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AI can do a lot of things. It can write your emails. It can make your grocery list. It can even interview you for a job. But now, more and more people are depending on AI for things that require real human qualities: life coaching, therapy, even companionship. Scott Galloway, best-selling author and professor of marketing at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, says the real problem with synthetic relationships is what they lack: any kind of struggle or challenge that comes with maintaining real relationships. Leaning on AI In a recent social media post, Galloway calls AI a rabbit hole that is “sequestering us from each otherand while it may mimic human relationships in some ways, it may actually take up space where human beings could be. Or should be. Thats driving us apart, Galloway argues. He says that people are “leaning on” their AI relationships in ways that they used to lean on human beings. That may happen because, sure, other human beings aren’t always readily available. He says AI relationships are easier to maintain . . . but thats the whole point. In a bad way. “You need to be mindful of the fact that these things are not real humans, he says. They are meant to keep you on the screen, and to sometimes be supportive to a fault.” AI gives people exactly what they’re craving. Maybe even too much. What’s still missing Regardless of the comfort it may provide to many, Galloway says that AI is lacking in some key areas. For starters, it can’t show real compassion or empathy. On top of that, it isn’t always honestor at least, not honest enough. The author says there is real danger in bots that tell people what they want to hear, rather than what they may need to hear. According to Galloway, it’s prime territory for getting stuck in a cycle of consuming what he calls “empty calories: Basically, AI acts like a friend, but is a friend that tells you exactly what you want to hear a true friend? Not so much. AI cooperates, where a human being might push back. Galloway says that lack of “friction,” or any sort of real challenge, may be appealing. Who wouldnt want a drama-free echo chamber that validates your own worldview and offers no consistent pushback . . . that is, unless you specifically engineer a prompt for an LLM to do so? That ease is a draw, but Galloway says it also takes away the true essence of a relationship. Because real human relationships are hard. But theyre kind of supposed to be. The greatest reward According to Galloway, it can be totally tempting to make friends with AI because while it’s easy to do, human relationships are exactly the opposite. It takes not just time and energy, but also really learning what other people need, how to respond, and show up for them. Thats the key to making friendships or romantic relationships last. But its a lot of work. “It is difficult to establish the pecking order of friends, and approach people and express friendship.” For some people, its easier to just avoid it altogether. And AI makes it even easier. Still, according to Galloway? Human relationships are essential not in spite of the workbut because of it. It isnt about ease; its about the work, the challenge. And the payoff. In essence, it’s the struggle to maintain relationships that helps people grow, or that makes the relationship worth it. Sending text dumps to ChatGPT just doesnt hit the same. “People are messy, complex,” Galloway says. “And that is why it is so f****** rewarding.”
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Disney reported $22.46 billion in revenue for the quarter, which just missed analyst expectations and resulted in a 5% drop in premarket trading on Thursday. The entertainment divisionwhich includes the companys streaming, linear networks, and theatrical businesssaw a 6% drop in revenue. Streaming did see some gains: Disney+ and Hulu ended the quarter with 196 million subscriptions, an increase of 12.4 million subscribers from the previous quarter. However, Disneys linear networks dropped 16% to $107 million, compared to this time last year, while operating income fell 21%. The companys theatrical releases also saw declines with both the drop in linear networks and theatrical business driving the mixed results.In a letter to shareholders, the company attributed the decrease in its domestic linear networks to lower advertising fueled by the continued decline in viewership as well as political advertising, which had a $40 million negative impact on results compared to this time last year. For sports, Disney reported a 2% increase in revenue to $4 billion, while operating income of $911 million, a decrease of $18 million compared to the year before with domestic ESPN operating income declining 3%. The company cited that higher marketing and programming and production costs were partially offset by higher advertising and subscription and affiliate revenues. Meanwhile, domestic advertising revenue in sports increased 8%.The overall decline across linear networks continues to fuel the trend of cord-cutting consumers who are migrating to streaming with ad dollars making a shift that way as well. The recent quarterly earnings also come as Disney and Google continue their ongoing carriage dispute which resulted in several of Disneys networks going dark on YouTube TV. Some analysts estimated that a two-week blackout on YouTube could cost Disney about $60 million in revenue. Disney CEO Bob Iger addressed the feud on the earnings call saying that the company is working hard to close the deal: Were hopeful that well be able to do so on a timely enough basis to at least give consumers the opportunity to access our content over their platform.
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After years of living on the street and crashing on friends’ couches, Quantavia Smith was given the keys to a studio apartment in Los Angeles that came with an important perkeasy access to public transit. The 38-year-old feels like she went from a life where no one cares to one where she has a safe place to begin rebuilding her life. And the metro station the apartment complex was literally built upon is a lifeline as she searches for work without a car. It is more a sense of relief, a sense of independence,” said Smith, who moved in July. She receives some government assistance and pays 30% of her income for rent just $19 a month for an efficiency with a full-market value of $2,000. Having your own space, you feel like you can do anything.” Metro areas from Los Angeles to Boston have taken the lead in tying new housing developments to their proximity to public transit, often teaming up with developers to streamline the permitting process and passing policies that promote developments that include a greater number of units. City officials argue building housing near public transit helps energize neglected neighborhoods and provide affordable housing, while ensuring a steady stream of riders for transit systems and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the number of cars on the road. Transit-oriented development should be one of, if not the biggest solution that were looking at for housing development, said Yonah Freemark, research director at the Urban Institutes Land Use Lab, who has written extensively on the topic. It takes advantage of all of this money weve spent on transportation infrastructure. If you build the projects and dont build anything around the areas near them, then its kind of like money thrown down the drain, Freemark said. Transit housing projects from DC to LA The Santa Monica and Vermont Apartments where Smith lives is part of an ambitious plan by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to build 10,000 housing units near transit sites by 2031offering developers land discounts in exchange for affordable housing development and other community benefits. In Washington D.C., the transit authority has completed eight projects since 2022 that provided nearly 1,500 apartments and a million square feet of office space. About half were in partnership with Amazon, which committed $3.6 billion in low-cost loans and grants for affordable housing projects in Washington, as well as Nashville, Tennessee, and the Puget Sound area in Washington state. Almost all are within a half-mile of public transit. Big cities face the greatest challenges when it comes to traffic congestion and high housing costs, Freemark said. Building new homes near transit helps address both problems by encouraging people to take transit while increasing housing supply. Among projects Boston has built, the Pok Oi Residents in Chinatown is a 10-minute walk to the subway and a half-dozen bus stops. That’s a draw for Bernie Hernandez, who moved his family there from a Connecticut suburb after his daughter got into a Boston university. The big difference is commuting. You dont need a car, said Hernandez, who said he can walk to the grocery story and pharmacy. His 17-year-old daughter takes the subway to school. Now, his car mostly sits idle, saving him money on gas and time spent in traffic. You get to go to different places very quickly. Everything is convenient,” Hernandez said. States take aim at zoning regulations States from Massachusetts to California are passing laws targeting restrictive zoning regulations that for decades prohibited building multifamily developments and contributed to housing shortages. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state law allowing taller apartment buildings on land owned by transit agencies and near bus, train, and subway lines. Building more homes in our most sustainable locations is the key to tackling the affordability crisis and locking in Californias success for many years to come, said State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who authored the bill. California joins Colorado, which requires cities to allow an average of 40 housing units per acre within a quarter-mile of transit, and Utah, which mandates about 50 units per acre. In Washington, the governor signed a bill this year allowing taller housing developments in mixed-use commercial zones near transit. We want to ensure that there are mixed-income, walkable, vibrant homes all around those transit investments and that people have the option of using cars less to improve the environmental health of our communities, said Democratic Rep. Julia Reed, who authored the Washington bill. Its about giving people the opportunity to drive less and live more.” Housing takes center stage in Massachusetts Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has made housing a priority. Among her most potent tools is a 2021 law that requires 177 towns or communities nearby to create zoning districts allowing multi-family housing. The state provided nearly $8 million to more than 150 communities to help create these zones, while threatening to cut funding for those that don’t. More than 6,000 housing units are in development as a result. You put housing nearby public transit” Healey said. “Its great for people. They can literally get up, leave their home, walk to a commuter rail and get to work. Among the first to comply was Lexington, which has approved 10 projects, including a $115 million complex with 187 housing units and retail space. Walking past earth-moving equipment and dump trucks at the construction site earlier this year, project manager Quinlan Locke said: This is a landscape yard. Its commercial. Its meant for trucking. But, he added, in two years from now, its going to be meant for people who live here, work here and play here. This is going to become someones home. Opposition to zoning changes Some advocates argue the lofty goals of transit housing are falling short due to fierce local resistance and lack of funding and support at the federal and state levels. Higher mortgage interest rates, more government red tape, rising construction costs, and lack of investment at transit stations also have contributed to a troubling trendnine times more housing units built far from public transit versus near it in the past two decades, according to a 2023 Urban Institute study. In Massachusetts, 19 communities still haven’t created new zones. Some unsuccessfully sued the state to halt the law, while residents rejected new zones in others. Lexington eventually shrank its zone from 227 acres to 90 acres after residents complained. If we allow the state to come in and dictate how we zone, what else are they going to come in and dictate? said Anthony Renzoni, a selectman from the ton of Holden, which sued the state and is drawing up a new zoning map after residents rejected the first one. New housing, a new life In Los Angeles, the six-story complex where Smith lives in East Hollywood is home to 300 new residents since opening in February. It’s revitalizing the area around the metro site, with a Filipino grocery, medical clinic and farmers market opening early next year. Half the 187 units are reserved for formerly homeless residents like Smith, who had been living in a rundown motel paid for with a voucher and before that on the street. She’s been assigned a case worker and is getting help with basic life skills, budgeting, and finding work. Equally important: Smith, who can’t afford a car, doesn’t need one. Im very, very fortunate to be somewhere where the transit takes me where I want to go, she said. Where I want to go is not that far. Michael Casey, Associated Press
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