Geoffrey A. Fowler

Great event on March 3: How powerful corporations — including Amazon, Instacart, major landlords — are using pricing algorithms to inflate prices and undermine competition. With @dohamekki Katie Wells @TedTatos & moderator @geoffreyfowler RSVP link follows

What’s described here isn’t isolated—it’s systemic. Embedded bias in AI has real-world consequences. My AI Civil Rights Act would put strict guardrails on algorithms to prevent bias and discrimination. Innovation without safeguards isn’t progress.

Wow: Meta has been working on plans to add facial recognition technology to its AI smart glasses. nyti.ms/3Os1oxf And this was the company’s cynical view on when, and how, to do it:

Look up what ChatGPT thinks about where you live at inequalities.ai. And check out my Substack for more examples and my take on what it means: geoffreyfowler.substack.com/p/chatgpt-bias

ChatGPT's bias isn't just academic — it bleeds into everyday answers. I asked it to write a story about a kid growing up in Mississippi. The character became a public defender. Same prompt set in New York? The kid became an architect.

New on my Substack: ChatGPT thinks the South has stupider people. It thinks sub-Saharan Africa has the worst-quality food. And it thinks the whiter your neighborhood, the more attractive the people. New research lets you see ChatGPT's hidden biases about YOUR community. 🧵

Full piece here: open.substack.com/pub/geoffreyfo… Would love to hear what tech issues you think I should investigate next.

For 8 years my stories had to include: "Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, but I review all technology with the same critical eye." Not anymore. My first Substack is about what it was like covering Amazon while Bezos paid my salary—and why accountability matters. Link below.

Update: changed the URL for my substack to @geoffreyfowler?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@geoffreyfowle…

After 8 years writing the tech column @washingtonpost, I am among folks who were laid off today. I’m grateful for the stories I got to tell and the impact we made on privacy, sustainability & AI. You can keep following my work on my new (free) Substack geoffreyafowler.substack.com

I took this photo back in 2019, on the day I helped open the Post’s first real San Francisco bureau. Most of that office was cut today. (No idea if they're gonna keep the bureau.)

I plan to keep fighting for “We the users” of technology. If you’re part of an organization that could make use of my expertise in tech, policy or investigations, I’d love to hear from you. I’m geoffreyfowler.88 on Signal.

AI will transform medicine. But today’s chatbots are overselling what they can safely do with your body data. I walked away more worried — not more informed. Full @washingtonpost column here (gift link): wapo.st/49GEASP

ChatGPT isn’t alone. Claude also now lets you import Apple Watch data. It graded me a C — using many of the same shaky assumptions. Both bots say they’re “not doctors.” But that isn’t stopping them from providing personal health analysis. That disconnect is the real danger.

You can now connect ChatGPT to an Apple Watch. So I imported 29 mil steps and 6 mil heartbeats into the new ChatGPT Health. It graded my heart an F. Cardiologist @erictopol called it “baseless.” Any bot claiming to give health insights shouldn’t be this clueless. Even in beta. 🧵