On September 1st, AI startup LionRocket (CEO Jeong Seung-hwan) announced that it will participate in IFA 2022, the largest consumer electronics and information technology trade show, held in Berlin, Germany, on September 2. At the event, LionRocket will unveil “VeryMe,” the world’s first virtual face creator app. LionRocket is also a member of the Born2Global Centre. Continue reading
David Bartram, University of Leicester
On average, happiness declines as we approach middle age, bottoming out in our 40s but then picking back up as we head into retirement, according to a number of studies. This so-called U-shaped curve of happiness is reassuring but, unfortunately, probably not true.
By Laurie Goering
LONDON, Aug 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A third of Pakistan is underwater, with at least 1,100 people dead – including 380 children – but monsoon rains “on steroids”, likely fuelled by climate change, are not the only cause of the nation’s misery.
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By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Moss Marakalala was 11 when he first used a laptop at an after-school programme in Johannesburg, sparking an interest in technology that inspired him to provide young people like himself from South African townships with digital education. Continue reading
By Carey L. Biron
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When Toledo experienced a spike in gun violence, the Ohio city police force turned to a simple if controversial tool: it miked up part of the city to capture the sound of gunfire.
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Chantal Gautier, University of Westminster
In the digital age, online dating and swiping right are the status quo for romance. Practically gone are the days of meeting “the one” in a pub. But what about flirting by the water cooler or over Zoom? The consensual office relationship has been both a romance trope and a taboo for decades.
Jennifer Grant, University of Portsmouth
The most hated man on the internet, according to a new Netflix docuseries, is Hunter Moore. The convicted criminal and self-described “professional life ruiner” Moore enabled the non-consensual distribution of thousands of private images by founding “revenge porn” website Is Anyone Up?.
By Anya Schiffrin, director of the Technology, Media and Communications specialization at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
When worries about online mis/disinformation became widespread after the 2016 U.S. election, there was hope that the tech giants would use artificial intelligence (AI) to fix the mess they created. The hope was that platforms could use AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to automatically block or downrank false. illegal or inflammatory content online without governments having to regulate.
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Catrin Eames, Liverpool John Moores University
Trauma, such as surviving or witnessing road accidents, natural disasters and violence, can shake up our lives, challenging our core beliefs and views of the world.
Nic Cheeseman, University of Birmingham and Petra Alderman, University of Birmingham
More elections are being held than ever – but the number of questionable polls being held around the world is fuelling fears of a “global democratic recession”, whereby the will of the people is not reflected in the results being announced. Two countries with elections coming up in the next few days and months, where opposition parties or international bodies are worried the process will not be fair, are Kenya, which goes to the polls on August 8, and Brazil, which votes on October 2.