Do Social Media Bans Work? + A Conversation About A.I. Consciousness + Tool Time

Global efforts to restrict teen access to social media are gaining momentum, with multiple countries and U.S. states enacting age-verification laws despite concerns about their long-term efficacy and potential for circumvention. While proponents argue these measures protect minors from online harms like grooming and algorithmic manipulation, critics point to the difficulty of enforcement and the tendency for teens to migrate to less regulated platforms. Meanwhile, the discovery of internal "global workspace" structures in AI models, such as Anthropic's JSpace, has reignited scientific debate regarding machine consciousness. NYU professor Jeff Sebo emphasizes the necessity of empirical, multidisciplinary research to distinguish between mechanistic pattern matching and genuine sentience. Beyond these policy and philosophical questions, the rise of "vibe coding" tools like Glaze enables non-technical users to rapidly build functional applications, signaling a shift in how individuals create and interact with software.