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New Article: Economic Nihilism - by Palladium Editors

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As if summoned from every woman’s worst nightmare, here comes an ad for a company that helps men cheat on dates by lying about everything from their interests to their age. The fictional dating profile claims to be 6’4” and work at “Bananazon.” “Maybe you are just way older than you look,” the older woman tells her much younger companion. As his ID card is rejected and he’s served grape juice, the man is discreetly prompted by his AI assistant to recover the date, complimenting her art. Launched on 4/20, the ad copy reads: “Cluely is out. cheat on everything.” Lee observed job interviews had already been made outdated by technology, becoming a kind of drudgery that was no longer meaningful for screening human talent. Then-Columbia student Lee started the company as a way to cheat on technical interviews for big tech firms. After their product, an AI “cheating tool” called Interview Coder, secured the team internship offers from Meta, TikTok, Amazon, and Capital One, Columbia University

Ryan Pouncy/Woman looking out at city lights This article by Julia Steinberg was published at Palladium Magazine on June 30, 2025. As if summoned from every woman’s worst nightmare, here comes an ad for a company that helps men cheat on dates by lying about everything from their interests to their age. The fictional dating profile claims to be 6’4” and work at “Bananazon.” “Maybe you are just way older than you look,” the older woman tells her much younger companion. As his ID card is rejected and he’s served grape juice, the man is discreetly prompted by his AI assistant to recover the…

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