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Connecting the Dots - 4-22-2025 · Connecting the Dots

• 0:00
  Well, hello and welcome back to Connecting the
• 0:02
  Dots from Snarfle Solutions Group. Good to be
• 0:04
  here. OK, so it's Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025.
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  A quick look outside for our Sacramento listeners
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  looking sunny, about 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Nice
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  day. And the markets yesterday. Right, markets.
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  Dow Jones closed at 388 .63 .12 and the S &P
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  500 ended Tuesday at 5248 .02. OK. So today we're
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  going to dive into three tech stories that caught
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  our eye, things that might actually change how
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  we do things day to day. Yeah, it's always good
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  to connect those dots, see how this stuff really
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  affects us. Exactly. So first up. Amazon. Apparently
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  they hit a bit of a wall last year with AI chips,
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  GPUs specifically. Yeah, that's right. The whole
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  generative AI boom starting early 2024 really
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  put a squeeze on GPU supply globally. And Amazon's
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  retail side felt that. Oh, definitely. We heard
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  it caused real delays, you know, for their e
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  -commerce platform, even logistics projects.
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  Some teams were apparently stuck waiting for
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  months. Months. Wow. Just waiting for chips.
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  Yeah, months. It shows how vital these things
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  have become. Almost overnight, it feels like.
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  So what did they do? I read something about Project
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  Greenland. That was their answer. Launched around
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  July 2024. Project Greenland was basically a
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  central hub, a pool, to manage and hand out the
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  GPUs they did have. A central pool. So not just
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  grab what you can. Exactly. They also put in
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  like stricter approval processes. No more free
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  for all. How did they decide who got priority
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  then? Must have changed the whole approach. It
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  did. They shifted focus to ROI, return on investment.
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  Makes sense for a business. Right. Which projects
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  would actually deliver the most value? That plus
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  what they called common sense and focusing on
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  long term cash flow. So you had to make a case
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  for needing those valuable GPUs. Pretty much.
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  GPUs are too valuable to be given out on a first
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  -come first -serve basis. That was apparently
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  the internal motto. Okay, so Greenland wasn't
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  just a policy, it was a system. Yeah, a full
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  platform. They called it a centralized GPU orchestration
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  platform. Orchestration? Sounds complex. Well,
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  it was designed to share capacity, track who
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  was using what, even share servers that were
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  sitting idle. And clawback chips if a project
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  wasn't performing. Yep, clawbacks were part of
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  it. Plus streamlining, networking, security,
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  all that stuff needed. when you're sharing resources
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  like this. And now all GPU requests go through
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  Greenland. Within retail, anyway. Starting this
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  year, yes. That's the process. Did it work? Did
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  it ease the crunch? It seems like it. By late
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  last year, December 2024, their own forecasts
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  were saying the GPU crunch should get better
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  in 2025. And now? Now, Amazon says its retail
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  side has ample GPU capacity. They're getting
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  it through AWS, Amazon Web Services. Ah, leveraging
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  their own cloud division. Smart. Very. And having
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  this central system, Greenland, could really
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  help them deploy AI faster down the road compared
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  to others maybe still scrambling for resources.
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  That's a really good point. It's about future
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  agility, too. So they have this ample capacity.
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  What are they actually doing with it? A lot,
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  apparently. Over 160 AI initiatives just in the
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  retail business. 160? Like what? Well, things
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  like the Rufus Shopping Assistant. You might
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  have seen that. The Thea tool for generating
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  product images. Vision systems to help delivery
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  drivers find packages. VAPR, they call it. AI,
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  to standardize product info from other websites
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  automatically, optimize delivery routes, better
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  customer service bots for returns. even investigating
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  seller fraud. Wow, it's really embedded everywhere
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  from customer experience to the back -end logistics.
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  Pretty much. Efficiency and customer experience
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  seem to be the big drivers. And is it paying
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  off financially? That's the key question, I guess.
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  Well, their internal numbers suggest it is. They
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  estimate these AI efforts indirectly added about
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  $2 .5 billion in operating profit last year.
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  Billion. With a B. Billion. And saved around
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  $670 million in variable costs. That's substantial,
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  so the investment continues. Oh, yeah. They're
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  planning about $1 billion for these GPU AI projects
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  in retail this year, and overall spending on
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  AWS infrastructure is going up, too, to maybe
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  $5 .7 billion. Huge numbers. But is the demand
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  problem totally solved? I saw a mention of a
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  job listing. Ah, right. Good catch. Even with
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  Greenland and AWS, a recent job ad for the Greenland
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  team itself mentioned the, quote, ongoing challenge
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  of meeting explosive GPU demand. So it's still
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  a balancing act, better managed, but the demand
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  is just relentless. It's a constant race likely
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  for everyone in this space, not just Amazon.
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  OK, let's shift gears. Story number two, teenagers
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  and social media. There's new survey data out.
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  Yes, from Q Research. They talked to about 1400
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  U .S. teens ages 13, 17 and their parents back
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  in the fall of 2024. Focus was on mental health
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  and social media. And the headline finding seems
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  to be. More negativity. Quite a jump, yeah. Now,
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  48 % of teens think social media has a mostly
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  negative effect on people their age. 48%. What
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  was it before? Back in 2022, it was 32%. So that's
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  a pretty significant rise in negative perception.
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  Interesting, though. They see it negatively affecting
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  other teens, but maybe not themselves as much.
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  That's a classic finding. Only 14 % said social
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  media negatively impacts them personally. There's
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  often that disconnect. It's bad for them, but
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  I handle it OK. Right. And are they feeling like
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  they spend too much time on it? More are saying
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  that, too. 45 % now feel they spend too much
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  time, up from 36 % in 2022. OK. And I think the
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  survey pointed out some differences between girls
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  and boys. It did. Teen girls seem to report more
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  negative experiences overall like what specifically
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  they were more likely than boys to say social
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  media hurt their mental health 25 % of girls
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  versus 14 % of boys Wow also more likely to say
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  it hurt their confidence 20 % versus 10 % and
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  Significantly more likely to say it negatively
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  impacted their sleep half of the girls 50 % said
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  that 50 % That's huge. Sleep is so critical.
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  It really is But it wasn't all negative in the
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  findings. No, what were the positives? Well,
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  big majorities still see upsides. Like, 74 %
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  said social media makes them feel more connected
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  to their friends. Okay, connection is still key.
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  And 63 % see it as a place to show their creative
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  side. So it's complicated. Connection and creativity
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  are still strong poles. What about the parents?
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  Are they seeing things the same way? Parents
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  seem generally more worried. 55 % of parents
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  said they were extremely or very concerned about
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  teen mental health. compared to only 35 % of
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  teens saying the same about their peers. So parents
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  are more worried overall. And do they blame social
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  media more? They seem to. Among parents who are
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  concerned, 44 % pointed to social media as a
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  major reason for negative impacts on teens. And
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  what did the teens themselves say was the cause,
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  if not just social media? Well, 22 % of concerned
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  teens did cite social media as the main negative
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  factor for their peers' mental health. But they
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  also pointed pretty strongly to bullying, 17%,
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  and just general social pressure, 16%. So a slightly
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  broader view from the teens themselves. Bullying
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  and pressure are big factors too. Right. It's
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  not just the platforms in their view. It's also
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  how people interact on them and the pressures
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  they feel. The survey also asked about talking
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  about mental health, right? Between teens and
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  parents. Yes. And there's a gap there too. Most
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  parents, 80%, feel comfortable talking about
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  it with their teen. But the teens? Fewer teens
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  feel comfortable talking to their parents, only
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  52%. Interesting. Who are they comfortable talking
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  to, then? Friends were actually slightly lower
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  than parents at 48%. Parents were 52%. Then therapists
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  at 31%. Other family at 26%. Teachers. way down
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  at 12%. Friends and parents are the top two,
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  basically neck and neck. That's something. It
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  is. And kind of counter -intuitively, some teens
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  are actually using social media itself to find
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  mental health info. Wait, really? Despite seeing
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  it as negative overall? Yeah, about a third,
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  34%, said they sometimes get mental health information
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  there. And of that group, 63 % called it an important
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  resource. That's surprising. Are certain groups
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  doing this more? Yes. Girls were more likely
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  than boys, and black teens more likely than...
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  white or Hispanic teens to seek out that info
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  online. Races questions about the quality of
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  that information though. Absolutely. That's the
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  big caveat. It's accessible but is it accurate
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  or helpful. That's unclear. The survey also dug
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  into specific bad experiences right like drama.
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  Yeah about 4 in 10 teens 39 percent said they
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  feel overwhelmed by all the drama on social media
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  sometimes. And again differences between girls
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  and boys. Yes. Girls were more likely to say
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  they felt worse about their own lives after being
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  on social media. compared to boys. Okay. Girls
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  also more likely to feel overwhelmed by the drama,
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  pressured to post popular stuff, or feel excluded
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  by friends online. It sounds like the social
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  comparison and interpersonal dynamics hit girls
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  harder based on this data. That seems to be a
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  pattern here, yes. But on a slightly more positive
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  note, are teens trying to manage this? Are they
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  cutting back? Some are, definitely. 44 % said
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  they have tried to cut back on their social media
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  use. Nearly half. That's encouraging. And again,
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  girls were more likely than boys to say they'd
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  tried to cut back. It suggests an awareness is
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  growing, and they're trying to find ways to cope
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  or reduce exposure. OK, a lot to think about
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  there. Let's move to our final brief story. This
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  one's about AI in K -12 schools. Yeah, this is
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  more of a heads up, really. Information is still
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  pretty thin. It comes from a New York Times piece
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  that was mostly about potential changes at the
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  State Department under a Trump administration.
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  And buried in there was something about schools.
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  Exactly. A mention of a draft executive order
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  that's apparently considering, considering mind
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  you, a policy to integrate AI into K -12 education.
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  Integrate AI? How? Do we know anything more?
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  Nope. That's about it for now. The article didn't
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  really detail how they envision this working
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  or the reasoning or any timeline. It's very high
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  level. So just the idea is being floated basically.
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  Pretty much. The consideration of a policy. That's
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  all we know from this source. But still interesting
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  that it's even being considered at that level.
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  AI in the classroom. It is. It obviously opens
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  up a ton of questions. Potential benefits, challenges,
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  how it might change teaching, learning. Yeah,
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  definitely something to keep an eye on if more
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  details emerge. For sure. Could be a significant
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  shift down the road. OK, so let's just quickly
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  recap the main points today. Sounds good. We
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  started with Amazon and Project Greenland, their
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  big strategic play to manage that GPU shortage
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  and how that's fueling, like, 160 plus AI projects
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  in their retail arm. Right. And how that centralized
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  approach might give them an edge, even though
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  demand is still a huge challenge. Then we shifted
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  to that Pew survey on teens and social media,
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  growing negative views, especially about the
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  impact on peers, but still seeing value and connection
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  and creativity. And those key differences. particularly
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  for girls reporting more negative experiences
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  with mental health, confidence, sleep, and also
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  being more likely to try cutting back. And finally,
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  just that little flag about a potential move
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  to bring AI into K -12 education based on that
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  draft order mentioned, very early days on that
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  one. Yeah, more of a watch this space item. So
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  why does this matter to, you know, our listeners?
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  For us at Snarfle Solutions Group, understanding
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  these things helps us help our clients, obviously.
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  And for everyone else. Well, that Amazon story.
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  How companies manage resources like GPUs directly
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  impacts the AI services and features we all end
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  up using. Faster, slower, better, worse. Good
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  point. And the teen social media stuff. That
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  gives us insight into the digital world younger
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  people are navigating, the pressures, the good
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  and the bad. Affects families, communities. Absolutely.
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  And AI and education, if that moves forward,
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  could reshape learning for future generations.
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  Huge potential impact there. They're all connected,
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  really, threads in how technology is weaving
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  itself deeper into everything. Definitely complex
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  areas, and they're changing fast. It's useful
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  to think about how these currents might affect
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  your own, world, work, family, all of it. Well
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  said. And that just about wraps up our deep dive
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  for today. Always lots to talk about in tech.
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  There certainly is. Remember, we are here to
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  help here at SNARFL, so reach out on our website
• 12:15
  if you have any more questions.