💌 Newsletter #016 - Chatbots and their "Safeguards," Alternative Navigation Apps - and a New Section!

13 Sep, 2026

✨ In This Edition ✨

📟 Short-Form Content: Chatbots & their "safeguards," eavesdroppy "Smart TVs," and how age gating still is not it.
🌞 Good News!: Alternative navigation apps exist!, AI bans in public schools, more digital sovereignty.
🐘 Toots and Memes and Such: On valid sources, connecting people, and moving carefully.
📯 The Post-Script: Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, and Myths around AI and Labour.

Original image by Tamas Tuzes-Katai on Unsplash. Glitched and cropped.

📟 Short-Form Content

Chatbots ("AI")

Things seem to be going very well over at OpenAI, which keeps bleeding executives. This time, it's the Head of Data Centres, totalling 13 (yes, thirteen) departed executives in 2026 alone.
Things are also going very well with Claude, whose "safeguards" apparently can - and have been - circumvented in the context of topics as lighthearted and good-for-humanity as "bioweapons." 😳
All the "AI is here to stay" and the general cramming of the chatbots into everything is not making the people love the chatbots.
Muse, of Knights of Cydonia and Starlight and Madness and loads-of-other-bangers fame, lost their social media handle to Meta's new chatbot thingie. Sigh. Anyway, my favourite song of theirs is Uprising.
In more local, but not really?, news, a US-linked network of fake websites is promoting Alberta separatism to AI chatbots. This is my surprised face: 😲
The EFF is agreeing that training chatbots on copyrighted works is a-OK. I know that's an argument that's been kicking around, I'm just not sure... I agree with it.
In a refrain that seems to be repeating everywhere: Chatbots at work make volume of Stuff go up, and also make volume of incidents and firefighting time go up. What a deal!
(The following article contains detailed accounts of mental health concerns, a very slippery slope of AI usage, as well as suicide. Please tread carefully in reading & sharing this article if you are concerned that these topics may upset you or someone you share it with.) A very cautionary tale on "AI psychosis."

Non-Chatbots

In the last newsletter, we learned how Meta settled in the massive lawsuit it was facing. The settlement is not good news, as it requires age gating technology for all users, and requires even more data to be collected than before.
In more news on how age gating is still not it: When age gating gets implemented, an ID needs to be scanned somewhere, and "somewhere" has a real high likelihood of also meaning "publicly accessible" down the line. See also here. Like, these will just keep coming, basically.
Smart TV's have been caught logging audio even when the screen was off, and snooping on local devices. Coooooool.

🌞 Good News!

The EU is going to be tougher on regulating ChatGPT (among other platforms, including Roblox) going forward.
- According to The Verge, this will include being held accountable for "mitigating risks related to ChatGPT’s impact on minors, user mental health, and the spread of illegal content." This comes after those platforms were designated "Very Large Online Search Engines."
New York City is banning AI in public schools in all grades prior to high school. This includes companion chatbots and student-facing generative AI and will affect around 600,000 students.
Non-Google map and navigation platforms exist!
- There's likely not a single perfect one for all use cases, but you can check out MapQuest and OrganicMaps as possible alternatives.
- I find that for cycling, OrganicMaps is actually better than Google Maps. And on MapQuest your lil icon can be a unicorn, so.
Non-Microsoft and non-Google office suite alternatives also exist!
- Such as LibreOffice, which broke download records after stating it has no AI features. I use LibreOffice for all my office suite needs, and it's doing the trick.
For more digital sovereignty, give Todd Maffin's Unplug America project a look! Alternatives to US-based platforms and services across a ton of categories.
The young'uns apparently aren't super big fans of AI art, calling it "boomer art," and that made me chuckle.
This is weird territory now, as obviously kids suffering from asthma is never good news. But. The good news is that the people are speaking up, and there is a growing backlash forming against data centres & the negative effects they have on us as a society.
- Such as in Memphis, where apparently zero of the 35 methane gas turbines used by that data centre are "quipped with pollution controls typically required by federal rules." Uh.
- It's also really weird that the people don't love having data centres in their community when they come with a host of positive effects, such as <checks notes> threatening jobs, more expensive utilities, noise, and pollution. Truly mysterious. A baffler for the ages.

🐘 Toots and Memes and Such

That's right, a new section. As a millennial, I needed a place to share toots¹ and memes and, well, such, that I've come across. You can, of course, also follow Technically Good on Mastodon and be served this kind of content when it's steaming fresh and piping hot.

"Growing up with the phrase “Wikipedia isn’t a valid source,” only to end up in a daily life where everyone says, “Just ask ChatGPT." by Andrea Junker

"Ai is going to lead to an abundant and prosperous future the same way that Facebook has connected me and brought me closer to my friends and family." by Brian Owen.

As always:

"Move carefully and fix things." by datarama.

📯 The Post-Script

I am finally reading Brian Merchant's Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. A historical account of the Luddite movement that's weirdly relevant in 2026.
You should also check out Dr. Alex Hanna's video on Myths around AI and Labour.

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