Eerke Boiten, De Montfort University
In the area of digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), the UK budget can be a barometer of technological development and hype. However, there is a worrying drive towards deregulation in the background – combined with an apparent desire to encourage the rights holders for data to share it with companies involved in AI.
Daisy Matthews, Nottingham Trent University and Jane Pilcher, Nottingham Trent University
Tanya* is telling me just how important her Methodist Christianity is to her. We’re chatting over a video call, and I can see Tanya’s living room in the background. This also happens to be her workspace because Tanya, who is 50, is a full-time phone and cam sex worker. For Tanya, earning her living through sex work does not conflict with her religious beliefs at all. Tanya tells me that she had a client who talked to her about his enjoyment of wearing women’s clothing. He confided in her because they both shared the same religious identity.
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.
Chantal Gautier, University of Westminster
Sex can be wonderful, but it can also be tricky. Science may be the furthest thing from your mind when you’re getting intimate with someone. But actually, there’s a lot we can learn from science when it comes to sex.
The science of sex is a broad field of research that encompasses many aspects of human sexuality, from physiology to the psychological and social factors that influence sexual behaviour.
Rachael Medhurst, University of South Wales
You can tell a lot about someone from the car they drive. The data that many vehicles now collect can reveal the patterns of our daily lives and provide insights into our behaviour, actions and even our state of mind.
Blayne Haggart, Brock University
Of all the reactions elicited by ChatGPT, the chatbot from the American for-profit company OpenAI that produces grammatically correct responses to natural-language queries, few have matched those of educators and academics.
Brian Lucey, Trinity College Dublin and Michael Dowling, Dublin City University
Just under two months ago, the US artificial intelligence company OpenAI introduced a program called ChatGPT. Essentially an advanced chatbot, it has been the subject of much debate.
Daniel Jolley, University of Nottingham; Karen Douglas, University of Kent, and Mathew Marques, La Trobe University
People’s first instinct when engaging with conspiracy believers is often to try and debunk their ideas with factual and authoritative information.
Adrian Winckles, Anglia Ruskin University and Andrew Moore, Anglia Ruskin University
You may know nothing about it, but your phone – or your laptop or tablet – could be taken over by someone else who has found their way in through a back door. They could have infected your device with malware to make it a “bot” or a “zombie” and be using it – perhaps with hundreds of other unwitting victims’ phones – to launch a cyberattack.
Lutsenko_Oleksandr | Shutterstock
Paul Ian Campbell, University of Leicester and Marcus Maloney, Coventry University
EA Sports’ Fifa football videogame series is arguably the most successful sports gaming franchise of all time. Since its debut in 1993, it has sold over 260 million copies across 29 iterations. This position was reaffirmed in 2022, with its latest instalment, Fifa23, reported as the UK’s highest selling videogame at Christmas.