Entertainment
Paramount Just Used AI To Ruin Star Trek's Best Character
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
As a franchise set in the far future, you might expect Star Trek to make some definitive, sweeping statements about the use of AI. However, various shows and movies have presented this technology as something of a double-edged sword. In Star Trek, AI powers the ship’s computers and holodecks, and it helps bring the beloved android officer Data to life. But AI is also responsible for numerous existential threats to the entire galaxy, including everything from evil androids like Lore to weapons of mass destruction like the Planet Killer and Control. Star Trek is ultimately very wishy-washy about this technology, presenting it as both a game-changer and a life-taker.
In the real world, the good of AI is quite outweighed by the bad. Sure, it can help you write emails and generate images, but it’s also being used by massive corporations to cut corners and give paying customers cheap slop, all so some rich exec doesn’t have to pay some poor, overworked creative. Now, Star Trek has officially become part of the problem. Recently, Paramount seemingly used AI to create a thumbnail of William Shatner for Paramount+, and it created the stupidest-looking image in Trek history. Unfortunately, this is now the inevitable future of the franchise: a studio phoning in even the most basic creative efforts, all to please a fandom that is quietly dying.
Meet AI Slop Captain Kirk
This story begins with the worst streaming service ever created: Paramount+. Like all streamers, this platform provides thumbnails for various movies. Normally, this is just a still from the film. For example, when you scroll down to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, you might see an image of James Doohan giving his best thousand-yard stare. If you scroll to Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, you might see that melty-faced weirdo that Dr. McCoy tries to hitch a ride with. However, when fans recently scrolled to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, they saw an insanely ugly image of William Shatner that was seemingly created by AI.
The image features Shatner staring into the camera with a relatively sedate look on his face. He is wearing a suit and tie, which is properly absurd. Not only does Admiral Kirk never wear this suit in The Wrath of Khan, but the only time he wore anything remotely like this was when he donned a pinstripe gangster suit in the Original Series cheesefest episode “A Piece of the Action.” The most notable thing about this thumbnail on Paramount + is that one of Shatner’s eyes has a weird red glow around it. The whole thing is surreal and looks like what would happen if the Borg decided to assimilate Don Draper.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
So, what the heck happened here? On Bluesky, Ryan Estrada seemingly cracked the case. The image of Shatner’s face mostly does come from The Wrath of Khan. It’s from the scene where Kirk completes a retinal scan before accessing classified information on Project Genesis. In the movie, this is an extreme close-up of Kirk’s face, one that cuts off his chin and almost everything above his eyes. The shot works well in the movie, but it would look absolutely terrible as a streaming thumbnail. Estrada’s theory (and one I certainly agree with) is that Paramount fed the movie image to a generative AI and asked it to flesh out the rest of his body.
However, the AI took more than a few liberties with Shatner’s character. It basically ruined the actor’s hairline (something previously only God could do), making Kirk look like a slicked-down Wall Street broker. It put him in a business suit for completely unknown reasons, making the image look instantly out of place as a Star Trek thumbnail. Most bizarrely, it didn’t remove the red light from the reticle scan, making Kirk look like he’s got the galaxy’s worst case of red eye (maybe the waste extraction department was slacking). As ugly as it is, though, the worst thing about this AI slop is how damn lazy it is.
AI Slop: The Future Of Star Trek
Star Trek is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary, and Paramount is hoping to revive the entire franchise with a brand new movie. But why would anyone want to watch a film by the same creatively bankrupt people who had to use AI to make a freakin’ thumbnail? These execs are stewards of the coolest sci-fi IP ever created, but they couldn’t be bothered to simply take a suitable screencap from The Wrath of Khan. Sadly, this AI screw-up is an indictment of what Star Trek has become: lazy slop made by lazier creatives who hope you’re too stupid to care about how bad this franchise has become.
They’re wrong, obviously, and Paramount is about to learn a very bitter lesson: the only thing they can’t gin up in AI is fans who actually care about Star Trek anymore!
Entertainment
Meta avoids another trial over social media harms as teen plaintiff drops lawsuit
Meta has skirted another jury over claims its platforms are facilitating a youth mental health crisis.
The company was set to go to trial in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles next week, but the 15-year-old plaintiff, referred to as R.K.C, has now dropped the lawsuit.
“In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weeks-long trial, he has elected to withdraw his claims against Meta. He’s ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life,” attorneys for R.K.C. said in a statement.
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According to the lawsuit, R.K.C. said he became addicted to social media over the last seven years, and linked his anxiety and depression to extensive time online. Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube were also named in the initial lawsuit, but the companies reached settlement deals with R.K.C prior to going in front of the jury.
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“Days after settling with other social media companies, the plaintiff dropped his case against Meta, the only remaining defendant, without receiving any payment,” a Meta spokesperson said following the news. “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”
Meta’s spokesperson said the facts of the case could not prove that the company’s platforms caused R.K.C.’s mental health struggles. Meta previously called attention to the fact that R.K.C. had not spent significant amounts of time on Meta platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, in a Motion for Summary Judgment. The company also said they could not verify that R.K.C. had a long-standing account history on Meta platforms.
In March, Meta and YouTube were ordered to pay $6 million to another teen plaintiff who accused multiple social media companies of knowingly investing in design features that would hook users, despite knowing of their potential harm. The jury found the two companies liable for mental health-related harms caused by negligent design features and “social media addiction.” It was the first time a jury found social media companies responsible for the psychological effects of their platforms on teens.
At the time, Meta said it was appealing the decision. The company has faced multiple lawsuits brought forth by teens, parents, school districts, and state leaders. “Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app,” a Meta spokesperson said following the March verdict. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 23, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you’re a frequent flyer.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Rounded
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Green: Nervous Nancy
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Blue: Catch a flight
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Purple: Math words
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Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Spherical things
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Green: In an anxious state
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Blue: Parts of an airport
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Purple: Ending in geometry terms
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1138 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Spherical things: BASEBALL, GLOBE,
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In an anxious state: EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE
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Parts of an airport: PINS, SNAPS, TWEETS, VINES
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Ending in geometry terms: APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for July 23, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re a veteran.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Hail to the chief petty officer
The words are related to the military.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe military titles.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
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NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Navy Ranks.
NYT Strands word list for July 23
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Recruit
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Admiral
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Ensign
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Navy Ranks
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Lieutenant
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Commander
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
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