Members of Congress “were displeased, shocked, engaged and ready to consider legislative and oversight action,” Lindsay Owens, executive director of consumer advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative told The Post on Thursday, after meeting with 15 lawmakers.

The report finding Instacart charged hundreds of customers widely different prices at  big chains including Target, Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons and Costco came as Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) introduced legislation to ban such practices.

Instacart is a delivery company that handles mostly grocery deliveries. Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Greedy corporations are compiling Americans’ personal data and using AI to find their ‘pain point’ – the maximum they’re willing to pay. That’s not fair pricing, that’s predatory pricing. My bill puts an end to it,” Gallego said in a statement.

Sen Ruben Gallego (D. Ariz.) introduced The One Fair Price Act. Getty Images

The lawmaker flagged January research from the Federal Trade Commission showing that retailers “frequently use customers’ personal information – everything from their location to the type of device they are searching on – to set tailored prices for goods and services,” according to his office.

In the House of Representatives, lawmakers are exploring ways to curb dynamic pricing, which sometimes employs AI tools to track customer data.

“They wanted to know what types of legislation they could pursue to protect consumers from this practice,” said Owens, who met with all Dems.

Instacart is on the hotseat after a report was released showing that grocery shoppers are being charged differently in the same stores. JHVEPhoto – stock.adobe.com

The pols were part of the “Congressional Dad’s Caucus” of Dems focusing on working families.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D.-Calif.) said after meeting with Owens, he’s “weighing next steps to bring costs down and rein in this type of pricing.”

“If Instacart’s AI pricing is quietly, unfairly and/or deceptively making some people pay more for the same groceries, that’s a big problem,” he said in a statement to The Post.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said he’ll take steps to crack down on “dynamic pricing.” CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Any action on dynamic pricing would need GOP buy-in in the Republican-controlled House and Senate.

The high cost of living has caught the attention of pols across the political spectrum in recent months.

The Groundwork Collaboration report found that Instacart charged Target customers at a North Canton, Ohio store $2.99 for Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter one day in September – while other Instacart users that day paid as much as $3.59 for the same jar picked up from the same location. 

Target distanced itself from Instacart’s pricing strategy, stating that it is “not affiliated with Instacart.” Christopher Sadowski

Target said in response to the findings that it is not “affiliated with Instacart and is not responsible for prices on the Instacart Platform.” 

Instacart was likely trying to determine how much money it could make off of Target shoppers, Owens said.

“At a place like Target which is not known for being on the low-end, Instacart was probably like ‘this is an interesting place for us to explore a higher mark-up,” she explained.

Instacart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company previously told The Post that its price “tests,” which “have now ended,” are never based on personal characteristics of shoppers and do not change in real time.

The post Exclusive | Lawmakers mull action on ‘dynamic’ AI-powered pricing in wake of ‘shocking’ Instacart report appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Artificial intelligence software has given editing tools a huge boost in power, far beyond the spell-checkers and grammar aids of yore.

A.I. can proofread, rewrite, summarize and compose text, making it simple to craft clean, complex documents in a flash — even on a smartphone. If you haven’t dabbled yet, free offerings from Apple and Google are an easy place to begin experimenting.

Tinkering with the software lets you see its capabilities and gives you insight on when — and when not — to let A.I. do the writing. Here’s a guide to getting started.

Using Apple Intelligence

Apple’s integrated suite of A.I. tools, called Apple Intelligence, includes a selection of Writing Tools. (It requires iOS 18.1 and a more recent iPhone or iPad.)

The Writing Tools work in most apps where you type or dictate words. Once you have written something (like in Pages), highlight the section you want to edit. Select Writing Tools in the pop-up menu, or tap the circular Apple Intelligence icon in the toolbar.

In the Writing Tools menu, select the option you want to use, like Proofread, Rewrite or Summarize — or describe how you want to change the text. You can display it as key points, a list or a table, or even recast the tone of the writing with a tap to make it sound friendlier, more professional or streamlined. If you don’t like the changes, revert to the original.

With the help of the popular ChatGPT chatbot, Apple Intelligence can compose a draft from scratch, although you need to enable ChatGPT first. To do so, tap the Compose button and follow the onscreen directions. (The New York Times has sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied the suit’s claims.)

Like other A.I. chatbots, Gemini responds to questions and prompts. For example, you could paste in a memo draft and ask Gemini to proofread and fact-check it for you.

Gemini can also generate text upon request, like a project proposal. For example, in the prompt box, enter “Help me draft a proposal to the City Council to get a permit for a Dog Days of Summer festival on Aug. 2 and 3 that features a puppy parade, a Wiener Dog Derby, a fetch competition and vendor booths for local pet stores.”

Once Gemini cranks out the proposal draft, you can save it as a Google Doc for your own editing and refinement.

Using Other Options

If your device is too old for Apple Intelligence or you don’t use Google products, you still have plenty of A.I. helpers to consider, although many charge a subscription fee. Grammarly has been around since 2009 and now has a mobile app that works with your device’s keyboard software for proofreading, tone adjustments and other A.I. assistance. Microsoft has its Copilot A.I. tool that works with the Microsoft 365 suite.

The app stores have many A.I. bots, including writing-specific assistants like ParagraphAI for a variety of communications styles (including help for dyslexic writers) and Sudowrite for narrative projects. General chatbots like ChatGPT (which has a writing assistant) or Anthropic’s Claude can rewrite or generate text.

Keep in Mind

Remember that A.I. is not perfect. Check the bot’s work because it can make mistakes.

And while A.I. assistance has numerous advantages for more impersonal documents like memos and proposals, relying on it too much can dilute your voice and style — especially as more people use A.I. to write.

Take the first sentences of Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1891 short story “A Scandal in Bohemia,” as rewritten by software to make Dr. Watson sound more casual:

Original: To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler.

Apple Intelligence: Sherlock Holmes always referred to her as the woman. He rarely used any other name for her. In his mind, she was the most prominent woman among all women. It wasn’t because he felt any romantic feelings for Irene Adler.

Gemini: For Sherlock, she’s always just ‘the woman.’ I’ve hardly ever heard him call her anything else. The way he sees it, she totally outshines all other women. It’s not like he was in love with Irene Adler or anything.

You should always be in command of your own words — which might help prevent people from thinking, “Hey, did A.I. write this?”

The post How to Use A.I.-Powered Writing Tools on Your iPhone and Android appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Yaccarino boasted that the Elon Musk-owned social media platform was heading into 2025 at a “breakneck speed” during her featured keynote address at the multi-day event, organized by the Consumer Technology Association.

In her sit-down with keynote host Catherine Herridge — the award-winning investigative journalist fired by CBS News last year — Yaccarino touted a “holy grail” advertising-focused feature called “Trend Genius.”

Linda Yaccarino speaks at CES in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Yaccarino unveiled a “holy grail” advertising-focused feature called “Trend Genius,” which automatically boosts ad campaigns on X when they are linked to a trending topic. REUTERS

The software automatically boosts ad campaigns on X when they are linked to a trending topic – such as an LVMH partnership with actress Zendaya that surged during the Golden Globes.

“It is something only X can do,” said Yaccarino, who said X has “rolled out and shipped more than 250 product innovations” since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022.

The feature was beta tested within the last several months, she added.

Yaccarino was interviewed just hours after rival Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company would abandon its widely-criticized fact-checking in favor of an X-style “community notes” feature.

“Mark, Meta – welcome to the party,” Yaccarino quipped.

She was also asked about Musk’s new role alongside Vivek Ramaswamy as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and whether it would affect X.

“I don’t think there’s two better people than Elon and Vivek to do that,” Yaccarino said. “As Americans, we should all be rooting for the overwhelming success of Doge. I would expect other countries to follow.”

Elsewhere at the world’s biggest trade show, tech policy experts faced off in a heated debate about whether antitrust enforcement playing out in Washington DC is helping or hurting innovation.

Linda Yaccarino interviewed by Catherine Herridge on Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images

Luther Lowe, a major Google critic and head of public policy at startup-focused Y Combinator, warned that Big Tech firms like the search giant and Apple are “trying to choke off the oxygen supply” by taking actions that benefit themselves at the expense of smaller competitors.

“If there is vigorous enforcement against that kind of behavior when its outside the bounds of the Sherman Act, Big Tech can coexist with Little Tech,” Lowe said.

Experts on both sides of the debate largely agreed that President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of antitrust bulldogs like Gail Slater to serve as Justice Department chief and Andrew Ferguson as FTC chair signaled that he would continue a hard-nosed approach to competition policy.

Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. Getty Images

“They’re going to be guided by an earnest, pro-innovation agenda,” said Tyler Grimm, principal at Miller Strategies and ex-chief counsel at the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee.

The show floor at Las Vegas Convention Center featured thousands of exhibits, including a huge display for Segway, which showcased a robotic lawnmower.

Tech giant Siemens’ stand included details about its collaboration with aircraft startup JetZero, which is using the company’s design software to fine-tune a futuristic wide-bodied passenger plane with engines on top and individual bag storage. A Siemens rep said the firms were aiming to have a flying plane by 2030.

A huge crowd formed at the booth for Chinese robotics firm Unitree, whose humanoid robots shook hands with attendees and performed backflips in front of shocked attendees.

Elsewhere, Xpeng Aero HT showed off what it has dubbed an “Land Aircraft Carrier” – an electric van with a flying vehicle that can fit in the trunk. The company plans to make its first deliveries in 2026.

The Elon Musk-owned social media platform was heading into 2025 as “breakneck speed,” Yaccarino said. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

CES attendees were still buzzing about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address the previous night, which played in the lobby as guests arrived the convention center.

Huang received a rock star-like reception while unveiling Nvidia’s powerful next-gen Blackwell AI chip lineup at the jam-packed Michelob Ultra Arena inside Mandalay Bay resort. Attendees lined up for several hours to get inside.

At one point, the billionaire, who wore his trademark leather jacket, joked that he wanted a beer after lugging a “shield” displaying the full AI chip architecture on stage for several minutes – drawing laughs from the raucous crowd.

Some content creators in the audience joked about playing “Nvidia bingo,” as Huang hit several buzzwords that fans of the chip supplier have come to expect from his speeches.

The chips, which use AI to render incredibly lifelike graphics in devices used by gamers and software developers, were the centerpiece of a presentation that initially pushed Nvidia shares to a new all-time high and drew positive reviews from analysts. Shares later plunged amid a broader market selloff.

Huang also spoke extensively about plans for new AI models, including Nvidia Cosmos, a so-called “world foundation model” that the executive said would supercharge efforts to train software that helps driverless vehicles and robots navigate the physical world.

Many CES attendees and exhibitors joked that it was nearly impossible to find a booth that didn’t involve AI in some way.

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