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"The aidbot is a chatbot - a type of AI system designed to communicate with its users online - that links to WhatsApp. It is programmed to ask simple questions about the types of aid people require along with their names and locations. This information is then recorded onto a Google spreadsheet which Hania and her team of unpaid volunteers, made up of friends and family, access to distribute aid such as food, blankets, mattresses, medicine and clothes. Hania used her spare time to build the bot using the website Callbell.eu, which is commonly used by businesses to engage with customers on Meta's platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook messenger. She explains that the bot, which is still being used today, makes distributing aid more efficient as it cuts down the amount of time she spends responding to requests for aid over WhatsApp."

"The missing internet history could hold vital clues about why the killer targeted young girls, but it was deleted by Rudakubana 10 minutes before he left home to carry out the "ferocious assault" on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Police fear it could be years before they see the evidence because they have had to apply for it using a specialist prosecutor in the US, where the technology companies are based. DCI Jason Pye, the detective leading the investigation for Merseyside police, said: "We're going through that process at the moment but we've been told it could be years.""

"It is not simply that AI lacks originality; after all, so too does most human art. The problem runs far deeper: the essence of art is lost in the process of its machinic invention and, with it, the very possibility of a democratic society is put under threat. Art is a defining human endeavor, not just for those formally called "artists" but for everyone. It is not merely about arranging colors, forms, sounds or words into pleasing products. The essence of art inheres in its making: the belief that, in the act of creating art, one imbues an object with something ineffable from within one's own being. This belief, in turn, allows for another person to project their own sense of themselves onto the work and, in doing so, to commune with the artist at a level words cannot access."

"While the Trump administration's scrubbing of federal web pages presents a notable example of the severed links issue, it's long been an epidemic. A Pew Research Center study published last year found that roughly 38% of web pages on the internet that existed in 2013 were no longer accessible as of 2023. According to a Harvard Law Review study published in 2014, about half of all links cited in U.S. Supreme Court opinions no longer led to the original source material. Kahle, who early on recognized the ephemeral nature of the web, said the rapid deterioration of the living web is a serious threat to historical preservation. "We're building our culture on shifting sands," he said."

"Despite these promises, concerns over privacy, security, and exclusion are growing. Critics, including Privacy International and Access Now, have raised alarm over the risks posed by poorly regulated digital ID systems. They caution, "Without strong safeguards, Africa's digital ID dream risks becoming a surveillance nightmare." Data breaches and inadequate legal frameworks further raise questions about whether these programs empower citizens or expose them to new vulnerabilities."

"Police believe live facial recognition cameras may become "commonplace" in England and Wales, according to internal documents, with the number of faces scanned having doubled to nearly 5m in the last year. A joint investigation by the Guardian and Liberty Investigates highlights the speed at which the technology is becoming a staple of British policing. Major funding is being allocated and hardware bought, while the British state is also looking to enable police forces to more easily access the full spread of its image stores, including passport and immigration databases, for retrospective facial recognition searches."

"But Duolingo now seems to have changed its tune, at least in terms of hiring. CEO Luis von Ahn wrote in a LinkedIn post earlier this week: "To be clear: I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do (we are, in fact, continuing to hire at the same speed as before). I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality. And the sooner we learn how to use it-and use it responsibly-the better off we will be in the long run." Though many language learners obviously appreciate the human touch on their materials, Duolingo isn't the only one leaning toward AI for language education. Last month, Google applied its flagship Google Gemini AI model to create three new tools, dubbed Little Language Lessons, accessible via the Google Labs page. However, Google did dub the new set of tools as "just an early exploration.""

"Why the way AI speaks to us matters more than what it says We're living through a fundamental shift in how we access information. Students today don't just Google answers-they ask Alexa, chat with ChatGPT, and increasingly, speak with AI voices that sound remarkably human. But here's what's concerning: research shows that when information comes through a voice rather than text, we're significantly less likely to think critically about it."

"However, Dimon is not alone in his belief that having foundational tech knowledge is still a lucrative career path. In fact, over 250 chief executives-the likes of Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Airbnb's Brian Chesky, and Salesforce's Marc Benioff-came together early this year to sign a letter demanding all students have access to computer science and AI education. "A basic foundation in computer science and AI is crucial for helping every student thrive in a technology-driven world. Without it, they risk falling behind," wrote the letter sent to lawmakers.  The push came on the heels of research from the University of Maryland that found that high school students who take a computer science class will have 8% greater earnings on average by the time they've secured their first job."

In her intervention on Friday, the Norwegian prime minister wrote that the photograph, entitled The Terror of War and featuring the naked nine-year-old Kim Phúc running away from a napalm attack, had "shaped world history". Solberg added: "I appreciate the work Facebook and other media do to stop content and pictures showing abuse and violence ... But Facebook is wrong when they censor such images."

"95% of the US population, 93% of Europeans and 92% of Asians can't do "level three" tasks like "You want to know what percentage of the emails sent by John Smith last month were about sustainability" -- tasks where "use of tools (e.g. a sort function) is required to make progress towards the solution. The task may involve multiple steps and operators. The goal of the problem may have to be defined by the respondent, and the criteria to be met may or may not be explicit.""

"A smartphone application called Peek, Portable Eye Examination Kit, utilizes the phone's camera and can conduct visual and color field tests, lens imaging for cataracts, and retinal imaging, among other tests to detect sight impairments and diseases."

"Last month, Parsley presented Depict, a crowd-sourced image description tool that could change the experience of the browsing the web for the blind and visually impaired. The tool works in two parts-a browser extension for blind users that provides user-created descriptions of images around the Internet, and a website for sighted users to provide those requested descriptions."

"While the Moocs are associated with high-status universities, Alison's focus is on the vast numbers of people around the world needing to improve their vocational skills and training."