#12: The Blur Between Real and Rendered

☀️ Real Enough to Fool You

A few days ago, a friend sent me a video, convinced it was real.

At first glance, it made sense. The person looked familiar, the voice matched, the story was believable. But something about it didn’t sit right. So I paused, rewound, and went frame by frame.

Turns out, it was AI-generated.

We both laughed, but honestly? It also felt a bit unsettling. A couple of years ago, AI was something that belonged to the future - part of tech panels, research labs, or sci-fi movies.

Now, it’s shaping our timelines. It’s showing up in our group chats. It’s sneaking into the cracks of our everyday without knocking.

And while I’m genuinely fascinated by the possibilities (curious about the tools, the breakthroughs, the creative potential) I can’t help but wonder: are we moving too fast?

What happens when we no longer know what’s real and what’s not? When we stop questioning because everything looks right?

This week’s edition is a small dive into that blur. Because in a world where everything can be generated… what still feels genuine?

📖 3 Articles to Spark Your Curiosity

1. The Grand Encyclopedia of Eponymous Laws

   A delightfully bizarre compilation of “laws” named after people. From Murphy to Stigler, each rule says something about how humans behave, and how we try to make sense of patterns in a chaotic world.

2. What’s Going On Here?

   Graham Duncan explores the power of stopping to ask this deceptively simple question. Especially in a world full of assumptions, fast takes, and algorithm-fed outrage, slowing down our judgment might be our greatest act of clarity.

3. Two Campuses, Two Realities

   At first glance, the difference between Harvard and Columbia’s graduation ceremonies might look like surface-level campus politics. But this article digs deeper into how two of America’s top universities responded to federal pressure.

🗞️ 3 Headlines Worth Exploring

1. How to Find a Unicorn Idea by Studying AI System Prompts

   Superblocks’ CEO argues that the future of innovation lies in understanding how AI thinks. The next billion-dollar idea might just live inside a prompt.

2. Google Is Testing AI-Generated Celebrity Bots

   From star power to bot power, Google’s new experiment blends fame with artificial interaction. Would you follow an AI version of your favorite celeb?

3. Volvo’s New Adaptive Seatbelt

   Sometimes, real innovation is physical. This redesign shows that not all tech has to live in your screen… it can also live in your seatbelt.

☀️ 3 Actions to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

1. Fact-check something you’d usually scroll past
   Next time a headline, image, or video catches your attention, pause. Dig deeper. Where does it come from? Who’s behind it? Challenge your autopilot scroll and get curious about what’s real.

2. Ask someone how they verify what they see online
   You’d be surprised how different our “truth filters” are. Start a conversation with a friend or coworker about how they decide what’s real and what’s not. You might learn a new trick, or realize how much we don’t question.

3. Rewatch a childhood movie or show through a 2025 lens
   What felt magical, real, or scary back then? How would you interpret it now, in an age of AI-generated everything? It’s a playful way to explore how our perception evolves, and what we lose or gain in the process.

⚡ 6 Quick Resources

🧠 To ponder on: AI Jesus takes confessions in a Swiss church
Not your average Sunday service. A hologram of Jesus powered by AI now hears confessions. Real faith? Performance? Something in between?

🐉 To break the ice in your next conversations: Why dragons might be ancient weather reports
Turns out, dragons could’ve been how early humans made sense of volcanoes and lightning. Science meets myth and sparks fly.

🧒 To read: This 14-year-old built an AI that detects heart disease
At 14, he’s building diagnostic tools. At 14, I was… obsessing over GTA Vice City.

📺 To watch: Inside the $500B AI project “Stargate”
Emily Chang takes us inside the largest AI data center ever built. Altman. Softbank. Texas. Hype. Risk. Power plays.

✍️ To play: Quick, draw!
Let an AI guess your doodles. Great for a break, or a low-stakes test of whether your “duck” actually looks like a duck.

🎾 To plan: Your first US Open adventure
Because sometimes stepping out of your algorithm means stepping into a stadium.

🎲 This week’s wonderfully random corner of the internet 

👨‍💻 Windows93.net 

A glitchy, absurd, pixelated website that simulates what could've been Windows 93, and honestly, it kind of should have been. Click around, get lost, question your reality.

📝 Word of the Week

Simulacrum (noun) - A copy with no original.

An imitation that feels so real, it starts replacing what it imitates - like AI-generated people, fake memories, or the polished version of life we scroll through every day.

🧘‍♀️ Question of the Week for Introspection

Have you ever believed something only to later find out it wasn’t real? What did that teach you?

See you next Sunday! Until then, keep your eyes open, your questions big, and your sense of wonder alive.

Your curious internet friend,

Ruxandra