Friday links for June 19th 2026
The "not what it said on the tin" edition.
1. Europe must choose between AI and climate goals, data center lobby says
The fact that this headline even exists says a lot about the times we live in. They’re asking to be excused from the climate challenges they were promising AI would solve. Externalities, as a service.
2. The Filipino virtual assistants behind LinkedIn’s “thought leadership” content mill
For $7 an hour, they use AI tools to ghostwrite LinkedIn posts for Western executives. So, the next time you see a CEO sharing his "shower thought that changed everything" it was probably just another Tuesday afternoon in Manila.
I had to check it wasn’t April 1st. Midjourney, the AI outfit that helps you generate pictures of cats riding skateboards, are pivoting into healthcare and opening a spa with AI-assisted medical imaging. The hallucinating robot doctor will see you now…
4. MapTap - daily geographic game
An amusing little game where you have to guess where a place is or where a historical event took place. Education and fun, it still exists.
On rotation
This week’s soundtrack is Multiforms: Ambient Transmissions, Vol. 3 by Marconi Union
Back to your regularly scheduled life,
Colin