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Bots, fake reviews, and undisclosed AI are eroding trust on social media, creating a competitive advantage for brands that prioritize authenticity and real human experience. The post Social Media Trust Is Breaking Down (And How You Can Rebuild It) appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

When the FIFA World Cup 2026 arrives in the United States this June, it will signal more than soccer’s return to its fastest-growing commercial market. The tournament will span three countries—the United States, Mexico, and Canada—for the first time, becoming the largest World Cup ever staged. The scale, however, is also forcing a technological reset. As modern global sporting events grow in scale, expectations have evolved alongside them. Audiences now look for more immersive broadcasts and real-time data, broadcasters face rising reliability demands, and governing bodies continue to push for greater transparency and precision. Together, these pressures are starting to expose the limits of traditional IT systems in elite sports such as soccer, particularly around latency, and paving the way for AI-driven, real-time intelligence embedded directly into competition, operations, and fan engagement. As the official technology partner of the World Cup 2026, Lenovo is treating the tournament as a systems-level deployment, placing AI at the operational core of the world’s largest sporting event. The company is treating the event not as a showcase, but as a real-world test of AI beyond cloud-first architectures, where failure carries immediate consequences. Rather, it’s betting that global scale, matched with deep local execution, delivers an advantage in such a complex environment. Lenovo chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang says the World Cup exemplifies how AI can operate in complex, large-scale environments. “These are live events with real pressure and real audiences,” he says. “The value of such partnerships goes beyond short-term visibility. They help us understand how AI performs under demanding conditions, and that insight feeds directly into how we design and improve our technology.” Yang also notes that, while Lenovo uses global sports partnerships to highlight its broader AI strategy, its technology is playing a major role in improving the sport itself. “This year, you will see referees using AI support, players benefiting from AI insights, and organizers using AI to improve operations,” he says. The company asserts that this year’s World Cup will be the “most AI-driven global sporting event” in history. An AI-Driven Sporting Event At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas last week, Lenovo detailed how it will supply the digital backbone of the World Cup 2026—from core infrastructure to advanced AI systems that will shape all 104 matches. Alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the company unveiled a broad suite of AI-driven technologies for the tournament, including Football AI Pro; AI-enabled 3D player avatars integrated into semi-automated offside technology; an Intelligent Command Center using real-time AI summaries to manage tournament operations across three countries; AI-stabilized Referee View body-camera footage for broadcasts; smart wayfinding and venue digital twins; and resilient infrastructure supporting video review of refereeing decisions and broadcast systems. Lenovo CTO Tolga Kurtoglu said that Lenovo had already deployed early versions of several upcoming technologies at the FIFA Club World Cup, using the tournament as a proving ground ahead of the much larger event this summer. “That allowed us to learn, iterate, and improve before deploying at World Cup scale,” he says. Football AI Pro, codeveloped with FIFA, is an enterprise-grade AI knowledge system built with Lenovo’s AI Factory. The platform orchestrates multiple AI agents to analyze millions of data points and more than 2,000 football-specific metrics in real time, turning raw match data into actionable intelligence when decisions matter most. Analysts can spot patterns instantly through synchronized video, data overlays, and 3D visualizations. Coaches can simulate tactical changes in real time against specific opponents, and players will receive personalized match analysis. “The idea is to deliver value across the entire football ecosystem, not just one group,” Kurtoglu explained. “If you look at other industries, like aircraft engines, analytics completely changed the business model—from selling engines to selling engine hours. The same principle applies here. With enough data and processing, you can help fundamentally change how decisions are made on the pitch.” Elevating Human Judgment One of the most visible changes fans will notice in this year’s World Cup is AI-enabled digital player avatars in broadcasts and officiating tools. Using computer vision and generative AI, Lenovo and FIFA are producing precise 3D representations of players, modeled on their actual physical dimensions. These avatars will appear in semi-automated offside replays, offering clearer, more contextual visuals for fans in stadiums and at home. According to Johannes Holzmüller, director of innovation at FIFA, the goal of the partnership is not to automate decision-making but to elevate it. AI, he said, must support human judgment while making its reasoning visible and accountable—especially in a sport where trust is everything. “At the Club World Cup last year in the U.S., we tested a system we call advanced semi-automated offside. The key idea is that the moment the system has a high confidence that all the data is correct, that information is immediately sent to the assistant referee,” he says. “With this advanced semi-automated offside system, we are setting a new benchmark. [It] will shape expectations for accuracy and fairness in tournaments to come.” Referee View is also returning—this time enhanced. Body-worn referee cameras, stabilized using AI, will provide broadcast-ready footage from the official’s point of view. FIFA expects the feature to give billions of fans unprecedented perspectives on the game’s most critical moments. Holzmüller explained that creating precise player avatars before the start of the tournament gives the system additional context, allowing it to determine offside situations with much higher confidence. When the system reaches that level of certainty, it can send direct guidance to assistant referees, reducing the need to delay decisions. Under current rules, delayed flags often mean play continues longer than necessary, increasing the risk of collisions and injuries before the ball goes out of play. By improving both confidence and speed, the technology helps avoid those situations and reduces unnecessary risk on the pitch. AI Could Reshape Sport Strategies “Lenovo helped us create an end-to-end process, starting from scanning the players—which takes only one second—through to having a digital asset platform where this information can be used across different use cases,” says Holzmüller. “Our thought behind integrating new technologies is to make the game fairer, clearer, and safer for everyone involved.” Kurtoglu believes that deeper integration of AI and data could reshape how teams approach tactics, decision-making, and tournament planning ahead of the World Cup. “Strategies could change. It comes down to how you translate data into insights. The more data you have, the more analytics and AI you can apply, and eventually that will change tactics, analysis and even commentary,” he says. “That is why this is such an exciting moment for sports and technology.” If Lenovo’s bet holds, the world’s biggest sporting events will raise the bar for how AI and analytics operate far beyond the stadium. View the full article

The other day, I saw the Google News channel on X respond to claims that Google is going to allow merchants to overcharge you for products sold through the new AI checkout protocol. I found it crazy because Google has checks and balances to ensure merchants can't do this and Google responded as such.View the full article

Neko Health is taking its body-scanning technology to America. The Swedish diagnostic health clinic, cofounded by Hjalmar Nilsonne and Daniel Ek (also the cofounder and CEO of Spotify), said on Wednesday that it will launch a location in New York City, its first in the United States, in the spring of this year. The three-year-old startup, which offers comprehensive body scans to monitor risk factors for a range of health conditions from pre-diabetes to cancer, already has a presence in London, Manchester, and Stockholm. “For the first time, technology is enabling a fundamentally new healthcare experience centered on prevention,” Nilsonne, who is the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring our unique model of care to the world’s biggest healthcare market with the opening of our first US location in Spring this year.” The exact site of the planned New York City location has not been revealed. The announcement comes as Neko Health has seen surging demand for its “Body Scan” service, which the company describes as “a preventative health check for your future self.” Scans check for skin irregularities, gauge the health of your cardiovascular system, assess blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and more as a part of a 60-minute assessment. Neko Health says its scans use “proprietary sensors, 3D imaging, and blood analysis,” and “results are delivered on-site within minutes, followed by a consultation with a medical professional to discuss personalized health findings.” Poised for growth The idea has caught on, according to Neko Health, which says it delivered “six times more scans in 2025 than in 2024, with global signups now exceeding 300,000 people.” The firm’s data also shows that of the thousands of scans it completed in Stockholm during 2024, 1.2% revealed life-threatening conditions, and 6.4% found “medically significant findings requiring clinical attention.” Neko Health’s services have caught the attention of the media, and have been reviewed by writers and reporters for publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and GQ, among others, with generally positive takeaways. It’s also caught the attention of investors. A year ago, the company announced that it had raised $260 million as part of a Series B funding round. That put the company’s valuation at $1.8 billion. View the full article

Google's John Mueller was asked if it was acceptable to link your brand websites together on a brand page to communicate to your users that the company owns multiple brands. John said, it is pretty common to do so and if done as a reasonable scale, it is fine to do.View the full article

I am seeing a spike in complaints from Google AdSense publishers of earnings dropping again over the past 24-hours or so. This is similar to last week, and it also coincides with an unconfirmed Google search ranking update.View the full article

His two great liabilities, Brexit and Donald The President, are unmentionable in British politicsView the full article

For the past few weeks, Google Ads has been rolling out a new and faster way to set up an account by using an existing campaign. The option reads, "Create an account with campaign for faster setup."View the full article

The Microsoft Advertising team released a new PDF guide named "From discovery to influence: AEO A guide to and GEO." This guide offers "Practical data strategies to empower retailers for AI search, AI assistants and AI browsers."View the full article

Google responds to “personalized upselling” criticism tied to its AI Mode checkout, saying upselling means premium options, not higher prices. The post Google: AI Mode Checkout Can’t Raise Prices appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Move comes despite The President’s threat to ‘take very strong action’ if Tehran executes demonstratorsView the full article

Minneapolis is currently inundated with two kinds of ice—both of which make it hard for residents to move about the city. The bone-chilling winter cold has left icy deposits on streets and sidewalks, while the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has run roughshod over them in what the Department of Homeland Security calls “the largest DHS operation ever.” As anyone who’s ever set booted foot in Minnesota in winter can attest, gravity and overconfidence are no match for one of the world’s most slippery surfaces. Given the abundance of cameras that tend to follow ICE agents, it was perhaps inevitable that there would be multiple viral videos of agents absolutely biffing it on literal ice throughout the Twin Cities. The surging popularity of these videos, though, suggests ICE’s critics are getting a lot more out of them than cold comfort. Midwestern progressives may have cheered such content no matter the context, but given recent events, the videos have taken on deeper resonance. Minneapolis has been at the center of a political firestorm since December, when President The President seized on reports of social services fraud in the city, perpetrated in part by Somali Americans, to denigrate the area’s entire deeply rooted Somali community. On January 6, DHS announced it was deploying as many as 2,000 agents into the city to crack down on fraud and, of course, undocumented immigrants. By the following afternoon, an agent had shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in broad daylight. In the days since Good’s killing, tensions have erupted in Minneapolis and rippled across the country. Massive protests have sprung up throughout the Twin Cities, as well as from New York City to Portland, Oregon. Local politicians and national figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called out The President for lying about what happened to Good, while Minnesota and Illinois have sued his administration to block the surge of federal agents. For now, though, the DHS incursion into Minnesota continues, disrupting the normal flow of day-to-day life in the Twin Cities. ICE is reportedly conducting door-to-door raids in some areas, and in one highly publicized incident, agents violently detained two U.S. citizens, one of whom is 17 years old, while they were working a shift at Target. (Both were later released, reportedly with injuries.) After agents started showing up at local schools, several districts have switched to remote learning. Some restaurants have closed their doors indefinitely, while touring acts have postponed shows in the city, citing the welfare of attendees. In fact, the only people who seem to want to visit Minneapolis at the moment are MAGA influencers hoping to squeeze some content out of the carnage. Given the dark, authoritarian overtones of DHS’s citywide siege, it’s no wonder viewers are rejoicing in videos of ICE agents busting ass. First, came the clip in which a pair of agents ate it on an icy sidewalk together, causing one of their rifles to discharge—thankfully hurting no bystanders. Then there was the video of an agent running down the street at full speed before hitting a slick thicket of ice, as captured from multiple angles. And let’s not forget the agents who apparently could not get any locals to help them unstick their car from a snowy curb and wobbled around doing so themselves. It’s all classic slapstick, practically begging for the Benny Hill theme song to be dubbed over it. As these clips proliferate online, another genre of viral video has emerged out of Minneapolis in tandem—one that helps explain just what else the ice-fail videos are accomplishing. These videos could be called a learning series, since they depict agents approaching protesters and asking if they haven’t learned anything yet from recent events. (“Learned what?” a protester responds in one of the videos, before an agent smacks the phone out of her hand.) These videos appear to illustrate ICE agents’ expectations: that anyone disapproving of them should be cowed into respect and obedience. If protesters remain unfazed instead and continue mouthing off, the agents seem to suggest, well, who knows what could end up happening? Perhaps the same fate that met Good when she proved insufficiently respectful and obedient. The president suggested as much in comments he made aboard Air Force One on Monday—evidence that the blasé attitude ICE agents have toward use of force comes right from the top. Beyond doling out barely veiled threats, the agents in these videos also toe the party line that ICE is made up of hypercompetent heroes unfairly victimized by violent rioters. All they want is to surgically expunge criminal scum from the city, which they would accomplish easily, if only a well-coordinated domestic terrorist network would stop weaponizing vehicles at them. This is where the falling-down videos, and attendant memes, come in handy. These videos decidedly do not make ICE look like hypercompetent heroes. They make them look like the buffoons they are. They undercut the agents’ warrior self-mythology, reducing them to doofuses who don’t realize winter ice might mean an attack of the killer sidewalks. The gleeful spread of these embarrassing clips sends the same message as the D.C. sandwich-thrower last summer and the wave of inflatable animals at the “No Kings” protests last fall. They help defang the vast threat represented by masked agents of state, rendering them eminently fallible. And the popularity of the videos also contradicts the preposterous notion that, as Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said on Fox News this week, “90% of the public are happy to see us.” Sure, it’s a small victory, but one that offers a strong reminder to the public to believe their eyes, not the spin from the administration. It might also help ensure that—whether from Minnesota’s natural elements or its fired-up citizenry—ICE agents will continue getting a chilly reception as long as they remain in the state. Have they not learned this lesson yet? View the full article

Andy Sauer is no stranger to making waves in the beverage business. As the CEO of Garage Beer, he defied the odds by turning a small craft brewery into a national name, despite competing in an industry dominated by legacy players. Now he’s looking to shake things up in another popular beverage category: the soda aisle. Sauer’s latest venture is a product called Roxberry, which he’s dubbing the “first modern kids’ soda.” The brand launched earlier this month at more than 2,200 Walmart stores, 450 Krogers, Meijer and Harris Teeter locations nationwide, and a handful of independent grocers. This “soda” is unlike the sugary drinks most consumers remember from childhood: It’s made primarily of carbonated water and fruit and veggie juice, contains just 5 grams of sugar from natural sweeteners, and has no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. A four-pack costs $5.99. In an era when a new category of better-for-you (BFY) soda brands for adults, like Poppi and Olipop, has exploded in popularity, Sauer says the options for kids have largely remained siloed in two main categories: Either they can drink “the same brands we grew up with,” like Capri Sun or Kool-Aid, which are packed with ingredients many parents would rather skip; or they’re stuck with healthier, less visually exciting options, like seltzer water. Roxberry aims to be a third option that’s a win-win for kids and parents. Two-hit wonder Sauer has experience turning a nascent RTD brand into a household name. Garage Beer, which he acquired in 2021 and relaunched in 2023, has shown triple-digit year-over-year growth, with sales increasing more than 500% in the 12 months ended in early April 2025, he says. It’s now valued at around $200 million and is continuing to grow, despite an overall slump in the beer industry, according to a September report from The Wall Street Journal. In large part, Garage owes its success to a savvy marketing strategy: Its sleek branding, consistent dialogue with its target audience, and catchy slogan (“beer-flavored beer”) make it feel like an approachable craft beer for the everyman. Sauer is taking those lessons to Roxberry, which is prioritizing an in-depth brand story and centering everything on the phrase “Fizz for kids.” “That old phrase, ‘Marketing is saying one thing a hundred times rather than a hundred things one time’ is very true for this brand as well,” Sauer says. The idea for Roxberry struck back in 2022. With four kids of his own at home, Sauer noticed that his family frequently butted heads in the beverage aisle. His kids were interested in classic sweetened fruit drink brands like Kool-Aid, but he was hesitant to buy them due to their high quantities of sugar. And so Roxberry came to life—first as a powdered mix-in before pivoting to a canned ready-to-drink format that mimics the soda brands kids already covet the most. The soda’s initial launch comes in the three most popular flavors in kids’ beverages overall: strawberry lemonade, citrus, and fruit punch. “We did a lot of work to find out which fruits and veggies come naturally with a better mouthfeel, better sweetness,” Sauer says. “Working with raw strawberries, raw lemon, raw carrot—those things are going to give you more of a sweet flavor naturally so that you don’t have to add a lot to it.” “Kool-Aid Man energy” The first thing parents might notice when they see Roxberry on store shelves is that it looks nothing like the modern BFY brands they’re used to. According to Emily Heyward, chief brand officer at the agency Red Antler that led Roxberry’s design, that’s the point. “When we built the brand for Roxberry, it was before the explosion of the Poppis and the Olipops, but I think they’ve tapped on something similar, which is that a lot of better-for-you brands—especially in the kids’ space—signal that they’re healthier just by being more boring,” Heyward says. “They strip out color, they’re matte instead of glossy, they’re very plain, to show that they’re different from the old-school brands that we grew up with.” The result, Heyward says, is that most of the “healthy” options for kids on grocery store shelves just don’t look very exciting. To combat this trend, Sauer’s brief was to “bring back that Kool-Aid Man energy to the space.” Red Antler’s answer to that prompt is a brand that looks like it came straight from a sci-fi kids’ cartoon. From the quirky flavor names Ocean Potion, Pink Lava, and Galaxy Gulp to the anthropomorphic characters and alien landscapes on the packaging, everything about Roxberry’s look suggests that it’s not just a beverage, but also its own universe. “All of those characters that you see—and you just see them in little spots on the can—they have backstories, they have personalities. We went so deep, not because we’re planning to launch a TV show tomorrow, but because we wanted to ensure that we really had that richness,” Heyward says. For example, Heyward adds, one character named Chomp Chomp is described as “loud, erratic, and entrepreneurial; an instigator who lives in the skies, makes deliveries, and creates crop circles.” Even if this character is never officially named, she believes the lore gives the brand depth. While the majority of the Roxberry package is designed to entice shoppers with its bright, character-based imagery, smaller cues, like the phrases “No fake stuff” and “5g sugar” signal to parents that the beverage is not a typical soda. In essence, both Heyward and Sauer agree: Roxberry is designed with kids in mind first and parents second. “We were looking at the love we all had for these character-driven brands growing up, and how they felt like part of our pop culture universe,” Heyward says. “Well, why has that gone away? There are brands for adults that have tapped into that nostalgia a little bit, but I think that the kids’ brands have really played it safe.” Roxberry’s high-octane look gives the healthier-for-you kids beverage category a much-needed branding sugar rush. View the full article

AI-powered search isn’t coming. It’s already here: Google’s AI Overviews now reach 2 billion monthly users. ChatGPT serves 800 million users each week. Perplexity processed 780 million queries in a single month. As rankings and clicks matter less, citations matter more. Businesses now need content that AI engines trust and reference when answering questions. That’s the role of AI content optimization. Want to see where you stand? Get a free GEO audit of your website in under 60 seconds. What is AI content optimization? Generative engine optimization (GEO) adapts digital content and online presence to improve visibility in AI-generated answers. Unlike traditional SEO, which aims to rank webpages in search results, GEO targets generative engines that deliver direct, summarized responses instead of lists of links. Researchers at Princeton University introduced the term in late 2023. Since then, GEO has emerged as one of the most important new disciplines in digital marketing. Here’s how AI search engines differ from traditional search: Traditional SEO focuses on ranking content on a results page. Success is measured by position and click-through rate. AI content optimization focuses on becoming the source AI systems cite when generating answers. Citation authority replaces backlinks, and visibility score matters more than rank. It’s no longer about click-through rates. It’s about reference rates — how often AI models cite your brand or content. The stakes are higher. LLMs cite just 2–7 domains per response on average, far fewer than the 10 blue links in traditional search. Competition for AI visibility is fierce, but the upside is significant. Step-by-step guide to AI content optimization Ready to optimize your content for AI search engines? This framework brings together the latest research and proven best practices. Step 1: Structure content with clear headings and logical flow AI systems parse content by breaking it into segments and analyzing how ideas connect. Pages that use clear H2/H3/bullet point structures are 40% more likely to be cited by AI engines. Q&A formats perform best for GEO because they closely match how users ask questions. For non-question queries, structured content with clear headings and lists performs nearly as well. Dense, unstructured prose performs worst. Best practices: Use descriptive H2 and H3 headers that clearly state what each section covers. Break complex ideas into small, digestible chunks. Use bulleted or numbered lists for processes and key points. Add tables or charts to compare data and highlight insights. Step 2: Answer questions directly and concisely Opening paragraphs that answer the query upfront get cited 67% more often. AI engines favor content that delivers clear, direct answers without forcing users through excess context. Best practices: Open each section with a direct answer to the question the header asks. Front-load key information instead of building to a conclusion. Add TL;DR summaries to longer sections. Use a conversational tone that matches how people actually ask questions. Write like a human, not a brand, to increase the odds that AI systems use and cite your content. Step 3: Include authoritative data, statistics, and citations Original research and credible data sharply increase AI visibility. Pages that include original data tables earn 4.1x more AI citations. Princeton research shows that adding specific statistics boosts citation performance by more than 5.5% compared to using single optimization tactics alone. Best practices: Cite authoritative sources and link to original research. Include original data, surveys, or analysis whenever possible. Reference industry reports, government data, and peer-reviewed studies. Keep statistics current — content updated within the last 30 days earns 3.2x more citations. Step 4: Use schema markup and structured data Proper Article and FAQ schema increases AI citations by 28%. Schema markup helps AI systems understand what your content is, who created it, and how each element connects. Pages with FAQ sections are more likely to appear in AI search experiences like Google AI Overviews. FAQ schema makes questions and answers easy for AI to extract and surface directly. Priority schema types for GEO: FAQ schema to clearly define questions and answers Article markup to establish content type, author, and publish date How-to schema to structure step-by-step processes for AI extraction Organization markup to define your brand and authority Product schema to support e-commerce visibility The impact can be dramatic. Sharp Healthcare saw an 843% increase in clicks within nine months of implementing schema markup. Step 5: Build topical authority and E-E-A-T Google’s E-E-A-T framework — experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness — still matters for GEO. Google’s AI systems assess credibility when choosing which sources to cite. Show proof. Highlight credentials, cite data, link to reputable sources, and publish content written by real experts. If you have certifications, awards, partnerships, or original research, make them easy to find. Best practices: Create detailed author bios that list relevant credentials. Add bylines to every piece of content. Cite and link to authoritative external sources. Build topical clusters around your core areas of expertise. Keep information consistent and accurate across all platforms. Step 6: Write in a format AI can easily parse and quote Clarity and brevity increase your chances of being referenced. Clear, well-organized summaries make it easier for AI engines to extract and reuse your content. Make content AI-ready by writing in natural language and using simple structure. Headings, bullet points, and Q&A formats help both AI systems and human readers. Best practices: Write sentences that stand alone as quotable statements Avoid jargon unless your audience expects it Define technical terms clearly Add a summary section that captures the main points Use metadata for images and videos, including alt text and transcripts How to check if your content is optimized Implementing GEO best practices is only half the work. You also need to measure AI search performance and spot gaps you can improve. Clicks and traffic no longer tell the full story. Success now depends on visibility in AI answers, share of voice, and how often your content gets cited. Key metrics for AI content optimization: Citation frequency: How often AI engines reference your content. Share of voice: Your visibility versus competitors in AI responses. Brand sentiment: How AI portrays your brand in generated answers. Source accuracy: Whether AI correctly interprets and attributes your content. This is where dedicated GEO tools matter. Most SEO platforms track rankings, but rankings don’t show whether AI engines are actually using your content. Geoptie’s free GEO Content Checker lets you paste in any content and get a detailed breakdown of structure, clarity, authority signals, and technical setup. You’ll also get step-by-step recommendations to increase your chances of earning AI citations — no guesswork required. For ongoing optimization, Geoptie’s GEO Dashboard continuously monitors your AI visibility across platforms, tracks citations, and benchmarks you against competitors so you can measure progress over time. For ongoing optimization, Geoptie’s comprehensive GEO dashboard provides: Real-time monitoring of your content’s AI visibility across multiple platforms. Competitor analysis that shows how your AI presence compares to rivals. Citation tracking that reveals where and how often your content is referenced. Detailed GEO audit reports that highlight clear opportunities for improvement. Research shows that adding specific statistics and structured answers drives the fastest gains in AI citations, with tactical changes improving visibility within 30 to 45 days. Regular audits help you see what’s working and where to focus next. Start AI content optimization now The foundation of the $80 billion SEO market just cracked. A new paradigm is emerging — one driven by language models. The shift to AI-powered search isn’t coming. It’s already here. Generative engines are shaping how your audience discovers information right now, which means optimization can’t wait. The good news? If you practice strong SEO, you’re already two-thirds of the way to GEO. Most of what works today translates directly to GEO. Here’s what to prioritize: Start with the free GEO Audit to see your website’s current AI visibility. Analyze key pages using the free GEO Content Checker. Restructure content with clear headings, direct answers, and Q&A formats. Implement schema markup on priority pages, starting with FAQ and Article schema. Track progress with ongoing monitoring through Geoptie’s GEO Dashboard. As AI becomes the front door to commerce and discovery, ask yourself a simple question: will the model remember you? Brands that adopt AI content optimization now will earn citations in tomorrow’s AI answers. Those that wait risk fading from the new search landscape. Ready to optimize your content for AI search engines? Start with the free GEO Audit to see where you stand, then use the GEO Content Checker to optimize your key pages. View the full article

Hiring in 2026 won’t look much like hiring even two years ago. If you don’t pay attention, you will get left behind. I was a retained search consultant for 25-plus years. I’ve written executive and board résumés for the last 10 years. I’ve never seen so much change in candidate sourcing happen so quickly. CEO priorities and expectations have shifted. AI is reshaping how candidates get surfaced. Résumé sameness has skyrocketed. Candidate shortlist cycles have accelerated. For you to be visible, your résumé has to do more than describe your work. It has to hit leaders’ priorities, satisfy automated systems’ tests, and make sense. The following five trends show you what that means and how to stay ahead of it: Trend 1: Résumé Content Must Address CEO Priorities Late-2025 surveys found four top-of-mind priorities for CEOs as we head into 2026. Those topics map to compelling information for your résumé’s experience section. I list them below. Then, I frame the question that decision-makers want your résumé to answer. Finally, to inspire you, I share examples of subjects you might use in impact bullets. CEO Priority: AI Adoption & Transformation The question: Can this person operationalize AI and meet ROI hurdles? Impact Examples: Introduced AI-assisted steps into a workflow. Led a cross-functional effort to apply AI to a core business process. Built an AI governance framework. CEO Priority: Geopolitical & Economic Uncertainty The question: Can this person make decisions that protect shareholder value during volatility? Impact Examples: Used business intelligence tools to identify and report risks. Redesigned a process to protect profit margins. Repositioned the organization in response to geopolitical, regulatory, or economic shifts. CEO Priority: Talent Management The question: Can this person shape and prepare our teams for an AI future? Impact Examples: Implemented AI-driven talent sourcing methods. Adopted the 4B workforce model (buy, build, borrow, bot) to design a future-ready team. Owned the talent workstream for enterprise AI adoption. CEO Priority: Business Model Reinvention The question: Can this person drive adaptation and growth to keep us competitive? Impact Examples: Contributed insights that improved a product, service, or customer experience. Developed or scaled a new offering. Determined where the organization should invest, expand, or exit to maintain long-term viability. Trend 2: The Rise of the Reader Trio (ATS, AI, Human) For years, you’ve written for applicant tracking systems, recruiters, and hiring managers. And you still will. But in 2026, more organizations will use AI to source candidates and expand talent pools. While an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) looks for keywords, AI looks for patterns. To benefit from AI’s ability to expand talent pools, you’ll need to learn those patterns and embed them in your résumé. Examples include: showing you’re ready for promotion to the next level; writing about repeated records of success; and describing challenges you’ve handled that also exist in other industries. Trend 3: Work Context Becomes Critical Beyond CEO concerns, your trio of readers wants to know where you’ve operated. If you haven’t already, now is the time to add company descriptions to your résumé. Basics include size, ownership, industry, footprint, and systemic challenges. Readers need to see adjacencies to their worlds to predict your effectiveness. Trend 4: Generic, AI-Written Résumés Next, I talked with many recruiters over a few days at the Unleash World HR conference in Paris in October. I wanted to learn how they use AI to find people. They wanted to talk about the crushing tsunami of generic résumés they receive. While AI might up-level a bad résumé to average, always keep a human in the loop to stand out. Make it yours. Otherwise, your readers’ eyes will glaze over from the sameness. Plus, AI continues to generate word salad and logical inconsistencies. The narrative sounds good on the surface, but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Recruiters catch those faux pas, so don’t make them. Trend 5: Candidate Shortlist Velocity and Résumé Readiness Finally, a Siemens recruiter claims that LinkedIn’s AI cut his time-to-shortlist by at least 20 times. That means an accelerated recruiting cycle, with prepared candidates getting first looks. If you need time to update your résumé, you might get left behind. Career visibility in 2026 won’t happen by accident. It will be because you built a résumé that meets the moment: substantive, AI-savvy, and ready before anyone asks for it. View the full article

Sanae Takaichi hopes to convert personal popularity into solid electoral gains for ailing ruling party in expected snap voteView the full article

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, or X as it’s now called, a number of alternative platforms have emerged to capture users who have been leaving. Some focus on tight-knit communities, while others aim to match or exceed Twitter’s original reach. One popular option is Bluesky. It’s a decentralized social network built on the AT Protocol. The platform has seen steady growth and frequent updates since launch, making it an intriguing choice for people seeking alternatives to X. Because it’s open source, developers can propose changes and potentially shape the platform’s future. 💡Schedule your Bluesky posts! With Buffer's Bluesky integration, you can cross-post to other platforms, analyze your content performance, store all your ideas in a single hub, and so much more – even with a custom server. Buffer for Bluesky is available on all plans, including free → Jump to a section: What is Bluesky? Is Bluesky free to use? What Bluesky gets right Where Bluesky falls short Key controversies to know Should you join Bluesky? FAQ about Bluesky More Bluesky resources What is Bluesky?Bluesky is a free, decentralized social network started by Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter CEO. Built using the AT Protocol, it aims to let anyone host their own server while still staying connected to the broader Bluesky network. Here’s what sets it apart: Decentralized setup for user autonomyOpen-source code for transparencyCommunity-driven developmentUsers select a username to use Bluesky, shown as “@username.bsky.social” (I snagged @tami.bsky.social). To make it truly yours, you can turn a domain name into your username. This verifies your account and aligns your handle with your personal brand or business. Bluesky works a lot like Twitter. You can click the Post symbol in the app or New Post button on the web to write and share up to 300 characters and add photos. Users can reply, repost, and like posts. You can also set the language for your post and mark attached images as adult-only when needed. Users get three feeds upon joining — Following, Discover, and Popular With Friends — but you can also modify your feeds to see specific types of content. Bluesky offers native apps for both iOS and Android, and you can also browse the platform on desktop or any mobile web browser. Is Bluesky free to use?Yes. You can sign up, post, follow others, and join public conversations at no cost. Bluesky does not currently charge for access or basic features, so anyone can explore the platform without a subscription or membership fee. I’ve now been using Bluesky for two years and have had more than enough time to explore its strengths, find its weaknesses, and understand the controversies it has faced. What Bluesky gets rightBluesky offers an extensive list of features and benefits that its users (me included) flock to it for. Here are some of them. User-controlled timelines and moderation: Bluesky puts users in charge of their feeds and moderation settings. This makes for a more tailored and empowering experience.Open-source and decentralized nature: Bluesky runs on an open-source model. This approach encourages transparency and community involvement.Custom domains: Users can set a custom domain as their handle. This adds a personal touch and boosts brand identity.Independence from larger entities: While Bluesky received early support from Twitter, it now operates independently. Big corporations don’t have influence over its decisions.Account portability: One of Bluesky's standout features is the AT Protocol, which allows you to move your accounts to another social media site without losing your data or followers. This promotes user freedom and reduces platform lock-in.Playful and free environment: The platform offers a refreshing environment where users can share diverse content, from scenic blue skies to personal anecdotes, without feeling like they must be particularly promotional.Ad-free experience: Currently, there are no sponsored posts clogging your timeline. Bluesky has explicitly said advertising is not part of their plan, but they are exploring subscriptions and creator-first monetization.Content moderation flexibility: Developers who run their own servers can set custom moderation policies, shaping each community’s standards. Bluesky also incorporates community labeling as part of its moderation strategy, promoting community involvement in content regulation.Where Bluesky falls shortBluesky's decentralized approach is exciting, but it comes with some real challenges. Monetization uncertainty: Bluesky has publicly committed to subscriptions and creator monetization, but these systems are still being built and won’t arrive immediatelyLimited decentralization in practice: While Bluesky promotes itself as a decentralized platform, currently, Bluesky Social is the only site using the AT Protocol. This limits the true potential and benefits of decentralization. Some users also question its true intentions and criticize its for-profit nature. They feel that Bluesky might not be genuinely committed to decentralization.Content moderation challenges: The flexibility in content moderation, while a strength, can also be a double-edged sword. Different servers with varying moderation policies can lead to inconsistent user experiences and potential safe havens for harmful content.Dependence on Twitter's infrastructure: Despite its independence, Bluesky still relies heavily on Twitter's infrastructure, especially for its "birdwatch" feature. This dependence could pose challenges in the future, especially if there are disagreements or conflicts between the two platforms.Potential for echo chambers: The ability for users to customize their content feeds and moderation policies can lead to the creation of echo chambers, where users only interact with like-minded individuals, limiting exposure to diverse viewpoints.Key controversies to knowSince its launch, Bluesky has faced controversies that have sparked outrage among community members and reduced trust in the platform's team and their intentions. Challenges with community-driven moderation: Relying heavily on automated and community-driven content moderation can lead to biases, inconsistencies, and potential misuse. Without a centralized moderation system handled by humans, harmful content might not be addressed uniformly across the platform. This became clear when Bluseky failed to protect Black users and other marginalized groups from racist harassment, sparking serious concerns about its content moderation approach.Inconsistent communication: Bluesky's inconsistent communication raises questions about the company's commitment and approach to addressing these issues. Users also pointed out that the team refused to publicly acknowledge their errors in handling the situation, leading to distrust.Potential for misinformation spread: The decentralized nature of Bluesky, combined with user-driven content moderation, can create an environment where misinformation or harmful narratives spread unchecked.Potential for platform fragmentation: The ability for anyone to set up their server with its moderation policies can lead to a fragmented user experience. Depending on their server, users might find themselves in vastly different "versions" of Bluesky.Even with these issues, Bluesky users stay pretty engaged, and there's a real sense of community among people who want to help the platform grow. Should you join Bluesky?Bluesky is definitely worth exploring, especially if you’re after a platform that feels like Twitter. Many Twitter users have moved over to Bluesky and see it as the next best thing, especially over platforms that feel more complex, like Mastodon, or don’t feel fully like a Twitter alternative, like Threads. It has also formed an identity quicker than most other Twitter alternatives since it started gaining traction. If you’re just getting started on Bluesky, we have some handy resources that might help. In this video, Kirst Lang walks you through your account set up: FAQ about BlueskyWhat is Bluesky, in simple terms?Bluesky is a social network that feels a lot like early Twitter. You can post short updates, reply to others, repost, and like content. The big difference is how it’s built: Bluesky is designed to give users more control over their feeds, moderation, and even their usernames. How is Bluesky different from X (formerly Twitter)?Bluesky focuses more on user choice than algorithmic control. You can customize what you see, adjust moderation settings, and avoid ads altogether. For many people, it feels calmer and more conversational than X. What does “decentralized” mean on Bluesky?Bluesky runs on the AT Protocol, which allows multiple servers to connect to the same network. That means users aren’t locked into a single company forever and can, in theory, move their account elsewhere without losing followers or data. Most users are still on the main Bluesky server, so decentralization is real but still developing. Can I use my own domain as a Bluesky username?Yes. You can use a custom domain as your handle, which helps verify your identity and tie your account directly to your personal brand or business. It’s one of Bluesky’s most distinctive features. How do feeds work on Bluesky?When you join, you’ll see default feeds like Following and Discover, but you’re not limited to those. You can add or create custom feeds that surface specific topics, communities, or content styles, giving you more control over what shows up in your timeline. Does Bluesky have ads?No. Bluesky doesn’t currently run ads or sponsored posts, which keeps timelines feeling uncluttered and more community-focused. Instead, they're exploring subscriptions and creator-first monetization. Is Bluesky good for brands and creators?Bluesky can be a strong fit if your approach is more about conversation than promotion. It’s especially useful for personal brands, niche communities, and creators who enjoy engaging directly with their audience rather than chasing viral reach. What are the biggest downsides of Bluesky?The platform is still growing, and some big questions remain unanswered. Monetization plans aren’t clear, moderation can vary depending on the server, and the user base is much smaller than X. The same flexibility that makes Bluesky appealing can also lead to inconsistent experiences. Is Bluesky safe to use?Bluesky gives users and servers more control over moderation, which can be empowering but uneven. Past moderation failures, particularly around protecting marginalized users, have raised concerns. The team has made changes, but trust and consistency are still evolving. Should I join Bluesky?If you’re looking for a Twitter-like experience without the ads and algorithmic noise, Bluesky is worth exploring. Many former Twitter users see it as the closest alternative that still feels familiar and easy to use. Can I schedule posts on Bluesky?Yes. With Buffer’s Bluesky integration, you can schedule posts, cross-post to other platforms, track performance, and manage your content from one place, even if you’re using a custom server. More Bluesky resourcesBluesky Verification is Here: How the Blue Check Works'Live Now' Badges are Coming to Bluesky: Here's Everything We Know So FarWe Analyzed 1.7M Posts from X, Threads, and Bluesky: Here’s What We LearnedSubscriptions and Monetization are Coming to Bluesky — Here's How They’ll WorkThe Significance of Bluesky and Decentralized Social MediaBluesky Isn’t Like Other Social Networks: Here’s How to Get Set UpView the full article

The housing market just crossed an important threshold—one that’s especially good news for anyone who might be planning on buying a home any time soon. The massive wave of COVID-19-era mortgages with ultra-low rates were a huge boon for many homebuyers, but the housing market hasn’t been the same since. A huge swath of homeowners in the U.S. suddenly had mortgage interest rates well below 4%—and very little incentive to sell their homes for less affordable options with today’s higher rates. That dilemma has created a nightmarish scenario for the U.S. housing market. Many potential buyers and aspiring first-time homeowners remain priced out due to high home prices and higher interest rates. With more homeowners staying put whether they want to or not, housing inventory dried up considerably, shrinking the pool of options for home shoppers. That’s beginning to change. According to new data from Realtor.com, the share of U.S. homeowners with mortgage rates over 6% is now greater than the share hanging onto those “ultra low” sub-3% rates. In the third quarter of 2025, 21% of outstanding mortgages carried a rate above 6% compared to the 20% of mortgages with rates below 3%. That change signals a “meaningful shift” from the gridlock that’s defined the last few years in the U.S. housing market. “Mortgage rates above 6% now represent a larger share of outstanding loans than the ultra-low rates that defined the pandemic-era housing boom,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a press release. “This crossover reflects a gradual resetting as some households trade in low-rate mortgages for higher-rate loans or enter the market for the first time, even as rate lock-in continues to limit the pace of inventory recovery.” Lasting impact of low rates and lock-in Those ultra-low rates are on their way out, but many homeowners still have rates well below what they’d be offered today. According to the new data, over 50% of mortgages still have rates at or below 4% and almost 70% have rates of 5% or lower. As long as that remains the case, the average homeowner might see their monthly mortgage payment spike by as much as $1,000 if they sold their home and took on a mortgage with today’s rates. Still, the new mortgage data is a promising sign. Rates are very unlikely to get as low as they did during the early days of COVID-19 again in our lifetimes—particularly now that we know just what a lasting disruptive impact the low rate homebuying frenzy had on the market at large. The period between July 2020 and September 2021 is the only time that the U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rate has gone below 3% since those records began being kept in the early 1970s. The high cost of buying a home is more salt in the wound for many Americans, who have seen the price of everything from groceries to used cars soar in recent years. With little relief in 2025, the unaffordability crisis seems to be on everyone’s mind lately. If interest rates settle down and the present trends continue, at least the housing market might be getting back to something a little closer to normal this year. “Even with rates still elevated, modest mortgage rate decreases into the low-6% range could encourage additional home buying activity,” Hale said. “Further easing in inflation and mortgage rates would be key to unlocking more seller participation, helping to relieve price pressure and competition in an under-supplied market.” View the full article

Leaders typically spend January prepping for the year ahead. But that’s difficult when you’re eight months pregnant, and your baby has zero concern for your deadlines. I’ve lost count of how many times people have asked how long I’ll be away, whether I’ll be checking my emails, or what support I’ll need when I return. People often expect leaders to have all the answers, but the truth is: I don’t know yet. Lucky for me, that uncertainty worked to my advantage. It forced me to change my approach from setting goals to building flexibility. This has resulted in a team that is autonomous and adaptable, whether I’m in the room or away on leave. You don’t have to have all the answers According to a report by Careers After Babies, 98% of moms want to return to work after having a child. However, less than a quarter actually do. Early parenthood is unpredictable, and there’s no way of knowing how it’ll unfold. While I’m committed to my career, I’m under no illusions that March might bring me sleepless nights, and the months ahead may be full of doctors’ appointments. I might have no time to work at all. That isn’t a challenge you can plan your way through. Sure, you might end up returning after six weeks. But if you set yourself that deadline and you end up delaying, you may end up feeling like you’ve failed and start to question your leadership when you’re actually managing two of the most demanding roles there are. But you do have to be ready for anything When you don’t know the outcome, you need to prepare for every possibility. That means focusing on building flexibility and developing resilience, because systems that can cope with volatility and deal with change don’t rely on a single timeline or person. At Woofz, we’re focused on setting out clear decision ownership, so everyone understands where to turn for support, and also how to train our teams to handle pivots and take on new responsibilities when we need to. We aimed to create a team capable of thriving even when conditions change, without constant oversight. Resilience doesn’t just help organizations get through difficult moments. It actively improves long-term performance. Research from software and consultancy firm MHR Global found that 82% of the most resilient organizations rank highly for customer satisfaction, while 76% score highly for employee engagement. Overall, resilient businesses are far more confident in their ability to outperform competitors across growth, profitability, reputation, innovation, and adoption. And the flexibility that this culture of autonomy and adaptability provides will allow me to be flexible too, as I deal with the birth of my child. How to embed flexibility within your organization If you don’t have flexibility embedded in your organization, the following can be helpful: Encourage cross-training: Let your team experiment and explore new skills, or take on “side quests” as we like to call them, even if it doesn’t support their primary role. If only one person knows how something works, that’s a risk. There’s high value in having people who can step in when a problem arises, and the person whose job it is to fix it is unavailable. Give your team some slack: It’s okay to set deadlines and timelines, but if you don’t leave room for issues to arise and situations to change, that’s a problem. When there’s no time to adjust (and you inevitably miss deadlines), you start to associate change with failure. Plan for scenarios, not certainties: You can’t set one plan and expect the universe to deliver. There are many potential outcomes to any given situation, so it helps to agree in advance how you would respond to each one. When you anticipate change rather than react to it, it becomes way less scary. Take a momentary step back: Make yourself unavailable for a day and see where the system wobbles. It’s useful to identify where dependencies lie, what gaps exist, and where there isn’t a clear sense of ownership. Pinpointing issues while the stakes are low gives you time to fix them before the system breaks down and you’re not there to step in. Not knowing is part of the job The concept of the “all-knowing leader” is such a myth. Many leaders talk big, but the fact that 44% of founders suffer from imposter syndrome says it all. We’re human, and nobody has it all figured out. Most of the time, we’re putting on a brave face and hoping for the best. If the experience of managing pregnancy and leadership has taught me anything, it’s that admitting “I don’t know yet” isn’t a weakness. Like early parenthood, startups are full of unknowns. What separates good leaders isn’t their ability to eliminate uncertainty, but how they equip their teams to respond when difficulties arise and circumstances inevitably change. View the full article

Learn what the Google 3 pack is, why it‘s important for your business, and how to rank in it consistently. View the full article

Fujifilm’s newest camera model, the Instax Mini Evo Cinema, is a gadget that’s designed for the retro camera craze. The device is a vertically oriented instant camera that can take still images, videos (an Instax camera first), connect with your smartphone to turn its photos into physical prints, and capture images in a wide range of retro aesthetics. It’s debuting in North American markets in early February for $409.95. Fujifilm’s new model taps into a younger consumer base’s growing interest both in retro tech and film photography aesthetics—a trend that’s been driven, in large part, by platforms like TikTok. The Instax Mini Evo Cinema turns that niche into a clever feature called the “Gen Dial”: a literal dial that lets users toggle between decades to capture their perfect retro shot. How the “Gen Dial” works Almost everything about the Instax Mini Evo Cinema screams nostalgia, from its satisfying tactile buttons to its vertical orientation—and that’s by design. According to Fujifilm, the camera’s silhouette is inspired by the 1965 Fujica Single-8, an 8-millimeter camera initially introduced as an alternative to Kodak’s Super 8. While the Instax Mini Evo Cinema does come with a small LCD display, its main functions are controlled with a series of dials, buttons, and switches, which Fujifilm says are designed “to evoke the feel of winding film by hand, add to the analog charm, and expand the joy of shooting and printing.” The most innovative of these is undoubtedly the Gen Dial. While there are plenty of existing editing apps and filter presets to give a photo a certain vintage look in-post, this may be the first instant camera to actually brand in-camera filters by era. The dial is labeled in 10-year increments, from 1930 to 2020. To choose an effect, users can simply click to the era they’d like to replicate, then shoot and print. According to the company, selecting “1940” will result in a look inspired by the “vivid color expression of the three-color film processes,” for example; 1980 pulls cues from 35-millimeter color negative film; and 2010 evokes the style of early smartphone photo-editing apps (throwback!). “Overall, our goal with Mini Evo Cinema is to deepen options for creative expression,” says Ashley Reeder Morgan, VP of consumer products for Fujifilm’s North America division. “Beyond video, the Gen Dial provides an experience to transcend time and space over 100 years (10 eras), applying both visual and audio to the mini Evo Cinema output.” For amateur photographers looking to achieve a certain vintage aesthetic without spending endless hours in Adobe Lightroom or fiddling with complicated camera settings, it’s the perfect intuitive solution. Retro cameras get a TikTok-driven boost For Fujifilm, the Instax Mini Evo Cinema is part of a broader, internet-driven revival of the brand’s camera division. While Fujifilm previously spent years moving away from its legacy camera business to focus on healthcare, its $1,599 retro-themed X100V camera—which went viral on TikTok—recently triggered a resurgence in its sales. The company’s most recent financials, released in September, show that its imaging division (which includes cameras) experienced a 15.6% revenue increase year over year, which Morgan says is attributable to the success of its instant and digital cameras. “Overall, we have been thrilled to see younger generations rediscovering the joy of photography, whether instant, analog, or digital,” Morgan says. The X100V’s popularity online is likely driven by Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s interest in retro tech aesthetics (see: Urban Outfitter’s iPod revival), as well as a more general resurgence in film photography in recent years. Analog cameras are having a moment, and companies like Polaroid and Fujifilm are cashing in. View the full article

It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the market for artificial intelligence and its associated industries are over inflated. In 2025, just five hyperscalers—Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle—accounted for a capital investment of $399 billion, which will rise to over $600 billion annually in coming years. For the first nine months of last year, real GDP growth rate in the U.S. was 2.1%, but would have been 1.5% without the contribution of AI investment. This dependence is dangerous. A recent note by Deutsche Bank questioned whether this boon might in fact be a bubble, noting the historically unprecedented concentration of the industry, which now accounts for around 35% of total U.S. market capitalization, with the top 10 U.S. companies making up more than 20% of the global equity market value. For such an investment to yield no benefit would be a failure of unprecedented proportions. In their book Power and Progress, Nobel Prize-winning economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson narrate the calamitous failure of the French Panama Canal project in the late 19th century. Thousands of investors, large and small, lost their fortunes, and 20,000 people who worked on the project died for no benefit. The problem, Acemoglu and Simon write, was that the vision for progress did not include everyone—and failure to incorporate feedback from others resulted in poor quality decision making. As they observe, ”what you do with technology depends on the direction of progress you are trying to chart and what you regard as an acceptable cost.“ Fast forward 150 years and a significant chunk of the U.S. economy is similarly dependent on a small coterie of grand visionaries, ambitious investors, and techno-optimists. Their capacity to ignore their critics and sideline those forced to bear the costs of their mission risks catastrophic consequences. Trustworthy AI systems cannot be conjured by marketing magic. We must ensure those building, deploying, and working with these systems can have a say in how we direct the progress of this technology. Mistrust and a general lack of optimism The data suggests that there is an urgent need to chart a new course. Even a generous analysis of the market for generative AI products would likely struggle to show how a decent return on the gargantuan investment in capital is realistic. A recent report from MIT found that notwithstanding $30 billion to $40 billion in enterprise investment into GenAI, 95% of organizations are getting zero return. It is difficult to imagine another industry raising so much capital despite producing so little to show for it. But this appears to be Sam Altman’s true superpower, as Brian Merchant has documented extensively. This is coupled with significant levels of mistrust and a general lack of optimism from everyday people about the potential of this technology. In the most comprehensive global survey of 48,000 people across 47 countries, KPMG found that 54% of respondents are wary about trusting AI. They also want more regulation: 70% of respondents said regulation is necessary, but only 43% believe current laws are adequate. The report concludes that the most promising pathway towards improving trust in AI was through strengthening safeguards, regulation, and laws to promote safe AI use. This, most obviously, sits in stark contrast with the position of the The President administration, which has repeatedly framed regulation of the industry as an impediment to innovation. But the trust deficit cannot simply be hyped out of existence. It represents a significant structural barrier to the take up and valuable deployment of emerging technologies. One of the key conclusions of the MIT report is that the small subset of companies that actually saw productivity gains from generative AI products were doing so because ”they build adaptive, embedded systems that learn from feedback.” Highly centralized decisions about procurement were more likely to result in employees being required to use off-the-shelf products unsuited to the enterprise environment and generating outputs that employees mistrusted, especially for higher-stakes tasks, resulting in work arounds or dwindling rates of usage. The problem is that these tools fail to learn and adapt. In turn, there are too few opportunities for executives to receive that feedback or incorporate it meaningfully into model development and adaptation. The narrative spun by politicians and media commentators that the AI industry is full of visionary leaders inadvertently points to a key cause of why these products are failing. Trust in AI systems can only be earned if feedback is both sought and acted on—which is a significant challenge for the hyperscalers, because their foundational models are less capable of adapting and responding to unique and varied contexts. Unless we decentralize the development and governance of this, the benefits may remain elusive. The workers’ view There are useful ideas lying around that could help navigate a different path of technological progress. The Human Technology Institute at the University of Technology Sydney published research about how workers are treated as invisible bystanders in the roll out of AI systems. Through deep, qualitative consultations with nurses, retail workers, and public servants to solicit feedback about automated systems and their impact on their work. Rather than exhibiting backward or unhelpful attitudes to AI, workers expressed nuanced and constructive contributions to the impact on their workplaces. Retail workers, for example, talked about the difficulties of automated systems that disempowered workers, and curtailed their discretion: “unlike a production line, retail is an unpredictable environment. You have these things called customers that get in the way of a nice steady flow.” A nurse noted how “the increasing roll-out of automated systems and alerts causes severe alarm fatigue among nurses. When an (AI system) alarm goes off, we tend to ignore or not take it seriously. Or immediately override to stop the alarm.” One might think that increased investment in such systems would contend with the problem of alarm fatigue. But without worker input, it’s easy to miss this as a problem entirely. The upshot is that, as one public servant put it, in workplaces where channels for worker feedback are absent, a necessary quality of employees was “the gift of the workaround.” Traditionally, this kind of consultation and engagement would happen through worker organizations. But with the rate of unionization slipping below 10% in the U.S., this becomes a problem not just for workers but also employers, who are left with few methods to meaningfully engage with their workforce at scale. Some unions are nonetheless leading on this issue, and in the absence of political leadership, might be the best hope of making change. The AFL-CIO has developed a promising model law aimed at protecting workers from harmful AI systems. The proposal focuses on limiting the use of worker data to train models, as well as introducing friction into the automation of significant decisions, such as hiring and firing. It also emphasizes giving workers the right to refuse to follow directives from AI systems—essentially, building in feedback loops for when automation goes wrong. The right to refuse is an essential failsafe that can also cultivate a culture of critical engagement with technology, and serve as a foundation for trust. Businesses are welcome to ignore workers’ views, but workers may end up making themselves heard in other ways. Recent surveys indicate that 31% of employees admit to actively sabotaging their company’s AI strategy, and for younger workers, the rates are even higher. Even companies that fail to seek feedback from workers may still end up receiving it all the same. Our current course of technological progress relies on narrow understandings of expertise and places too much faith in small numbers of very large companies. We need to start listening to the people who are working with this technology on a daily basis to solve real world problems. This decentralization of power is a necessary step if we want technology that is both trustworthy and effective. View the full article

Prime minister hoping to consolidate grip on power by winning majority for ruling partyView the full article

Reddit is now the fourth most visited social media platform in the U.K., overtaking TikTok. The online discussion platform has seen immense growth over the past two years, reaching 88% more internet users in the U.K., thanks to a combination of shifting search algorithms and social media habits. Three in five Brits now encounter the site while online, according to Ofcom, up from a third in 2023. The U.K. now has the second largest user base behind the U.S., according to company records shared with the Guardian. Reddit has also witnessed a drastic demographic change over the same period. More than half of the platform’s users in the U.K. are now women and one-third are Gen Z women, many of whom turn to the platform for forums dedicated to skincare, beauty, and cosmetics. A change in Google’s search algorithms last year, prioritizing content sourced from discussion forums, is partly behind the platform’s growth. Reddit has since become the most-cited source for Google AI overviews, after inking deals with Google and OpenAI, placing the platform at the lucrative intersection of traditional search and AI discovery. That’s combined with the ways we search online evolving in recent years. Many internet users bypass Google altogether and instead seek out human-generated reviews and opinions on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Reddit. “Gen Z are very open to looking online for advice around these life stage moments, like leaving home and renting for the first time, which happens a little bit later for some of this generation,” Jen Wong, Reddit’s chief operating officer, told The Guardian. “It’s a very safe place to ask questions about balancing a cheque book, or how to pay for a wedding.” Rival platforms like YouTube and Facebook have become subsumed with AI-generated slop, and the percentage of Americans using X since Elon Musk took over has dropped drastically—since overtaken by Reddit—according to new findings from Pew Research. Here, Reddit stands out as one of the last remaining platforms that holds a semblance of the small community-run forums of the early internet. Users follow topics of interest rather than influencers. Everyone is anonymous rather than at the mercy of an algorithm. Rather than offering answers it thinks users want to hear, or serving an endless stream of spam, bots and slop, the human-centred discussion threads that remain at its core invite curiosity—the foundation the internet was built upon in the first place. View the full article

You know the feeling: You’re replying to emails, navigating open tabs, responding to direct messages, when suddenly, it happens—your standing weekly 2 p.m. gets canceled abruptly. “Giving everyone 30 minutes back today,” the organizer says. A rush courses through your nervous system: You’re free. Nothing about this recurring meeting is particularly onerous or necessarily stressful. And yet, at this moment, you feel like a burden has been lifted. Maybe you even audibly sigh in relief. That sudden sense that all is right in the world has a psychological cause, Dr. Wilsa Charles Malveaux, a psychiatrist in Los Angeles, explains to Fast Company. A neutralized threat in the brain “Our body is responding to the release of stress,” Charles Malveaux says. Between jobs, families, social obligations, and more, many of us feel overextended. At work, in particular, it can feel as though there’s no option to say no to something, like having to attend a meeting. So when a meeting gets canceled, “It takes the responsibility of having—or wanting—to say no away,” which leads to that sense of relief, Charles Malveaux says, noting that biologically, “We’re getting a sense of ‘I can breathe again.’” We’re programmed to anticipate threats, primarily through the amygdala, the structure in our brain that senses and responds to fear. Once it activates your fight-or-flight system, the brain releases cortisol, which often “lingers after a threat so that we remember how to recognize it and respond for the future,” Charles Malveaux says. So, weekly catch-ups, as harmless and banal as they may be, could actually activate “an elevated sense of threat” tied to anxieties around “being on time, or having to show up and present a certain way in a meeting,” she adds. “When you no longer have that, you feel that release.” But the reason why a particular meeting may trigger someone’s internal threat system depends on the individual. An invitation for introspection Beyond the joy of suddenly having extra free time to plow through piled-up tasks or ditch work early, there may be additional insights you can glean about yourself when certain meetings get canceled. “It’s probably not all of our meetings” getting canceled that makes us experience an absolutely electric sense of newfound freedom,” Charles Malveaux says. “It’s probably just some of them.” If we’re really paying attention to what adds stress to our day-to-day work life, and what does not, it could lead to some helpful introspection. Maybe certain meetings make us feel pressure to perform, or maybe there’s a colleague in that weekly meeting who triggers us. We can use that kind of personal examination to gather information and potentially move more mindfully throughout our workday. Understanding what types of meetings push us into an emotionally heightened state can help us approach them with a better attitude. Or, in the right environment, we may be able to approach our employers with those concerns and insights—something that could shift the company’s culture across the board. It’s a two-way street: Employers need to be receptive to the idea that all-hands-on-deck-style meetings, for example, may not be the healthiest option for everyone. Long-standing gripes Meetings in general remain a contentious aspect of professional life. Data shows that many of them truly do waste time and drain workers to be less productive. As the workplace at large has been reexamined and reimagined in the post-pandemic era, redesigning meetings has become more of a topic of discourse. Sometimes a meeting can just be an email—and if removing it from workers’ calendars can lower stress levels, why not do it? Building a work culture that understands the difference between necessary and unnecessary meetings is a “top-down issue,” Charles Malveaux says. After all, there’s only so much most workers in an organization can do to control the problem. Employers and upper-level management should “really look at what is actually necessary for optimal function and performance of your organization, versus control, which is a way a lot of people erroneously use meetings,” she says. A reframe That may be easier said than done, and the fact of the matter is that a lot of us will still be sitting through meetings we’d rather avoid as part of being in the workforce. Dealing with the resulting stress is all about energy management, Charles Malveaux suggests. Energy management is a fairly individualized journey, and includes “keeping track of the things that drain us, versus those that fill us back up, and making sure we book time” for the latter, she says. If you’re consistently finding yourself immensely relieved every time a meeting gets canceled, it might be worth zooming out and making sure your energy is being refilled elsewhere in your life—and not just being depleted constantly at work. “Doing an hour or so of something we hate or don’t want to participate in is going to feel a lot different from an hour of something that invigorates us,” Charles Malveaux says, noting, “Making sure that we tune into those things that make us feel good and then schedule time for [them]” is key, and it takes intentionality on the individual’s part. Making space for breaks can help keep burnout at bay, whether it’s just five minutes of silence in your car or a walk in a nearby park. Sounds like the perfect way to spend the time gained from that canceled meeting. View the full article