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Connecting the Dots - 3-21-2025 · Connecting the Dots

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  Today's tech news moves fast, but understanding
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  it shouldn't be hard. That's why Snarfl Solutions
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  Group brings you Connecting the Dots, where we
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  break down what's happening in tech and why it
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  matters to you. Now, let's dive in with your
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  hosts. All right, everyone. Welcome back to Connecting
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  the Dots. It's Friday, March 21st. And as always,
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  we're your colleagues here at Snarfl Solutions
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  Group. That's right. And today is a deep dive
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  day. Oh, yeah. We got some... Fascinating stories
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  to get through. Some really interesting stuff.
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  So, um, how don't you tell us what we're gonna
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  be looking at today? Well, you know, we're gonna
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  start off talking a bit about how we consume
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  tech news and how that landscape is changing
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  a little bit. Okay. And then, uh, we're gonna
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  get into some artificial intelligence stuff,
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  as always, that's really kind of heating up these
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  days. Big topic. Um, then we're gonna get into
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  something a little bit more mundane. But I think
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  it's really interesting. It's, um... you know,
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  the commercial services industry and how technology
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  is really changing that up. Interesting. And
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  then, of course, we'll get into, you know, some
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  potential shifts in how the Internet is regulated.
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  Right. As always. Always happening. Big topic.
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  Yeah. And finally, we'll wrap up with some new
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  ways to deal with those pesky bots online. I
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  hate those things. Everybody does. OK, well,
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  let's jump right in. Let's do it. So first up.
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  We all need to stay up to date on tech news,
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  right? So how about we talk about the way that
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  we actually get that news? Absolutely. So Yahoo
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  just announced that they're going to be selling
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  TechCrunch. Oh, wow. Which is a pretty big deal,
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  and they've been around for a while. It's a pretty
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  well -known source for tech news. And they're
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  selling it to an investment firm called Regent.
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  OK. And what's interesting is that Regent already
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  bought Foundry, which publishes PC World. Interesting.
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  So what does all this mean for us? Well, I think
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  what's fascinating here is that we're seeing
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  a lot more of this media consolidation. OK. You
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  know, where one investment firm owns multiple
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  outlets. Right. And when a single firm owns two
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  really big voices in the tech world, you have
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  to wonder what kind of impact that's going to
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  have on the kinds of stories that we see. That
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  we see, exactly. You know, are we going to see
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  kind of Okionlogic perspective from both those
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  outlets? Are they going to maintain their unique
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  voices? Interesting point. think about you know
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  when you're listening to the radio and a few
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  companies loon all these different stations right
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  you kind of hear the same message you start to
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  notice a pattern exactly yeah and you know even
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  for you know, someone who's not a tech expert
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  like myself, I do check in on these websites
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  every now and then. Yeah. You know, just to see
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  what the latest and greatest is or what's happening
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  with these big tech giants. Sure. So, you know,
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  this whole ownership thing, it definitely makes
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  you think. Yeah, it's something to consider.
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  For sure. Because even if it's not immediately
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  obvious over time, you might start to see changes
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  in the types of stories they're covering. Yeah.
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  You know, maybe they focus more on certain areas
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  that align with. the owner's interests or maybe
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  their editorial stance on certain companies shifts,
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  it's just a reminder that the media landscape
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  is dynamic. It's constantly changing. And those
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  changes in ownership can have a cuddle impact
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  on what you read. Absolutely. Yeah. OK, so let's
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  move on to something that I know a lot of people
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  are talking about these days. AI. Yeah, it's
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  everywhere you look these days. Seriously. It
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  really is. So Wired recently published this really
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  interesting report based on interviews with like
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  50 people who work or used to work at Google.
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  Interesting. And it talks about how Google has
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  been working really hard over the past few years
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  to keep up with OpenAI. Right, the company that
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  created ChatGPT. Right, and it's a really fascinating
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  look into how seriously these big companies are
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  taking AI. Yeah, you know what stood out to me
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  in that report was just the amount of pressure
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  these tech giants are under to innovate quickly.
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  It really sounds like Google felt like they needed
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  to speed up their AI development. And they even
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  made some changes like layoffs and maybe relaxing
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  some of their internal review processes to get
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  things moving faster. Really? Yeah. And if you
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  think about how this impacts, you know, all those
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  AI powered features that you're starting to see
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  everywhere in search engines and other apps,
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  they're all coming out of this really competitive
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  environment. So basically every time we see a
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  new AI tool or feature, it's probably because
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  of this race to be the leader in AI. Exactly.
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  But you made a really interesting point. Well,
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  it makes you wonder, you know, when companies
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  are moving this quickly, are they taking enough
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  time to make sure that these systems are safe,
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  reliable? that they're not gonna have unintended
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  consequences. That's a great point. Yeah, because
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  we're all excited about the potential of AI,
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  but we also need to be mindful of how it's developed
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  and implemented, because that's what ultimately
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  impacts all of us. All right, so let's switch
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  gears a little bit and talk about a part of the
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  tech world that maybe doesn't get as much attention,
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  but it's super important nonetheless. I'm intrigued.
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  Okay, so there's this company called BuildOps,
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  and they make software for companies that handle
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  things like heating, air conditioning, plumbing.
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  Okay so like the behind the scenes stuff. Exactly
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  the essential services that we often take for
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  granted. Right. And get this they just got a
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  whopping a hundred and twenty seven million dollars
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  in funding. Wow. which puts their value at a
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  billion dollars. That's a lot of money. It is
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  a lot of money. For HVAC software. Yeah, but
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  it just goes to show that technology is impacting
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  every industry. That's a good point. Even the
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  ones that might seem a little bit traditional.
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  Yeah, I mean, what's interesting here is that
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  even these essential industries are being revolutionized
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  by technology. Exactly. I mean, Build Top software
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  helps these companies manage everything so much
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  more efficiently, like scheduling their technicians,
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  managing inventory handling, billing, all that
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  stuff. Exactly. And when these companies can
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  operate more efficiently, It means that we get
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  better service. Right, exactly. I mean, think
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  about it. If your office AC breaks down on a
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  scorching summer day. I don't even want to think
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  about that. Nobody does. Yeah. But if the maintenance
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  company uses this kind of software, they can
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  respond quicker and fix it faster. Right, because
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  they know exactly who to send. Exactly. What
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  parts they need. They're organized. So it's tech
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  working behind the scenes to make our lives a
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  little bit easier. Exactly. And I think it's
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  a great example of how technology can have a
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  tangible impact on our daily comfort, our convenience,
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  even in areas we might not always think about.
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  Absolutely. OK, let's move on to something that
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  could have a huge impact on how we all interact
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  online okay this sounds important it is so there
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  are reports that senators Durbin and Graham okay
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  they're planning to introduce a bill that would
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  let section 230 expire in January of 2027 section
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  230 now what is that again so it might sound
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  like legal jargon it kind of does but it's basically
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  a law that protects online platforms okay from
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  being held responsible for what their users post
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  oh I see So it's been a really big deal for the
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  growth of social media sites, forums, all kinds
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  of online communities? Right, because it lets
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  them host a wide range of content without worrying
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  too much about legal repercussions. Exactly.
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  But if this protection goes away, it could change
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  everything. I can see that. Yeah, I mean, imagine
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  what would happen if platforms were suddenly
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  liable for everything their users posted. Right.
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  They might start cracking down on content. Exactly.
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  They might have to become way more aggressive
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  in moderating and removing stuff. Wow. So this
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  could really change what we see online. Absolutely.
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  It could impact everything from the kind of information
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  we have access to, to the way we express ourselves.
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  And how open those discussions can be. Exactly.
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  And there are definitely arguments to be made
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  on both sides. Right. On the one hand, you have
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  this concern about harmful content and misinformation
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  spreading online and maybe without section 230
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  platforms would be more proactive in dealing
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  with that. Right. But on the other hand, there's
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  also this concern about censorship. Right. And
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  the impact on free speech. Absolutely. If platforms
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  become too afraid to let users post freely. It's
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  a really complex issue. It is. With a lot of
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  potential consequences. For sure. OK, so for
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  our last story, let's talk about something pretty
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  cool in the world of online security. All right.
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  I'm always up for some good security news. So
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  Cloudflare just announced something called AI
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  Labyrinth. Okay. Which is basically using AI
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  to fight AI. Whoa, using AI to fight AI? How
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  does that work? So they're using AI to generate
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  fake content. Okay. To confuse and slow down
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  those annoying bots and crawlers. Oh, those things
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  that ignore the rules about not crawling certain
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  parts of the internet. Exactly. So it's like
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  creating a digital obstacle course for the bad
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  guys. Oh, that's kind of clever. Right. And it
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  makes it much harder and more expensive for them
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  to do their thing. So what's the benefit for
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  us regular folks? Well, those bots and crawlers
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  can really mess things up. online yeah they can
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  slow down websites spread spam even try to steal
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  our information exactly so by making it harder
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  for them to operate Technologies like this make
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  the internet a little bit cleaner. Right. A little
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  bit safer for all of us. It's like a constant
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  arms race. It really is. You know, the bad guys
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  get more sophisticated with AI, so we have to
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  develop new ways to defend ourselves. Exactly,
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  and AI Labrith is a pretty interesting example
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  of that. It really is, using the same technology
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  that's being used for harm. Yeah. To create a
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  more secure online experience. I like it. Me
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  too. So that's a wrap for our deep dive today,
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  March 21st. Wow, we covered a lot. We did. We
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  talked about how the tech news landscape has
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  changed. all the excitement around AI, and even
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  how technology is impacting those essential services
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  we rely on. And of course, those potential changes
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  to internet regulation, and those new ways to
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  combat bad bots. It's amazing how all these stories
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  are connected. It is. And how they ultimately
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  impact our daily lives. For sure. So we hope
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  this deep dive helped you connect the dots and
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  see how all these tech trends are shaping the
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  world around us. We are here to help here at
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  Snarfles. Reach out on our website if you have
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  any more questions. That's a wrap on today's
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  top stories. Remember, tech doesn't have to be
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  complicated, and we're here to help connect the
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  dots. If you've got questions or want to learn
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  more, visit us at snarful .com. Thanks for listening,
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  and we'll catch you next time.