New iPhones, new U.S. election memes and a possible new age limit for social media

Welcome back to Lately, The Globe’s weekly tech newsletter. If you have feedback or just want to say hello to a real-life human, send me an e-mail.

In this week’s issue:

🤖 Artificial intelligence takes over new iPhones

⛔ Australia plans to ban social media for 16 years and younger

🥥 How persuasive are memes actually in an election?

⏰ A (possible) way to actually curb your screen time

Coming soon to an iPhone near you: Apple Intelligence

It’s the beginning of a new era, said Apple chief executive Tim Cook as he flaunted the new artificial-intelligence-boosted iPhone 16. Apple Intelligence will include a slew of tools: it will rewrite e-mail drafts to be friendlier or more professional, clean up photos to remove unwanted objects (such as ex-boyfriends), and summarize group chats, e-mails or web pages, which as someone whose job entails putting a lot of effort into writing, feels just a tiny bit scary. The new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro come out Sept. 20, but the Apple Intelligence features won’t be available until iOS 18.1 is released in October. And only on iPhone 15 and iPhone 16, and other devices with M-series chips. And not yet in China, where Apple’s AI partner, OpenAI, has currently blocked access to its ChatGPT.

AI hasn’t delivered a drug research revolution – yet

AI was supposed to revolutionize drug development, with machine learning primed to speed up the lengthy process and achieve breakthroughs beyond the capabilities of the human mind. As reporters Joe Castaldo and Sean Silcoff write, that hasn’t happened. After a decade of hype and hubris, there are no drugs designed solely by AI in the market today, and companies that have used AI to assist with development have faced setbacks, such as clinical trial failures. But recent advances in the field, including foundational models that are akin to ChatGPT for biology, could potentially be game-changers.

Sorry Australian tweens, you may be waiting a bit longer to go on TikTok

Australia wants to add another milestone to turning 16: going on social media. This week the federal government said it plans to set a minimum age limit to use platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, which is likely to be between 14 and 16. Governments around the world have been increasingly concerned over the effects of social media on kids’ mental health, with some trying to block “for-you” algorithms, which recommend personalized content, and other addictive aspects of the apps, or requiring platforms to apply for a license. But digital rights advocates argue that age restrictions for social media could actually cause more harm to kids, pushing them into even less regulated online spaces. And, researchers have found that some platforms can have a good effect on teens: a study from the University of Amsterdam found that Snapchat has a positive effect on friendships for 71 per cent of adolescents.

A new U.S. election meme is born

As soon as Donald Trump falsely claimed during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that Haitian migrants were eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, the memes erupted on X: GIFs of the Simpsons’ family pets side-eyeing each other, the soundbite layered over the Peanuts theme song, a photo of Alf with a cat sandwich. Filled with quotable one-liners and memorable split-screen images, presidential debates are a breeding ground for memes, which have the potential to affect the tenor of campaigns. It’s easy to dismiss memes as internet noise, but the Harris campaign considers it serious business. The campaign posts memes daily on TikTok and has invested millions on social media ads. For the first time, the Democratic National Convention invited content creators to the event, giving them free rein to film viral dances from the convention floor. As I wrote this week though, memes may have helped the Harris campaign build momentum, but the good vibes may not last.

What else we’re reading this week:

Google and Apple face billions in penalties after losing EU appeals (New York Times)

The desperation of the Instagram photo dump (The New Yorker)

How the Magnetawan First Nation is tracking wildlife with camera traps (The Narwal)

Adult Money

Brick, US$49

If you are like me and blow through your self-imposed iPhone screen limits on the daily, your finger pressing “Remind Me in 15 minutes” with Olympic-worthy muscle memory, then perhaps you could also benefit from something like Brick. It’s an app-and-device combo that allows you to block certain apps on your iPhone – with tapping the AirTag-sized device the only way to unblock them. For example, if you want to spend less time on social media while at work, you could block the apps and leave the Brick device at home. The company recommends finding a space in your home where the device will spend most of its time, like on the fridge or where you put your keys. There are plenty of apps out there that aim to limit screen time, such as Screen Zen, but the physical aspect of Brick makes it feel like it’s just inconvenient enough to actually work.

Culture radar

Can this video game boost China’s cultural cachet?

The Chinese-made video game Black Myth: Wukong sold more than 18 million copies worldwide in its first two weeks when it was released last month, and is the most-played game of all time on Steam. Yet as the Globe’s Asia correspondent James Griffiths explains, even before its rapid rise to the top, Wukong was dogged by controversy, and since its release it has been caught up in conversations about geopolitics and censorship.

At the same time, the game is a win for China, which has long looked enviously at the cultural footprints of Japan and South Korea. Even better, it has none of the political awkwardness of previous exports like The Three Body Problem – a Netflix series adapted from a trilogy of sci-fi novels set partly during the Cultural Revolution – or TikTok, attacked by some in the West as a tool of Chinese surveillance. Most gamers, however, aren’t paying attention to Wukong in relation to soft power or geopolitics. They just see an action-adventure game that brings mainstream players into a whole new world.

Other tech and telecom news:

Google, Apple to pay billions in fines and back taxes after EU rejects final appeals

Apple AirPods authorized to be used as hearing aids by U.S. FDA

Business lobby group warns Ottawa’s digital services tax could ‘imperil’ trade talks