NEW FRONTIERS
Fazmina Imamudeen explores our wacky and wonderful world
ARTIFICIAL WARS Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against AI art generator Midjourney, accusing it of turning their most iconic characters into unauthorised digital outputs.
This lawsuit, which was filed in June, is a pivotal moment rather than a clichéd copyright claim in the artificial intelligence versus Hollywood standoff. At the centre of the case are outputs such as Elsa in battle armour and Yoda sipping tea – images created in seconds but built on decades of storytelling, design and intellectual property.
The studios argue that Midjourney’s technology replicates their characters with alarming accuracy and bypasses the need for licensing or creative collaboration.
For the first time, two of the largest players in entertainment are taking direct legal aim at an AI platform and calling it out for what they claim is “piracy dressed up as progress.”
However, Midjourney is expected to argue fair use on the basis that its model is transformative and akin to how Google Books digitised libraries. But this case pushes beyond archived texts; it’s about recognisable characters being reimagined and redistributed for public or commercial use.
And the verdict could change everything. From licensing deals to AI training practices, this lawsuit may redraw the line between inspiration and infringement, and put the future of character creation on trial.
PROTOCOL POWERS The CEO of Bluesky Jay Graber is rewriting the social media rule book… one protocol at a time.
Born of a Twitter (now X) funded experiment, Bluesky has become one of the loudest challengers to centralised tech giants by championing an open-source decentralised internet that puts control back in the hands of users.
At the heart of this rebellion is the AT Protocol, which is a framework that allows users to carry their data, followers and even moderation preferences across a network of compatible apps. Graber’s vision is about reshaping the infrastructure of the internet itself.
Bluesky now boasts over 34 million users and is introducing features that set it apart – such as in app communities, user curated feeds, and enhanced moderation tools and video capabilities. It is social media but modular, portable and user led.
While most platforms chase ad revenue, Bluesky is betting on subscriptions, creator partnerships and merchandising; it’s what Graber calls “milliardärresistent” – resistant to billionaire control.
Graber’s quiet radicalism, symbolised by her South by Southwest (SXSW) outfit that declares Mundus sine Caesaribus (a world without emperors) is foundational. If Bluesky succeeds, it could redefine not only how we tweet but who owns our digital voices.
COMING OFF MEDS Outro Health is redefining how people taper off antidepressants with care, precision and a personalised touch.
Marketed as the Uber for getting off antidepressants, the tele-health startup offers a service that many didn’t know they needed – i.e. structured clinician guided support for safely coming off medications such as Prozac, Lexapro and Cymbalta.
Cofounded by psychiatrist Dr. Mark Horowitz, whose own withdrawal experience highlighted the dangers of abrupt or standard tapers, Outro focusses on a method called ‘hyperbolic tapering.’
Instead of the traditional approach of cutting out the pill and hoping for the best, Outro uses custom compounded doses and tiny reductions over time, to minimise withdrawal symptoms and protect mental stability.
Patients pay a monthly fee to work with doctors and coaches, who track their progress and adjust doses in real time. The goal isn’t simply to stop the medication; it’s to do it with dignity and awareness, supported by sleep, nutrition and psychological resilience.
So why isn’t this type of support a standard in mainstream healthcare?
With antidepressant use rising globally, Outro’s model suggests a future where going off medication is a planned and supported journey.
CODE ECCENTRICS There’s a corner of the programming world where practicality takes a backseat and absurdity drives.
Esoteric programming languages (‘esolangs’) are intentionally strange, often useless by design and completely serious about being unserious. These aren’t the languages powering apps or websites; they’re logic puzzles, art experiments and sometimes satire in code form.
For example, Piet is an app where programmes are painted in abstract colour blocks, each hue transition triggering a different command; or Shakespeare, which turns scripts into theatrical monologues.
Others such as Befunge and Hexagony bend space itself, and allow commands to move in spirals, grids or mirrored flows. This results in codes that look more like art or nonsense rather than anything functional.
But that’s the point. Esolangs aren’t trying to be efficient; they exist to challenge our assumptions about what code is supposed to look like and what it’s for. And now they’re being used to test the boundaries of AI.
If a model can write or interpret code in a language designed to be confusing, does it really understands logic?
These oddball languages may never change the industry but they reflect something deeper: code is more than syntax; it’s expression. And sometimes, the strangest tools ask the most interesting questions.
