Don't touch that dial

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. How AI is affecting hiring, the growing poplularity of duel citizenship, the Winter Olympics gets a new sport, and Morrissey throws in the towel on half his tour  👀

Let’s get into it!

While some reports from as recently as just a few months ago said the economy isn’t really seeing measurable data to suggest AI is already replacing the human labor force, some experts see a different picture materializing.

Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday, Neel Kashkari— Minneapolis Federal Reserve president—said many large companies are indeed leveraging AI to execute tasks humans were once relied upon for, and are seeing “real productivity gains” because of it.

He described AI as “really a big company story,” suggesting small and medium-sized businesses may not be at the “AI replaces humans” stage yet, but it’s already underway at the enterprise level, as evidenced not necessarily by layoffs, but by major slowdowns in hiring.

He conceded there are plenty of examples of companies overinvesting in AI technology for their employees to use, but also said those growing pains have largely gone away for many large companies.

“There’s no question that there’s some mis-investment or mal-investment that’s going on, but there are too many anecdotes of businesses using this and actually seeing real productivity gains,” he said.

Dual citizenship has been a highly sought after luxury for as long as the concept has existed, but its popularity has skyrocketed in recent years.

According to the 2021 UK census, 2.1% of Britons have a second passport, practically double the 1.1% reported in the 2011 census.

6% of Americans are self-reported dual citizens, according to a recent YouGov poll, and plenty of Canadians have multiple passports as well, particularly in cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, each of which are home to some of the world’s largest diasporas.

The desire is only growing in the United States, where one in five Americans expressed interest in emigrating just two months ago in a Gallup poll.

“There’s a lot of upsides and no downside,” says Peter Spiro, professor of law at Temple University and author of multiple books about citizenship. “And the upsides have certainly become better understood in the wake of political turbulence in the US.”

Dual citizenship comes with tremendous benefits for those looking for global mobility, and while it’s not always easy to obtain, it also may not be as difficult as you think. You can read on here for a more in-depth analysis.

Meta announced in October that it would soon begin leveraging users’ interactions with “AI at Meta” to improve its targeted advertising. While the announcement drew a backlash, the policy nevertheless came into effect in December.

A coordinated response from 36 privacy, civil rights, and consumer protection groups produced a co-signed letter that was sent to the Federal Trade Commission at the end of the month.

“The Commission should recognize that Meta’s decision to monetize AI-driven chatbots without even a basic opt-out mechanism reflects the company’s broader strategy: an aggressive expansion of AI for marketing and advertising,” they wrote.

The policy update indicated Meta will now collect data from for potential use in targeted ads, such as “prompts that can include questions, messages, media and other information you or others share with or send to AI at Meta.”

“AI at Meta” refers to any of the artificial intelligence features under the entire Meta umbrella, including the chatbot on Messenger, Facebook, and WhatsApp, along with the “Vibes” feature, and those integrated with the Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Ski mountaineering has probably been around since the 1800s, but its first official world championships were held in France in 2002. It’s grown in popularity since, and is making its Olympic debut in Italy next month.

The sport combines uphill sprinting with downhill skiing, and requires a level of athleticism that would perhaps make some throw up. In fact, it’s likely most people attempting to compete in a ski mountaineering event would, in fact, throw up.

Competitors are first tasked with climbing up a ski hill with their skis still on, with a strip of material attached to the base of their skis used for traction in order to enable the seemingly impossible task.

Next, they remove their skis and climb another section of stairs with just their boots on before reattaching their skis and climbing yet another section of slope.

Finally at the top of the hill, the competitors race back down in a traditional ski race, completing a circuit that altogether only takes about three minutes at the world class level.

18 racers will attempt to qualify over three heats on Feb. 19, with the top three advancing to the semifinals from each heat, along with the next best three across the whole field. The top two and “two lucky losers” will emerge from the semis to set up the medal round.

A men/women relay event will also take place on Feb. 21, consisting of four laps per race. The woman starts, and then tags the man at the end of the lap, with each needing to complete two laps to finish the race.

When people think of an artist abruptly cancelling concerts almost comically often, they probably think of Axl Rose. However, the true master of this rather awkward domain is without a doubt Morrissey.

The former Smiths singer announced yet again that his first show of the year was postponed the other day—a gig that was supposed to happen in Rancho Mirage, California. The venue was told Morrisey had an adverse reaction to prescription medicine.

The next two shows after that—one initially planned for tonight in San Diego and another in the Dominican Republic scheduled for Jan. 25—were outright cancelled without explanation. The Rancho Mirage gig was supposed to make up for a previous postponement.

Morrissey has cancelled, postponed, or cut short 402 concerts since going solo, according to the WeHeartM website, which has a page literally dedicated to tracking Morrisey cancellations.

32 of his 63 concerts in 2025 were cancelled or postponed. 43 of his last 88 shows have been postponed or cancelled. 49 of his last 100? You guessed it.

To put it another way, if you really want to see Morrissey, perhaps you should buy tickets to two shows, because one of them likely isn’t happening.

Talk tech to me

Happy National Technology Day, Staker! And you know what that means, don’t you 🤣

That’s right! We’ve got a set of 10 awesome questions in today’s trivia all about nerdy, geeky, sciencey stuff.

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

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