By Kim Harrisberg | South Africa correspondent
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From phishing traps to arrests based on their social media posts alone, activists from Russia to Uganda say they’re increasingly being watched for their online campaigning. |
Barbara Ribeiro, University of Manchester
There’s a common perception that artificial intelligence (AI) will help streamline our work. There are even fears that it could wipe out the need for some jobs altogether.
But in a study of science laboratories I carried out with three colleagues at the University of Manchester, the introduction of automated processes that aim to simplify work — and free people’s time — can also make that work more complex, generating new tasks that many workers might perceive as mundane.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is everywhere. Thanks to a lack of red tape, it’s transforming our homes, economies and cultures – from ChatGPT and virtual DJs, to facial recognition and predictive policing tools. However, the rise of AI has also come at a significant cost. As we’ve discussed in recent weeks, AI often undermines our privacy, entrenches societal biases, and creates opaque systems that lack accountability. |
Valerie van Mulukom, Coventry University
You’re sitting on the plane, staring out of the window at the clouds and all of a sudden, you think back to how a few months ago, you had a heart-to-heart with a good colleague about the pressure you experience at work. How do thoughts seemingly completely unrelated to the present pop into our heads? Why do we remember certain things and not others? Why does our mind go off on tangents and why do we have daydreams?
Jonathan R Goodman, University of Cambridge
When you start to notice them, psychopaths seem to be everywhere. This is especially true of people in powerful places. By one estimate, as many as 20% of business leaders have “clinically relevant levels” of psychopathic tendencies – despite the fact as little as 1% of the general population are considered psychopaths. Psychopaths are characterised by shallow emotions, a lack of empathy, immorality, anti-social behaviour and, importantly, deceptiveness.
Primrose Freestone, University of Leicester
For many centuries we have bathed in communal waters. Sometimes for cleanliness but more often for pleasure. Indeed, in ancient Greece, baths were taken in freshwater, or sometimes the sea – which was thought of as a sacred place dedicated to local gods and so was considered an act of worship.
Today, if you want to find a good moving company, you might ask your favourite search engine – Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo perhaps – for some advice.
After wading past half a page of adverts, you get a load of links to articles on moving companies. You click on one of the links and finally read about how to pick a good ’un. But not for much longer.
Digital fashion is having a significant impact on the traditional fashion industry. By creating clothing and accessories using pixels instead of fabric, digital fashion is blurring the lines between the physical and virtual worlds. Continue reading
BrandSpark has also released some key highlights from its BrandSpark American Shopper Study – health & wellness, value for money and sustainability are top of mind with Americans. 56% of consumers say they don’t mind spending a lot to get health products that really work, sleep is number one priority in health management, and almost half say they want to be leaders in reducing environmental impact. 66% believe that research and development is continuously leading to better household care products. Not surprisingly, 8 in 10 believe taste remains the most important factor in their food purchases. Continue reading
CUJO AI, the global leader of cybersecurity and network intelligence solutions for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), today released its annual report, “Cybersecurity Report 2022: Consumer Devices Under Threat.” Continue reading