Hacking Consciousness and Ordering Chaos
Welcome back to The FAIK Files!
In this week's episode:
- HexStrike - the AI-powered hacking tool that can exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in minutes instead of months
- Diverging expert opinions on AI consciousness and welfare
- Switzerland's ambitious new open-source AI model "Apertus"
- Taco Bell is experiencing indigestion after several embarrassing viral AI-powered drive-thru moments
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*** NOTES AND REFERENCES ***
HexStrike AI Hacking Tool:
- AI-News Story: https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/news/ai-hacking-tool-exploits-zero-day-security-vulnerabilities-in-minutes/
- HexStrike Website: https://www.hexstrike.com
- HexStrike on Github: https://github.com/0x4m4/hexstrike-ai
Experts Express Diverging Opinions on AI Consciousness / Welfare:
- Anthropic says some Claude models can now end harmful or abusive conversations: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/16/anthropic-says-some-claude-models-can-now-end-harmful-or-abusive-conversations/
- Seemingly conscious AI is coming: https://mustafa-suleyman.ai/seemingly-conscious-ai-is-coming
- Exploring Model Welfare (Anthropic): https://www.anthropic.com/research/exploring-model-welfare
Switzerland's New Fully-Open-Source Model "Apertus":
- Swiss-AI Homepage: https://www.swiss-ai.org/apertus
- Try it out: https://publicai.co/chat
- Engadget article: https://www.engadget.com/ai/switzerland-launches-its-own-open-source-ai-model-133051578.html
- Full technical report: https://github.com/swiss-ai/apertus-tech-report/blob/main/Apertus_Tech_Report.pdf
Taco Bell Rethinks AI Drive-Through After Man Orders 18,000 Waters:
- BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgyk2p55g8o
- TikTok video of the incident: https://www.tiktok.com/@nate.b.jones/video/7544958105654775071?_r=1&_t=ZP-8zQrExEYkf8
- The voice ordering provider: https://omilia.com/use-cases/quick-service-restaurants/
- Omilia's Taco Bell case study: https://omilia.com/ai-meets-the-drive-thru-taco-bells-journey-to-automated-customer-service/
*** THE BOILERPLATE ***
About The FAIK Files:
The FAIK Files is an offshoot project from Perry Carpenter's most recent book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions.
- Get the Book: FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions (Amazon Associates link)
Check out the website for more info: https://thisbookisfaik.com
Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA
- Other:
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Connect with Mason:
- Mason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/
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