An AI philosopher, the conflict and chaos in Taylor Swift’s songs and the erasure of US history from national parks

1. ‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI

Illustration: The Guardian

Your natural inclination is to always want to build the safest technology that takes no risks with people. But in a way that isn’t giving people credit for the risks they want to take themselves.

Since 2017, Iason Gabriel has worked at the tech giant, trying to anticipate – and think through – the impact of AI. But as commercial and geopolitical pressures escalate, Robert P Baird asked if ethicists make any difference?

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2. David Sedaris on his Duolingo obsession: ‘“Today is the last day,” I told myself – but I was powerless to stop’

Illustration: Jonny Glover/The Guardian

This turned me into the person whom, since the turn of this latest century, I have most hated: one who moves about while staring down at a device. On the busy sidewalk, at the airport, everywhere a person should be paying the utmost attention to those around them, I suddenly was not.

David Sedaris wrote about his decision to combine his need to top the leader table with his  daily step count – which is how he found himself walking 10 miles a day while reading out sentences in Japanese, German, Spanish and French.

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3. ‘A sanitised view of America’: inside Trump’s campaign to erase US history from national parks

Yellowstone national park. Illustration: Guardian Design

America’s national parks are the closest thing the country has to sacred lands. What many may not realise, however, is that US history – not just nature – is at the heart of the visitor experience at most of the 433 parks, historic sites and monuments.

But over the past year and a half, this history has been under attack, with critics saying the Trump administration has been trying to reconstruct a version of US history they prefer by removing and altering scores of signs on public lands. Amy Qin and Flávio Pessoa told looked into the story as part of our Deleted data series.

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4. It’s a love story – or is it? The surprising conflict and chaos in Taylor Swift’s songs about commitment

Cover girl … Taylor Swift’s Love Story, The Life of a Showgirl and The Tortured Poets Department. Composite: Republic Records/ Beth Garrabrant

A pop superstar widely perceived as a romantic has in fact mostly written love songs troubled by strife, ghosts and delusion. Ahead of her wedding, BD McClay stripped away the gossip to see what Swift-as-songwriter has spent 20 years telling us.

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5. ‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres

Erin Brockovich at her home in Los Angeles. Photograph: Jessica Pons/The Guardian

What I’m seeing now is that councils, having heard community responses, are trying to hit pause and they’re getting sued [by the developers] for $100m-plus.

In 1993, Erin Brockovich squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights – and it’s global. Zoe Williams interviewed her about the campaign against AI datacentres.

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6. I visited seven themed bars in one week. Can ball pits and bingo save British nightlife?

Ammar Kalia at the Ballie Ballerson bar. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

While most hospitality venues are struggling, Britain has seen an enormous rise in “competitive socialising” at experiential bars that blend booze with, say, axe-throwing, darts, immersive theatre or adult-sized ball pits. Ammar Kalia looked into what is driving the trend, and asked whether he could find the answer while dressed in a prison jumpsuit and drinking a daiquiri?

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