What's up, sunshine? Welcome to the
show. I'm Ky Wire. Thank you for joining
us today. The countdown is on for
Holiday Break. We're at the penultimate
day of the week. So, let's get you your
news while we still have time. The folks
at one of the United States largest auto
manufacturers, Ford Motor Company, say
they are going to slow their role on
their electric vehicle plants to put
more focus on their gas and hybrid
vehicles. Part of their new plan,
putting production of their flagship EV,
the F-150 Lightning, on hold
indefinitely. This stems in part from US
President Donald Trump's policies which
are impacting the EV industry. The move
for Ford means a $19.5 billion hit
against its fourth quarter earnings.
Automakers around the world have
invested big time in EVs, but Ford says
they've seen a drop in demand. The
federal tax credit from which EV buyers
once benefited ended in September. The
US government also took away some of the
environmental regulations that went into
effect during former President Joe
Biden's term. Did your Spotify wrapped
feel spot-on this year? You know where
Spotify tells you which songs are your
favorites? If so, it's because the
streaming music service aggregates or
collects all the songs you played
throughout the year by using machine
learning algorithms behind the scenes.
It's just one example of our digital
experiences becoming more personalized
by technology. Our Claire Duffy has
more. Hey Coy, have you ever found
yourself wondering how your Spotify
wrapped seems to just get you so
perfectly or why Netflix knows how to
recommend the exact show you wanted to
watch next? It's all thanks to a
technology called machine learning. So
what is that? Machine learning is a
process where a computer takes a bunch
of data and uses an algorithm,
essentially a mathematical equation, to
find patterns in that data to draw
conclusions or make recommendations. So,
think sorting through all of the music
you listen to this year to determine who
your favorite artists were. You might
have heard of machine learning in the
context of artificial intelligence.
That's because it also powers many of
the AI tools we use today. AI chatbots,
for example, were trained on a bunch of
human writing and they use their
knowledge of the patterns in our
language to respond to our questions.
Here's Georgia Tech's Brian Mcgherko to
explain. So like for for using Chai GPT
or or Llama or something like that. Um
you know these companies scraped the
internet grabbed as much text as they
could from from Reddit conversations and
forums and blog posts and news articles
and uh the patterns that they found are
like what words go with what other words
and so when you give it words it goes
hey what's the most likely word that
would goes that would go next? Now,
online platforms don't just use
information about us to serve us
recommendations. They also look at what
content people like us are consuming
using a type of machine learning called
collaborative filtering.
>> Spotify is really really good at
collecting data and describing data. So
one of the things that they use uh and
and has been used in in lots of uh uh
like websites and apps that you use is
this approach called collaborative
filtering.
>> So uh Spotify when you say hey give me
some music that uh that I think I'll
like you hit the the DJ button or
something and uh what it's doing is it's
going okay let me look at this guy. What
does he listen to lately? Okay what are
people that are like him? Okay, what do
they listen to? Let's give them some of
that. And so collaborative filtering is
underneath all of these sort of like,
you know, magic suggestions that happen
with Spotify, you know, wrapped or or
the autogenerated playlists. It can
recognize like, hey, you know, there are
not that many goth circus uh ragtime uh
uh people out there, but you're one of
them. you know, it can help you sort of
identify if you're on this island of of
music appreciation uh that you can brag
to your friends about.
>> So, what to make of all of this? It's
important to understand that apps and
online platforms are taking in data you
share with them, whether by listening to
certain songs or liking certain photos,
and they're learning from it. That can
be used for fun applications like giving
you your Spotify wrapped. Spotify says,
"My listening age is 73, by the way,
thanks to my love of classic rock." But
machine learning can also be used to do
things like target you with ads for
things a company thinks you're more
likely to buy. And I don't know about
you, but this time of year, that is the
last thing I need. Still, the more we
know about how tech platforms collect
and use our data, the better we can
choose how to consciously engage with
them. Koi
>> pop quiz hot shot. Volkswagen's iconic
van was originally called the microbus,
the type 2, the wonder wagon, or the
mystery machine.
If you said type two, you are too good.
The type 2, later renamed the
transporter, started production in 1950.
It soon became a cultural symbol of
freedom, road trips, and the 1960s
counterculture. Type 1 was the one and
only VW Beetle. Now to a viral moment
that became a symbol of hope. This
vintage Volkswagen bus was spared from
the LA fires even as the rest of the
neighborhood was decimated last January.
The bus has since undergone a full
remodel and is getting some newfound
love and national attention. Our Nick
Watt has more. So many people saw hope
in this picture. The little blue
miracle, a 1977 VW micro bus among the
grays and blacks of destruction and
despair. This went through the fire. You
see the burnt headlight
>> out front was on the case. This was back
in January. Found the bus. And
>> so we wanted to know who owned it to to
get the story here. And we found them.
>> Wow. It is magic.
>> Current owner Megan Weiner, Malibu
Surfer.
>> I'm speechless to see all the houses
burnt. And I can't believe that Hazul,
the bus, that's what we named it,
survived. Like it's I'm just in shock
>> now. More shock. Good shock. The magic
bus has had a makeover. now reunited
>> with her owner.
>> She's beautiful.
>> How did this happen? Well, Volkswagen
folks also saw that viral pic of the
little singed survivor and they asked if
they could help. Picked us all up
and got to work. We found the car with a
busted rear windows. We had ashes
inside. We had ambers inside and nothing
combusted. And we drained 11 gallons of
fuel of the car. Why didn't it burn? I
don't know. They worked on a zool for
2,000 hours to bring a bus back to life.
Every part was restored. That
eye-catching blue paint had to be custom
mixed. But what about the palisades?
Then now. Nearly 7,000 structures
destroyed. So far, only one home has
been completely rebuilt. A certificate
of occupancy was issued just last week.
Azul is now back. charm intact and even
better than before. Can we hope for the
same for the Palisades?
>> It's beginning to look a lot like
Christmas at the London Zoo, where some
serious monkey business is underway.
Check out the zoo's saki monkeys going
bananas over their very own stockings.
They were hung with care, courtesy of
the zookeepers, providing the petite
primates with a holiday feast. Guess
they made the nice list. Meanwhile, the
zoo's gorilla troop went ape over their
Christmas swag. Burlab sacks filled with
their favorite festive snacks. The
critically endangered great apes are
part of the more than 8,000 amazing
animals that call the zoo home. Many are
threatened or even extinct in the wild
and part of the zoo's ongoing
conservation programs. Here's wishing
all creatures great and small and
absolutely wonderful holiday.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
The power of music, especially during
the holidays.
>> What song would you like us to sing for
you?
>> Jingle bell rock, please.
>> Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell
rock.
>> This is Dial the Carol, an annual
tradition at the University of Illinois
that goes back 65 years.
>> Started by a front desk person who just
really wanted to spread Christmas joy.
And so we've just kept the tradition
going since then.
>> Nice way to spread some joy during some
stressful times.
>> Any holiday song, any time of the day,
these student volunteers are eager and
ready to sing.
>> We believe in like the power of music
and especially in giving back to our
communities through music.
>> Jingle bell.
>> All right, almost time to bring it home.
Two shoutouts for you this Thursday. The
first one goes to Mr. Kirk doll at Cani
High School in Cani, Oregon. Your
students want you to know how much they
appreciate your encouragement. Rise up.
And this shout out goes to Miss Stokes
at Allegro Charter School of Music in
North Charleston, South Carolina. They
sent us this book of Renaissance poems
and magnificico. You nailed it. It's of
historic places and people and times and
uh where are the beautiful artists?
There they are. Look at them smiling
back right at us. You all are more
powerful than you know. I can't wait to
read some of that. Have an awesome day.
Go make it an awesome day and make
someone smile. I'm Ky Wire and we are
CNN 10.