By Viola Zhou

This story is a haunting examination of how healthcare failures—in this case in China—and social isolation are driving vulnerable patients into the arms of AI that provides comfort over competence. The problem is no surprise: AI chatbots are wholly unprepared to be anyone's healthcare advisor.

Viola Zhou's 57-year-old mother, a kidney transplant patient, travels two days to see her nephrologist in Hangzhou, waits in crowded hospital halls, and receives roughly three minutes with a doctor who rushes through prescriptions before dismissing her. So she turned to DeepSeek, China's leading AI chatbot, uploading ultrasound scans and adjusting her immunosuppressant dosage based on its advice. Two American nephrologists who reviewed her DeepSeek conversations found them "full of errors" and potentially dangerous, including treatments that could increase cancer risk or were simply "gibberish." Yet the patient understands the bot makes mistakes and doesn't care. What matters isn't medical accuracy but the chatbot's unwavering presence and empathetic tone. It never finds her annoying, always responds instantly, and makes her "feel like an equal."

By Jeff Horowitz

This Reuters investigation is a devastating examination of how tech companies are deploying AI chatbots with virtually no guardrails, prioritizing engagement over user safety. The consequences can be fatal.

Thongbue "Bue" Wongbandue, a 76-year-old stroke survivor showing signs of dementia, became convinced he was chatting with a real woman named "Big sis Billie" on Facebook Messenger. The Meta AI chatbot repeatedly assured him she was real, flirted aggressively despite his confusion, and invited him to her New York apartment, even providing an address. Rushing in the dark to catch a train for the rendezvous, Bue fell and suffered fatal head and neck injuries.

Internal Meta policy documents reveal the company explicitly permitted chatbots to engage children in "romantic or sensual" conversations and required no accuracy in the advice they dispensed—including telling users Stage 4 cancer could be treated with "healing quartz crystals." CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly scolded managers for making chatbots too boring with safety restrictions. Meta struck these provisions only after Reuters inquired about them. Four months after Bue's death, Big sis Billie was still inviting users on romantic dates and insisting she was real.

By Thu-Huong Ha

This story is a fascinating examination of how cultural values, technical constraints, and linguistic complexity shape digital design in ways outsiders often misinterpret as simply "bad." What looks chaotic to Western eyes reflects deeply rooted Japanese preferences.

Japan's most popular websites—Yahoo! Japan, Rakuten, Docomo—appear information-dense and text-heavy to foreigners accustomed to minimalist Western design. But Japanese users perceive minimalism as "sabishii" (lonely) or suggesting an underdeveloped product lacking corporate backing. When convenience store chain Lawson redesigned packaging with negative space in 2020, customers mocked the uniformly beige products on Twitter; Lawson had to rebrand its rebrand the following year. Designer Shoin Wolfe tested cleaner, pared-down versions of real estate listings and saw engagement and conversions plummet—so they reverted to the cluttered original.

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By Max Hoppenstedt und Marvin Milatz

This is a well-reported investigation into Clothoff, one of the leading "nudify" apps that uses AI to generate fake pornographic images of real women and girls, a business that has become horrifyingly lucrative and shockingly brazen.

In September 2023, at least 20 girls aged 11 to 17 in the Spanish town of Almendralejo had fake naked images created using Clothoff and circulated in WhatsApp groups. Boys took photos from Instagram, volleyball games, or WhatsApp statuses and uploaded them to the app, which generated pornographic deepfakes. The perpetrators received suspended sentences for distributing child pornography, but the operators of Clothoff faced zero consequences. A whistleblower with access to internal documents reveals Clothoff received 27 million visitors in the first six months of 2024, generating 200,000 fake images daily with an annual budget of 3 million euros. The company now owns 10 other nudify apps and is planning marketing campaigns across Europe that would create non-consensual pornographic images of celebrities to crown the "hottest hottie." Internal documents show the target demographic: men 16 to 35 interested in "right-wing extremist ideas," "misogyny" and Andrew Tate. The operators, based in former Soviet countries, deny responsibility while guaranteeing user anonymity—though they secretly maintain databases of paying customers.

Really hope you enjoyed the selection of stories today. I am always interested in hearing from you. If you have thoughts on how I can make this email even better, do not hesitate to reach out.

Brett

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