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Geoffrey A. Fowler Profile
Geoffrey A. Fowler

@geoffreyfowler

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Tech Columnist @WashingtonPost. @geoffreyfowler on IG and Threads, @geoffreyfowler.bsky.social on BlueSky and email at [email protected]

San Francisco
Joined March 2009
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
1 day
Of my 65 draft notes, only 3 got published. That’s less than 5%. The problem: not enough other users voted that my notes were “helpful,” even though they were 100% about stuff pro news outlets had fact checked. Read 👉
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washingtonpost.com
Our tech columnist drafted 65 community notes, Meta’s new crowdsourced system to fight falsehoods. It failed to make a dent.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
1 day
Mark Zuckerberg fired pro fact checkers after Trump got re-elected. So @washingtonpost I tested Zuck's replacement: crowdsourced community notes." Over 4 months, I drafted 65—debunking lies ranging from Mr. Rogers to ICE. It failed to make a dent. Read 👉
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
3 months
Jony Ive & @sama are right that the hardware interface between humans and the "external brain" of AI is ripe for development. I hope they heed the hard lessons about values that have to be baked in, like privacy, safety, interoperability & access.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
3 months
"the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen".
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openai.com
Building a family of AI products for everyone.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
3 months
What's clear: Teen Accounts can’t be relied upon to actually shield kids from the dangers of Instagram's own algorithm. For lawmakers, the failure of these voluntary efforts speak volumes about Meta's accountability. Read:
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washingtonpost.com
Meta promised parents it would shield teens from harmful content. Tests by young users and our tech columnist dad find it fails spectacularly in important ways.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
3 months
I repeated the GenZer tests—and my results were worse. In the first 10 min, Instagram recommended a video celebrating a man who passed out from alcohol. Another demoed a "bump" ring for snuff. Eventually, the account was recommending alcohol & nicotine as often as 1 in 5 Reels.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
3 months
These test teen accounts got algorithmically recommended sexual, body image, alcohol, drug & hate content. This happened even though Meta promised “teens will be placed into the strictest setting of our sensitive content control.". My column:
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washingtonpost.com
Meta promised parents it would shield teens from harmful content. Tests by young users and our tech columnist dad find it fails spectacularly in important ways.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
3 months
RT @saalevine: Once again, @Meta deceives and deflects when confronted with the harm their products are causing teens. Here is what @geoffr….
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
4 months
PSA: Delete your DNA from 23andMe right now. It just declared bankruptcy. And California’s attorney general has issued an unusual “consumer alert” about how to protect your privacy.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
5 months
Following Amazon’s announcement of Alexa+ this morning and remembering how it announced the same thing back in 2023. And then it didn’t work:.
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washingtonpost.com
Amazon’s effort to play catch up with ChatGPT is still very much a work in progress — and that includes proving we can trust it.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
6 months
Here are the dozen eggs ChatGPT's Operator spent $31.43 on without my permission. They weren't even organic!
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
6 months
Uh-oh AI: Operator, the new 'helper' agent from OpenAI, bought 12 eggs without my permission. And it paid $32 for them!.I test a lot of new tech. This is the first time a rogue computer cost me real-world $$. Gift link to my @washingtonpost column below.
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@geoffreyfowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler
7 months
Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban set to start on Sunday. Trump has promised to save TikTok — now the question is how?
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washingtonpost.com
Donald Trump had asked the Supreme Court to delay TikTok’s ban-or-sale law to give him an opportunity to act once he returns to the White House.
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