Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

A quack is launching his own AI chatbot in 2024

Crank, quack, and antivaxxer Mike Adams is unhappy with current AI systems. So he’s developing his own “natural health” large language model-based AI chatbot for 2024. Hilarity will ensue, for sure, but is he at the vanguard of a dangerous trend?

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

Malevolence and intent: Two defining characteristics of conspiracy theories

Malevolence is a key characteristic of any conspiracy theory, as antivax conspiracy theories readily indicate. Why is this?

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Antivaccine nonsense Skepticism/critical thinking

“I’m a rational theorist, not a conspiracy theorist.”

Conspiracy theorists hate being called conspiracy theorists. After they try to rebrand themselves as “rational theorists,” hilarity ensues.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking Sports

Why did antivaxxers seize on the Damar Hamlin case?

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from an on-field cardiac arrest most likely due to chest trauma, antivaxxers quickly blamed COVID-19 vaccines. The reason was a particularly nasty preexisting variant of the “died suddenly” myth in which athletes are dropping dead from the vaccine. They aren’t.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Did Anthony Fauci have a “conflict of interest” because his wife is Chief of Bioethics at NIH?

While Orac was off last week, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk resurrected an antivax conspiracy theory that Anthony Fauci’s wife was “supposed to make sure” that he “behaves ethically.”