AI Hype Index: robot hands, Grok's porn feature, and Big Tech's soaring emissions

Full text

It feels bad enough when an open letter signed by leading economists warns that AI might steal your job. The fact it may soon be better than you at making dinner? Insult to injury. But that’s exactly what the company 1X promised when it showed off a pair of new, impressively dexterous (and, to some, oddly sexy?) robotic hands in a July demo.

While the tech community was sharply divided over the appeal of those disembodied hands, almost everyone can agree that a few things are decidedly not sexy: Grok’s porn-pilled translation feature, Meta’s creepy glasses (which may soon get even creepier), and Big Tech’s emissions (which continue to skyrocket).

But while it’s not always the most popular technology, at least AI is paying off for one group: single chip workers in Korea, newly inundated with dating opportunities thanks to their giant bonuses. Who says you can’t buy love?