’t a real-world test for the chatbots medic...
The Telegram App Has a New Look, and a Weird New Feature
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The Telegram App Has a New Look, and a Weird New Feature

If your chat app of choice is Telegram, you have some changes to look forward to. The company announced a number of updates this week, chief among them a new look for its Android and iOS apps—the former is getting a total overhaul, but iPhone users will still note some new UI elements when chatting with friends on Telegram. There are also some new features, including one I find a little odd. There's a new look for Telegram on mobile Credit: Telegram Per the announcement, the biggest changes come via UI updates, particularly on Android. Telegram says that its Android app has a "fully redesigned interface" intended to make navigating the app quick...
What to Do If (or When) Your Email Is Leaked to the Dark Web
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What to Do If (or When) Your Email Is Leaked to the Dark Web

The dark web has a bad reputation—one it has earned, at that. It's a complex subsection of the web, and it's not all bad by any means, but its nature does allow illicit and illegal activity to prosper anonymously. That's why hackers choose the dark web as their point of sale for stolen user data: If you're going to traffic digital contraband, you're going to do so as privately as possible. As such, you might be a bit stressed if you're told your email address was found on the dark web. Maybe you use an identity theft service, which discovered your information here. Perhaps you're noticing an uptick in spam, especially spam that seems targeted to you personally. In any case, it's understandable to be anxious. The good news is, this is more common than you think, and there are steps you can ...
Discord Might Force You to Prove Your Age to Avoid Losing Features
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Discord Might Force You to Prove Your Age to Avoid Losing Features

On Monday, Discord announced its plan to begin rolling out global mandatory age verification. Starting in March, new and existing accounts will start moving over to a "teen-by-default" setting, which will lock certain chats and features away until either the account's owner proves they're an adult or Discord's AI age prediction figures it out for them. Here's what you'll lose when age verification goes into effect, how to get it back—and, for good measure, a look at your other options.What you'll lose if Discord doesn't know your ageIn its announcement, Discord said the new age verification settings will start with a "phased global rollout" in March, so it may be some time until it hits you. However, once the changes make their way to your region, you'll lose access to the following featur...
You Can Opt Out of Ads on ChatGPT, but It Might Not Be Worth It
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You Can Opt Out of Ads on ChatGPT, but It Might Not Be Worth It

It finally happened. After months of speculation, ChatGPT officially has ads. OpenAI revealed the news on Monday, announcing that ads would roll out in testing for logged-in adult users on Free and Go subscriptions. If you or your organization pays for ChatGPT, such as with a Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Education account, you won't see ads with the bot.OpenAI says that ads do not have an impact on the answers ChatGPT generates, and that these posts are always clearly separated from ChatGPT's actual responses. In addition, ads are labeled as "Sponsored." That being said, it's not exactly a church-and-state situation here. OpenAI says that it decides which ads to show you based on your current and past chats, as well as your past interactions with ChatGPT ads. If you're asking for he...
When to Exercise With Light Weights (and When to Use Heavy Weights)
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When to Exercise With Light Weights (and When to Use Heavy Weights)

We may earn a commission from links on this page. In the world of exercise, variety abounds. You can lift light weights, or heavy weights, or no weights at all. If you don’t lift at all right now, it doesn’t matter much where you start. But that doesn’t mean that all of these options are equivalent. Light weights can build muscle, but they do not have the same benefit as heavier weights. It takes different workouts to get the most benefit out of light weights versus heavy weights. And heavy weights can do some things that light weights can't. I'm going to unpack all of that below, but right now the most important thing I want you to understand is that it's not correct when people say light weights are "as good as" heavy weights or that it "doesn't matter" which you us...
The Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction Headphones Are Just $90 Right Now
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The Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction Headphones Are Just $90 Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Bone conduction headphones are ideal for activities where it is vital to your safety to hear your surroundings, such as when you're running outdoors near a busy road. That's because they use a technology that sends audio vibrations through your skull to the inner ear while leaving your ear canals open. Shokz is one of the best brands—if not the best brand—making bone conduction headphones right now. At the high end of Shokz's offerings are the OpenRun Pro 2 headphones—but the original OpenRun headphones are also great, and they're currently discounted to $89.94 (originally $129.95); that's the lowest price they've been, according to ...
Is Virtual Reality Really Dead?
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Is Virtual Reality Really Dead?

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Things don't look great for virtual reality. Once seen as the future of online interaction, the present has caught up to VR, and it's brutal: Meta is by far the biggest dog in the virtual reality kennel, and its virtual reality division, Reality Labs, lost over $73 billion since it launched five years ago, leading the company to pull some resources from VR to focus on smart glasses and AI. Apple, seen as the runner-up in the VR market, shipped only 45,000 Vision Pro headsets in the final quarter of 2025, a rounding error compared to the 82.6 million iPhones Apple sold in the same period. At his metaverse introduction in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg envisioned Horizon Worlds as a vast digital continent, but its active user bas...
Best Fitness Hacks Every Apple Watch User Should Know
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Best Fitness Hacks Every Apple Watch User Should Know

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Apple Watch is a powerful tool for following and tracking exercise. We’ve already shown you 10 hacks for all Apple Watch users, but I’m here with a follow-up on the fitness features, specifically. With these lesser-known settings, apps, and features, you can get more out of your workouts and your health data.Give your Apple Watch rings a "rest day" Credit: Beth Skwarecki The Apple Watch’s Fitness app famously includes three rings (Move, Exercise, Stand) that you can close with activity throughout the day. Not only should you change your Move and Exercise goals to numbers...
How EU Regulators Might Change TikTok
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How EU Regulators Might Change TikTok

If you've ever joined me in the misfortune of downloading TikTok, you've probably spent at least one evening mindlessly scrolling until two or three in the morning, not even looking for anything in particular to watch. According to the EU, that needs to change, as the region has preliminarily determined that the "addictive" app is in violation of its Digital Services Act. The decision came on Feb. 5 and followed an investigation from the European Commission into the effects that features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and the fabled TikTok algorithm have on the minds of users. According to the commission's findings, "TikTok did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vuln...