Non classé

As the US and China surge ahead, is Europe sleepwalking into AI disaster?

A burgeoning genre of fictional AI doomsday scenarios says lagging behind on the technology could threaten the continent’s sovereignty It’s 2031 and the US and China are about to tear Europe into pieces. The US ploughed vast sums into datacentres and the EU did not. China built robots and Europe did not. American companies “restructured” …

As the US and China surge ahead, is Europe sleepwalking into AI disaster? Read More »

Granta stops publishing short story award winners over AI controversy

Literary magazine will no longer engage in ‘external publishing partnerships’ after Commonwealth prize furore The prominent literary magazine Granta will no longer publish the winning entries of the annual Commonwealth short story prize after one of this year’s winners drew widespread accusations of AI use. The magazine said it would no longer be involved in …

Granta stops publishing short story award winners over AI controversy Read More »

Can we electrify the world? Ambition takes centre stage in pre-Cop31 climate talks

Apart from effort to electrify, there were geopolitical tensions around climate science and the 1.5C goal Electrifying the world – with electric vehicles, electric heating and cooling, and modernised heavy industry – could be the next biggest step towards phasing out fossil fuels, replacing the 80% of global energy that still comes from hydrocarbons. As …

Can we electrify the world? Ambition takes centre stage in pre-Cop31 climate talks Read More »

I dived into my digital past to revisit my most cringe teenage moments – and realised how lucky I am to not be young and online today

Twenty years ago I briefly became the victim of a viral pile-on – all because of a silly YouTube video. But I’m glad I had the chance to embarrass myself and move on. Are today’s teens so fortunate? As a teenager, I went kind of viral – and the most amazing thing about that is …

I dived into my digital past to revisit my most cringe teenage moments – and realised how lucky I am to not be young and online today Read More »

The UK’s social media ban for under-16s has just empowered big tech | Taylor Lorenz

Age verification means that the sector’s biggest players will now have access to information that will only make them richer and more powerful This week, the UK announced a wide-ranging ban on social media that will soon block users from communicating or accessing information on apps such as X, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat …

The UK’s social media ban for under-16s has just empowered big tech | Taylor Lorenz Read More »

Read a book? Join a club? Stare at a wall? Social media alternatives for under-16s

Amid UK government proposals for a ban, experts discuss what other activities might really serve children well When a Lancashire schoolgirl was asked what she would do if the proposed social media ban for under-16s came into effect, her answer hit a national nerve: “Stare at a wall,” she deadpanned. The clip went viral, not …

Read a book? Join a club? Stare at a wall? Social media alternatives for under-16s Read More »

‘It’s a scam’: Americans express unease over SpaceX’s influence on retirement savings

Guardian readers in the US share concerns about how the SpaceX IPO and AI boom affect their retirement accounts Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire last week after SpaceX debuted on the stock market with a valuation of $1.77tn. Millions of Americans could soon become indirect investors in SpaceX and other emerging AI-focused companies …

‘It’s a scam’: Americans express unease over SpaceX’s influence on retirement savings Read More »

Over-reliance on chatbots can diminish critical-thinking skills, study finds

Depending on AI can also potentially decrease the ability to discern misinformation, research says A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the latest research to find that relying too much on chatbots can diminish critical-thinking skills, and potentially decrease our ability to discern misinformation for ourselves. As AI tools are becoming more …

Over-reliance on chatbots can diminish critical-thinking skills, study finds Read More »

‘They kill games, we fight back’: the activists campaigning to keep video games playable

When a company decided to shut down an online game’s servers, there wasn’t much the players who had bought that title could do – until a group called Stop Killing Games began lobbying for new consumer protection laws You can never be sure how long an online video game will last. Developer BioWare shut off …

‘They kill games, we fight back’: the activists campaigning to keep video games playable Read More »