This ‘Death Clock’ App Made Me Rethink My Life

I’ll download any app I get an ad for—this fact has been established over and over again. Because the algorithm knows me well, that usually means I am served up advertisements for apps and services that revolve around fashion and beauty. Yet I also have a hidden introspective side, though, again, apparently not hidden from the algorithm: Over the weekend, I was encouraged to download something called Death Clock AI. This app claimed it could guess when I’ll die based on my data, correlated to some scientific studies. How could I say no to that?

Now, I do not believe I actually will die on Friday, June 30, 2079, as the app predicted, nor do I really think an app is the best answer to charting my healthiest path forward in life. While the app did give me suggestions for improving my overall health, that’s no substitute for discussing things with my doctor. Still, the app did make me think a little bit deeper about how I’m living, which I think makes it potentially valuable. And it’s also just kinda neat.

What is Death Clock AI?

When you first open the app (available on iOS or Google Play), you’re greeted by a screen that says you can “live longer, better,” then asked to tap a button that says, “See my death date.” Before you get that, you’ll need to more than 30 questions about your habits and health. It will then crunch those numbers and deliver the news.

The app claims to be “backed by science, powered by AI,” and pulls its information from 1,217 studies that involved a combined population of 53 million participants. While the app does ask you about your age and some background questions, though, your stats may not match up with those of the participants. And the app does nothing to account for your own family and health history, or other important factors like risks you face at work or social factors that may affect your health.

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

Still, with each question it asks—like “How often do you include fruits and veggies in your meals?”—you are given the opportunity to explore the research it is based on. Tapping on the research button for that particular question opens a pop-up that notes, “Research from 16 studies involving over 833,000 participants show that each additional daily serving of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of death from all causes by 5%, with benefits peaking at five servings per day.”

Some questions may be harder to answer. While you can pretty reliably indicate how often you do cardio in a week or the number of hours you spend sitting each day, other things—like how often you “experience significant stress in your daily life”—are more subjective. On the other end of the spectrum, there are specific questions you may not know the answer to offhand, like about your typical blood pressure reading or your LDL cholesterol level. I certainly don’t know my fasting glucose level off the top of my head, so I had to answer “I don’t know” a few times; this will affect your overall results.

Once Death Clock AI calculates your “death date” based on your answers, it also provides a “better” (that is, farther in the future) date that you can aim for. You’ll also be informed you’ll get to use the service for free for three days, at which point you’ll be charged the $40 annual fee. If you choose to pay for a year of service, you’ll get the opportunity to upload health documents and information like recent bloodwork. You can also sync your phone’s health data to the app and it will keep track of how much you sleep at night, as well as how many steps you take in a day. Your “death date” can fluctuate based on these inputs and, with a subscription, you’ll maintain access to the longevity plan Death Clock generates for you.

I can’t vouch for how worthwhile that is, because I didn’t use Death Clock AI over an extended period. But even a short-term trial gave me plenty to think about.

How Death Clock AI made me rethink my health

Again, even though the developers were smart to base their app on reputable studies, I don’t think you should take Death Clock AI’s predictions too seriously. Instead, I thought of it as an excuse to reconsider my own health—the same way I treat the data from my fitness trackers and smart scale. It should be considered a given that this data is never truly accurate, but even stopping to think about how often I eat fresh vegetables or how often I stand up on an average day was a minor wake-up call. The drama of getting my “death date” is more of an amusing bonus.

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

Death Clock AI delivered me a “longevity plan” that includes recommended bloodwork and labs, supplements, screenings, and things to talk about with my doctor. If you’re someone who wants to dig in deeper on your health but isn’t sure where to start, this information could be helpful. For each item on the list, the app provides the steps you need to take to follow up on it, and it even notes whether it’s typically covered by insurance.

The final screen you see is a reminder that Death Clock AI “does not provide medical advice” and you should talk to a real doctor about any concerns you have about your health. That’s definitely true.

Privacy considerations

Maybe you’re worried about entering all your personal health information into a random app. Death Clock AI’s website notes that the developers, “seek to protect your personal data from unauthorized access,” but may also “create aggregated, de-identified or anonymized data from the Personal Data” they collect, to be used for analysis or enhancing the service. That’s actually the case for most apps, sure, but most apps aren’t asking you to reveal your private health data.

This isn’t a big deal for me, because I always assume there’s a risk with sharing any data, and I gave up being worried about it a long time ago. If you are more sensible, you should only input what you feel comfortable with putting out into the world. Using the paid tier, for instance, you can input recent bloodwork, but it isn’t required. Stick with the free version, which doesn’t require you to create an account, and feel free to skip any questions you find too sensitive.

Because again, this app provides useful jumping-off points for thinking deeper about your health, but you also don’t really need it at all. If typing your cholesterol level or smoking habits into a gimmicky app makes you feel weird, it’s best to just skip it and interrogate your habits some other way. But if you can get past any privacy concerns, and you are looking for a way to think more deeply about your health or need a framework for doing so, it’s a solid—if slightly silly—starting point.

You Should Install This Windows Security Patch Right Away

Microsoft just dropped its Patch Tuesday security update for February 2025. This is a monthly update for Windows that includes all of the security patches and stability fixes Microsoft has been working on since the last release. But just because these updates arrive without any new user-facing features, that doesn’t mean they’re not equally as important—if not more so.

As reported by Bleeping Computer, this latest Patch Tuesday update fixes 55 security flaws throughout Windows. That includes 22 remote code execution flaws, 19 elevation of privilege flaws, nine denial of service flaws, three spoofing flaws, two security feature bypass flaws, and one information disclosure flaw.

Here’s what Microsoft fixed with its latest Patch Tuesday update

While all 55 flaws were worth addressing, four of them were particularly essential to fix—and patching two of those was even more vital. That’s because four of these flaws were zero-day vulnerabilities, security flaws that are publicly known without an available patch. That’s a recipe for disaster: Bad actors will inevitably discover ways to exploit security flaws, but the key is for software developers to discover and fix those flaws before bad actors even have a chance to know what those flaws are. When flaws are discovered before a fix is available, it sharply increases the chances of an exploit being developed before a patch can be created.

In this case, there were four such vulnerabilities fixed in this latest Patch Tuesday update. Two of these have not been actively exploited—at least, Microsoft says they haven’t. One is CVE-2025-21194, a Microsoft Surface security feature bypass vulnerability that could make it possible to bypass the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and compromise both the hypervisor and secure kernel of specific machines. Plainly speaking, the flaw could allow bad actors to compromise the program powering virtual machines on Windows, as well as the core of your OS.

The other publicly disclosed flaw was CVE-2025-21377, an NTLM hash disclosure spoofing vulnerability, which allows bad actors to access your computer’s NTLM hash to obtain your plain-text password. With this particular flaw, a user might only need to select, right-click, or interact with a malicious file in order to trigger the exploit, which could then let a hacker log into the machine as the user. Microsoft is staying pretty silent about this one.

However, the other two zero-day flaws patches in this update were, in fact, actively exploited. That includes CVE-2025-21391, a Windows storage elevation of privilege vulnerability that allowed bad actors to delete targeted files on your computer. Microsoft clarified the flaw does not allow bad actors to see your confidential information, but being able to delete files means attackers could break parts of your system. The second actively-exploited zero day flaw was CVE-2025-21418, an elevation of privilege vulnerability that allowed bad actors to gain system privileges in Windows. Microsoft did not share how either of these flaws were exploited by bad actors, and is keeping the identities of those who discovered them anonymous.

While we don’t know the full scope of these last two zero-days, it’s important to update and patch them ASAP. As they are actively being exploited, it’s possible someone could use them against your computer unless you install the patch.

How to install the latest security updates on Windows

To protect your PC, install this latest Patch Tuesday update as soon as possible. To do so, head to Start > Settings > Windows Update, then choose Check for Windows updates.

Here’s How I Saved My Chair and Rug From Spilled Candle Wax

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I’ve been working hard on upgrading my kitchen and dining area lately. Recently, I bought these gorgeous, light pink, upholstered dining chairs, for instance. The whole goal of this endeavor has been to make the area as cozy and calm as possible, so last night, I decided to enjoy the fruits of all those labors and light a few candles. Guess what happened? Yes, I dripped wax on one of the new chairs. For a moment, my emotions were the opposite of cozy and calm. But then I remembered it’s entirely possible—and even easy—to remove candle wax from soft surfaces. Here’s what to do if this horror ever befalls you.

Remove candle wax stains with alcohol

I started furiously Googling to determine the absolute best hack for my circumstances, assuming it would involve baking soda or isopropyl alcohol to counteract the oiliness of the wax, but I needed to be sure. I was right about the alcohol, which made me feel smug.

If your wax is still wet when you discover it, wait for it to harden so you can easily scrape off the top layer and deal only with the oily stain beneath. If the splotch is especially big, this could take a while, but you can speed up the process by grabbing something frozen from your freezer, putting it in a plastic bag, and setting it on top of the wax to cool it down. I tried using a dull butter knife to scrape the wax off my chair cushion, but it wasn’t very effective; the blade was too thick. I hate to say it, but I just used my fingernail to scrape off all the hard wax from the surface and it worked just fine.

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

After that, I was left with the stain itself and began to blot with a mixture of half water, half isopropyl alcohol. The vast majority of the stain came up right away. I let it air dry and did it again, which removed even more. I didn’t want to keep dabbing over and over without giving it some time to dry in between because I didn’t want the cushion under the fabric to get soaked. I left it alone overnight and found this morning that there was a light, white layer left over, so I mixed two drops of laundry soap into about 1/4 cup of water, then blotted that over the film. The chair looked like nothing had ever happened to it.

Remove wax from carpet with a hair dryer

In frantically Googling what to do about my upholstery, I came across a tip that said I could use a hair dryer to get wax off surfaces. I do use my hair dryer a lot around the house, removing adhesive stickers or gel-based messes from surfaces, but I wasn’t sold on using it to melt the wax deeper into the cushion of a chair. What I could see it being useful for, though, was removing wax from carpeting, especially the shaggier kind.

Feeling confident from vanquishing the wax on my chair, I deliberately dribbled some on my rug this morning, in the name of research. I placed some frozen goods in a plastic bag and set them on top to test the hack about speedily hardening wax and can confirm it works just fine. Then, I used the hair dryer to re-melt the wax and tried to pull it out of the carpet. With my hands, that was 1. unpleasant and 2. not particularly effective. I repeated the experiment with a wide-toothed comb and, amazingly, the wax came right out, balled up on the bristles. From there, I dabbled a little with my isopropyl alcohol/water mixture and then used the hair dryer again, just to dry it all up. The carpet showed no signs that it had been drizzled in candle wax. Your final step should be to clean your carpet as normal, just to get the remaining alcohol out.

Because it’s a non-polar solvent, alcohol dissolves oil, making it the perfect thing to reach for whenever a mess is slick. If nothing else, it’s the MVP of this entire experiment and will make quick work of any candle-related messes you incur in the pursuit of coziness.

It’s a Bad Time to Buy Amazon Devices

Members of the media recently received invites for an Amazon devices event in New York City on Feb. 26, which means one thing: Don’t buy any Amazon devices until after the event.

While Amazon hasn’t explicitly said what will be shown on the big day, it’s always good practice to wait until after these sort of announcements to buy—assuming the products are not too far away. Even if you don’t see anything that interests you in the reveals, older, now outdated products are likely to get a discount in the weeks following news of their successors. You’ll either get something brand new, or save on something you would have paid full price for.

As for what we can expect Amazon to trot out, despite the company keeping mum, there are still a few clues to follow.

Alexa goes AI

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Alexa is likely to be the star of the new event, with Amazon hiding an Alexa-centric easter egg in its invites. It turns out that different attendees got different versions of the invite, and if you put all of them together, they spell out “alexa.”

Alexa is probably going to be the next virtual assistant to jump on the AI trend, with Amazon finally releasing the AI-powered version of the bot it teased in 2023. Since then, the company’s been fairly quiet on AI Alexa, although Reuters reports that it’s now ready for launch, so the timing would line up.

In its initial tease, Amazon said AI Alexa would be able to handle conversational prompts, read body language, and give more personalized responses to questions, although Reuters’ sources seem to indicate that while conversational prompts are here, other features may take some more time.

The team behind Alexa has previously had difficulty getting the AI version of the chatbot to do simple tasks like set timers or shut blinds, according to reporting from Bloomberg, so there are some concerns. Hopefully, it doesn’t lose any capabilities in the transition. If it does face post-launch problems, though, that might be another reason to hold off on an Amazon device for a bit.

New Alexa-enabled devices

After leaving Microsoft in 2023, Amazon hardware chief Panos Panay is also set to be at the event, alongside his devices and services team, which seems to confirm that this won’t just be a software overhaul, but that we’ll see new hardware as well.

Specifically, I would place a bet on new Echo smart speakers designed to take advantage of an AI-powered Alexa. Perhaps these would include a dedicated neural chip, or new cameras for use with the LLM’s supposed ability to read body language. It’s difficult to tell, but given that Amazon’s most recent Echo releases were more focused on the premium Echo Show, its more affordable cousins are probably due for a refresh.

Similarly, Amazon’s Fire TVs or other smart displays could get their own upgrades that allow for better compatibility with Alexa.

Don’t expect new Kindles

Personally, I don’t tend to use Amazon devices in my home, mostly because I don’t have a smart home. The biggest exception to this is probably the Kindle, but anyone expecting a new series of Kindles can probably slow down.

That’s because Amazon released a new line of Kindles just a few months ago, including its first ever color Kindle in the Kindle Colorsoft. It was a pretty robust lineup, with four options strewn across multiple price categories. With user issues multiple complaints about faulty hardware at launch, as well as what seemed to be a brief pause in shipping, Amazon is unlikely to want to take the wind out of its sails any further.

Trump USDA Vows to Correct Biden’s Financial Mismanagement of SNAP

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 12, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released the following statement regarding the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) review of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack’s choice to modify the longstanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) obligation practice.

Apple’s Powerbeats Pro 2 Have a Built-In Heart Rate Monitor

Wireless earbuds are great, but they can be pretty same-y from one brand to the next. Most adopt the classic AirPods design language—small buds, usually with some sort of stem, all of which travel in a charging case. Each has its own list of pros and cons, of course, but the product category has certainly homogenized.

The newly announced Powerbeats Pro 2 seem a bit different, though. Of course, these new buds do all the things you’d expect from a pair of $250 headphones: They have active noise cancelling and transparency mode—the latter of which pumps in sounds from the world around you so you can hear what’s going on with your earbuds in. They’re IPX4 sweat- and water-resistant, and have a respectable 45-hour battery life when you consider the extra boost from the charging case.

But they look different than other earbuds, thanks to the buds’ “earhooks.” (I’d argue the Electric Orange color also helps in this department.) If you find that traditional wireless earbuds tend to fall out of your ears, the hooks in the Powerbeats Pro 2 (carried over from the original Powerbeats Pro) might offer some extra support. But, then again, if you’re used to the feeling of traditional earbuds, the extra pressure from the earhook could be different. I’d recommend trying both types of earbuds on if you’re unsure. But, either way, the visual differences definitely make the Powerbeats Pro 2 stand out.

Powerbeats Pro 2 can track your heart rate

What caught my attention, however, was the built-in heart rate monitor. These sensors sit on the side of each earbud and track your heart rate through your ear. It’s like having a little Apple Watch in each of your ears—which is a little weird, but also really cool. They’re not the first earbuds to do this: As CNET’s David Carnoy pointed out, Sennheiser’s Momentum Sport Earbuds came with similar sensors. Those heart rate monitors were fairly accurate in Carnoy’s experience, as are the ones on the Powerbeats Pro 2.

Beats says that the heart rate monitors in its new buds work across a number of platforms, including Apple, Android, and other Bluetooth-enabled fitness equipment. However, it’s worth noting that if you use the Powerbeats Pro 2 with an Apple Watch, the Health app on your iPhone will pull from the watch rather than your earbuds. You’ll have to take off your Apple Watch or disable the heart tracker on the watch if you want to rely on the heart rate monitors on your Powerbeats.

If you don’t like the earhooks on the Powerbeats Pro 2, or you’re just a dedicated AirPods fan, don’t worry: This tech is coming to Apple’s flagship earbuds as well—just not immediately. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, these new AirPods are “still many months away,” so the Powerbeats Pro 2 will remain the only Apple-produced earbud with heart rate tracking for a bit longer.

Other Powerbeats Pro 2 perks

While Powerbeats work with many platforms, they’re definitely designed for Apple’s own ecosystem. If you have other Apple devices, your Powerbeats will switch between each device as you play an audio source, just like other Apple earbuds. There’s also Personalized Spatial Audio, audio sharing (RIP headphone splitters), and hands-free Siri, if you like to ping the assistant while wearing your earbuds.

The buds also have physical playback controls through the “b” button on each bud, as well as volume rockers on both. As someone who still uses a first-gen pair of AirPods Pro, physical controls embedded onto the buds is very tempting.

In Carnoy’s review for CNET, he found the Powerbeats Pro 2 to be quite similar to the AirPods Pro 2 in audio quality and noise cancellation performance, although he thought the AirPods had a more consistent performance overall. The Powerbeats Pro 2 are missing some AirPods Pro 2 features, such as Adaptive Audio, which automatically blocks out noises over a certain decibel, or Conversation Awareness, which lowers the volume when it detects you’re talking to someone.

Use This App Instead of Excel to Directly Edit CSV Files

CSV, or Comma Separated Values, are files used for all kinds of things, from managing large datasets to exporting data to move it between web services.

You might think CSV files are just spreadsheets, similar to Excel files, but it’s a lot more interesting than that: Open any CSV file in a text document and you’ll learn that the “comma separated” thing is literal. Really, these files are just text documents—every line break is a row in the table, and columns are the items in each row, all separated by commas.

There is nothing stopping you from editing the values right there in your text editor of choice, but doing so would be extremely annoying. And while you can import CSV files into Excel and work with them there, it can get confusing—you have to keep track of which Excel features work in CSV files, and which do not. That’s why, if you have to work in a CSV file, it’s best to have a dedicated tool.

A better tool for editing CSV files

ModernCSV, an indie app for Linux, Mac, and Windows computers, is the best tool I’ve come across for this purpose. If you work with CSV files frequently, or just need to edit one quickly, it’s worth checking out.

This application is built specifically with CSV files in mind and makes working with them simple. For example: you can double-click the column number to re-order all items in the list based on that row. To test it, I downloaded a CSV breaking down all U.S. counties by population. The original file was organized by population; by double-clicking the state ID column I could quickly sort by state. After saving, the CSV itself was changed.

The same screenshot as above, organized by state.

Credit: Justin Pot

That’s just one example. It also offers complete find-and-replace, which is perfect for cleaning up corrupted files. It supports filtering, and lets you edit multiple cells at once: just select all the cells you want to edit and start typing, everything highlighted will be affected.

There’s even a command bar, triggered with the keyboard shortcut CLTR/CMD-L. This lets you quickly use any of the commands offered by the application without needing to learn the dedicated keyboard shortcut—just type what you want to do and hit enter.

The command bar overlaid over the spreadsheet. It's a text box with results right under it.

Credit: Justin Pot

The app also offers support for quick pivot tables, which helps provide greater insight into the data. Case in point: I was able to use my information about U.S. counties to extrapolate U.S. state populations.

The pivot tablet tool, used here to compile state populations from county ones

Credit: Justin Pot

There are more features worth digging into, but I recommend you check out the documentation if you want to learn more—there’ a lot there.

Free or paid versions

ModernCSV offers a free version that includes many of the best features discussed above. There are two paid versions: Premium Personal for $39—adding features like filtering and date conversions—and Premium Business for $59, which offers pivot tables and other advanced reporting features.

I think the free version is worth having on hand for anyone who even occasionally needs to edit CSV files, while the paid versions are great if you’re a power user.

My Favorite Deals on Tech and Appliances From Best Buy’s Presidents Day Sale

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Presidents Day is not until Feb. 17, 2025, but as is often the case, retailers have started their sales well in advance. Best Buy has the best sale I’ve seen so far, with great deals on major appliances and tech products, including headphones, TVs, soundbars, washers, and more. Here are my favorite deals from the sale worth considering.

Resolution: 4K, Size: 55 inches, Display: LED, Backlight: Edge Lit, Voice Assistant: Alexa.

55” Samsung The Frame (LS03D, 2024)

$899.99
at Best Buy

$1,499.99
Save $600.00

Samsung - 55” Class LS03D The Frame Series QLED 4K with Anti-Reflection and Slim Fit Wall Mount Included (2024)

$899.99
at Best Buy

$1,499.99
Save $600.00

Wireless Connectivity: Bluetooth, Maximum Frequency Response: 20 kilohertz, Peak Power: 550 Watts

JBL Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer 5.1-Channel

Noise Cancelling (Active): No, Wireless Connectivity: Bluetooth, Water Resistant: Yes.

Capacity: 4.5 cubic feet, High-Efficiency: Yes, Washer Load Type: Front load, App Compatible: Yes.

Samsung 4.5 Cu. Ft. Smart Front Load Washer

$699.99
at Best Buy

$1,034.99
Save $335.00

Samsung 4.5 Cu. Ft. Smart Front Load Washer

$699.99
at Best Buy

$1,034.99
Save $335.00

Processor Model: i7, Graphics: Intel Iris Xe, RAM: 16 GB, Display Type: LED, Screen Size: 15.6 in.

HP 15 (Intel Core i7 12th Gen, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, Touch Display, 2024 Model)

Screen Size: 40 millimeters, Operating System: watchOS, App: Yes, Built-in Storage: 32 GB.

Apple Watch SE 2nd Generation

A Samsung washer with a $335 discount

If you’re looking for a washer, peep this Samsung 4.5 Cu. Ft. Smart front load washer for $699.99 (originally $1,034.99), the lowest price it has been over the last few months, according to price-tracking tools. If you need other major appliances and like free TVs (who doesn’t?), Best Buy is offering a free 75-inch Samsung Crystal UHD TV when you buy two or more appliances and they total at least $2,499.99. Very doable if you need a stove or fridge.

The Frame TV is $600 off

Samsung’s The Frame is perfect for those who don’t want an ugly TV to be the centerpiece of their living room. The matte and anti-reflective screen truly makes it look like you have a piece of art hanging on your wall (I’ve been fooled by them before). You can get the 55-inch The Frame for $899.99 (originally $1,499.99), the lowest price it’s been over the last few months.

A JBL soundbar and subwoofer combo over 50% off

Buck for buck, there’s nothing that elevates a home theater setup like getting a soundbar and subwoofer combo. The JBL 5.1 Channel Soundbar and Subwoofer combo is $259.99 (originally $599.99), a killer deal and the cheapest it has been over the last few months. You can read more about the PCMag review here.

A powerful HP laptop for less than $500

An HP laptop with an i7 processor with 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $499.99 (originally $799.99) is impressive. Make sure you’re OK having a 15.6-inch screen, which is definitely on the bigger end of the spectrum. The resolution isn’t 4K (only Full HD) with an LED display, but if you care about performance over design and aesthetics, it’s a good choice.

Apple Watch and AirPods up to $80 off

Apple users will enjoy the budget Apple Watch SE 2nd Generation for $169 (originally $249) and the new AirPods 4 for $99.99 (originally $129.99). Both of these are at the lowest price they’ve been over the last few months.

Finally, a note of caution: If you’ve been eyeing that Google Pixel 7 Pro deal at Best Buy, don’t buy it. It’s much cheaper over at Woot with more storage. You’re welcome.

This BBC Study Shows How Inaccurate AI News Summaries Actually Are

It turns out that getting your news from robots playing telephone with actual sources might not be the best idea. In a BBC study of OpenAI, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity’s news prowess, the news organization found that “51% of all AI answers” about news topics had “significant issues of some form.”

The study involved asking each bot to answer 100 questions about the news, using BBC sources when available, with their answers then being rated by “journalists who were relevant experts in the subject of the article.”

A few examples of issues include Gemini suggesting that the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) does not recommend vaping as a method for quitting smoking (it does), as well as ChatGPT and Copilot saying politicians who had left office were actually still serving their terms. More concerning, Perplexity misrepresented a BBC story on Iran and Israel, attributing viewpoints to the author and his sources that the article does not share.

Regarding its own articles specifically, the BBC says 19% of AI summaries introduced these kinds of factual errors, hallucinating false statements, numbers, and dates. Additionally, 13% of direct quotes were “either altered from the original source or not present in the article cited.”

Inaccuracies were not fully distributed between the bots, although this might come as cold comfort given that none performed especially well either.

“Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini had more significant issues than OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity,” the BBC says, but on the flip side, Perplexity and ChatGPT each still had issues with more than 40% of responses.

In a blog, BBC CEO Deborah Turness had harsh words for the tested companies, saying that while AI offers “endless opportunities,” current implementations of it are “playing with fire.”

“We live in troubled times,” Turness wrote. “How long will it be before an AI-distorted headline causes significant real world harm?”

The study is not the first time the BBC has called out AI news summaries, as its prior reporting arguably convinced Apple to shut down its own AI news summaries just last month.

Journalists have also previously butted heads with Perplexity over copyright concerns, with Wired accusing the bot of bypassing paywalls and the New York Times sending the company a cease-and-desist letter. News Corp, which owns the New York Post and The Wall Street Journals, went a step further, and is currently suing Perplexity.

To conduct its tests, the BBC temporarily lifted restrictions preventing AI from accessing its sites, but has since reinstated them. Regardless of these blocks and Turness’ harsh words, however, the news organization is not against AI as a rule.

“We want AI companies to hear our concerns and work constructively with us,” the BBC study states. “We want to understand how they will rectify the issues we have identified and discuss the right long-term approach to ensuring accuracy and trustworthiness in AI assistants. We are willing to work closely with them to do this.”

‘Finch’ Motivates Me to Complete My To-do List Without Shaming Me

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It’s a potentially concerning sign of the times, but my morning is dictated by my apps. On an average day, I start off by putting in a mobile Dunkin’ order, checking my sales on Poshmark and my rentals on Pickle, and playing the New York Times games before shifting over to the more serious work apps.

As of last week, I added a new app to the morning mix: Finch, which is sort of like a to-do list mixed with a Tamagotchi. My ultimate goal with this whole morning app rotation is to resist the siren call of social media and, with it, an unproductive start to the day. This app, I reasoned, would help me be even more productive by giving me structured goals and rewards for my real-world responsibilities.

Finch is a little bird who thrives on your success

Finch is an app that gamifies your productivity. As you complete daily tasks and mark them done in the app, you nourish a little bird, who grows and thrives based on how much you give them. It’s a very cute concept. The more you accomplish and interact with your bird, the more “adventures” they go on, skills they develop, and growth they achieve.

Setting up my Finch.
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

The app comes pre-loaded with tasks and—I won’t lie—they were a little more basic than what I needed. They include things like “get out of bed” and “drink water.” I can imagine being in a funk bad enough that these little reminders (and the in-game rewards that come with completing them) would be helpful, so I found that sweet, but not beneficial for me.

I kept a few of them in the to-do list for some easy wins, but was able to add in the other things I want to accomplish daily, like “work out.” You can tie the completion of certain tasks to in-game challenges, earning specific prizes for, say, washing your face seven days in a row. You can also set tasks to occur weekly, monthly, or at whatever interval makes sense for you.

Finch offers motivation to be productive, without the shame

The interface is really simple to use and understand, which I appreciate. All I have to do is open the app and tap a checkmark next to a task to indicate I’ve done it. From there, I earn rewards, like in-game currency, new traits for my bird, and I can buy her little outfits or whatever. It’s rudimentary, yes, but it’s very relaxing and pleasant.

I like this more than other productivity apps because it doesn’t shame you in any way. It’s encouraging, not stressful, and the game element is novel and cute enough to keep it interesting. (Not to brag, but my bird has very nearly grown from a baby into a toddler, all because I drank some water and washed my face.)

There’s also no major time commitment. If all I wanted to do was check off items on my list, that would be fine. There are rewards for doing other things—like following guided breathing or stretching exercises, listening to soundscapes, writing down daily reflections, and chronicling your overall emotional state—but no penalties for not doing them, so the game element here is only positive, not competitive or stressful.

It’s very clear that this is, above all, a self-care app, but it’s entirely possible to input more concrete to-dos into your list. I spent my first week using it lightly, mostly relying on those early-stage goals the app came up with, but now that I’ve gotten the hang of it (and my bird needs some cute new outfits) I’m going to add more of my work and home-based tasks. This is going to be especially helpful as a cleaning checklist, since I’ve liked but not loved any of the other ones I’ve tried.

The app is available on iOS and the Google Play store. It’s free and you can totally just use the free version, but for $39.99 per year, you can access more exercises and shop items, plus customize the little icons that appear next to your to-dos. You get a seven-day free trial to see if you’re into all that, but it’s not especially necessary. The free version does everything you need.