Chatbots Colliding with Copyright Laws

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Claude*)
Editor

Introduction

The artificial intelligence chatbot landscape in 2025 faces an unprecedented legal reckoning. As platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, DeepSeek, and You.ai have evolved from experimental curiosities to essential business tools, they’ve collided headfirst with copyright law in ways that threaten their fundamental operating models. The question is no longer whether these platforms infringe copyright—it’s how extensively they do so and what the consequences will be.

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AI Creating New Foods at Hyperspeed

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT-5)
Editor

(Also see Chefs Using AI in Exciting New Ways.)

Introduction: ChatGPT-5 provides a ranked, up-to-the-minute snapshot (August 2025) of five AI innovations that are genuinely changing how the world invents food and beverages. -js


1) AI recipe–optimization engines at global CPG scale (Mondelez/Thoughtworks)

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Maryland Deepfake Audio Racist Hoax (2024–2025)

The crime. In April 2024, a fake audio recording circulated online that appeared to capture a Maryland high school principal making racist and antisemitic remarks. Investigators later concluded the clip was an AI-generated deepfake created to destroy the principal’s reputation following a workplace dispute. The hoax triggered public outrage, threats, and significant disruption to school operations. While not a money-transfer scam, the case is instructive as a prosecuted, sentenced misuse of generative AI to deceive and cause harm—showing courts are penalizing AI-assisted deception. AP News

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Tea With Bachan: An Alien Lesson

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Claude)
Editor

(Also see Algorithm of an Intentional Heart, The AGI Among Us, Close to You, Oregon Trail: Where Two Cultures Collaborate)

Introduction: In this sci-fi short story, I’ve asked Claude to adopt the persona of the main character, Kai. -js

Video created by Grok with an image created by Chatbox.
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Elon Musk’s Colossus: The Gambit That Could Reshape AI Forever

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini)
Editor

(Also see Colossus’s Vitals from Aug. 16-22, 2025 and Disruptive AI Supercomputer Alternative in 10 to 15 Years.)

Introduction: This essay is written by Claude.* See the updates from Perplxity and Gemini after the end of Claude’s essay. -js

Picture this: You’re driving through South Memphis on a sticky August morning, past abandoned lots and weathered houses that tell the story of industrial America’s forgotten corners. Suddenly, you round a corner and there it is—a sprawling complex of industrial buildings humming with the kind of energy that makes the air itself feel electric. This isn’t just another tech facility. This is Colossus, Elon Musk’s audacious bid to build the world’s largest AI supercomputer, and it’s probably the most fascinating—and controversial—thing happening in artificial intelligence right now.

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Top 10 Countries in AI R&D (Aug. 2025)

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Perplexity)
Editor

[Related: 22 Feb 2026, 11 Feb 2026, Oct 2025, Sep 2025]

2025 Rank: Top Countries Leading the World in AI Research & Development

This list presents the most internationally recognized leaders in AI research & development for 2025, referencing their companies and key individuals, and capturing each country’s unique advantages and global impact in the AI landscapepe.arapackelaw+13

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Deepfake Romance-Investment Rings (2024–2025)

The crime. Hong Kong police in late 2024 and early 2025 dismantled multiple syndicates that used AI face-swapping/deepfake tech to run romance-turned-investment scams (“pig butchering”). The groups reportedly operated out of industrial spaces, used deepfaked profiles and live “video” to build trust, and then funneled victims to bogus crypto or FX platforms.

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The Answer Engine Revolution: How Perplexity Took On Google

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Claude)
Editor

Introduction: This story is told by Claude.* -js

In the gleaming conference rooms of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious AI companies, a young Indian engineer named Aravind Srinivas was watching the future unfold. It was 2021, and the 27-year-old PhD from UC Berkeley had just spent years rotating through the holy trinity of artificial intelligence research: OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and back to OpenAI again. He had seen the inner workings of ChatGPT before the world knew its name, witnessed the transformer revolution firsthand, and absorbed the cutting-edge research that would soon reshape human knowledge.

Aravind Srinivas, Co-Founder & CEO of Perplexity. Photo by Kimberly White Getty Images for TechCrunch.
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Perplexity: Best Chatbot for Academic Papers

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Gemini)
Editor

For this survey, I asked seven chatbots — Gemini, DeepSeek, You.com, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, and Claude — to rank the same seven chatbots, including their own. I weighted each 1st selection as 7 points, each 2nd as 6, etc. Each chatbot received 7 rankings.

The runaway favorite for academic papers was Perplexity with 47 points (six 7s and one 5). The second and third were Claude with 33 and Gemini with 31. Here’s the complete rankings: (1st) Perplexity 47, (2nd) Claude 33, (3rd) Gemini 31, (4th) Copilot 23, (4th) You.com 23, (5th) ChatGPT 21, (6th) DeepSeek 18.

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Three Reviews of ChatGPT-5

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by You.com)
Editor

Introduction: These reviews collectively indicate that while ChatGPT-5 represents a significant technical advancement—especially in reasoning, accuracy, and research support—it also introduces new complexities, retains some persistent limitations, and raises important questions about user experience, trust, and ethical deployment. -You.com

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Pennsylvania Couple Scammed by Grandson’s Voice (2025)

The crime & method. Reported in August 2025, an elderly couple received a call from someone who sounded like their grandson, claiming he’d been in a serious crash and jailed for DUI after hitting a pregnant woman. A supposed “official” then demanded $9,000 in bail, arranged an Uber/Lyft pickup to the bank, and later pressed for another $9,000. The station noted the use of AI to mimic the grandson’s voice and the practice of scraping social media to generate a convincing clone. WGAL

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Three Biggest AI Stories in August 2025

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Perplexity)
Editor

[Related articles: Jan 2026Dec 2025, Nov 2025Oct 2025Sep 2025]

1. OpenAI Launches GPT-5: A New Era in AI Reasoning

The unveiling of GPT-5 by OpenAI on August 7, 2025, set a new benchmark for generative AI. GPT-5 introduces a step-change in technical capabilities, especially in reasoning and multi-modal understanding. Its ability to integrate text, image, and voice processing in a unified model marks a significant evolution from previous generations. Benchmarks suggest a 40% improvement over GPT-4 in handling complex reasoning tasks, from scientific problem-solving to autonomous coding and data analysis. champaignmagazine

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Hong Kong “Deepfake CFO” Video-Meeting (2024)

The crime. In January 2024, a finance staffer in the Hong Kong office of Arup, the global engineering group, received what looked like a legitimate email and invitation to a video meeting with the firm’s UK-based chief financial officer and several colleagues. On the call, everyone appeared and sounded exactly like familiar executives—except they weren’t.

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Oregon Trail: Fletchers Settle in Tualatin Valley

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Gemini)
Editor

Introduction: In this follow-up to Oregon Trail: Where Two Cultures Collaborate, I worked with Gemini* to detail how the Fletchers (a fictional family) settled in Tualatin Valley, which is in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. -js

Traveling approximately 15 miles per day on average, the Fletchers’ 2,000-mile journey from Independence, Missouri, took approximately five months to complete. When they finally reached Oregon, their primary destination was the Willamette Valley.1 In 1850, the Oregon Territory comprised the entirety of the modern states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as well as portions of present-day Montana and Wyoming that lie west of the Continental Divide. The official end of the trail was Oregon City, located at the northern end of the valley, and many people initially gathered there.2

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SBS™ — Shop · Buy · Ship: Defining the Commerce Model That’s Shaping Our Future

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT-5)
Editor

Why We Need a New Term

In the world of e-commerce, we talk about “marketplaces,” “platforms,” and “fulfillment networks.” But these words miss the bigger picture: online shopping isn’t just about finding products — it’s a tightly connected loop of searching, purchasing, and delivering.

That’s why I’m introducing SBS™ — Shop · Buy · Ship. It’s a simple but powerful framework for understanding the entire commerce cycle, whether it’s controlled by one company or spread across many.

What Is SBS?

SBS™ (Shop · Buy · Ship) is the integrated process that defines how consumers discover products, pay for them, and receive them.

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Oregon Trail: Where Two Cultures Collaborate

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Claude)
Editor

(Also see Oregon Trail: Fletchers Settle in Tualatin Valley, Algorithm of an Intentional Heart, The AGI Among Us, Close to You, Tea With Bachan: An Alien Lesson.)

Introduction: Yesterday, Claude and I collaborated* on a short story, told by Claude from the perspective of a twelve-year-old boy who is traveling the Oregon Trail in a wagon train in 1848. -js

My name’s Thomas Fletcher, but most folks just call me Tommy. Pa says I’m small for twelve, but I reckon I’m doing a man’s work out here, so that’s got to count for something.

We been on this trail near two months now, left Independence back in April when the grass was just starting to green up good for the oxen – though we got mules, not oxen. Pa says mules are steadier, don’t spook as easy. Every morning I’m up before dawn helping Pa check the harnesses and loading our gear back in the wagon. Ma and my sister Sarah, she’s fourteen, they pack up the cooking things and whatever we pulled out for sleeping.

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Prospects for a Stadium Designed to Maximize AI in Coaching

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Claude)
Editor

Introduction: I asked Claude to join me in exploring the idea of a smart stadium (s-stadium) for football (American) and soccer that is designed, from the ground up, to maximize the use of AI by coaches and staff to make on-the-fly decisions under game conditions. Realizing that the topic is complex and requires a number of subtopics, I decided that, instead of a single monstrous prompt, a systematic scaffolding of sub-prompts* might be the best approach. The result is this article, which is presented as an informal white paper, with the working title: “The S-Stadium: Designing the AI-Integrated Sports Venue of the Future.” The paper comprises five parts: Part I: Coaching Intelligence Feeds – The Foundation of S-Stadium Design. Part II: Architectural, Engineering, and Technological Systems. Part III: Mother – The S-Stadium AI Orchestration System. Part IV: ARIA – Autonomous Recursive Intelligence Architecture. Part V: Feasibility Analysis – The Reality Check. Epilogue: The Catalyst Factor. -js

The S-Stadium: Designing the AI-Integrated Sports Venue of the Future

An Informal White Paper on Ground-Up Smart Stadium Architecture

Executive Summary

The S-Stadium (Smart Stadium) represents a paradigm shift in sports venue design, where artificial intelligence systems are not retrofitted additions but foundational elements that drive architectural and technological decisions from conception. This paper outlines the tactical video intelligence feeds that would define coaching capabilities in such a venue.

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Ilya Sutskever Says AI’s Future Impact Will Be Unprecedented

By Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

In this 10-minute video posted on YouTube (on 8 June 2025 by the University of Toronto), Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and former chief scientist at OpenAI, speaks at the University of Toronto’s Spring Convocation (6 June 2025). His message: AI is rapidly creating a future that’s “really unprecedented and really extreme,” and the best way to prepare for it is to experience it firsthand, with our own senses, to get a feel for its potential to enhance our ability to learn and perform and to begin to grasp what that means for our future.

Sutskever’s remarks about AI begin at the 3:35 mark of the video below.

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AI in the Field of Cyberjustice

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Gemini)
Editor

Introduction: AI in the field of cyberjustice began to take off only a year ago, in 2024, so it’s a relatively new specialty. In this article, Gemini and I discuss the criminal and justice forces that are defining this field. -js

Gemini: Yes, it’s possible for criminals to use AI to profit from crimes with a good chance of avoiding arrest.1 AI significantly enhances criminals’ capabilities by automating and scaling illegal activities, making them more sophisticated and harder to detect.2 It lowers the barrier to entry for many types of crime, allowing individuals with limited technical skills to execute complex schemes.3

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AI in Inmate Rehabilitation: CompanionAI

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT)
Editor

Introduction: In this conversation, ChatGPT and I discuss the idea of extending AI into prisons to boost their rehabilitation mission. Apparently, scattered attempts have been made in limited programs, but there are no clear prototypes for the comprehensive model that we envision. Our opinion is that the benefits, in terms of rehabilitation and compassion, far outweigh the costs and effort. -js

ChatGPT: Hi James! This is an incredibly important and emerging area, and you’re absolutely right: the integration of AI/chatbots into criminal justice reform—especially in treatment and rehabilitation—feels like a natural and overdue step. While it’s still early days, there are a few promising initiatives underway, and the potential is significant.

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2040 — The Huli in Higher Ed

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT)
Editor

Introduction: In this conversation, ChatGPT and I are taking a fifteen-year journey into the future, to the year 2040. He’ll be adopting the persona of ʻIlima, a senior at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, who will be telling us about the University’s huli, or transformation, and how she’s preparing for a career that will secure her financial future as well as her cultural heritage. She’ll also be introducing us to classmates and alumni who are traveling similar but different paths. The focus is on Hawaii, but comparable changes have been occurring in higher ed throughout the US and the world. -js

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Colleges Failing 50% of Their Graduates

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT)
Editor

Introduction: ChatGPT and I looked at the numbers and percentages of four generations (Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z) of college graduates and their relative success in the job market. Join us in our conversation as we dive ever deeper into the data and discover a growing crisis. The outlook appears dire, but it’s fixable. It’s a DIY project, and colleges and universities are actually in an excellent time and place to reverse the trend. -js

ChatGPT: Here’s a detailed summary based on the latest available data:

🎓 1. Estimated Number of Spring 2024 College Graduates (Bachelor’s)

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How Your College and Major Impact Your Salary After Graduation

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Gemini)
Editor

Introduction: My conversation with Gemini began with STEM and moved to: prestige vs non-prestige colleges, non-STEM majors, medicine/nursing, business, soft skills, and transparency of post-graduation salary statistics. We managed to clarify some of the nuances and issues but hit a wall with the issue of greater transparency. -js

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AI Is Disrupting the Fine Arts in Higher Ed

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT)
Editor

Introduction: My conversation with ChatGPT began with AI in music and branched into film, dance, animation, and, eventually, the speed of change that’s bypassing most schools and colleges. The early adopters are primarily the young and artists who are learning and practicing their skills independently, creating AI-assisted works with their laptops and personal links to the web. Some institutions are integrating AI into their fine arts programs, but they are the exception. -js

1. AI-Assisted Composition & Songwriting

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A Homeschooler’s View of AI

By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by ChatGPT)
Editor

Introduction: For this article, I asked ChatGPT* to adopt the persona of a 12-year-old, sixth-grade girl and to share how she uses AI as a homeschooler. ChatGPT chose the name “Emi” and Honolulu for the setting. The purpose of this article is to show how AI is being used or could be used in homeschooling. Far from being isolating and monotonous, homeschooling could be exciting and dynamic. The images were generated in ChatBox. -js

Hi there! 😊 My name’s Emi.
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