1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,560 Coming up today on mini tech scroll, the creator claiming AI 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,760 harassed her in an Uber, Roblox's latest scheme to 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,560 attract 18 plus users, the platform encouraging teens to 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,640 out mug each other and why ChatGPT is obsessed with 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,080 goblins. Hey everyone, and welcome to 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:19,240 mini scroll. The daily Internet culture 7 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:22,120 podcast bring you the biggest stories from social media, the 8 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,280 creator economy and the digital space. 9 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,080 Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays. 10 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,960 My name is Annabelle and I am your Wednesday mini tech Scroll 11 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,840 host and also the deputy editor of Australian youth digital 12 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,320 media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini tech Scroll 13 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,880 for another Wednesday. I don't have much to say the top 14 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,440 of this week's episode apart from the fact that you can 15 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,680 probably already tell that the stories I have today are insane. 16 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,400 Like they are just so chronically online this week I 17 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,520 feel. So I really hope you guys 18 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,440 enjoyed that. And also, as Lauren has been 19 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,880 reminding you guys pretty relentlessly over the past few 20 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,280 days, Please remember to Spotify star radars. 21 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,960 Lauren really wants us to get to 1 K Spotify star reviews. 22 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:12,400 So I am passing on the message. And if you have already star 23 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,000 rated us, thank you very much. If you don't have Spotify but 24 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,000 you engage with us also, thank you very much. 25 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,600 We love it all. My first story for today is that 26 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,240 a creator is currently going viral for sharing her experience 27 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,200 being quote UN quote, sexually harassed by AI in an Uber. 28 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,520 The creator in question is Bonnie Hada. 29 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:34,040 She has 2.2 million followers on TikTok and you may remember her 30 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,920 from when she kind of blasted Matt rife back in 2023. 31 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,880 She had posted a video of her son correcting something that 32 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,120 Matt Rife had said about space because apparently her son is 33 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,560 like really deeply invested in space. 34 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,880 To which Matt ended up leaving a comment saying that Santa Claus 35 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,840 isn't real before alleging that Bunny makes all of her money 36 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:57,840 from only fans, which isn't true. 37 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,360 That is a little bit of context for you on who Bunny is. 38 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,520 I feel like that's when she really came on my radar. 39 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,560 But back to the story. Yesterday, Bunny posted a TikTok 40 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,480 explaining a video she'd posted a couple days prior from an 41 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,560 Uber. In the original video, she is 42 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,600 recording herself in the car where you can hear an AI 43 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:18,600 automated voice in the background. 44 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:22,720 The voice sounds like a woman who begins by saying quote, let 45 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,080 me hit you with that proper welcome before making some 46 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,920 pretty explicit comments. The text over the original video 47 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:32,680 said quote, why did my Uber do this? 48 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:37,400 So in the follow up video, she kind of gives some more context 49 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,360 on the whole situation. And she explains that this 50 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,440 wasn't an automated Uber as some users were questioning in the 51 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,120 previous video's comment section. 52 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,720 And she said that there was a human driver in the car who was 53 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,080 a man. She adds that the car he was 54 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,120 driving was a Tesla, which does have certain AI functions. 55 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,800 I feel like I have literally been in a Tesla like twice and 56 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,640 both of them have been Ubers. But I did look into this while 57 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:04,600 researching for this episode. And according to the Tesla 58 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:09,000 website, the AI assistant in the car is still in beta, but it's 59 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:14,040 been rolling out to Tesla owners since July 2025, as the website 60 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,280 reads. Quote You can talk to Grok, your 61 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:21,360 AI companion built by XAI hands free in your Tesla V Choose 62 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,600 Grok's voice and personality, ranging from storyteller to 63 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,600 Unhinge. To enhance convenience while 64 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,520 you're on the go, you can also use Grok to issue navigation 65 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,640 commands, allowing you to search for and reach your destination 66 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:35,440 without interacting with your vehicle's touchscreen. 67 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,320 So that is a little bit on how Grok operates in a Tesla, but 68 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,400 I'll also insert Bonnie's video here because she explains it a 69 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,960 little bit herself. I was sexually harassed by AI in 70 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,840 my Uber yesterday, which I know sounds crazy. 71 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,680 Post a little video about it, but I wanted to give like the 72 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:54,520 full breakdown of like what actually happened. 73 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,320 So I have a Tesla, so I don't think I would have known this if 74 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,440 I don't have one. But basically there's like a way 75 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,120 that it has like the AI into it, which of course is grog. 76 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,200 So anyways, I use a fake name for my Uber because I'm also 77 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,760 like just very cautious, which is another reason why I was kind 78 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:13,360 of like going along with what was happening. 79 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,120 So I get to the Uber and he's like, let's say my fake name is 80 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:17,680 Ashley because I'm not going to tell you what my name is. 81 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:19,519 I'm like, hello. So I closed the door and he's 82 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:21,760 like, he's like, welcome Ashley to the car. 83 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:24,560 And this was before I started recording because as soon as I 84 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:25,600 heard this, then I started recording. 85 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:26,880 So I'm like, what the fuck's about to happen? 86 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,000 And like, I don't know. I set a bunch of like sexual 87 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,560 stuff and I was just like, I'm on a tap record, which is where 88 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,320 I recorded my last video and I kind of cut it because I cut out 89 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:37,040 the curse word. Felt really awkward. 90 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:38,960 And also like he's literally driving me to my house. 91 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,720 So I'm like sitting there and I'm just kind of like trying to 92 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,040 smile. Like I'm like, is this? 93 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:46,720 Is this happening on all your rides? 94 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,720 He's like, Oh no, I don't know. I've done like 30 rides today 95 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,080 and this is the only one that it's done this. 96 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,520 In response to her video, many TikTok users in the comment 97 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,560 section are noting that the driver would have had to set up 98 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,600 the AI to talk like this, which is something I feel like is made 99 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,000 clear in the way that a driver can choose Grok's personality 100 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,080 and voice. It doesn't really surprise me, 101 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:14,000 unfortunately, that an AI assistant powered by Grok would 102 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,800 be making explicit and sexually charged comments, considering 103 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,280 everything we have seen from Grok up until this point. 104 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,760 I mean, it was only at the beginning of the year where the 105 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,760 news cycle was absolutely dominated by discussions around 106 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,480 Grok generating pictures that were undressing women and 107 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,160 minors, and I've covered that a couple times here. 108 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,120 Mini tech as well. Uber did end up commenting on 109 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,680 Bunny's video saying quote hi Bunny, this is definitely not OK 110 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:39,720 and we are so sorry for this experience. 111 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,360 Could you please DM us the account details linked to this 112 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,000 trip so we can investigate further? 113 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:45,360 This is obviously better than nothing. 114 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,680 Like I'm very glad that Uber reached out to her. 115 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,280 But of course this is also a Tesla problem which I doubt will 116 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,360 ever be addressed. But obviously this is better 117 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,720 than nothing. But I think this incident raises 118 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,880 a lot of important questions about culpability when it comes 119 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,160 to harassment in the AI era. Many TikTok commenters are 120 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,600 saying that it was not the AI that harassed Bunny, but the 121 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,320 Uber driver who programmed the AI to speak that way. 122 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,960 And I think these conversations kind of go to show the line 123 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,600 between AI and harasser and how it could be a little bit blood 124 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,240 where these tools may be a way to shift blame. 125 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,400 I'm really curious to hear what you guys think about this. 126 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,480 I think it's something that will probably become only more and 127 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,880 more of an issue slash more relevant moving forward and I 128 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,040 really hope the right people will be held to account for 129 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,440 these sets of situations. Our next topic for today is a 130 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:40,640 few stories about Roblox kind of rolled into one. 131 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,640 The main thing I wanted to talk about though is how Roblox is 132 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,680 using financial incentives to build games that cater to adult 133 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,240 audiences. We've obviously spoken about 134 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,760 Roblox here and there are mini tech and it tends to be with the 135 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,160 focus on children's safety on the platform and how adults and 136 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,920 children are really just thrust into the same space on Roblox, 137 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:03,680 which can obviously be very dangerous. 138 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,960 So consider this as like a bit of an update on that whole 139 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,200 conversation. But first, for those of you who 140 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,960 are kind of unfamiliar with the intricacies of Roblox, let me 141 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,560 first give a quick explanation. Basically, Roblox is an online 142 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,040 platform with many different games and experiences to select 143 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,400 from. These games that generally user 144 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,560 generated developers using Roblox Studio, and we've spoken 145 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,760 about this before, but many of the developers are in fact mine 146 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,640 is, which is kind of a double edged sword. 147 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,160 Like of course it is a really cool learning opportunity, but 148 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,240 it brings in many ethical questions around compensation 149 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,520 and safety as well. In saying that though, it 150 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,080 definitely does make sense that many of the developers are 151 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,160 children because a majority of users on the platform are under 152 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,600 18. According to recent stats of 153 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,640 daily active users from Roblox itself, approximately 35% are 154 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:59,000 younger than 13, 38% are between 13 and 17, and 27% are 18 or 155 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,280 older. So As for how these developers 156 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,640 make money, they do this by earning Roebucks through their 157 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,080 games and experiences. The earned Roebucks can then be 158 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,760 exchanged through the Roblox Developer Exchange Program, also 159 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:16,440 known as Dev X, into real cash. And the minimum age you have to 160 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,120 be is 13 years old. And according to stats from 161 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:24,880 Roblox, in 2025 creators earned over $1.5 billion through Devex. 162 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,320 So yes, that is a little bit of insight into how Roblox 163 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,360 operates. But back to the story. 164 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,480 Over the past few years, Roblox has been on a, I want to say 165 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,559 tirade for lack of a better time to try and attract older users, 166 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,000 but also to convince the media and the masses that they 167 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:44,840 actually have them already on the platform. 168 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,280 As I've reported on before, it seems like Roblox is trying to 169 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,520 attract older users by introducing dating. 170 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,440 I mean, they haven't introduced it yet, but the CEO, Dave 171 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,720 Bazooki just keeps talking about it and mentioning it, how that 172 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,560 is a gulf of his, which is obviously quite odd considering 173 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:05,520 the platform is predominantly used by miners and faced 174 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,360 backlash and legal action for not protecting children 175 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,000 appropriately. So yeah, that hasn't been 176 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,640 received well by the masses. Last week, though, Roblox 177 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,600 announced that one of the latest ways of seemingly trying to 178 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,880 court an older demographic is by paying the developers who create 179 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,680 games that suit this audience more. 180 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:28,360 As an announcement on the Roblox News blog reads, quote the 18 to 181 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,720 34 user cohort on Roblox is growing over 50% year on year in 182 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,040 the US and monetizes 50% high than the under 18 cohort. 183 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,320 We're rewarding creators who build the genres, gameplay 184 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,640 mechanics and visual styles that appeal to this audience by 185 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:48,400 increasing the Devex rate by 42% for spend from age checked 18 186 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,080 and older US players in eligible games. 187 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,920 Much of the commentary that I've seen from the Roblox community 188 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,360 at this point is kind of disappointed by this initiative. 189 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,040 Sure, there's obviously a big opportunity here to make more 190 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,280 money, but many are kind of frustrated because for these 191 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:10,080 games to qualify, they must use Roblox R15 avatar system, which 192 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,880 is the system that supports more lifelike characters. 193 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,760 And this is opposed to the R6 avatar system, which is what 194 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,720 Roblox has become known for with its kind of block like 195 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,080 characters. Anyway, this initiative is kind 196 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,480 of positioned as a retention play, like a way to keep users 197 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,280 coming back for years and years on end, which is something that 198 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,600 we have seen scattered in the media coverage about why Roblox 199 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,520 wants to start catering to to older audiences because they're 200 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,040 worried about their current 1 aging out. 201 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,800 But I don't know, it does still feel odd to me to be doing this 202 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,080 when there are still problems with children's safety on the 203 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,760 platform. And I thought this was 204 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,600 interesting because in the same week that this initiative was 205 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,920 announced, The Verge reported that Roblox daily users seem to 206 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,160 be dropping with age checks, seemingly slowing its growth. 207 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:01,160 So at the end of last year, Roblox introduced age checks for 208 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,320 users to be able to chat with one another on the platform. 209 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:07,520 And once a user has been age checks, they can only chat with 210 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,680 like their trusted connections and friends or people in their 211 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,320 age demographic. And obviously there has been a 212 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,960 lot of questions around facial age estimation and age gating on 213 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,600 social media, like especially if it's accurate. 214 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,240 And can I just say this is an anecdote? 215 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:27,040 I recently went on Roblox to play the Cat's Eye update of 216 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,840 Dress to Impress with my friend. And I know that sentence should 217 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,800 probably only be said by someone who's like 12 years old, but 218 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,200 here I am. And when I logged in I had to to 219 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,800 verify my age and I thought I was 18. 220 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,160 How old am I? That is 8 years off. 221 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,040 Like that is crazy. Either I just look like a child 222 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:45,920 or it is just completely inaccurate. 223 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,120 I ended up having to verify that I was 21 plus, which is crazy. 224 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,280 Anyway, as The Verge noted in their reporting, Roblox daily 225 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,920 active users has actually dropped by 12 million globally 226 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,800 between Q1 and the end of last year. 227 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,320 And this is widely being attributed to age check 228 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,640 features. As the journalist write quote, 229 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,760 Roblox says that Q1 growth was tempered by greater than 230 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,400 expected headwinds due to the rollout of its age Check 231 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,480 features, which slowed new user acquisition. 232 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,560 So arguably this downward trend might explain why appealing to 233 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,040 an older audience is important to the platform. 234 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:24,800 Whether that is the right thing to do, I guess is a different 235 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,160 question. The next thing we need to talk 236 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,720 about is a Muggle. Yes, Omegle, not Omegle. 237 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:37,640 Omegle is a recently launched platform slash 1V1 game I guess 238 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,760 where users are matched up with other players and have the 239 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,880 opportunity to quote UN quote out mug each other. 240 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,600 It's basically like Omegle where these connections are 241 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,160 randomized. I presume you guys know what 242 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,200 mugging is, but if you don't the term is basically a verb, and I 243 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,120 guess it can also be a suffix, but it basically means to 244 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,840 outshine or outperform someone else. 245 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,600 At least that's how it's being used these days. 246 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,360 It's often said in relation to looks maxing. 247 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,640 So as you can gather from that, it does come from the 248 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,200 manosphere. As far as its origins, according 249 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,760 to NPR quote, the time mugging comes from the initialism AMOG, 250 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:18,520 which is alpha male of the group and to be mugged is to be shown 251 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,520 up by another more masculine male. 252 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,200 So the time itself has obviously become increasingly mainstream 253 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,280 over the past few months specifically, which does make me 254 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,200 uncomfortable considering how obviously it is rooted in 255 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,040 extremist harmful Internet circles. 256 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,880 Yet we continue to use the time. But when it comes to a muggle 257 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:40,680 uses a place in a quote UN quote mug arena to compete against one 258 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:42,120 another. It's kind of giving The Hunger 259 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,080 Games. As for who wins though, the 260 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:49,920 participants are judged by a using the PSL score which is an 261 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:55,560 incel slash looks maxing scale to rank attractiveness and on 262 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:59,040 omagle they are ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 I believe. 263 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,480 And here is a video explaining how the platform works. 264 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:06,400 I just built the world's first mog arena where you can mog 265 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,960 people in real time. The way it works is it uses a 3D 266 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,600 mesh to scan your face and measure it and then adjust your 267 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,440 score based off the PSL scale as. 268 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,760 For the PSL scale, these rankings of attractiveness are 269 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,440 often between 1:00 and 8:00, but they're also associated with 270 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,800 specific times and titles like Chad and Normie. 271 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,640 These ranks are decided by what is considered quote UN quote 272 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:33,600 objective ratings based on factors like facial harmony, 273 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,520 balance, symmetry, all that kind of stuff. 274 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:41,120 It's obviously based on very misogynistic and Eurocentric 275 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,880 standards of attractiveness. It almost gives eugenics a 276 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:45,800 little bit. As for the people playing the 277 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:50,040 game, there is a the leaderboard that ranks players worldwide and 278 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,960 at the time I was researching this the top three players had 279 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:58,520 between 1300 and 1900 wins meaning they out mugged the 280 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:00,640 person they were paired up against. 281 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,960 Having said that the platform is limited to 18 plus users but 282 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,480 there is kind of no real way to prove this. 283 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,040 You are asked when you enter the platform if you're overall under 284 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,920 18 and when you click on over 18 then you have to do a camera 285 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:18,160 check for quote anti abuse and age acknowledging it is not a 286 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,880 government ID check or durable proof of identity. 287 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,640 I did look at the terms of service and the privacy policy 288 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,080 of the platform because I was very intrigued by it. 289 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,240 Omagle says that they do not store the face prints nor do 290 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,640 they quote, sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from facial 291 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,400 meshes, face prints or face templates. 292 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,920 According to the privacy policy, it is stored locally. 293 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,840 Though I will say Reddit users are still very cautious of the 294 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,280 platform as one user question quote, is the purpose of this 295 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,240 website to grab free training material for biometric based 296 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,400 surveillance and or AI usage? And it seemed like quite a few 297 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,720 Reddit users shared a similar skepticism where that comment 298 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,560 had over 450 upvotes. So this platform has really been 299 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,880 gaining traction because major streamers have started using it 300 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,240 and streaming on it. Soon after a gained popularity 301 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,880 though, reports started surfacing from the Twitch 302 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,120 community that the platform was sending warnings to users who 303 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,600 went on a muggle during stream. It also seemed to go against 304 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,000 Twitch's community guidelines, which listed quote randomized 305 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,360 video chat services under sensitive content when referring 306 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,440 to the types of content that are prohibited on the platform. 307 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,040 Twitch has seemingly since backflipped saying that it is no 308 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,320 longer prohibiting streaming content from randomized video 309 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,600 chat sites, which doesn't really do well in my opinion. 310 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,880 We all know how inappropriate those types of sites can be, and 311 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,600 the fact that young people could be watching makes the whole 312 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:46,440 thing extremely ominous. I just find this whole thing to 313 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,640 be quite concerning because we really continue to see 314 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:54,680 practices, terminology, and behaviors from dog places on the 315 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,680 Internet like the manosphere, whether that be looks, maxes, or 316 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,000 in cell circles, find their way into the mainstream where 317 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,840 they're completely being stripped of their context, 318 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,040 origin, and true meaning and often being used as a meme. 319 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,640 This kind of messaging, even when it is supposed to be a 320 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,160 joke, will only end up being increasingly harmful for women 321 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,880 and other marginalized groups. I feel a similar way about this 322 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,440 as I did when I reported on SORA, where I spoke about how we 323 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,760 are embedding misogynistic ideology and practices into the 324 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,880 very fabric of this new era of technology with AI. 325 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,680 And I think it's the same thing with Internet culture and social 326 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,440 media. I feel like older Gen. feds or 327 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,800 older people online at least need to do a better job at 328 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,480 setting a boundary and not embracing this kind of language 329 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,400 and culture. That is something I should take 330 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,880 on myself to be honest. My last story for today is a 331 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,080 little bit more of a tidbit, but I wanted to include it to maybe 332 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,600 end up on a less depressing note. 333 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,880 I wanted to quickly talk about chat GP TS latest obsession. 334 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,120 This story was sent to me by my friend and I felt the need to 335 00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:59,040 drop it in after she sent it to me. 336 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,160 So shout out friend of the pod Ella. 337 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,600 Last week, social media users were sharing instances of their 338 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,480 conversation with ChatGPT, where the chat bot seemingly 339 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,560 repeatedly referenced goblins question mark in ways that 340 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,240 didn't really make sense at all or were out of context. 341 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,440 The Wall Street Journal published an article about this 342 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,000 as well as journalist Ben Glickman writes. 343 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,120 Quote. Recent models of the artificial 344 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:24,920 intelligence chatbot have been bringing up the creatures and 345 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:28,160 conversations with users seemingly out of the blue, as 346 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,480 well as gremlins, trolls, and ogres. 347 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,360 The goblins speak caught the attention of programmers who are 348 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,240 often heavily users of the bot. This whole thing has since 349 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,040 become known as Goblin Gate by some social media users, which I 350 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,680 think is pretty funny. This became the so widespread 351 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,880 that Open AI went on to issue a whole publication slash 352 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,440 statement about it. According to Open AI, ever since 353 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,360 GPT 5.1, the models increasingly started mentioning goblins. 354 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,320 Open AI explained that this came from Chat GPT's personality 355 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:02,360 customization feature, which included a nerdy personality. 356 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,960 As it reads quote, the short answer is that model behavior is 357 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,120 shaped by many small incentives. In this case, one of those 358 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:11,760 incentives came from training the model for the personality 359 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,400 customization feature, in particular the nerdy 360 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,920 personality. We unknowingly gave particularly 361 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,240 high rewards for metaphors with creatures. 362 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,360 From there, the goblins spread. This only seemed to pick up in 363 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:27,040 frequency and later models. The publication also included a 364 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,600 graph showing how much mentioning goblins increased 365 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:35,000 while using the nerdy personality in GPT 5.4, finding 366 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:36,600 that it was highly concentrated there. 367 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,800 The goblins have since been quote UN quote retired and the 368 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,840 publication declares this the end of the goblins where open AI 369 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,080 quote retired the nerdy personality. 370 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:50,280 In March after launching GPT 5.4 in training, we removed the 371 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,440 goblin a fine reward signal and filter training data containing 372 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,160 creature words, making goblins less likely to overappear or 373 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,120 show up in inappropriate contexts. 374 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,720 Even though the goblins have since been retired, if this 375 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,800 story can show us anything, I think it shows us how much these 376 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,240 models do embody stereotypes. Like the fact that the reference 377 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:13,360 to goblins was being overly used in the nerdy personality 378 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:15,440 indicates that. We have discussed this of course 379 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,360 before, but I think this is an especially interesting example 380 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,480 when you read the publication. Given that it kind of goes into 381 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,800 the training process All in all, I guess we just have to be sure 382 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,720 to keep all of that in mind whenever you encounter AI 383 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,600 written content or just AI generated content more broadly. 384 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,320 Well, that is everything from this insane episode of mini tech 385 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,840 scroll today. I really hope you guys enjoyed 386 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,560 Lauren will be back to speak to you tomorrow. 387 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,160 Remember to Spotify, Star Raiders and yes, thank you for 388 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:44,280 listening. Bye. 389 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,280 Centennial World Podcast Network operates on Gadigal land. 390 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,600 We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora, the 391 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,800 traditional custodians of this land, and pay our respects to 392 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,600 elders both past and present.