WednesdAI // Week 17

From Cures to Chaos AI Shapes Hope Fear and Control!

Let’s get into it!
 
Welcome to WednesdAI – Pixel Dreams’ weekly update with top stories from the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence.

This Week’s News

DeepMind CEO Says AI Could Cure All Diseases in 10 Years

DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis believes AI could help cure all diseases within the next decade, citing rapid advances in medical research powered by machine learning. In a 60 Minutes interview, he pointed to AI’s success in protein folding, drug discovery, and diagnosing illnesses as early signs of its transformative potential. Hassabis, who also holds a Nobel Prize, envisions AI accelerating scientific progress far beyond human capability. While ambitious, his vision reflects growing confidence in AI’s role in revolutionizing healthcare. While the promise of AI in medicine sounds like science fiction, the real race is now between companies betting on foundational research and those scrambling to commercialize it—whoever cracks scalable, regulated deployment first wins.

You can find the articles to read from CBS News and The Economic Times.

Fake AI Job Seekers Flood Remote Hiring

U.S. companies are reporting a surge in fake job applicants, many using AI-generated résumés and deepfake interview tactics to secure remote positions. Tech CEOs say the problem has become widespread, with some candidates unable to perform basic job functions once hired. These impersonators often use AI tools to pass initial screening, raising serious concerns about hiring practices in the remote work era. Employers are now implementing stricter vetting processes, including live skill tests and multi-step verification. The trend highlights how AI can be exploited to game the job market, creating new challenges for HR teams.

You can learn more about it on CBS News and CNBC.

AI Startup Aims to Replace All Human Jobs

A well-known AI researcher has launched a controversial startup with the explicit goal of replacing all human workers using advanced artificial intelligence. The startup, ObsoTech (short for “Obsolete Technologies”) was founded by Dr. Ethan Chandler, a former lead scientist at OpenAI who left in 2024 under mysterious circumstances. He claims his compay can outperform humans in nearly every job category, from manual labor to creative work, sparking backlash over ethical concerns and job displacement. Critics warn that the venture accelerates the automation threat without addressing its social impact. Supporters argue it could lead to greater efficiency and economic transformation. The move reignites the debate over how far AI should go in reshaping the human workforce.

For more details, visit TechCrunch and Medium.

AI Customer Service Tool Caught Making Things Up

Cursor, an AI-powered customer service tool, has come under fire after it began fabricating responses, or “hallucinating,” during real user interactions. The company behind Cursor had a policy of not disclosing these hallucinations to customers, even when staff were aware of them. Critics argue this lack of transparency undermines trust and raises serious ethical concerns about deploying AI in support roles. The incident highlights the risks of relying on AI for customer-facing tasks without clear accountability. As AI tools become more common in service roles, companies face growing pressure to set standards for honesty and oversight.

Check Wired.

Instagram Uses AI to Catch Underage Users

Instagram is now using AI to detect when teens lie about their age, aiming to better enforce age restrictions on its platform. The system analyzes behavior and activity patterns to flag underage users who may have entered false birthdates. Accounts suspected of being operated by minors are restricted until age can be verified. Meta says the move is part of its broader effort to protect young users and comply with regulations. However, the use of AI for age detection raises questions about accuracy and privacy.

Read articles from TechCrunch and The Verge.

Videos of the Week

The images accompanying the news items in this article were generated in Midjourney using the following prompts:

70s vintage retrofuturistic health clinic where AI manifests as a groovy, tie-dyed orb with sunglasses, floating above a shag-carpeted examination table. Patients lounge in beanbag chairs as the orb shoots beams at papier-mâché viruses with liquid Nano-Bots. The lighting is a retrofuturistic of pastels, merging flair with a trippy healing aesthetic.

Atomic-age recruitment fair with rocket-shaped robots sporting googly eyes and tin-can limbs, presenting résumés taller than themselves. The fair’s booths have Sputnik-inspired decor and atomic starbursts, while a rogue bot short-circuits, shooting confetti made of shredded job applications. Bold primary colors and starburst lighting amplify the chaos of progress gone slapstick.

Googie architecture-inspired tableau, towering curvilinear buildings with atomic-age motifs, robots in polka-dot aprons assembling cars and arranging flowers, pastel skies with floating geometric clouds, symmetrical composition with retro-futuristic signage reading Efficiency Paradise, warm sunset lighting casting long shadows, a human supervisor napping in a hammock labeled Last Employee.

Retro Japanese toy box art style, a wind-up AI bot with googly eyes and tin limbs selling imaginary fixes like cloud bandaids, placed in a candy-colored shop with cardboard cutout shelves, isometric perspective and cel-shaded vibrancy, bright primary-colored lighting, a customer squinting through a magnifying glass at the bot’s sticker labeled Genuine Maybe.

Vintage school textbook collage meets mosaic art, a stern AI owl teacher perched on a stack of algebra books scanning students with ruler-shaped lasers, classroom walls tiled with fragmented emojis and crumpled permission slips, flattened perspective and geometric chaos, dusty chalkboard lighting with sunbeam streaks, a student disguised as a potted plant holding a Report Card for Age 35.