AI-generated images are making it impossible to distinguish truth from fiction. We need laws and AI watermarks to protect our shared reality.

Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical uses AI as a lens to diagnose older problems: concentrated power, eroding democracy, and a tech elite that shapes the world to its own advantage.

‘He’s having a great time with his new 47% equity,’ one entrepreneur jokes, warning that some startups may leave Australia behind Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tech entrepreneurs have mocked the government’s capital gains tax changes by posting AI-generated photos of Anthony Albanese as their “new founder” and warning that increased taxes could push people away from working for new businesses or send startups overseas. Startups and entrepreneurs may yet receive a carve-out in the federal government’s planned changes to the CGT discount, with the prime minister saying he wanted to support innovation and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealing that consultation was continuing with the sector. Continue reading...

Every few centuries, changes in how information moves reshape how societies govern themselves. The printing press spread vernacular literacy, helping give rise to the Reformation and, eventually, representative government. The telegraph made it possible to administer vast nations like the US, accelerating the growth of the modern bureaucratic state. Broadcast media created shared national audiences,…

New AI tools encouraging deliberation could promote consensus and reduce polarisation in politics

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Colorado raises a deeper philosophical question about artificial intelligence and democracy

From AI-generated images to restricted satellite data, the systems used to verify what’s real online are struggling to keep up.