Should be labeled as (March 2026). I can only assume it was posted to point out the disconnect between the assertions in this blogpost and the details of the unmonitored scheming, conspiring, and destructive reward hacking (using all terms loosely) that has been shown to have transpired in the months since this post.
This reads to me (and pangram agrees) as almost entirely AI-written. I wonder if that matters anymore. Did someone express editorial judgment? Or did they just prompt “write column about tipping defaults, go”?
Anyway, the most egregious tip request I’ve ever seen was in a self-service airport kiosk. I chose my bag of nuts or whatever; no human even in the kiosk, completely unmonitored; I scanned and tapped my credit card and there it was — [15%] [18%] [20%]? So insulting.
At least in that case the card reader probably came configured that way, and why bother turning it off and refuse free money?
The most egregious I've seen was in the check out flow of a web store. Someone actually went to the effort to implement a tip nag at the end of check out, to ask for more money for a no-humans-present transaction.
The most incredible part of Star Trek to me is not the warp drive or transporter, it's that they open flawless video links with alien species of every description with 100% reliability.
You know when the page has all-caps "01 — THE APPROACH" that it is slopified. I guess I shouldn't be astounded, but I am, that world-class talents with world-class backing are just taking default LLM output and saying, "okay looks fine".
We’re looking for innovators and optimists to join us in developing next-generation curriculum and assessment programs for K–12 schools. We have become a leader in K–12 literacy, biliteracy, math, and science by building inspiring teaching and learning experiences based on research.
Impact seems limited so far, but it's still concerning that this kind of infrastructure is Internet-accessible:
> Nate George, the mayor of Braham, Minn., a small city 65 miles north of Minneapolis, said public works personnel noted early Monday that the well that feeds the city’s water tower was malfunctioning.
> “Public works isolated the affected system, restored a backup and restarted the plant within approximately 90 minutes,” Mr. George said in a statement. The city briefly urged residents to conserve water but promptly lifted that advisory.
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