Billionaires — they’re just like us.

In today’s edition:

• The most luxurious electric vehicle that money can buy.
• Surprising things about living in Florida, from a New Yorker of 20 years.
• Russia’s economy has gone from bad to worse in a matter of months.

The kids are not all right

Whether it’s their proclivity to change or endless desire to take part in “what’s next,” young people’s willingness to embrace new tech typically benefits them.

But the latest piece of transformational technology won’t be the lifeline it once was for young workers.

Generative AI is positioned to destroy job opportunities for current and future junior employees by automating away the work they previously did, Ed Zitron writes for Insider.

“A new, AI-powered model benefits already-established players and empowers the weak, disconnected management culture of America that doesn’t evaluate actual outputs or creations,” Zitron writes.

In a vacuum, AI automating the tasks typically assigned to entry-level employees might not spell disaster for young workers. The wider issue, per Zitron, is that corporate America has continued to move away from training new workers.

Nearly half of employees surveyed by an MIT professor in January 2020 reported receiving no formal job training from their employer over the past year, as companies instead bank on workers learning on the job via low-level tasks.

But with those opportunities getting swallowed up by the computers, young workers won’t have a way to get their foot in the door.

Of course, the corporate overlords will deny that’s the case. When it comes to innovation and automation, people will be enhanced, not replaced, they like to say.

But that facade is already falling apart, as a recent report found nearly 4,000 people lost their jobs because of AI in May.

Luxury EV, Threads, & more

• ChatGPT’s summer break. ChatGPT usage mysteriously fell at the same time students started summer break. That’s a bad sign for the fastest-growing technology, pointing to limited use-cases for it.
• Leaked document: coming features in Meta’s Threads. The Twitter competitor is currently pretty bare bones. But a leaked 13-page document is being distributed to select influencers, revealing coming features like messaging and Mastodon integration.
• “After 20 years, I moved from New York City to Florida.” Jenna Clark said moving south had been filled with surprises, including unexpected wildlife and the impact of heat and humidity on her hair. Oh, and she couldn’t believe Buc-ee’s existed.
• The hidden story of the most lethal Marine Corps sniper. Chuck Mawhinney served in Vietnam and had the most confirmed kills. He kept his story secret for years. But it all came out when a book he wasn’t expecting was published.
• Ways to elevate your home for under $50. An interior designer shared 12 affordable ways to elevate your space. Her design tips include playing with mirrors, swapping lampshades, and hanging bold artwork.
• “I drove the most luxurious electric car you can buy.” The Rolls-Royce Spectre costs $420,000 and gets you a “positively serene” driving experience, Insider’s Tim Levin writes. It boasts an opulent interior (wood trim, soft leather, and more). And, per Levin, driving it is like putting on noise-canceling headphones.
• Amazon is phasing out its low-code app-building software. Honeycode is Amazon’s latest lukewarm software to get put on life support. It started as a high-profile project within the company. But Honeycode never made it out of beta, and within two years of launching, rumors swirled about phasing it out.

Russia, stock market rally, & China

• Russia’s economy is going from bad to worse as Western sanctions hammer the country’s key sectors. From slumping car sales to a plunging Russia ruble, the problems Russia faces keep on growing.
• Beware of the stock market rally. The US economy looks pretty strong: Inflation is down, job gains are high, and the stock market is up. But Michael Kantrowitz, the chief strategist at Piper Sandler, warns this doesn’t mean we have a healthy economy.
• China’s youth unemployment rate just hit a new high of 21.3%. Its GDP growth also badly missed analysts’ expectations.

Earth’s axis, minefields, & Gen Z slang

• Humans have pumped so much groundwater that it’s caused the Earth’s axis to shift, new research finds. The study also found that pumping had increased sea levels.
• Ukrainian forces have faced dense minefields while carrying out counteroffensive operations. Units were forced to leave behind their tanks and advance on foot, per The Washington Post.
• All the latest Gen Z slang and trends (and how to use them). Himothy, beige flags, and side quests are just some of the latest terms young people are using.

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