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Crowd Control

This week, Jessica and Michael discuss public projects from the New Zealand flag referendum to the mishap that was Tay—Microsoft’s “bizarrely optimistic experiment” with a bot whose persona was informed by the biliousness of Twitter. Tay was “an example of bad design,” as interaction designer Caroline Sinders wrote.

  • Microsoft apologizes for Tay
  • Adrienne LaFrance, “What Is a Robot?,” from The Atlantic
  • More on Tay from Sarah Jeong, Ben Brown, and Alexis Lloyd
  • A primer on Boaty McBoatface
  • Apple ResearchKit
  • New Zealand votes to keep its flag
  • Anne Perkins, It’s not enough to tweet your grief
  • Thanks to Stumptown Coffee Roasters for sponsoring this episode.

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