flâneur

Growing up Gay in the Age of Google Maps, Grindr and ChatGPT

gizmodo.com · 2,864 words · saved by 1 readers

I have no sense of direction after using Google Maps for 15 years; I can’t flirt because of Grindr; now I wonder what ChatGPT will render vestigial.

From the time I knew what intersections were, I said my family lived at the crossing of Inwood Road and Preston Road in North Dallas. I asserted that fact certainly for the better part of a decade. Then I found out those two roads ran parallel to each other. Then we moved to a different house. I did eventually learn our new home’s location and nearest intersection. I did not, however, pass my driver’s license test until my fourth attempt, six months after my 16th birthday. My parents were not surprised. I had never been a confident driver nor a helpful passenger-seat navigator. The month…

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