Hits in the headlines #71

June 2, 2024 Kurtis Salsi

After speaking to many of you, I have learned that a common guilt is the amount of time spent watching YouTube videos. Look – they can be great. There is the opportunity to learn about new topics, and specifically for you to practise your English outside of our classes. However, sometimes you find yourself watching a video on a random topic that you would otherwise never have chosen or found any interest in. For those of you that don’t share this problem, you may struggle to understand how someone can watch so much and simply how they find the time to do so. But discovering an engrossing video essay is one of the greatest ways to introduce a new topic and learn something new. Maybe none of this is surprising to you. Well, if you consider the context of ever-shortening attention spans and the massive growth of TikTok and Instagram Reels, it maybe defies logic that multiple-hour long videos can be huge on the platform. Our first article looks to explore this in a more detailed view, and seeks to provide an explanation for those outside the loop.

The second story tells us of a study into the reliability of ChatGPT answers for specific problems, and importantly, how the reaction to those answers could be slighlty worrying. The prevalance of AI is not disappearing any time soon, so the way that we use and understand the technology is something that must improve. Find out exactly what the problem is in this second article, and spend a moment to evaluate your own understanding to see what needs to change.

Finally, there is a video about an enormous problem that could be world-changing, provided a proper solution: Why do we waste so much food? You may even see this question and immediately think that you, yourself, do not waste that much. However, the average person must be wasting a lot. Even without the individual waste, supermarkets, restaurants, and factories all share the same problem, just on a larger scale. If this could be countered, maybe problems of hunger could see a much better solution. In this video, you can get a better understanding of the problem and just what you can do to improve this situation.

Here are some interesting stories that I have found this week. With different topics, I am sure you will find something that is new and challenging for you. Why not use this as a chance to learn some new language?

Try to note some new language that you see or hear in the articles or video and bring it to the class.

Have a great week.

See you in class!