The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions ponders the online world – from what’s despicable to what’s indispensable • This week’s question: can you really fake it to make it? The internet has turned fringe belief into mainstream politics and policy – from authoritarianism to vaccines. With democracy itself threatened, is it …
AI safety expert David Dalrymple said rapid advances could outpace efforts to control powerful systems The world “may not have time” to prepare for the safety risks posed by cutting-edge AI systems, according to a leading figure at the UK government’s scientific research agency. David Dalrymple, a programme director and AI safety expert at the …
World ‘may not have time’ to prepare for AI safety risks, says leading researcher Read More »
Revenues may be rising rapidly, but not by nearly enough to cover the wild levels of investment under way The US dictionary Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2025 was “slop”, which it defines as “digital content of low quality that is produced, usually in quantity, by means of artificial intelligence”. The choice underlined the …
AI’s reckoning with reality represents a growing economic risk for 2026 Read More »
Fraudsters use phishing to steal card details, which fund a spending spree using Apple Pay or Google Pay You get a call from your bank and the informed voice asks to you to confirm the personal details they have on file, which you do. You are then asked whether you bought something at an electrical …
Digital wallet fraud: how your bank card can be stolen without it leaving your wallet Read More »
The novelty of eating at a diner owned by the richest person in the world seems to have worn off in just a few months Less than six months since it opened, Elon Musk’s Tesla Diner has the feel of a ghost town. Gone is the Optimus robot serving popcorn, gone are the carnivore-diet-inspired “Epic …
What happened after Tesla opened a diner in Los Angeles? Read More »
Lapses in safeguards led to wave of sexualized images this week as xAI says it is working to improve systems Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok posted on Friday that lapses in safeguards had led it to generate “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on social media platform X. The chatbot, a product of Musk’s company xAI, …
Elon Musk’s Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ Read More »
Platform is now Britain’s fourth most visited social media site as users seek out human-generated content Reddit, the online discussion platform, has overtaken TikTok as Britain’s fourth most visited social media service, as search algorithms and gen Z have dramatically transformed its prominence. The platform has undergone huge growth over the last two years, with …
Reddit overtakes TikTok in UK thanks to search algorithms and gen Z Read More »
Defenders say AI can do good to fight the climate crisis. But spiralling energy and water costs leave experts worried During a golden sunset in Memphis in May, Sharon Wilson pointed a thermal imaging camera at Elon Musk’s flagship datacentre to reveal a planetary threat her eyes could not. Free from pollution controls, the gas-fired …
‘Just an unbelievable amount of pollution’: how big a threat is AI to the climate? Read More »
Hailing app will now act as agent rather than supplier outside London, avoiding VAT requirement, although change is not permitted in London Uber has swerved paying millions of pounds to the UK exchequer under Rachel Reeves’s new “taxi tax” after the ride-hailing app rewrote contracts with its drivers. The move came as rules announced in …
Uber rewrites contracts with drivers to avoid paying UK’s new ‘taxi tax’ Read More »
Company had hoped the virtual reality device would herald a new era in ‘spatial computing’ Poor sales have reportedly forced Apple to cut production of the Vision Pro headset that it had hoped would herald a new era in “spatial computing”. The tech company also reduced marketing for Vision Pro by more than 95% last …
Apple reportedly cuts production of Vision Pro headset after poor sales Read More »
