Weekly Roundup: August 18-22, 2025
Moves towards AI ethics make AI look… unethical
AI-Driven Personalized Pricing May Not Help Consumers
AI - 572.52% 24-Hour Drop Amid Sector Volatility
Visual effects executive calls for guardrails on AI
Gut check: a poll in April by Quinnipiac found that 69% of Americans think that the government is not doing enough to regulate AI. Pew Research Center also found that the majority of Americans want to see stricter (or any) regulations. In an administration of deregulation, we are most likely to see this happen at the state and local levels, including pressure being put onto companies themselves. The recent announcement of regulation of AI use in K-12 education in Ohio is a great example of this - and when Ohio is leading the way in regulation, we might want to take notice. Unsurprisingly, the push for regulation is causing all kinds of pushback in the market, including drops in stock prices, company spin, and statements about a world where we will have to give AI passports. As AI becomes more and more prevalent in daily life expect to see an increase in this kind of push-pull. It will likely continue to be concentrated in areas like education, the jobs market, and cost of living… especially since most of the US public would rather have cheaper food and healthcare than automated workflows.
We’re watching AI law being created in real time
Chatbots ‘deceived children into thinking they were getting therapy’
Otter.ai Sued Under Wiretap Laws Over Meeting Transcription Tool
Workday AI lawsuit receives the greenlight to proceed as a collective action
Gut check: I tell my clients regularly that they don’t want to be named in a seminal AI ethics case. It’s not “my CEO was at Coldplay with the head of HR” kind of bad. It’s the actual kind of bad. While big names like Meta, Workday, and Otter (is Otter a big name?) are beating many companies to the punch, it takes time and a series of decisions to really set legal precedent. We all have time to screw this one up. A focus on ethics, governance, and diligence will win the day for most. Emerging regulation, like the EU AI Act, can be used as a baseline to get started. Even simple policies can go a long way, and have a relatively cost to buy in. Think about how much goes into contracts or SOC 2 compliance. A transparency statement, SOP, and a governance structure is much simpler.
Yet another reason to save the bees
Why tiny bee brains could hold the key to smarter AI
Gut check: Ok, this is not a trend. It IS amazing, and because finding sleeping bees in my pollinator garden is my new obsession, a bee/AI crossover is clearly going to make this week’s list. If you are not familiar with the waggle dance, stop now and check it out. It’s amazing.
I’ll wait…
If the theory that movement-powered info gathering and pattern recognition can replace huge computer networks this could be a breakthrough addressing the environmental impacts of AI. We should all keep an eye on this one.
Yes, that is one of my sleeping bees.
