Alexios Mantzarlis
@mantzarlis.com
Tech, facts, and carbonara.
mantzarlis.com
mantzarlis.com
Ashley St Clair claims to have lost all of her X monetization privileges. This comes after she publicly complained about X users using Grok to sexualize several photos of her
January 8, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Ashley St Clair claims to have lost all of her X monetization privileges. This comes after she publicly complained about X users using Grok to sexualize several photos of her
Two weeks into Grok being used for a mass harassment and CSAM-generating campaign, Elon Musk is 100% unrepentant.
Over the past two days he has posted 0 times about the abuse. He has posted or reposted 22 times about Grok's popularity and product features.
Shameless doesn't begin to describe it.
Over the past two days he has posted 0 times about the abuse. He has posted or reposted 22 times about Grok's popularity and product features.
Shameless doesn't begin to describe it.
January 8, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Two weeks into Grok being used for a mass harassment and CSAM-generating campaign, Elon Musk is 100% unrepentant.
Over the past two days he has posted 0 times about the abuse. He has posted or reposted 22 times about Grok's popularity and product features.
Shameless doesn't begin to describe it.
Over the past two days he has posted 0 times about the abuse. He has posted or reposted 22 times about Grok's popularity and product features.
Shameless doesn't begin to describe it.
what on earth is Satya Nadella even saying here
January 7, 2026 at 4:12 PM
what on earth is Satya Nadella even saying here
Indicator has covered this subject extensively. Here's all of our reporting on AI nudifiers, platform failures, and countermeasures in one place: indicator.media/nudifiers-un...
January 7, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Indicator has covered this subject extensively. Here's all of our reporting on AI nudifiers, platform failures, and countermeasures in one place: indicator.media/nudifiers-un...
However, the Take It Down Act obligations on platforms to remove nonconsensual synthetic nudes kick into effect later this year.
As this guerrilla audit showed, X does act when it's legally required to.
arxiv.org/abs/2409.12138
As this guerrilla audit showed, X does act when it's legally required to.
arxiv.org/abs/2409.12138
January 7, 2026 at 2:04 PM
However, the Take It Down Act obligations on platforms to remove nonconsensual synthetic nudes kick into effect later this year.
As this guerrilla audit showed, X does act when it's legally required to.
arxiv.org/abs/2409.12138
As this guerrilla audit showed, X does act when it's legally required to.
arxiv.org/abs/2409.12138
Now, new evidence from a high-touch study of AFP Factuel suggests that fact-checking reduces future engagement on fact-checked stories by as much as 11%. The study also found some limitations, including turnaround times.
indicator.media/p/an-18-mont...
indicator.media/p/an-18-mont...
January 7, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Now, new evidence from a high-touch study of AFP Factuel suggests that fact-checking reduces future engagement on fact-checked stories by as much as 11%. The study also found some limitations, including turnaround times.
indicator.media/p/an-18-mont...
indicator.media/p/an-18-mont...
This Italian FB page that posts Catholic AI slop shared a new deepfake where the lips of the statue of Mary also (unintentionally) briefly move to mouth the same words the deepfake nun is saying.
stuff of nightmares.
www.facebook.com/reel/7980401...
stuff of nightmares.
www.facebook.com/reel/7980401...
January 6, 2026 at 10:21 PM
This Italian FB page that posts Catholic AI slop shared a new deepfake where the lips of the statue of Mary also (unintentionally) briefly move to mouth the same words the deepfake nun is saying.
stuff of nightmares.
www.facebook.com/reel/7980401...
stuff of nightmares.
www.facebook.com/reel/7980401...
We're rolling out a cool new look for Indicator!
Check it out and share @indicator.media with your friends.
Check it out and share @indicator.media with your friends.
January 5, 2026 at 9:24 PM
We're rolling out a cool new look for Indicator!
Check it out and share @indicator.media with your friends.
Check it out and share @indicator.media with your friends.
this argument is playing out on Wikipedia, too.
The editors have for the moment gone for a more NYT-like "2026 United States strikes in Venezuela" but not everyone agrees
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Un...
The editors have for the moment gone for a more NYT-like "2026 United States strikes in Venezuela" but not everyone agrees
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Un...
January 3, 2026 at 11:15 PM
this argument is playing out on Wikipedia, too.
The editors have for the moment gone for a more NYT-like "2026 United States strikes in Venezuela" but not everyone agrees
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Un...
The editors have for the moment gone for a more NYT-like "2026 United States strikes in Venezuela" but not everyone agrees
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Un...
I'm sure NYT editors spent a lot of time deciding what to call the regime change in Venezuela but I do think this word choice evokes the Putinist "special military operation" and understates what is in practice an invasion
January 3, 2026 at 11:14 PM
I'm sure NYT editors spent a lot of time deciding what to call the regime change in Venezuela but I do think this word choice evokes the Putinist "special military operation" and understates what is in practice an invasion
December 31, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Unsurprisingly the top "repeat offenders" in terms of inaccurate notes were accounts seemingly based in India. The hoax took a life of its own on Indian X -- for sectarian and nationalistic reasons -- and the false "Edward Crabtree" identity was substantially more Googled than elsewhere
December 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Unsurprisingly the top "repeat offenders" in terms of inaccurate notes were accounts seemingly based in India. The hoax took a life of its own on Indian X -- for sectarian and nationalistic reasons -- and the false "Edward Crabtree" identity was substantially more Googled than elsewhere
The bad news is that high precision comes at the expense of terrible recall. 80% of tweets that misidentified the Bondi beach hero did not show a crowdsourced fact check even though one was readily available.
Like this one:
Like this one:
December 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The bad news is that high precision comes at the expense of terrible recall. 80% of tweets that misidentified the Bondi beach hero did not show a crowdsourced fact check even though one was readily available.
Like this one:
Like this one:
The good news is that the combination of negative ratings and X's "bridging" algorithm prevented any inaccurate note from being appended to a tweet. Conversely, 20 accurate notes did get shown on tweets.
indicator.media/p/how-the-cr...
indicator.media/p/how-the-cr...
December 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The good news is that the combination of negative ratings and X's "bridging" algorithm prevented any inaccurate note from being appended to a tweet. Conversely, 20 accurate notes did get shown on tweets.
indicator.media/p/how-the-cr...
indicator.media/p/how-the-cr...
There were certainly a lot of notes about al-Ahmed.
In fact, 10% of *all* notes proposed on December 14 were about him.
Especially in the early hours, there were as many inaccurate notes as correct ones.
In fact, 10% of *all* notes proposed on December 14 were about him.
Especially in the early hours, there were as many inaccurate notes as correct ones.
December 22, 2025 at 2:28 PM
There were certainly a lot of notes about al-Ahmed.
In fact, 10% of *all* notes proposed on December 14 were about him.
Especially in the early hours, there were as many inaccurate notes as correct ones.
In fact, 10% of *all* notes proposed on December 14 were about him.
Especially in the early hours, there were as many inaccurate notes as correct ones.
This preprint suggests the introduction of Grok may have reduced both the demand and the supply for Community Notes on X (h/t @dgrand.bsky.social). And if I had to bet on which of the two is going to get more resources in the future...
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
December 18, 2025 at 10:30 PM
This preprint suggests the introduction of Grok may have reduced both the demand and the supply for Community Notes on X (h/t @dgrand.bsky.social). And if I had to bet on which of the two is going to get more resources in the future...
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
hm. is anyone else having trouble downloading Community Notes data on X?
December 18, 2025 at 6:52 PM
hm. is anyone else having trouble downloading Community Notes data on X?
io glieli auguro 685,000 abbonati a @ilpost.it ma credo che l'IA di Google abbia preso una bella cantonata citando un articolo scritto dal Post ma riguardante il Corriere della Sera
December 18, 2025 at 3:48 PM
io glieli auguro 685,000 abbonati a @ilpost.it ma credo che l'IA di Google abbia preso una bella cantonata citando un articolo scritto dal Post ma riguardante il Corriere della Sera
Despite a 2025 that's been generally gloomy for information quality, I came out of this article buoyed by responses like this one by @marklittle.bsky.social about what is possible in 2026
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
December 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Despite a 2025 that's been generally gloomy for information quality, I came out of this article buoyed by responses like this one by @marklittle.bsky.social about what is possible in 2026
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
Generally unimpressed with Community Notes, the group was on average far more positive about the filters to reduce AI content in feeds that Pinterest and TikTok trialed this year
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
December 17, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Generally unimpressed with Community Notes, the group was on average far more positive about the filters to reduce AI content in feeds that Pinterest and TikTok trialed this year
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
Our expert respondents were far more worried about AI impersonation than AI slop.
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
December 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Our expert respondents were far more worried about AI impersonation than AI slop.
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
Elon Musk easily won the "worst tech CEO" category, with Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman battling it out for second place.
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
December 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Elon Musk easily won the "worst tech CEO" category, with Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman battling it out for second place.
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
in chess as in the rest of my life, i'm a creature of habit
December 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM
in chess as in the rest of my life, i'm a creature of habit
I love this rallying cry by @davey.bsky.social on the value of humans in journalism.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/in-2...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/in-2...
December 11, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I love this rallying cry by @davey.bsky.social on the value of humans in journalism.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/in-2...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/in-2...