'Mixing new technology and new laws is always a fraught business'

'AI Fraud Act could outlaw parodies, political cartoons, and more '

Elizabeth Nolan Brown at Reason

Lawmakers are going overboard trying to prevent artificial intelligence "fakes and forgeries," says Elizabeth Nolan Brown at Reason. The No AI FRAUD Act is supposed to prevent unauthorized use of someone's "likeness and voice," but its broad restrictions could "ensnare parody videos," political cartoons — even "SNL" skits lampooning Trump or Biden. AI opens new doors of deception. "But we shouldn't let lawmakers use these hiccups to justify a broad new incursion on free speech rights."

Read more

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'What the media gets wrong about the so-called border crisis'

James North in The New Republic

News outlets are committing "media malpractice" by "twisting" the truth about what's happening at the U.S.-Mexico border, writes James North in The New Republic. The media's "inaccurate" suggestion that the migrants are part of "some global tidal wave" reinforces "Donald Trump's dangerous demagoguery." The truth is that most of the migrants are "from the usual sources" — Mexico and Central America — and others are seeking asylum due to "disastrous U.S. policies" in places like Venezuela and Haiti. 

Read more

'Mr. Smith's lousy tax deal'

The Wall Street Journal editorial board

Republicans handed "Democrats a huge policy victory in order to please big business," says The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Jason Smith, the House's Republican Ways and Means chair, agreed to "expand and further entrench the $2,000 per child tax credit" to revive breaks "coveted by corporations," including a domestic research and development deduction. These costly policies "ought to stand or fall on their merits, not on a political trade that will do more harm than good."

Read more

'Why are voters so upset? Consider the Snickers bar'

Paul Donovan in The New York Times

Inflation collapsed from 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.4% last month, says Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, in The New York Times. But voters aren't recognizing the improvement. To understand why, "look at a Snickers bar." Prices on big purchases like TVs are falling, dragging down inflation. But consumers focus on things they buy frequently, like Snickers bars. With food prices still rising, shoppers "perceive inflation as higher than it actually is."

Read more