Five Things AI: Understanding AI, Helping in the Kitchen, Winners and Losers, AI Principles, Socioeconomic Challenges

Everything you need to know about AI this week. Really.

Heya and welcome back to Five Things AI!

AI, robots, and society: this week’s batch serves up some thought-provoking reads on our digital future and the messy realities of rapid tech advances. One piece points out why most bosses aren’t yet sweating about AI, thanks to their old-school software assumptions - turns out, fixing an LLM isn’t quite like patching a bug. Then there’s the latest humanoid in the kitchen, highlighting how far robotics has come, but also the discomfort of sharing space with a metal sous chef. Germany is painted as “prepared” for the AI revolution, though there’s plenty of skepticism about whether any country is truly ready when the workplace gets upended. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s refusal to join the usual CEO selfie circuit has made them a White House target—a reminder that being idealistic in tech can still attract pushback from the top. Finally, don’t miss the take on AI as a social problem: as the investment frenzy grows, so do questions about sharing benefits and avoiding collective mess - maybe higher taxes and better protections are in order, because this is going to be a big deal for all of us.

Enjoy this edition of Five Things AI!