Hey Conscious Church Fam

Meta just dropped an AI that can predict brain activity while you watch a film, Musk and Altman are still throwing playground insults online, and Apple’s gearing up for an AI-powered robot comeback.

In today's recap:

• Meta’s AI can predict brain activity while watching films

• Musk threatens Apple and feuds with Altman in public

• Apple plots an AI comeback with home robots

Let’s dive in 👇

💭 Josh’s Musings

I saw this video pop up with John Mark Comer, Andy Crouch, and Jay Kim. Many of you will have read Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Same kind of vibe here slow, thoughtful, and rich in wisdom.

Their main point? 2007 and the iPhone changed everything. We didn’t really stop to think what it was doing to us. We just ran with it. Now AI feels like another “2007 moment.” The danger isn’t the tech itself but how it forms us. It tempts us to chase effortless power… more impact with less effort. Which is the opposite of discipleship.

Andy said something that really stuck. AI is just a mirror. It reflects us, our culture, our prompts. It can simulate friendship or forgiveness or wisdom. But it can’t be present with you. And presence is where Jesus meets us. Not in neat answers or productivity hacks. But in the awkward, unpredictable, face-to-face stuff of being human.

So here’s what I’m taking away:

1. Effortless power is a lie — growth happens in friction and weakness, not shortcuts.

2. Don’t hand over the holy — use AI for admin, not for the pulpit, prayer, or pastoral care.

3. Check the fruit — is this making me love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength… or just making life easier?

👉 [Here’s the full conversation if you want to watch]

🙌 Stay Curious, Stay Conscious, Stay Wild
Josh

LATEST NEWS

🧠 META BUILDS AI THAT PREDICTS YOUR BRAIN

Recap: Meta’s FAIR team revealed TRIBE, a neural network that predicts how the human brain responds to movies, using video, audio, and text. It just won first place in the Algonauts 2025 brain modelling competition.

The Details:

• TRIBE uses film and TV clips to predict brain region activations, no brain scans needed

• It correctly modelled over 50% of brain activity across 1,000 regions

• Outperformed single-sense models by 30%, especially where sight, sound, and language merge

• Showed high accuracy in frontal regions tied to decision-making and emotions

Conscious Take: This feels like a mix of breakthrough and warning. On one hand, we’re unlocking new knowledge about the brain that could help with mental health and learning. On the other, it’s also a recipe for manipulating attention at a neural level. A bit beyond my brain cells to understand all this one…

🤯 MUSK VS ALTMAN: THE TECH TITANS BRAWL

Recap: Elon Musk announced legal action against Apple for allegedly boosting OpenAI in the App Store while suppressing rivals like Grok. Things escalated quickly when Sam Altman fired back, sparking another very public feud.

The Details:

• Musk claimed no company besides OpenAI can hit #1 on the App Store

• Users pointed to DeepSeek and Perplexity as counterexamples

• Altman replied with “skill issue” and “or bots” after Musk cited view counts

• Grok’s own account sided with Altman, mocking Musk’s history of algorithm tweaks

• Musk then shared a screenshot where GPT-5 rated him “more trustworthy” than Altman

Conscious Take: These two billionaires once worked side by side. Now it’s playground insults in front of millions. Underneath the drama is the reality that these men shape the digital infrastructure we all ‘rely’ on.

🤖 APPLE’S AI ROBOTS: THE COMEBACK PLAN

Recap: Bloomberg reports Apple is planning a major smart home push with AI-powered devices, including a desktop robot, smart display, and new security cameras, aiming for launches between 2026–2027.

The Details:

• Desktop robot with motorised display arm, running rebuilt Siri

• Personality-driven AI assistant, codenamed “Bubbles” (think Clippy 2.0)

• Smart display arriving in 2026, running new ‘Charismatic OS’

• AI-powered security cameras with months-long battery life

• Engineers rebuilding Siri (codename Linwood), with Anthropic’s Claude tested as a backup

Conscious Take: Apple is late to the AI party, but the robot play is classic Apple, betting on sleek hardware. Whether it’s enough to reclaim the spotlight is another question.

Technology may predict our brains, distract our eyes, or even move into our homes, but it cannot define who we are.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2

Lord, help us to stay present, to guard our attention, and to renew our minds daily in You. Amen.

Stay conscious,

Josh

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