Have you ever sent a text or shared something online that you immediately regretted? Most of us have. Now a growing number of apps and services are offering users the attractive ability to edit (编辑) those messages.

In September, Twitter and Apple introduced editing features. Twitter started in September by announcing it would test an edit button (按钮). Within two weeks of that move, Apple introduced its new iOS 16 operating system, which lets users edit and unsend iMessages for the first time.

Users can now edit an iMessage up to five times within 15 minutes after sending it and unsend any message up to two minutes after it’s sent. To do this, users need only tap and hold their sent message, then choose “edit” or “undo send.” On Twitter, the edit button will give people a “generous” time, says Christina Wodtke, a professor in computer science at Stanford University. Users will be able to edit a tweet up to five times in the 30 minutes after it’s posted. Once a change is made, a tweet will be marked with a time stamp, and a label (标签) that says “Last Edited.”

“What they’re doing is creating an edit button that allows the Twitter users to be their personal editors,” Wodtke says. He also warns that editing could be used for harmful purposes. For example, someone could make the information false or harmful with this feature.

To make sure edit tools are used for good purposes, experts say, tech companies must take certain safety measures, especially when the information is part of the public record.

Twitter says the feature was designed to be transparent (透明的) and protect the integrity (完整性) of the message. “We’re purposely starting this test with a smaller group to learn and deal with possible problems before bringing it to more people,” a Twitter spokesperson says.

Type in “A cat wants to go to space” and ask the robot to write a bedtime story. Just one second later, you’ll get the story of Max, who got over many difficulties to sing among the stars.

This robot writer is called ChatGPT. A US company—OpenAI developed it. The technology chats in a conversational way, answering questions from the Internet user. It can translate languages, talk with people and write songs, poems and even jokes. It’s one of the most powerful AI robots of its kind.

The power of ChatGPT lies in its speed and understanding of difficult matters. We may spend hours researching, understanding and writing an article on the theory of evolution (进化论). But ChatGPT can produce a well-written one in seconds. Another good thing about it is that if you ask dark, harmful questions, for example, how to make weapons (武器), it will not give you an answer.

However, ChatGPT also brings some problems. The materials they create are difficult to tell from those made by humans. This causes many problems, such as the copyright (版权) problem and the definition (定义) of art. It could also result in many translators and writers losing their jobs or being paid much less, as their skills are no longer something companies need.

It’s too soon to say what kind of influence ChatGPT will have on our lives. Let’s hope that, if ChatGPT does become bigger and more popular, its effects are mostly positive.

Anyone who works in an office knows the power of technology. When it works, life is wonderful. Information flies across the world in seconds. It saves time and makes our jobs easier. But when technology goes wrong, everyone hates it.

In March, Peter Golota received a gas bill for $0.00. He threw it away. In April, he received another bill for $0.00. He threw that one away, too. In May, the gas company sent him a letter which said he had to pay his gas bill. If he didn’t pay it, they were going to cut off his gas. He called and told them the bill was for $0.00. They said it was a computer error（错误）. But the bills continued. Finally, he sent a check for $0.00. This caused the bank’s computer to crash（崩溃）. After a lot of angry phone calls and letters between the man, the gas company, and the bank, the case went to court（法庭）. The gas company lost, and had to pay Peter Golota $8, 000. It all happened because of a bill for $0. 00.

A man from Colorado appeared on the news when he shot（射击） his computer because it crashed all the time. The man, who owned a bar, put the “dead” laptop on the wall for everyone to see. The police said, “It’s the first time that someone shot a computer because he was angry with it.” They arrested（逮捕） him. And he was fined $4, 000 in the end.

In December, Margaret Smart, of Energis Solutions, stood up in front of 2, 000 people in Texas. As she began to speak, her microphone stopped working. They found another one. After two minutes, that one also died. When she decided to show her notes on PowerPoint, the computer refused to start up. And the title of her presentation is “Technology: The Way Forward”.