_webbwright's profile picture. Journalist covering tech and the mind. Seen in @TheAtlantic, @sciam, @WIRED, @QuantaMagazine, @VICE, and elsewhere. Obsessed with words and music.

Webb Wright

@_webbwright

Journalist covering tech and the mind. Seen in @TheAtlantic, @sciam, @WIRED, @QuantaMagazine, @VICE, and elsewhere. Obsessed with words and music.

Disematkan

For @TheAtlantic I wrote about AI, consciousness, and the dangers that arise when we start mistaking one for the other. theatlantic.com/technology/202…


Anthropic researchers say they've found "evidence for some degree of introspective awareness in our current Claude models, as well as a degree of control over their own internal states." My latest for @ZDNET: zdnet.com/article/ai-is-…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

"The human brain is simply not wired to treat AI like any other technology," Webb Wright writes. "For some users, the system is alive." theatlantic.com/technology/202…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

As concerns grow about AI chatbots leading users into delusional spirals, prominent spiritual influencers are capitalizing on an emerging form of techno-spirituality. wired.com/story/spiritua…


New for @WIRED: Using the language of New Age spirituality, wellness, and quantum woo, prominent influencers are claiming that AI is a gateway to numinous wisdom—even as reports of chatbots leading users into spirals of delusion continue to mount. wired.com/story/spiritua…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

Image generators are designed to mimic their training data, so where does their apparent creativity come from? A recent study suggests that it’s an inevitable by-product of their architecture. wired.com/story/research…


How much of human behavior is deterministic—a set of probabilities no more inscrutable to algorithms than so many pieces on a chessboard? To find out, I interviewed an AI agent trained to mimic my personality. My latest for @sciam: scientificamerican.com/article/can-a-…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

what? no. People are using AI to ‘sit’ with them while they trip on psychedelics technologyreview.com/2025/07/01/111…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

recent paper shows that the “creativity” of certain AI may actually be a direct, inevitable consequence of how they are built. quantamagazine.org/researchers-un… @_webbwright @QuantaMagazine


Both psychedelics and AI, in their own separate ways, can help illuminate the inner reaches of the human mind. For @techreview, I wrote about the dangers—and moments of strange beauty—that can occur when the two are used together. technologyreview.com/2025/07/01/111…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

Honored to have had my recent work with @SuryaGanguli on the mechanisms behind creativity in diffusion models featured in this lovely article by @_webbwright for Quanta magazine!

In a recent paper, physicists used two predictable factors to reproduce the “creativity” seen from image-generating AI. @_webbwright reports: quantamagazine.org/researchers-un…



Can image-generating AI models really be "creative"? Or is there something deeper at play? My latest for @QuantaMagazine: x.com/QuantaMagazine…

In a recent paper, physicists used two predictable factors to reproduce the “creativity” seen from image-generating AI. @_webbwright reports: quantamagazine.org/researchers-un…



I experienced two grand mal seizures in 2011, both of which were profoundly transformative. And like many transformative experiences, they were both traumatic and enlightening. The most personal story I've ever published, for @psyche_the_mag: psyche.co/ideas/having-e…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

The world’s most iconic mushroom is now under federal scrutiny. Amanita muscaria is being tied to hospitalizations—but is it really the culprit, or just the scapegoat? @_webbwright reports: newsletter.doubleblindmag.com/p/amanita-musc…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

Randomness is essential to some research, but it’s always been prohibitively complicated to achieve. Now, we can use “pseudorandomness” instead. @_webbwright reports: quantamagazine.org/the-high-cost-…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

If we don't solve the alignment and control problems, AI risks will continue to grow as we give systems more and more agency. We need major progress in both science and policy beforehand. Read @_webbwright's article in @sciam to which I contributed: scientificamerican.com/article/what-a…


As tech companies race to deploy AI agents, safety experts are worried about what these increasingly autonomous systems will mean for the economy, the internet, and the future of humanity. My latest for @sciam: scientificamerican.com/article/what-a…


Webb Wright memposting ulang

Did you know there are online directories that help people procure mushrooms? It’s true– there are also delivery services and IRL shops, too. But how are they existing so out in the open? @_webbwright with the latest. doubleblindmag.com/selling-mushro…


In my first piece for @WIRED, I wrote about the suspiciously quiet disappearance of company executives who were once charged with leading us into a brave new virtual world (of shopping). wired.com/story/where-ha…


I wrote about the role that AI can play in reducing waste and carbon emissions in the fashion industry. But those problems are rooted in the underlying business model—and that's something that no single technology can change on its own. thedrum.com/news/2024/10/0…


Loading...

Something went wrong.


Something went wrong.