Flutterby™! : AI roundup for the weekend

Malicious npm Packages Infect 3,200+ Cursor Users With Backdoor, Steal Credentials. That's Cursor — The AI Code Editor

Gender, nationality can influence suspicion of using AI in freelance writing

A new study by researchers at Cornell Tech and the University of Pennsylvania shows freelance writers who are suspected of using AI have worse evaluations and hiring outcomes. Freelancers whose profiles suggested they had East Asian identities were more likely to be suspected of using AI than profiles of white Americans. And men were more likely to be suspected of using AI than women.

Via

Increased AI use linked to eroding critical thinking skills

In the study "AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking," published in Societies, Gerlich investigates whether AI tool usage correlates with critical thinking scores and explores how cognitive offloading mediates this relationship.

Via, in the replies @borderham.bsky.social notes

It’s not that the machines are getting smarter. They’re just making us dumber.

And the whole thing is in a longer thread about Eric Schmidt's AI batshittery, which is making me think that maybe giving all of the capital to not terribly smart people who allocate money based on who blows smoke up their ass most effectively is going to lead to some pain...

Brian Krebs @briankrebs@infosec.exchange

Beware any industry that claims you need more of what it is selling to offset negative externalities generated by its unbridled use. This seems to be the pitch of the AI cheerleaders: If your systems are doing a poor job screening automated activity from AI, the real problem is you're not using enough AI, dumbass.

Pivot to AI: Study: Your coworkers hate you for using AI at work: PNAS: Evidence of a social evaluation penalty for using AI Jessica A. Reif, Richard P. Larrick, and Jack B. Soll