Marketplace All-in-One

Even the most impressive artificial intelligence today isn’t quite what we see in science fiction. The superintelligent humanoids of “Westworld,” the malevolent supercomputer in “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the emotionally attuned operating system in “Her” are all more like artificial general intelligence, rather than just artificial intelligence. They’re machines that are capable of everything humans are, or even more. As far as we know, AGI hasn’t become a reality yet. But John Licato, a professor of computer science at the University of South Florida, tells Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino that experts don’t always agree on where the tipping point is.

NASA recently celebrated one orbit around the Sun since the James Webb Space Telescope became operational. On the show today, Caitlin Casey, professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, is back to share some of the exciting discoveries her team has made in the first year of the $10 billion machine’s mission. She’ll also fill us in on the buzz over gravitational waves. Plus, why learning about the seemingly incomprehensible cosmos can keep us grounded. Later, we’ll discuss dueling op-eds that arrive at the same conclusion: Immigration is good for the economy. Then, a listener calls in with a cocktail recipe, and a tortoise with the hiccups inspires this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart question. Here’s everything we talked about today: “12 amazing James Webb Space Telescope discoveries across the universe” from Space “Webb telescope discovers oldest galaxies ever observed” from Phys “New 3D Visualization Highlights 5,000 Galaxies Revealed by Webb” from NASA “The James Webb Space Telescope is out of this world” from “Make Me Smart” “America’s Choice: Immigration or Bust” from The Wall Street Journal “Opinion | The left needs to win, not duck, the immigration debate” from The Washington Post “UPS Reaches Tentative Deal With Teamsters to Head Off Strike” from The New York Times “IMF raises global growth forecast despite China’s recovery ‘losing steam'” from CNBC “Nike is coming out with a soccer cleat specifically for women” from NPR “Boots and balls made for men an injury risk to women footballers” from BBC News We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

The CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of existing home prices, which came out today, shows that values are down from the year before, but the price trends vary across the country. Today, we trace their rise and fall. Then, what’s a fair price for artificial intelligence? And what Milton Friedman’s “long and variable lag” means in 2023.

Since 2008, insurers in the U.S. have been required to provide the same level of coverage for physical and mental heath care. But insurance companies found loopholes. A new rule proposed by the Biden administration is looking to close the gap. Plus, meet the tech workers who quit their jobs and moved back to rural China to operate a local peach farm.

UPS workers have won air conditioning in delivery trucks, elimination of a two-tiered pay structure and more in recent contract negotiations. But if agreement on a final issue — part-time employee pay — isn’t reached at the end of the month, the Teamsters say they’ll go on strike. And the end of the month is fast approaching. Plus, we’ll hear from families who are suing after federally-built reservoirs overflowed into their homes during Hurricane Harvey.

From the BBC World Service: A general strike has been threatened in Israel over judicial changes that will restrict the Supreme Court’s powers to challenge the government. Today doctors take industrial action. We hear from the protestors and one of the country’s big business groups. Plus, an eye-opening story — why is the founder of ChatGPT scanning eyeballs? And will one of the world’s top soccer stars, Kylian Mbappé, head to Saudi Arabia for more than $300 million?

Most online services that children use are likely monetizing their data in some way, according to a new report from Common Sense Media. The nonprofit analyzed the privacy policies of more than 200 popular internet platforms and found that about three-quarters of them were sharing user data or lacked transparency about how they use personal data. Disclosing those details and offering users a chance to opt out is required in California under the latest expansion of the state’s landmark privacy law, which was sponsored by Common Sense. A recent court ruling extended the deadline to comply with the new privacy provisions to March 29. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, about how many companies’ current privacy policies can be misleading.

Congress averted a government debt default in June, but can it prevent a government shutdown this fall? Lawmakers are at odds again over spending bills to fund the government next year. Kai and Kimberly will also discuss tips for avoiding doomscrolling while maintaining healthy news consumption. And is Twitter’s new name, “X,” actually owned by Meta? Or maybe it’s Microsoft? Either way, lawyers may have some real lawyering to do. Here’s everything we talked about today: “House Republicans start their funding rumble with shutdown looming” from Politico “Study of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own Qualification” from The New York Times Trademark for “X” from Twitter Trademark Status of “X” from the United States Patent and Trademark Office “Elon may have a huge issue because Microsoft owns the ‘X’ trademark” from Futurism Got a question about resuming student loan repayments for the hosts? Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplac

Popularized by Milton Friedman in the 1960s, the phrase “long and variable lag” refers to the idea that it takes time for monetary policy to be felt in the economy, and the Federal Reserve uses it a lot. How did it go from concept to conventional wisdom? Today, part one of our answer. We’ll also outline a big week ahead for the world’s central banks and the ripple effects of a potential UPS strike.

Biden’s new expression for the current strong labor market and wage growth — “Bidenomics” — is meant to make voters feel good about the country’s financial situation. But, in reality, two-thirds of voters disapprove of the current economy. We’ll discuss the disconnect between the feel-good big picture and everyday Americans’ lived experience. Plus, are borrowers financially ready to start repaying their student loans?

Video games are about more than just defeating evil and conquering land — they can also be about accumulating wealth and resources. Economists are looking to video games as a microcosm to learn about spending habits, market trajectories and more. Plus, a breakdown of the Barbie/Oppenheimer box office numbers.

From the BBC World Service: Spain’s muddled election results mean more confusion for businesses as it remains unclear whether a government can be formed; the BBC’s Guy Hedgecoe explains what it means from Madrid. Plus we hear from British tourists caught up in the devastating wildfires that have hit the Greek island of Rhodes. And finally, with Barbie making a huge impact at the box office, Elizabeth Hotson reports on businesses betting big on going pink.

The movie “Oppenheimer,” about the making of the nuclear bomb, opened last week, and the subject matter has spurred an unavoidable comparison with artificial intelligence. Leaders at AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have explicitly framed the risks of developing AI in those terms, while historical accounts of the Manhattan Project have become required reading among some researchers. That’s according to Vox senior correspondent Dylan Matthews. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Matthews about his recent reporting on the parallels between AI and nuclear weapons.

Record-breaking heat waves are becoming a serious job hazard for outdoor workers. Currently, there are no federal rules to protect workers from extreme heat. But that may be changing. We’ll also discuss New York City’s reversal in the way it treats asylum-seeking migrants. Plus, we’ll play a game of This or That with guest host Amy Scott. Here’s everything we talked about today: “Amid historic U.S. heat wave, workers have few protections” from Axios “Migrants in NYC Say They’ve Been Turned Away, Despite Shelter Mandate” from Bloomberg “Updates to asylum seekers from the city of New York” from NYC.gov “Messi Shines a Spotlight on Miami, and on Soccer in the U.S.” from The New York Times “United States vs. Vietnam: How to watch Women’s World Cup match” from CNN We want to hear what you’re reading this summer. If you’ve got a reading recommendation you’d like to share with fellow Smarties, email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART

We got retail sales and housing data this week, and there’s some optimistic news. Are these signs of a “soft landing”? The Federal Reserve hasn’t said — nobody wants to jinx it. We’ll examine the data and what it means for a potential Fed rate hike next week. Also on the program: a trip to a winery in southwest Germany and a famous pony ranch on Virginia’s Chincoteague Island.