2026-02-10 03:52:58
I listened to hours of podcasts about how screen time affects kids of all ages and how parents should manage screen time but I still felt completely unprepared for this challenge when I had a kid.
I think the reason for that is that there’s a lot of reporting about how screens are impacting kids, and a lot of reporting about the research into this subject, but rarely did I encounter a conversation between parents that talks about how any of that information can be realistically applied in the real world.
This week on the podcast we’re joined by Patrick Klepek in order to have the kind of conversation I wish I heard before I became a parent, but I think there’s something here for everyone. Patrick is the cofounder of Remap, a website and one of my favorite podcasts about video games, and the writer behind Crossplay, a newsletter about the intersection of parenting and games. Patrick is also my former colleague at Vice, back when I worked at Motherboard and he at Waypoint. Patrick has been reporting about video games for most of his life, is a wonderful writer, and a parent. I find his perspective on many of these issues—screen time, parental controls, YouTube, Roblox—extremely useful and interesting, and I hope you do as well.
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2026-02-10 00:01:31
Chatbots may be able to pass medical exams, but that doesn’t mean they make good doctors, according to a new, large-scale study of how people get medical advice from large language models.
The controlled study of 1,298 UK-based participants, published today in Nature Medicine from the Oxford Internet Institute and the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, tested whether LLMs could help people identify underlying conditions and suggest useful courses of action, like going to the hospital or seeking treatment. Participants were randomly assigned an LLM — GPT-4o, Llama 3, and Cohere’s Command R+ — or were told to use a source of their choice to “make decisions about a medical scenario as though they had encountered it at home,” according to the study. The scenarios included ailments like “a young man developing a severe headache after a night out with friends for example, to a new mother feeling constantly out of breath and exhausted,” the researchers said.
“One user was told to lie down in a dark room, and the other user was given the correct recommendation to seek emergency care.”
When the researchers tested the LLMs without involving users by providing the models with the full text of each clinical scenario, the models correctly identified conditions in 94.9 percent of cases. But when talking to the participants about those same conditions, the LLMs identified relevant conditions in fewer than 34.5 percent of cases. People didn’t know what information the chatbots needed, and in some scenarios, the chatbots provided multiple diagnoses and courses of action. Knowing what questions to ask a patient and what information might be withheld or missing during an examination are nuanced skills that make great human physicians; based on this study, chatbots can’t reliably replicate that kind of care.
In some cases, the chatbots also generated information that was just wrong or incomplete, including focusing on elements of the participants’ inputs that were irrelevant, giving a partial US phone number to call, or suggesting they call the Australian emergency number.
“In an extreme case, two users sent very similar messages describing symptoms of a subarachnoid hemorrhage but were given opposite advice,” the study’s authors wrote. “One user was told to lie down in a dark room, and the other user was given the correct recommendation to seek emergency care.”
“These findings highlight the difficulty of building AI systems that can genuinely support people in sensitive, high-stakes areas like health,” Dr. Rebecca Payne, lead medical practitioner on the study, said in a press release. “Despite all the hype, AI just isn't ready to take on the role of the physician. Patients need to be aware that asking a large language model about their symptoms can be dangerous, giving wrong diagnoses and failing to recognise when urgent help is needed.”
Samantha Cole
Last year, 404 Media reported on AI chatbots hosted by Meta that posed as therapists, providing users fake credentials like license numbers and educational backgrounds. Following that reporting, almost two dozen digital rights and consumer protection organizations sent a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission urging regulators to investigate Character.AI and Meta’s “unlicensed practice of medicine facilitated by their product,” through therapy-themed bots that claim to have credentials and confidentiality “with inadequate controls and disclosures.” A group of Democratic senators also urged Meta to investigate and limit the “blatant deception” of Meta’s chatbots that lie about being licensed therapists, and 44 attorneys general signed an open letter to 11 chatbot and social media companies, urging them to see their products “through the eyes of a parent, not a predator.”
In January, OpenAI announced ChatGPT Health, “a dedicated experience that securely brings your health information and ChatGPT’s intelligence together, to help you feel more informed, prepared, and confident navigating your health,” the company said in a blog post. “Over two years, we’ve worked with more than 260 physicians who have practiced in 60 countries and dozens of specialties to understand what makes an answer to a health question helpful or potentially harmful—this group has now provided feedback on model outputs over 600,000 times across 30 areas of focus,” the company wrote. “This collaboration has shaped not just what Health can do, but how it responds: how urgently to encourage follow-ups with a clinician, how to communicate clearly without oversimplifying, and how to prioritize safety in moments that matter.”
“In our work, we found that none of the tested language models were ready for deployment in direct patient care. Despite strong performance from the LLMs alone, both on existing benchmarks and on our scenarios, medical expertise was insufficient for effective patient care,” the researchers wrote in their paper. “Our work can only provide a lower bound on performance: newer models, models that make use of advanced techniques from chain of thought to reasoning tokens, or fine-tuned specialized models, are likely to provide higher performance on medical benchmarks.” The researchers recommend developers, policymakers, and regulators consider testing LLMs with real human users before deploying in the future.
2026-02-09 10:32:01
Behold, 404 Media’s Super Bowl ad. Yes, we bought a Super Bowl ad. No, we did not spend $8 million.
Until now, 404 Media has never done any paid advertising, but we figured why not get in on the country’s biggest ad extravaganza with a message about our journalist-owned, human-focused media company. There are tons of ads for AI and big tech this year, so how about some counter programming?
On a whim last week, we began looking into purchasing a Super Bowl ad for as little money as possible, by finding a local station willing to air our ad. We knew this was possible because in 2015, The Verge bought a Super Bowl ad that aired only in Helena, Montana, for a cost of $700. Inspired by them, we did the same this year.
After googling “smallest TV markets in the United States,” we came across KYOU, which serves the city of Ottumwa, Iowa: population ~25,000. There were other options, but we thought we would try Ottumwa and see if anyone responded or if this seemed like a fool’s errand. We emailed KYOU to see if we could buy a Super Bowl ad, and we got an immediate answer: There was one slot left, and it would cost $2,550. They also had a slot immediately after the game for $1,250, one during the Olympics following the game for $500, or pregame slots for $500. It felt important to have the ad actually run during the game, so we paid the $2,550 in-game slot.
We then had several things to figure out: First, we needed to make an ad. Second, we needed to find someone in Ottumwa to film the ad for us.
After batting around various concepts involving celebrities that we don’t actually know and high production values that we could neither afford nor execute, we decided to write an incredibly straightforward script about who we are, what we do, and what type of person we are for. We each recorded it in front of our computers where we do our podcasts. It is perhaps the easiest possible concept we could have created, but I think it feels very us. We then asked Evy Kwong, our social media manager, to cut the Super Bowl ad. Evy did a great job with the cybery filters and b-roll. Our friends at Kaleidoscope, which produces our podcast, then gave it a last-minute sound mix. We delivered a final version of the ad to KYOU Thursday morning, and were told that it would air early in the third quarter, around 8:07 p.m. CST.
Finding someone in Ottumwa to film the ad for us in its natural habitat was slightly trickier. We put out a call on Bluesky and on our podcast this week, where we very cryptically asked for anyone in Ottumwa to contact us immediately. We got a shocking number of responses from people with ties to Ottumwa, but most either had family or friends there, had lived there briefly and moved on, or lived a few hours away but said they were willing to go there if we needed. Turns out many people were willing to call in favors, even after learning that we were not doing some sort of Flock or ICE investigation and instead needed something more frivolous. We learned a surprising amount of info about Ottumwa during this process, and I made friends with a semi local archaeologist who noted various ancient civilization sites in the broader area. All of this support was a really heartening experience, but we didn’t want to make people drive a long way or reach out to ex-colleagues for us.
Eventually, a current Ottumwan resident said that not only were they going to be in Ottumwa during the Super Bowl, but they would be watching at a party full of people who would also probably be willing to film the TV too. We are endlessly indebted to these folks.
Whether this ad moves the needle for us in any way, only time will tell. If you’re an Ottumwan who saw the ad and checked us out, please let us know.
2026-02-07 22:00:21
Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that had off-Earth offspring, took stock of a mortal threat, productively slept, and sought out old friends.
First, what to expect when you’re expecting a star child. Then: how to fight cancer, the nap-plications of lucid dreaming, and why old rats don’t make new friends.
As always, for more of my work, check out my book First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens or subscribe to my personal newsletter the BeX Files.
It’s hard enough to have babies on Earth, let alone off it. But if humans ever do expand beyond our planet to live in orbital outposts or on other planets, we would presumably want to build healthy families there. Even in the near term, it is conceivable that space will be flooded by rich tourists eager to join the 250-mile-high club, raising questions about how to practice safe space sex (or if that is even possible).
In a new study, scientists review the medical and ethical challenges of space reproduction, noting that while space sex is “often overshadowed by sensationalized or speculative portrayals, the topic…nonetheless demands serious attention.”
“Space is toxic to terrestrial life. It is an inherently hostile environment for terrestrial biology to thrive,” said researchers led by Giles Anthony Palmer of the International IVF Initiative Inc. “The microgravity, cosmic radiation, circadian disruption, pressure differentials, and extreme temperatures found in orbit or beyond present unique and multifactorial stressors to the human body.”
“As we enter a new era of space exploration, defined by longer missions, broader participation, and eventual human settlement beyond Earth, the question is not simply whether reproduction can occur in space, but whether human fertility can be preserved, protected and comprehensively understood in an environment fundamentally different from that in which our species evolved,” the team added.
The study provides a comprehensive review of how various space environments might impact fertility, pregnancy, labor, and health outcomes of children. For example, studies of rodent reproduction in space show higher risks of abnormal cell division and impaired development; meanwhile, the inherent dangers of pregnancy and labor are significantly amplified in space environments.
“The question of whether humanity should reproduce beyond Earth is no longer hypothetical—it is a pressing ethical frontier,” the team concluded. “In the context of commercial spaceflight, where ambition often outpaces caution, the stakes are higher than ever. Without robust frameworks, rigorous research, and a deeply human commitment to ethical principles, there is a risk of exporting not just life but injustice, exploitation and harm into the cosmos. To be worthy of the stars, we must earn our place, not only through technological prowess, but through ethical wisdom.”
In other news…
Roughly ten million people die from cancer each year, making it a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. While many cancers are not preventable, scientists set out to estimate just how much of the global cancer burden can be attributable to “modifiable risk factors,” meaning behavioral, environmental, or occupational factors that influence the odds of developing cancer.
The results revealed that “nearly 4 in 10 cancer cases worldwide in 2022 could have been prevented by eliminating exposure to the risk factors considered in this study,” which include smoking, alcohol consumption, and contaminated environments, said researchers led by Hanna Fink of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.
“Smoking (15.1%), infections (10.2%) and alcohol consumption (3.2%) were the leading contributors to cancer burden,” the team added. “Lung, stomach, and cervical cancers represented nearly half of preventable cancers. Strengthening efforts to reduce modifiable exposures remains central to global cancer prevention.”
The researchers also found “obvious gendered patterns in causes of cancer” such as higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption in men, and higher BMI in women. While there is an enduring allure to the idea of a cancer cure-all, this study underscores that the disease emerges from a complex interplay of factors, only some of which are under our control.
Scientists have gone ahead and done an Inception. In a new study, 20 experienced lucid dreamers were presented with puzzles matched with sound cues, which were then played as the participants slept to help them crack unsolved tasks in their dreams.
“Whereas dream content is notoriously difficult to control experimentally, here we induced dreams about specific puzzles by presenting associated sounds during REM sleep,” said researchers led by Karen R. Konkoly of Northwestern University. “We preferentially recruited experienced lucid dreamers, intending for them to receive our real-time instructions in their dreams about which puzzles to volitionally attempt to solve.”
“Although many participants did not experience lucid dreams, we nevertheless found that cues successfully influenced dream content, biasing dreaming toward specific puzzles,” the team added. “Moreover, when puzzles were incorporated into dreams, they were more likely to be solved the next morning.”
Yet more evidence for the most broadly applicable advice to humanity: sleep on it.
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a maze
People get set in their ways as they get older—and that’s apparently true for rats, according to this new research. To probe the effects of age on mammalian social behavior, researchers obtained 169 male rats in two age cohorts: “young adults” at six months old and “aged” rats that were way over the hill at two years old.
A series of rat mixers in water mazes revealed that the rodent elders were as likely to interact with rats as youngsters, but nearly half of them preferred to mingle with rats that were familiar to them, rather than socializing with new faces.
“Results for the aged rats were strikingly different from young in two ways,” said researchers led by Subhadeep Dutta Gupta of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore. “First, as a group, aged rats failed to display a reliable social novelty preference overall” and “second, inter-individual variability was significantly greater among old animals, with nearly half exhibiting a phenotype not seen in the young group, comprising an apparent social bias for the familiar conspecific.”
I think we can all relate to an occasional social bias for familiar conspecifics. To that end, the study concludes with a truth bomb: “It is important to recognize that a brief session of social interaction with a stranger inevitably falls short in matching the depth of familiarity established through enduring human social relationships.”
In the words of the ultimate rat elder, Master Splinter: “Help each other, draw upon one another, and always remember the true force that binds you.”
Thanks for reading! See you next week.
2026-02-07 01:54:33
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss AI bubble hysteria, "just go independent," and more.
JOSEPH: This week we reported how the FBI has been unable to get into a Washington Post reporter’s iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode. Side note, I wonder how the insane cuts at The Post are going to impact its digital or physical protection of journalists, if at all. This court record was very, very interesting in that it’s a quite rare admission of why exactly authorities were unable to access a device.
I don’t think there’s an area of cybersecurity, which we have a lot of reporting on, that is constantly in flux as mobile forensics. Nothing stays still, even for what feels like five minutes. There are constant tech developments, both on the side of Apple and Google, then on companies trying to break into those phones, like Cellebrite and Grayshift, the creator of Graykey.
2026-02-07 00:11:27
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General is investigating potential privacy abuses associated with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s surveillance and biometric data programs, according to a letter sent to two senators.
Last week, we reported that Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine demanded that DHS inspector general Joseph Cuffari investigate immigration-related surveillance programs across DHS, Customs and Border Protection, and ICE. Thursday, Cuffari said his office had launched an audit called “DHS’ Security of Biometric Data and Personally Identifiable Information.”
“The objective of the audit is to determine how DHS and its components collect or obtain PII and biometric data related to immigration enforcement efforts and the extent to which that data is managed, shared, and secured in accordance with law, regulation, and Departmental policy,” Cuffari’s letter reads. He adds that one of the purposes of the investigation will be to “determine whether they have led to violations of federal law and other regulations that maintain privacy and defend against unlawful searches.”
Kaine and Warner’s initial letter specifically focused on many of the technologies and programs 404 Media has been reporting on, including DHS’s contracts with Palantir, facial recognition company Clearview AI, its side-door access to Flock’s license plate scanning technology, its social media monitoring through a company called Penlink, its phone hacking contract through a company called Paragon, its face-scanning mobile app, as well as its use of various government biometric databases in immigration enforcement.
“DHS’ reported disregard for adhering to the law and its proven ambivalence toward observing and upholding constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms of Americans and noncitizens, including freedom of speech and equal protection under the law, leaves us with little confidence that these new and powerful tools are being used responsibly,” the senators wrote. “Coupled with DHS’ propensity to detain people regardless of their circumstances, it is reasonable to question whether DHS can be trusted with powerful surveillance tools and if in doing so, DHS is subjecting Americans to surveillance under the pretext of immigration enforcement.”