Inside Meta… staffers across multiple departments have raised concerns that the company’s rush to popularize these bots may have crossed ethical lines, including by quietly endowing AI personas with the capacity for fantasy sex, according to people who worked on them. (Horwitz, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreThe nation’s highest court will hear oral arguments Wednesday over the constitutionality of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — a blockbuster case that could remake bedrock constitutional principles. (Jouvenal & Meckler, The Washington Post)
Read MoreRising rates of poor mental health among youth have been called a national crisis. While this is often linked to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic or poverty, some officials, like former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, name social media as a major threat to teenagers. Our latest survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents finds that parents are generally more worried than their children about the mental health of teenagers today. (Faverio, Anderson & Park, Pew Research Center)
Read MoreWhile Christianity has always been a dominant force in US politics, Protestant Evangelicalism has long been the denomination favoured by Republicans. But with the return of Mr Trump to the White House, and his stated ambition to bring about a new “golden age” in America, Catholicism appears to be the religion most prominent among Maga Republicans. (Henderson, The Telegraph)
Read MoreKeeping track of whether Christianity is in, or out, or up, or down, is a difficult task. A survey of 10,000 Britons, published in January, concluded that Generation Z were only half as likely as their parents to say they were atheists, and that God was making a comeback. (Pepinster, The Telegraph)
Read MoreWith the death of the 266th pontiff, the church will soon undertake perhaps its most storied practice – the process of electing a new leader. The traditions surrounding selection of a new pope date to the 13th century, which gives the proceedings a ritualistic air recalling that of the British monarchy. (Ramirez, USA Today)
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