Hannah Aster, Author at Shortform Books

Is the Snack Food Industry Declining Due to Diet Pills?

How is the explosive rise of obesity and diabetes weight-loss medications changing Americans’ snacking habits? Will the medications kill the snack food industry? Prescriptions for appetite-suppressing diabetes medications like Ozempic and Wegovy are surging as Americans use the drugs for weight loss. The drugs are altering Americans’ snacking habits—benefiting drugmakers but threatening the snack industry’s bottom line. Here are the two views on whether or not the snack food industry will decline.

The Pros and Cons of Dynamic Pricing (& Is It Ethical?)

What is dynamic pricing? Who does dynamic pricing benefit and harm? Dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, is spreading across US industries—from flights and rideshares to restaurants, retail, and entertainment. Dynamic pricing can help companies, but it’s also criticized for exploiting consumers, harming lower-income buyers, and eroding customers’ trust. Here’s a look at dynamic pricing pros and cons.

AI Water Consumption Is Getting Out of Hand

How much water does artificial intelligence (AI) use? Is the water consumption manageable, or is it contributing to a crisis? AI systems like ChatGPT are consuming massive amounts of water, straining already stressed water resources. Some experts warn that continued, unfettered AI water use will fuel global water scarcity problems—which are already on track to reach crisis levels by 2030. Here’s a look at AI water consumption, and the possible outcomes.

Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?

Is Earth on course for a population correction? How would a population drop affect the economy? What is the world’s carrying capacity? Population ecologist William Rees thinks the human population has overshot what Earth can support. As a result, the world’s population could course-correct, decreasing by more than a billion by the end of the century. Continue reading to learn about this ecologist’s prediction.

The Chatbot Wars Are On! Who Will Win?

Who will win the chatbot wars? What obstacles do they face? How is the battle to dominate conversational AI evolving? ChatGPT’s popularity has ignited intense competition among tech giants to lead the AI chatbot market. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are all rapidly developing conversational AI tools and integrating them into products in hopes of reshaping the search engine, productivity software, and consumer electronics markets. Read below for a background on the chatbot wars and who the players are.

AI’s Carbon Footprint May Imperil Global Climate Goals

How big is AI’s carbon footprint? How fast is it growing? Can anything be done to curb it? AI’s carbon footprint and energy use are growing rapidly and could undermine global climate change goals. Mitigating AI’s emissions will require a combination of corporate carbon reduction commitments, AI efficiency improvements, a shift to renewable energy, and government regulation. Continue reading to learn how the growth of AI is affecting the environment.

Is Prompt Engineering the Future, or Is It Dying Out?

Is prompt engineering the future? Or is the career path quickly becoming obsolete? Prompt engineering, recently touted as the new hot job, is already changing. While some experts say that prompt engineering is still relevant, others argue that increasingly advanced and intuitive AI systems will soon make it obsolete. We’ll take a look at the future of prompt engineering below.

Is Climate Optimism Toxic or Helpful?

What is climate optimism? Which is the best approach to climate change: denialism, doomism, or optimism? When thinking about the future of Earth, some people brush off any concerns (denialism) while others feel terrified and helpless (doomism). There’s another approach—climate optimism—but its advocates say we must choose the right kind of optimism to prevent the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. Continue reading to learn about climate optimism and it’s effects.

Digital Sweatshops: The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence

How is artificial intelligence (AI) trained? What are digital sweatshops? What can be done to prevent exploitation? With the artificial intelligence market projected to hit $1.3 trillion over the next decade, companies are scrambling to train their AI products. However, training AI comes with hidden costs. These include exploitative labor practices in developing countries and refugee camps. Continue reading to learn more about the dark side of AI.

AI Is Taking Over Jobs—Here’s How & the Jobs at Risk

Could AI replace manual labor? Are robot workers more or less expensive than human workers? Large-language-model AI can interpret natural-language commands and convert them into sequences of commands that a robot can execute. This makes it possible to build general-purpose robots that can be told or taught how to do things like human workers—and possibly replace them. Here’s a look at how AI is taking over jobs and who is at risk.