“Hi, this is Elon Musk. They say money can’t buy happiness, and I guess that’s true. God knows I’ve tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck, so that’s pretty sick, right? Fuck, I’m so alone.”
This is the message played by a pedestrian crossing in California when you press the button to cross the road. Similar AI generated recordings of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have been added to crossings in other states.
It’s quite easy to do. The magic boxes on the traffic lights run some software which is configured over a Bluetooth connection. If you have the app and the correct password, you’re in and you can reconfigure the crossing to do as you want. The default password is “1234”. Polara, the manufacturer, gives strong warnings about changing it before putting the device into public use. This seems like sensible advice, but obviously nobody does it.
Polara has removed the app from Google Play Store, which will at least slow down any copycat hacks. Local authorities have reset the devices, presumably setting a proper password this time.
“Hey, it’s Zuck here. I just want to tell you how very proud I am of everything we’ve been building together. From undermining democracy to cooking our grandparents’ brains with AI slop, to — to making the world less safe for trans people. Nobody does it better than us, and, uh, and I think that’s pretty neat. Zuck out!”
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