YouTube — 2026-05-17#

Watch First#

Love, Intimacy and Connection in the Age of AI | Bryony Cole | TED is easily the most thought-provoking piece today, exploring how AI companions are being used for everything from processing grief to planning simulated “AI families”. It forces us to ask whether we are replacing human intimacy or merely supplementing it, reminding us that true human relationships require an uncomfortable friction that modern technology explicitly tries to eliminate.

Highlights by Theme#

News & Business#

Thousands of People Gather on National Mall for Trump-Backed Prayer Event | WSJ covers the “Revitalize 250” gathering, an event aimed at fusing American governance with Christian faith that predictably sparked fierce debates over the separation of church and state. In the markets, CNBC’s In Other News: McDonald’s Bet On China, Spy Dolphins, And AI Layoffs Vs. Stocks points out that Wall Street isn’t blindly rewarding companies for “AI layoffs”; roughly half of the stocks from firms announcing AI-driven job cuts have actually traded in the red, as investors demand real revenue growth rather than just cost-cutting measures. Meanwhile, the same video highlights that McDonald’s is leaning hard into a $2 “poor man’s meal” to capture market share in China’s slowing economy, reflecting broader economic headwinds that are also hitting stateside, where recent college grads are struggling to find work outside of basic retail.

Learning & Ideas#

The secret to better conversations? Stop waiting for your turn to speak #TEDTalks delivers a sharp, practical truth: responding to someone’s story by immediately sharing a similar experience of your own is actually a selfish instinct that derails genuine listening. On the history front, Chinese-language creator LIFEANO CLUB offers a fantastic, eclectic Q&A in 【限免】袁Sir翻牌：岳飞的战功是靠剿匪得来的?, breaking down everything from why Croatian surnames end in “ić” (meaning “descendant of”) to the Cold War geopolitical realities that forced Chiang Kai-shek to waive Japanese WWII reparations. For a stunning visual palate cleanser, BBC Earth’s The World of Bears - Giants of the Wild captures incredible footage of global predators, including Bornean sun bears scaling 40-meter trees for honey and a hungry polar bear’s desperate, failed assault on a wall of walruses.

Tech & AI#

GQ Taiwan’s Google的影響力有多大？… is a sobering reminder that 75% of Google’s $264 billion revenue relies entirely on tracking you, detailing how “fingerprinting” bypasses traditional cookies to identify your unique device through obscure metrics like battery drain and operating system quirks. On a more philosophical note, the Chinese podcast 自动驾驶的终极问题 cuts through the classic autonomous driving “trolley problem” (should the car save the passenger or the pedestrian?) with a refreshing take: AIs shouldn’t be programmed to make human moral judgments, but should instead be hard-coded to strictly follow local traffic laws.

Everything Else#

In the culinary world, GQ Taiwan gives the classic McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish a Michelin-level upgrade with a heavy hit of Chinese ginger and scallion in 必比登廚師版本的麥香魚. Finally, 被暴力硬拉上車該怎麼防身？ offers a crucial, no-nonsense self-defense tip: if someone tries to force you into a car, drop your weight and fight like hell to disrupt the attack, as being taken to a secondary location exponentially increases your risk.