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Social Media In Wartime + Betting on the Future + A.I. Passes the Smell Test
Episode 51

Social Media In Wartime + Betting on the Future + A.I. Passes the Smell Test

As the Israel-Hamas war broke out, misinformation and fake imagery surged on X, the platform formerly known at Twitter. Can Meta’s Threads fill the real-time news hole that X created? Should it? Then, Kevin debriefs us on his reporting on Manifold Markets, where Silicon Valley Rationalists bet on the likelihoods of different events. Plus: The company digitizing smell.

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October 13, 20231h 6m

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Show Notes

As the Israel-Hamas war broke out, misinformation and fake imagery surged on X, the platform formerly known at Twitter. Can Meta’s Threads fill the real-time news hole that X created? Should it?

Then, Kevin debriefs us on his reporting on Manifold Markets, where Silicon Valley Rationalists bet on the likelihoods of different events.

Plus: The company digitizing smell.

Today’s Guest:

  • Alex Wiltschko is the founder of Osmo, a company trying to digitize smell.

Additional Reading:

  • Casey Newton on how the war in Israel may change Threads.
  • Some tech insiders believe betting can change the world.
  • The company Osmo put out a research paper showing that an A.I. model it had created was performing better than the “average human panelist” in predicting odor. We want to hear from you.

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