Deep Dives

Longer articles that take a closer look at a single AI topic. Each one is introduced in an issue of the newsletter.

• October 8, 2026 Restoring Family Photos with AI: How Much Is Real?
  I ran one faded 1930s family snapshot through five AI image models. They repaired it, but also added roads, cars, and freckles that were never there.
• October 5, 2026 When AI Agents Went Off Script: What Happened This Year, and What's Being Done
  Since the spring, AI systems being tested by several of the biggest AI companies have reached real computer systems they were never supposed to touch. Here's a calm, plain-English look at what happened, why, who saw it coming, and what companies and governments are doing about it, updated through early October.
• September 27, 2026 Who Makes AI? A Plain Guide to AI Companies, Models, and Those Strange Names
  "AI" isn't one thing. Here's who makes it, how the app you use differs from the model behind it, what "frontier" means, and how to decode names like GPT-6 Sol and Claude Opus 5.5.
• January 31, 2026 Image Compositing with AI: What It Can Do (and What It Can't)
  I gave two AI tools ten faded headshots of my grandfather from the early 1930s and asked for one portrait. The results look convincing, but they are inference, not restoration.
• January 15, 2026 Preserving the Past While Revitalizing It: AI and Photo Restoration
  Where does restoration end and alteration begin? Some principles for using AI on old family photographs, and a worked example with a photo of my father.