Month: March 2026

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions ponders the hypothetical reactions of eminent historical personages to today’s Trafalgar Square This week’s question: which are more like life, novels or films? If William Shakespeare – or Florence Nightingale, or Attila the Hun, or Julius Caesar, or Jane Austen, or Pocahontas – was dropped …

Readers reply: What if Shakespeare was dropped in modern-day London? Read More »

New research suggests tech behind AI platforms such as ChatGPT makes it easier to perform sophisticated privacy attacks AI has made it vastly easier for malicious hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, a new study has warned. In most test scenarios, large language models (LLMs) – the technology behind platforms such as ChatGPT – …

AI allows hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, study finds Read More »

The CEO said he cut the company’s workforce by 4,000 people – almost in half – because of gains in AI productivity Mark remembers the first time he wondered whether he was teaching Block’s AI tools how to do his job – and maybe even replace him. He was at his fintech company’s extravagant anniversary …

Current and former Block workers say AI can’t do their jobs after Jack Dorsey’s mass layoffs: ‘You can’t really AI that’ Read More »

Exclusive: ‘Witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse’ offending typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglect ChatGPT is driving a rise in reports of organised ritual abuse, UK experts have said, as survivors of “satanic” sexual violence use the AI tool for therapy. Police say organised ritual abuse and “witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse” (WSPRA) …

ChatGPT driving rise in reports of ‘satanic’ organised ritual abuse, UK experts say Read More »

From Gates to Musk and Altman, today’s ultra-rich steer AI and tech, raising questions about who decides the future When Bill Gates became the first modern IT mogul to reach the apex of wealth and power in 1992, the world was a very different place. Gates joined the top 10 on Forbes magazine’s billionaires list …

Tech oligarchs reshape humanity while billionaires of old seem quaint Read More »

Tech firms condemned for lack of controls with Meta AI and Gemini even offering advice on how to bypass UK gambling and addiction checks AI chatbots are recommending illegal online casinos to vulnerable social media users, putting them at increased risk of fraud, addiction and even suicide. Analysis of five AI products, owned by some …

AI chatbots point vulnerable social media users to illegal online casinos, analysis shows Read More »

Tech policy professor who served in US air force explains how a feud between an AI startup and the US military illuminates ethical fault lines Anthropic’s ongoing fight with the Department of Defense over what safety restrictions it can put on its artificial intelligence models has captivated the tech industry, acting as a test of …

What does the US military’s feud with Anthropic mean for AI used in war? Read More »

Platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as communication minister says ‘our children face real threats’ Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, its communication and digital affairs minister said on Friday. Meutya Hafid said in a statement to media said that she signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age …

Indonesia to ban social media for children under 16 Read More »

The intensified use of artificial intelligence, and rows over its control, demonstrate the need for democratic oversight and multilateral controls “Never in the future will we move as slow as we are moving now,” the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, warned this week, addressing the urgent need to shape the use of artificial intelligence. The speed …

The Guardian view on AI in war: the Iran conflict shows that the paradigm shift has already begun Read More »

Ministers urged to abandon plans to let tech firms use work of novelists, artists and writers without permission The UK’s creative industries must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of speculative gains in AI technology, a House of Lords committee has warned, as the government prepares to reveal the economic cost of proposals to change …

UK arts must not be sacrificed for speculative AI gains, peers say Read More »