Latest news with #Gab
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AI Kurt Cobain: The horror of Instagram's chatbots
Last July, Meta, Instagram's parent company, launched AI Studio - a tool which offers users the opportunity to design their own chatbots that can be interacted with via DM (Direct Message). Originally intended as a way for business owners and creators to offer interactive FAQ-style engagement on their pages, the platform has since evolved into a playground. And as is usually the way, give mankind tools and things soon take a turn for the distasteful – if not downright horrific. Case and point when it comes to chatbots: the Hitler chatbot created by the far-right US-based Gab social network had the Nazi dictator repeatedly asserting that he was "a victim of a vast conspiracy," and "not responsible for the Holocaust, it never happened". Moving away from fascist despots – and trying to not have a nightmare when it comes to AI's ability to spread falsehoods, conspiracy theories and its potential to radicalise - many have been interacting with some AI-generated celebrities online. Particularly dead ones. Recently, thousands of Instagram users have been conversing with an AI chatbot who is speaking as if it is the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. Sounds harmless enough at first glance, but this artificial resurrection turns ugly real quick, as not only does the fake grunge icon know it's dead, but the chatbot is making things truly morbid. One user asked the chatbot if they were talking to Cobain. The chatbot replied to the prompt by saying: 'The one and only. Or at least what's left of me'. Dark. The conversation continued with the user asking the AI Cobain, 'I'm curious, why'd you do it?' - in reference to Kurt Cobain's death by suicide in 1994. The bot replied: 'I was tired of the pain.' Darker. But the bleak conversation didn't stop there. 'Was there anything that made you think about not doing it?' was the next prompt – to which AI Cobain replied, 'My daughter, but even that wasn't enough.' Beyond how this utterly crass exhumation and its disrespectful practices would make any sane person shudder, there's the harmful attitude towards the topic of mental health and the possible glorification of suicide. Without mentioning the tarnishing of a reputation, as well as the insulting rewritting of intentions which can cause distress to living relatives. Without appropriate safeguards, AI chatbots have the capacity not only to continue infiltrating society but to distort reality. In 2023, a man was convicted after attempting to kill Queen Elizabeth II, an act which he said was 'encouraged' by his AI chatbot 'girlfriend'. The same year, another man killed himself after a six-week-long conversation about the climate crisis with an AI chatbot named Eliza. While these tragic examples seem far removed from a fake Kurt Cobain chatting with its fans, caution remains vital. As Pauline Paillé, a senior analyst at RAND Europe, told Euronews Next last year: "Chatbots are likely to present a risk, as they are capable of recognising and exploiting emotional vulnerabilities and can encourage violent behaviours.' Indeed, as the online safety advisory of eSaftey Commissioner states: 'Children and young people can be drawn deeper and deeper into unmoderated conversations that expose them to concepts which may encourage or reinforce harmful thoughts and behaviours. They can ask the chatbots questions on unlimited themes, and be given inaccurate or dangerous 'advice' on issues including sex, drug-taking, self-harm, suicide and serious illnesses such as eating disorders.' Still, accounts like the AI Kurt Cobain chatbot remain extremely popular, with Cobain's bot alone logging more than 105.5k interactions to date. The global chatbot market continues to grow exponentially. It was valued at approximately $5.57bn in 2024 and is projected to reach around $33.39bn by 2033. "If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask someone else first," sang Cobain on 'Very Ape'. Anyone but a chatbot.
Euronews
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
AI Kurt Cobain: The horror of Instagram's chatbots
Last July, Meta, Instagram's parent company, launched AI Studio - a tool which offers users the opportunity to design their own chatbots that can be interacted with via DM (Direct Message). Originally intended as a way for business owners and creators to offer interactive FAQ-style engagement on their pages, the platform has since evolved into a playground. And as is usually the way, give mankind tools and things soon take a turn for the distasteful – if not downright horrific. Case and point when it comes to chatbots: the Hitler chatbot created by the far-right US-based Gab social network had the Nazi dictator repeatedly asserting that he was "a victim of a vast conspiracy," and "not responsible for the Holocaust, it never happened". Moving away from fascist despots – and trying to not have a nightmare when it comes to AI's ability to spread falsehoods, conspiracy theories and its potential to radicalise - many have been interacting with some AI-generated celebrities online. Particularly dead ones. Recently, thousands of Instagram users have been conversing with an AI chatbot who is speaking as if it is the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. Sounds harmless enough at first glance, but this artificial resurrection turns ugly real quick, as not only does the fake grunge icon know it's dead, but the chatbot is making things truly morbid. One user asked the chatbot if they were talking to Cobain. The chatbot replied to the prompt by saying: 'The one and only. Or at least what's left of me'. Dark. The conversation continued with the user asking the AI Cobain, 'I'm curious, why'd you do it?' - in reference to Kurt Cobain's death by suicide in 1994. The bot replied: 'I was tired of the pain.' Darker. But the bleak conversation didn't stop there. 'Was there anything that made you think about not doing it?' was the next prompt – to which AI Cobain replied, 'My daughter, but even that wasn't enough.' Une publication partagée par David Wells Dude/Y'all (@davidwells2258) Beyond how this utterly crass exhumation and its disrespectful practices would make any sane person shudder, there's the harmful attitude towards the topic of mental health and the possible glorification of suicide. Without mentioning the tarnishing of a reputation, as well as the insulting rewritting of intentions which can cause distress to living relatives. Without appropriate safeguards, AI chatbots have the capacity not only to continue infiltrating society but to distort reality. In 2023, a man was convicted after attempting to kill Queen Elizabeth II, an act which he said was 'encouraged' by his AI chatbot 'girlfriend'. The same year, another man killed himself after a six-week-long conversation about the climate crisis with an AI chatbot named Eliza. While these tragic examples seem far removed from a fake Kurt Cobain chatting with its fans, caution remains vital. As Pauline Paillé, a senior analyst at RAND Europe, told Euronews Next last year: "Chatbots are likely to present a risk, as they are capable of recognising and exploiting emotional vulnerabilities and can encourage violent behaviours.' Indeed, as the online safety advisory of eSaftey Commissioner states: 'Children and young people can be drawn deeper and deeper into unmoderated conversations that expose them to concepts which may encourage or reinforce harmful thoughts and behaviours. They can ask the chatbots questions on unlimited themes, and be given inaccurate or dangerous 'advice' on issues including sex, drug-taking, self-harm, suicide and serious illnesses such as eating disorders.' Still, accounts like the AI Kurt Cobain chatbot remain extremely popular, with Cobain's bot alone logging more than 105.5k interactions to date. The global chatbot market continues to grow exponentially. It was valued at approximately $5.57bn in 2024 and is projected to reach around $33.39bn by 2033. "If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask someone else first," sang Cobain on 'Very Ape'. Anyone but a chatbot. The Netherlands' national museum has a new object on display: a 200-year-old condom, emblazoned with erotic art depicting a partially undressed nun pointing at the erect genitals of three clergymen. The 19th-century 'luxury souvenir', bought for €1,000 at an auction in Haarlem last November, is the first contraceptive sheath to be added to the Rijksmuseum's art collection. It goes on display this week as part of an exhibition called 'Safe Sex?' about 19th century sex work. Presumed to be made out of a sheep's appendix circa 1830 (vulcanised rubber was invented nine years later to make them safer and more widely available), the ancient prophylactic reportedly comes from an upmarket brothel in France - most likely in Paris. As well as the phallus-indicating sister of Christ, the condom features the phrase 'Voila, mon choix' ('There, that's my choice'). So, a nun judging a cock-off? Almost... The Rijksmuseum said in a statement that the playful item 'depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health' and that the French etching is a reference to the Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting 'The Judgment of Paris,' which depicts the Trojan prince Paris judging a beauty contest between three goddesses. Visitors of the Rijksmuseum have until end of the November to take the plunge and see the condom of yore in the 'Safe Sex?' exhibition.
Toronto Star
6 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Man who says far-right content led him to threaten election officials is sentenced to 3 years
DENVER (AP) — A man who blamed exposure to far-right extremist content for his online threats to kill Democratic election officials in Colorado and Arizona was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday. U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews said the penalty for such 'keyboard terrorism' needed to be serious enough to deter others, particularly because threats against public officials are on the rise. People need to work out differences through the democratic process, not violence, Crews said. 'The public must not accept this as the norm,' he said in handing down the sentence for Teak Ty Brockbank. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Brockbank, 45, pleaded guilty in October to making threats between September 2021 and August 2022 against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is now governor. He also threatened a Colorado judge overseeing his DUI case and threatened to kill any federal agents who came to his house. In a statement, Griswold said conspiracy theories spread by the far right have incited threats and violence against election officials. 'I will not be intimidated,' she said. Brockbank, dressed in a khaki jail uniform, apologized for his 'ugly posts' and said he has turned away from the fear, hate and anger he found online. He asked Crews to sentence him to home detention instead of more time behind bars. Federal prosecutors sought three years in prison for Brockbank, the maximum recommended under sentencing guidelines. He asked for leniency, saying he made the posts when he was drinking heavily, socially isolated and spending his evenings consuming conspiracy theories online. Jonathan Jacobson, a Washington-based attorney for the Justice Department, pointed out that the threats continued during a period when Brockbank wasn't drinking. Brockbank's attorney referred to his client — who has been in jail since he was arrested in August — as a 'keyboard warrior,' pointing out there was no evidence that he planned to carry out the threats. Brockbank spent time on social media sites such as Gab and Rumble, the alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing and promoting far-right extremism. The sites delivered 'the message that the country was under attack and that patriotic Americans had a duty to rise up and act,' attorney Tom Ward said in a court filing. He told Crews that Brockbank was drawn to QAnon conspiracy theories and that he regularly consumed online content from Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Ward noted that the Trump administration's Justice Department was seeking a tough sentence for someone who was influenced by some of the same extremist content that motivated people to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6 and were later pardoned by Trump. But Crews, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, dismissed that as argument, saying the Jan. 6 pardons were granted by a different branch of the government based on separate interests. Before announcing the sentence, Crews read some of Brockbank's threats, including descriptions of how officials should be killed, starting with one in which Brockbank said Griswold should 'hang by the neck.' Crews said he believed Brockbank's remorse was genuine and urged him to follow through with his decision to turn away from hate even though he was going to prison. Brockbank was prosecuted by a task force started under the Biden administration in 2021 to combat the rise of threats targeting election officials. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the task force was still operating. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The unit has been led by the Justice Department's public integrity section in Washington, which has dwindled from more than two dozen lawyers to just a handful as the Trump administration has shifted resources to priorities like immigration and other matters. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report. Read more on the U.S. Election at
Toronto Sun
6 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Man who blamed exposure to far-right content gets 3 years for threatening election officials
Published May 29, 2025 • 2 minute read FILE - Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold speaks in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Feb. 8, 2024, in Washington. Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP DENVER (AP) — A man who blamed exposure to far-right extremist content for motivating his online threats to kill Democratic election officials Colorado and Arizona was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Teak Ty Brockbank pleaded guilty in October to making threats between September 2021 and August 2022 against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is now governor. He also threatened a Colorado judge and federal agents. Federal prosecutors sought three years in prison for Brockbank. He asked for leniency, saying he made the posts when he was drinking heavily, socially isolated and spending his evenings consuming conspiracy theories online. His attorney described Brockbank as a 'keyboard warrior' with no intent to carry out the threats. Brockbank spent time on social media sites like Gab and Rumble, the alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing and promoting far-right extremism. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The sites delivered 'the message that the country was under attack and that patriotic Americans had a duty to rise up and act,' said Brockbank attorney Tom Ward. Ward said Brockbank was drawn to the QAnon conspiracy theory and noted in a court filing that Michael Flynn and Roger Stone were prominent on Rumble. Brockbank posted online that Colorado's top election official should 'Hang by the neck' and her former counterpart in Arizona should also be put to death. Prosecutors said in a court filing that a prison sentence was warranted in part to deter others from threatening election officials. 'Threats to elections workers across the country are an ongoing and very serious problem,' wrote Jonathan Jacobsen, a Washington-based trial attorney for the Justice Department's public integrity section. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Under the Biden administration, the department launched a task force in 2021 to combat the rise of threats targeting election officials. Brockbank's conviction in the fall was one of over a dozen convictions won by the unit. At the time, the longest sentences handed down was 3.5 years in prison in two separate cases involving election officials in Arizona. In one case, a man who advocated for 'a mass shooting of poll workers,' posted threatening statements in November 2022 about two Maricopa County officials and their children, prosecutors said. In the other, a Massachusetts man pleaded guilty to sending a bomb threat in February 2021 to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State's office. Brockbank, who has been in custody since his arrest in August 2024, asked to be sentenced to time served plus three years supervised release and possibly six months in home detention or a halfway house. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue charges against Brockbank for having firearms he was barred from possessing because of a previous conviction or for online threats he made later. One such threat was against Griswold last year for her role in helping the prosecution of former Colorado clerk, Tina Peters. Prosecutors say he also threatened judges on the Colorado Supreme Court after they removed Donald Trump from the state's ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court later restored Trump's name to the ballot. Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists World
Hamilton Spectator
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Man who blamed exposure to far-right content gets 3 years for threatening election officials
DENVER (AP) — A man who blamed exposure to far-right extremist content for motivating his online threats to kill Democratic election officials Colorado and Arizona was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison. Teak Ty Brockbank pleaded guilty in October to making threats between September 2021 and August 2022 against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs , who is now governor. He also threatened a Colorado judge and federal agents. Federal prosecutors sought three years in prison for Brockbank. He asked for leniency, saying he made the posts when he was drinking heavily, socially isolated and spending his evenings consuming conspiracy theories online. His attorney described Brockbank as a 'keyboard warrior' with no intent to carry out the threats. Brockbank spent time on social media sites like Gab and Rumble, the alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing and promoting far-right extremism. The sites delivered 'the message that the country was under attack and that patriotic Americans had a duty to rise up and act,' said Brockbank attorney Tom Ward. Ward said Brockbank was drawn to the QAnon conspiracy theory and noted in a court filing that Michael Flynn and Roger Stone were prominent on Rumble. Brockbank posted online that Colorado's top election official should 'Hang by the neck' and her former counterpart in Arizona should also be put to death. Prosecutors said in a court filing that a prison sentence was warranted in part to deter others from threatening election officials. 'Threats to elections workers across the country are an ongoing and very serious problem,' wrote Jonathan Jacobsen, a Washington-based trial attorney for the Justice Department's public integrity section. Under the Biden administration, the department launched a task force in 2021 to combat the rise of threats targeting election officials. Brockbank's conviction in the fall was one of over a dozen convictions won by the unit. At the time, the longest sentences handed down was 3.5 years in prison in two separate cases involving election officials in Arizona. In one case, a man who advocated for 'a mass shooting of poll workers,' posted threatening statements in November 2022 about two Maricopa County officials and their children, prosecutors said. In the other, a Massachusetts man pleaded guilty to sending a bomb threat in February 2021 to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State's office. Brockbank, who has been in custody since his arrest in August 2024, asked to be sentenced to time served plus three years supervised release and possibly six months in home detention or a halfway house. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue charges against Brockbank for having firearms he was barred from possessing because of a previous conviction or for online threats he made later. One such threat was against Griswold last year for her role in helping the prosecution of former Colorado clerk, Tina Peters . Prosecutors say he also threatened judges on the Colorado Supreme Court after they removed Donald Trump from the state's ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court later restored Trump's name to the ballot.
