The Wizard Of Robots

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Happy Friday, Future Party. How badly do we all want to stop mindlessly scrolling? Hank Green’s new productivity app, Focus Friend, shot to the top of the App Store after its August 17th launch, quickly becoming the most-downloaded app in the US. For the uninitiated, the game stars a bean character who decorates a room. The longer you leave your phone alone, the more the bean gets done — unlocking new decor items along the way. Pretty cool that a game built on not engaging with it has become such a hit.

While the promise of AI-powered autonomous robots has sparked major investment, most machines are still controlled by human operators.

The Big Picture: It’s no secret that the rise of AI and robotics could one day displace millions of jobs. But for now, many workers are being replaced first by lower-wage operators overseas — an echo of the old call-center dilemma.

Behind The Curtain: Right now, autonomous robots are a bit like the Wizard of Oz — a hype machine puppeteered by a man behind the curtain.

The Future: While some robots do work autonomously, they’re typically limited to simple, repetitive tasks. This new breed, however, could one day operate without human intervention — thanks to… well, human intervention. Each time an operator steps in, the robot’s cameras and sensors capture the moment as training data. So the next time it encounters that obstacle, it can navigate it without hitting the panic button.

Prediction: Robotics companies are hiring workers skilled in VR tech and remote controllers — potentially making video gaming look like best-practice training for the job. Suddenly, beating Gran Turismo has never looked better on a résumé.

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A joint study from University College London and the University of Florida found that 40% fewer Americans read for pleasure today than two decades ago — sparking fears the pastime is losing cultural relevance.

Why It Hurts: Reading isn’t just entertainment — it boosts vocabulary, imagination, mental health, empathy, and much more. If reading continues to fall out of favor, America risks losing some of the soft skills that lead to better interpersonal relationships.

Between The Covers: When was the last time you silenced your phone, shut off the TV, and curled up with a good book?

Last Chapter: While the researchers didn’t pinpoint exactly why books are collecting dust on shelves (a trend growing since the 1940s), it’s clear that Americans simply have more recreational options (hint: lots of screens and social media). These days, books seem relegated to little more than a good Zoom background.

That’s a shame because book clubs could be an important antidote to our loneliness epidemic. A 2022 study found that discussing works of fiction with friends led to better mental-health outcomes and better socialization. No wonder every female celebrity is starting one these days.

Next Edition: Given the rise of BookTok, the expansion of Barnes & Noble, and Gen Z’s fascination with analog, perhaps we’re on the brink of a reading rebound.

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97% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever owned a landline phone?

“From the party lines of the early ’50s to the Princess phone, all the way to the iPhone 15.”

“I’m old enough to have grown up with them in the house, and I specifically had my own phone as a teen, but it doubled as the internet line, so I could only use it when no one was surfing the web. Times have changed lol.”

“Still do, and I’ll never give it up! After 9/11 when the Twin Towers fell, there was no cell service downtown for weeks, and I had friends from that neighborhood come uptown to visit me just so they could get cell service… lesson learned!!”

“I only got rid of it in 2016 when I moved. Never thought of it as being ‘old-school Boomer’ until I didn’t get a new line in my new place. Now, I can’t see the practicality of having one.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🍿 Happy Gilmore 2 had the biggest debut ever for a streaming movie, scoring 2.9 billion minutes viewed between July 25th and 27th.

🎥 Disney is looking for original IP that can win back Gen Z men — an admission that Marvel and Lucasfilm don’t have the same resonance as they used to.

🎮 Microsoft is planning to release its first Xbox handheld-gaming consoles — the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X — this October.

🤖 Meta has finally stopped poaching top AI researchers and engineers, implementing a hiring freeze after onboarding 50 new people.

🧐 Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman took a swipe at Anthropic by calling the study of AI welfare “both premature, and frankly dangerous.”

📱 HMD is releasing a smartphone that uses AI to block any nude content on the device, including through the smartphone camera’s lens.

🏦 Solana, the third-most popular cryptocurrency, is on the verge of securing SEC approval for inclusion in exchange-traded funds.

👗 Pinterest is rolling out a secondhand store on its platform, creatively called “Thrift Shop.”

👕 Post Malone is prepping the launch of his own fashion label, Austin Post, with a runway show in Paris.