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My petty gripe: forced software updates just make everything worse | Patrick Lum
Would we tolerate anything else that got worse over time, not as a result of normal wear and tear but because the manufacturer suddenly decided it should? Read more petty gripes I was pulling out of our driveway one holiday, about to embark on an epic multi-hour trip, when I realised something was off. It…
‘Shut it down and start again’: staff disquiet as Alan Turing Institute faces identity crisis
Whistleblower warns UK’s top AI research body in danger of collapse due to threats over funding and new direction When the UK government announced the creation of the Alan Turing Institute in 2014 it promised a “fitting memorial” to the renowned computer scientist and artificial intelligence pioneer. More than a decade on, Britain’s leading AI…
Author Rie Qudan: Why I used ChatGPT to write my prize-winning novel
Sympathy Tower Tokyo attracted controversy for being partly written using AI. Does its author think the technology could write a better novel than a human? “I don’t feel particularly unhappy about my work being used to train AI,” says Japanese novelist Rie Qudan. “Even if it is copied, I feel confident there’s a part of…
AI tool that speeds up patient discharges trialled by NHS
Pilot at London trust aims to reduce paperwork and free up doctors, as UK brings AI to public services An artificial intelligence tool designed to speed up the discharge of patients is being trialled at a hospital trust in London. The platform completes documents needed to send fit patients home, potentially saving hours of delays…
Facial recognition cameras too racially biased to use at Notting Hill carnival, say campaigners
Exclusive: Letter to the Met says technology ‘unfairly targets community that carnival exists to celebrate’ The Met commissioner should scrap plans to deploy live facial recognition (LFR) at next weekend’s Notting Hill carnival because the technology is riven with “racial bias” and subject to a legal challenge, 11 civil liberty and anti-racist groups have demanded.…
We are gen Z – and AI is our future. Will that be good or bad?
Our panel responds: the more we know about this technology, the more it is the source of hope and worry. We have views that must be heard • The panel was compiled by Sumaiya Motara and Saranka Maheswaran, interns on the Guardian’s positive action scheme Continue reading…
Return of the flip phone: does Apple’s foldable iPhone signal a new era in design?
Experts say Apple’s foray into flip phones is sign that consumers want devices that optimise internet use Back in 2005, nothing felt more high-powered and sophisticated than ending a call by snapping shut a clamshell flip phone. Now, two decades since they hit peak popularity, they’re back – with Apple rumoured to be working on…
How Israel used Microsoft technology to spy on Palestinians – podcast
Harry Davies on how Microsoft’s cloud was used to facilitate mass surveillance of Palestinians Yossi Sariel was in charge of one of the branches of Israel’s intelligence agency. When he took over Unit 8200 he arrived with ambitious plans – to use tech to change the way intelligence was gathered and analysed. The Guardian’s Harry…