Steven Melendez is an independent journalist based in Chicago.
History depends on records that weren’t built to last
Chat apps, e-mail, and cloud files have become the primary record of how power is exercised. Archivists are trying to preserve them before formats go dark or messages disappear without a trace
AI keeps inventing fake cases. Lawyers keep citing them
The trend of attorneys getting caught citing AI-hallucinated cases points to a broader problem: instead of checking AI’s work, people keep trusting it
AI music is booming, and the player piano saw it coming
As AI songs get harder to tell apart from human-made music, an older technology offers a revealing preview of the fight over artistry, labor and pay
AI was supposed to save coders time. It may be doing the opposite
Studies find AI helps developers release more software—while logging longer hours and fixing problems after the code goes live