Artificial intelligence chatbots are so prone to flattering and validating their human users that they are giving bad advice that can damage relationships and reinforce harmful behaviors, according to a new study that explores the dangers of AI telling people what they want to hear. (O’Brien, AP News)
Read MoreThe first year after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States, many Catholic churches across America are welcoming their highest numbers of new Catholics in recent years. The newcomers are set to officially be received into the church during the Easter Vigil Mass, the night before Easter Sunday on April 5. (Dias, The New York Times)
Read MoreAfter deliberating for nine days—and emerging at one point to tell the judge that it was having a difficult time reaching a decision—a jury in Los Angeles finally returned its verdict today, finding both Meta and Google liable for creating addictive products that caused a young woman’s mental-health problems. (Tiffany, The Atlantic)
Read MoreNearly everyone in Indonesia (99%), as well as the vast majority of people in Kenya (94%), India (85%) and South Africa (80%), say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral. By contrast, in about a dozen countries, two-thirds of adults or more say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral. (Evans, Pew Research)
Read MoreStarseeds identify as galactic souls fighting a cosmic battle between good and evil, often by disclosing hidden truths via social media posts. The New Age phenomenon has been around for decades, but online interest skyrocketed during the pandemic, and content with #starseed has over a billion views on TikTok. (Post, Religion News Service)
Read MoreThe more offline you can be — while proving it to everyone online — the cooler and better off you are. Now, there’s another word that Gen Z has become hyperfixated on living in pursuit of this year: “Whimsy.” (Sommer, InsideHook)
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