Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

This Week I Learned -  * " We are making Markdown files work natively across Google Drive and Docs. You can now preview .md files in Drive, open them in Docs, edit them, comment on them, and collaborate without converting the file into a Google Doc! Markdown has become the common language between humans and AI agents - specs, plans, READMEs, tables, task lists, generated docs - so much of this starts as .md. Now you can keep the file as Markdown and still use Google Docs collaboration workflows. " - Chandu Thota , VP at Google * Article 50(2) of the EU AI Act requires providers of generative AI systems to ensure AI-generated or manipulated content, including text, is marked in a machine-readable format and detectable as artificially-generated or manipulated.  OpenAI will begin adding an invisible watermark to eligible text generated by ChatGPT and Codex in the European Union (EU). OpenAI's text watermarking technology, called textGrain, adds an invisible statistical signa...

Sunday newspapers once featured fun “spot the difference” puzzles with two similar images. That same careful eye is now essential in the AI era to avoid falling for manipulated images. Here’s a practical checklist based on a New York Times article  to tell if a photo is an AI fake: Check the perspective - Look at lines that should run straight into the distance (like floor tiles or walls). Do they bend, warp, or point in different directions? Watch for prompt keywords - Scan for brand names, place names, or other words from the original prompt that appear in strange or overly prominent places. Zoom in on small text - Big letters may look fine, but smaller writing often turns into gibberish. Also look for odd soft shadows on the characters. Examine how objects connect - Does a strap actually attach to a badge? Do skin tones match between a person and the photo on their ID? AI often fails at real physical relationships. Read the text carefully - Even sharp, pixel-perfect text can be ...

Cartoon co-created with Copilot. See more of my AI co-creations