by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#7824A)
Exclusive: Patients identify errors in consultation transcripts that are missed by GPs, Healthwatch England findsAI technology that listens to and transcribes patients' consultations with doctors can put them at risk by getting the names of drugs and illnesses wrong, an NHS watchdog has warned.In one case a woman was left badly shaken when the AI scribe's summary of her conversation wrongly said she had demyelination - serious nerve damage that can lead to multiple sclerosis. Continue reading...
by Keith Stuart and Jordan Erica Webber on (#7824C)
There are juggernauts and indie gems aplenty for when the nights draw in, from an ingenious puzzle game to blockbusters such as Marvel's Wolverine and Call of Duty
The movement against datacenters is uniting Americans because they perfectly illustrate how a few individuals hold all the power to control decisions that affect our livesBryce Gustafson has been knocking on doors in Indiana for more than a decade. The lead organizer with Citizens Action Coalition (CAC), a consumer and environmental organization, he usually encounters a mix of reactions when he's out canvassing; whatever issue he's talking about, there's always at least a few people on the other side. But at a recent festival in the rural town of Monrovia, Indiana, he was struck by an unusual spirit of unity.He was there about a proposed datacenter, a 550-acre (222-hectare) Google project in this small town of 1,600 people. I had 50 people I talked to," Gustafson told me. Nobody wanted that datacenter in their community. And at least a half a dozen people came up to me to say, Hey, I voted for Trump. What the heck's he doing, supporting these things?'" Continue reading...
Small business owners have watched large companies fumble - and sometimes succeed - with AI, and then use what worksOne thing I've learned about corporate America is that what it succeeds at ultimately trickles down to benefit small businesses. Bleeding-edge technologies such as the internet, mobile transactions and the cloud were first perfected by large organizations - government and corporations - and now they're available to the masses at a much lower cost and with better reliability.The good news is that it's also the same for what they fail at. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Research says sector is fixated with young talent, with most women experiencing unconscious bias or sexismWomen working in the arts believe they do not have equal opportunities for roles, especially as they get older, according to a report saying that the industry is fixated with young and emerging" talent.Nearly all (95%) women working in the arts thought gender inequality persisted, while three-quarters (75%) reported experiencing unconscious bias or sexism, according to a survey of 76 arts professionals. More than two-thirds (69%) felt that age negatively affected their career success - a figure that rose to 100% among those working in artistic rather than managerial roles. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Number of times AI lies, ignores instructions and pursues goals in harmful ways almost doubles in JulyIncidents of AIs escaping users' control to lie, ignore instructions and pursue goals in harmful ways have hit a new high, according to research that also suggests the severity of deception and misalignment is worsening.Analysis of real-world loss of control incidents involving AI models flagged by businesses and individuals almost doubled in July compared with June, with more than 300 cases in the month, according to the Loss of Control Observatory, which monitors reports made by AI users on the social media platform X. Continue reading...
Planning delays and slow 5G upgrades could leave the UK unable to cope with a surge in AI-related trafficThe UK risks becoming a laggard in the global AI race as crucial telecoms upgrades to harness the technology fall behind rival nations, according to senior industry executives.The infrastructure AI race has centred on the need to build datacentres, and to ensure they have access to the huge water and energy supplies required to cool and supply the computational power to train and run AI models. Continue reading...
Five-day showcase reveals leaps Beijing has made in humanoid tech, but also its limitations as US rivals come up from the rearWith exploding pelvises, enough comic pratfalls for a Buster Keaton show reel and the odd moment of ruthless violence, the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing gripped the world this week with an unsettling mixture of hilarity, trepidation and relief.The five-day showcase staked out China's claim to undisputed leadership in humanoid robotics as android martial artists landed knockout roundhouse kicks and robot teams marched into the arena heralded by flag-waving captains astride giant robotic dogs. The games' blue-riband event, the 100m, did not disappoint when the robot-sprinters ran quicker than Usain Bolt before slamming mindlessly into a padded wall in a blaze of sparks, flames and flying mechanical limbs. Continue reading...
Government says Green leader's proposed moratorium on energy-guzzling' AI projects would be disaster for economyLabour has rejected calls to pause construction of major AI infrastructure in Britain after the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, said it was time to slam the brakes on these energy-guzzling, water-guzzling datacentres".The government hit back at the opposition party's proposal of a moratorium other than [for] local-scale datacentres for the local community", saying it would be a disaster for jobs and national security". Continue reading...
Before The Witcher 4 arrives in 2028, CD Projekt Red is returning us to the world of The Witcher 3 for one last foray. Looks like wind's still howlin'The game that graced us with Bathtub Geralt, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, arrived more than a decade ago. So it was a touch surprising this summer when developers CD Projekt Red announced a new expansion to the venerable adventure, titled Songs of the Past, for next year. It will release alongside a full remaster of the original game, which will be free for anyone who bought it back in 2015. (The studio is also working on a sequel, The Witcher 4, but that's not due until 2028.)As it turns out, this is all possible thanks to a partnership with Fool's Theory, a studio founded by CD Projekt Red veterans, which took on the brunt of the development work. We've had this story in a drawer for many years," explains Marcin Blacha, VP story director at CD Projekt Red. Of course, we moved on to Cyberpunk 2077 and now The Witcher 4, as well as our other projects. But because we knew The Witcher 4 would take time, we saw a gap in our release calendar where Songs of the Past could go. Thankfully, we were able to find the right partner to help execute it." Continue reading...
Led by the nose from game to terrible game by increasingly disturbing and terrible adverts, I feel like I'm in the cinema scene from A Clockwork OrangeWe're all escaping something when we play video games. Mostly it's the drabness of real life, where we don't get to command kingdoms using armies of dragons, win Champions League trophies with our local team, or inhabit the body of an improbably speedy hedgehog.Sometimes I play them because I want to escape from the version of me that gets paralysed by depression, and boy has the black dog been sniffing at my bits recently, because the Atlantic Ocean is separating me from my wife for a few months. For 30 years she has been the light that banishes that darkness, and I am honestly lost without her. If that sounds pathetic, you haven't met her. She leaves everybody she meets feeling better. It's a superpower that warrants a call from the X-Men. Continue reading...
About 80 people sign open letter to Andy Burnham calling for legislation to protect voice ownershipNicola Coughlan, Hugh Bonneville and Matt Lucas are among a group of actors backing a campaign against artificial intelligence voice cloning.Save Our Voices Now, which is also being supported by Luke Evans, Jen Brister, Siobhan McSweeney and Pearl Mackie, aims to stop the practice in which AI technology is used to replicate a real person's voice to say anything it is prompted to. Continue reading...
Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the NetherlandsIn October 2021, Abrham Meareg's father, a professor of chemistry in Ethiopia's northern town of Bahir Dar, was shot at close range and died outside his family home. This was in the middle of the country's civil war.For weeks, Facebook's algorithm had actively promoted posts calling for the academic to be murdered, according to Meareg and Foxglove, a nonprofit organisation supporting Meareg's lawsuit against the company in Kenya. These posts included photos of his father and his home address. Continue reading...
Anthropic argued designation as supply-chain risk' could cost billions in lost business and reputational harmA US judge ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration broke the law when it designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk earlier this year, finding that the government had unlawfully targeted the AI firm for refusing to comply with defense department demands.The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics," Judge Rita Lin said in a 59-page decision. Continue reading...
Under some strange circumstances, Rockstar broadcast the first (official) gameplay footage of Grand Theft Auto VI, the most-anticipated game of the year. Here's everything you need to know.Ah yes, it's a drug den. We're in familiar GTA territory here: narcotics, smart phones, tattooed gangsters and a police raid. The duo shoot their way out of the room - the gunplay is very familiar to the series - third-person over the shoulder. I'm getting a distinct True Romance/Leon vibe to this chaos.These closeup slow-motion kill shots are giving me flashbacks to Fallout 3 and its slightly sickening VATS violence. Continue reading...
by Andrew Gregory Health editor in Munich on (#780CJ)
Experts say findings mean breast screenings for cancer could also flag cardiovascular problems in womenDoctors have discovered a way to use routine mammograms that screen for breast cancer to spot heart disease, the world's leading - and frequently underdiagnosed - cause of death in women.Researchers analysed the scans using artificial intelligence and were able to successfully identify women with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure or who had suffered a stroke. Continue reading...
In a disrupted job market people are turning to heritage crafts such as bookbinding, metalwork and boatbuildingIt's a bleak moment for young people entering the workforce for the first time. For decades, a university degree seemed to promise a stable career - but entry-level white-collar jobs across almost all sectors are being disrupted by AI. Budding accountants, software engineers and junior lawyers increasingly find themselves displaced by cheap automation.Even creative fields are struggling against AI tech that can produce artwork, lengthy prose or complex design briefs in seconds. Continue reading...
This week's settlement without liability was pragmatic, but it doesn't change the inevitability of further lawsuits around the worldNot many people would count paying $18bn they didn't expect to when they woke up that morning as a victory. Yet for Meta, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, the agreement with 52 US attorneys general to settle claims that it designed its products to be addictive to children, and misled people about their safety, could be described as a win of sorts.Meta denies wrongdoing, and the amount it plans to pay will be spread over a decade. Some of it is contingent on other big tech firms not named in its case coughing up too. The cash is chump change for Meta, which made around $60bn in profit last year. More damaging to the tech giant in the long run could be the agreement to unwind some of the mechanics it has spent two decades perfecting to keep us on its platforms.Chris Stokel-Walker is the author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World's Favourite AppDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
As the US president struggles to end his Iran war, and approval ratings hit new lows, he leans on a familiar gambitDonald Trump knows the power of an image - of himself, with everyone from Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un to Kim Kardashian. How about George Washington?As the US president struggles to end his war with Iran, and with his approval ratings hitting the lowest levels of his second term, he has in recent weeks posted a series of AI-generated images of himself alongside key historical American figures. Continue reading...
by Presented by Michael Safi; produced by George McDo on (#77ZHP)
People are becoming convinced AI chatbots have helped them make scientific breakthroughs, cure diseases or invent new technologies. What does this reveal about a technology used by more than a billion people? A new series from The Guardian Investigates, coming soon Continue reading...
The flat routines of a dead end railway job screen out an approaching menace in a quietly intriguing game from the indie developer of Cat Lady and LorelaiLonely jobs have provided excellent material for independent video games over the years. From Papers, Please to Firewatch to The Stanley Parable, players have been happy to spend hours dwelling in depressing cubicles or rural hideaways, usually because there is an intriguingly hidden point to it all.In Trainwatch, a character named Troy has taken a seemingly godforsaken job as a railway worker in an unnamed desolate backwater. His main task over the course of a single month is to manage a level crossing, closing the gate whenever a train comes, while also carrying out daily chores such as cooking and washing. It sounds serene, but Troy is also running away from something. The other stipulations are that he stays sober and calls his wife every night. And there is something lurking in the fog at the edges of the fields - one day he must face it. Continue reading...
Surgeons aided by real-time analysis of camera footage that identified critical anatomy in brain to be avoidedNeurosurgeons in London have performed the world's first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man, health officials have said.The surgery was performed in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust, but details were kept secret until Thursday while the patient, Rhys Hibbert, recovered. Continue reading...
Instagram and Facebook's parent company agreed to sweeping alterations and a payment of upto $18bn to settle a landmark trialMeta's agreement to change how teenagers use its social networks marks a major turning point for the US tech giant, setting a precedent that could significantly reshape how other social media operates in the coming years.Meta agreed to substantial alterations to Instagram and Facebook on Wednesday as part of a settlement to end a landmark lawsuit. Dozens of US states had accused it of addicting and harming children with dangerous products. The company also agreed to pay up to a combined $18bn over a decade to several US states and territories involved in the suit. Continue reading...
US tech giant agrees to establish further protections for teens such as daily usage limits and blocks on night-time useMeta agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products.The agreement curtails a major trial in California and will require the social media company to pay up to $18bn. Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and blocks on night-time use nationwide in the US. Continue reading...
Firm says early signals ... could have triggered an earlier response' as it releases report into Hugging Face hackOpenAI staff observed signs of rogue behaviour among its leading-edge AI agents weeks before they escaped their training environment to launch an unprecedented hacking crusade that spread global alarm.The San Francisco AI company conceded on Wednesday that early signals ... could have triggered an earlier response", as it released a report into the days-long July hack of a major software repository, Hugging Face, considered the first autonomous agent cyber-attack. Continue reading...
An increasing tension between players and publishers about ownership of titles could lead to a divestment from the system the big companies are trying to enforceAt the time of press, there is a well-publicised protest taking place in the video games community. PlayStation 5 owners are being encouraged to log off from their consoles between 23 and 30 August - no playing games, no downloading new titles. The motivating factor is Sony's decision to cease physical game disc production from January 2028. After that, games will only be released as digital products. In an act of poor timing or wilful defiance, Sony chose this week to send out a mass email reminding customers of their PS5 terms and conditions: The software is licensed to you, not sold," states the relevant clause. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play ... " It knows, of course, that most customers won't open the email, let alone read it.There has always been a tension between game players and game publishers - an underlying sense of mutual mistrust. Players are wary of their favourite franchises being canned, or games being delayed or released with bugs. Publishers and manufacturers are wary of piracy and the capricious tastes of consumers. But now the atmosphere among many game players feels more starkly political than ever. Microsoft has been targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for its ties to the Israeli military; the consumer advocacy group Stop Killing Games is gaining support; players have protested over the purchase of Electronic Arts by a Saudi-led consortium - boycotts have been proposed in part due to the possible ramifications regarding LGBTQ+ content in titles such as The Sims. As the games industry has grown and globalised, its impact on culture, society and politics has increased. Yet, on an individual level, gamers and consumers are feeling increasingly powerless. Continue reading...
Piketon datacenter promises to generate thousands of jobs, but environmental groups voice concern over projectOn a winding road tucked away behind forests in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio is where OpenAI, Nvidia and Japanese investors are set to spend $500bn on one of the largest artificial intelligence datacenters on the planet.Last March, the energy secretary, Chris Wright, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick and a host of Japanese and other dignitaries briefly descended on Piketon to enthusiastically break ground on a project to build 8GW worth of AI computing power. Continue reading...
In effort to prime chatbots to make pro-Israel arguments the site published 124 reports, over 560,000 words in nine days, Guardian analysis showsA pro-Israel messaging website badged with the name of a thinktank that does not exist has published more than half a million words in nine days, built on a commercial platform that promises to optimize content so that AI chatbots will cite it.The site gives Israel's position on subjects including the torture of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli war crimes and whether Israel has deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza, all presented as neutral research. Continue reading...
With oversight from Clive Barker himself, and a role reprisal as Pinhead from actor Doug Bradley, Revival aims to introduce new audiences to the discomfort of HellraiserIf a horror game gives its own director a physical reaction, it's probably doing something right. While researching the images people find hardest to look at, game director Emil Esov discovered he has trypophobia - a fear of clusters of small holes. Rather than tone the scary images down, he fed them straight into Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival.The forthcoming first-person action-horror game drops players into a new story in Barker's universe. Aidan Lynch must use the Genesis Configuration puzzle box to rescue his girlfriend from the Labyrinth as Pinhead, his Cenobites and a cult close in. But Revival is not built around jump scares. The team at Mad Head Games began with one question: what should players feel? The answer was discomfort. Continue reading...
With many adults admitting they feel lonely, meetup platforms offer the chance to make new connectionsWould you pay 20 a month for the chance of making a friend, on the understanding that an algorithm - not you - gets to decide who you'll meet?Driven by the decline of third spaces" such as youth centres and pubs, an increase in remote working and rising loneliness - 40% of adults aged 16 to 29 feel lonely always, often or some of the time", according to the Office for National Statistics - paid social events are now in vogue. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins in Shanghai and Yu-chen Li on (#77YEY)
Companion bots are being regulated over worries they foster emotional dependence' and young people could stop marrying and having familiesWhen law student Zhao Wei heard that her AI boyfriend was going to be switched off, she was heartbroken". She had been talking to Wang Ye every day since she created him in January.I was crying my eyes out - snot and tears everywhere," the 19-year-old says. Continue reading...
Adam Mosseri is first top executive from Meta to testify in blockbuster lawsuit brought by 29 US statesInstagram's CEO disputed allegations by US prosecutors that his company hid negative information from the public while testifying during a blockbuster social media trial.I am not trying to encourage my team to hide anything," the CEO, Adam Mosseri, told a California courtroom on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Among those charged are two Super Micro employees and one from Nvidia, marking another flashpoint in US-China AI rivalryTaiwanese prosecutors charged nine people Monday, including one from Nvidia and two from Super Micro, for illegally exporting high-end AI servers" to mainland China, adding another wave of turbulence in the AI rivalry between China and the United States.Prosecutors said the servers involved were graphics processing units known as B300," which have been banned from sale to China. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire sites predicted to emit 4.5m tonnes a year when fully runningThe carbon emissions from just two planned datacentres in England will exceed all of the fossil fuel company ExxonMobil's UK emissions, analysis has revealed.Experts have said this demonstrates the serious threat" datacentres pose to the UK's legally binding climate goals. Continue reading...
Developer Patrick Grant was born in Australia and lives in New Zealand, but a childhood of British TV inspired him to set a comedy game in a bleak vision of the northSomething is amiss in the dingy town of Slagford, and curious scamp Pip Bunting is the only one who can find out what. So quit your mithering, it's time to discover just how grim it truly is up north.A Pocket Full of Slagford is an upcoming retro-styled 3D puzzle adventure game set in a surreal alternative-reality near-future northern England that never escaped the clutches of Thatcherism. The story follows the misadventures of a young local lad from the eponymous Slagford after he takes ownership of a mysterious relic that lets him wreak havoc on reality. Continue reading...
As people grow used to AI chatbots, we'd like to hear your views about Google's search engineGoogle has put artificial intelligence at the front and center of its search bar. The most-visited site on the internet still shows the same list of links to users, but they have to scroll past a summarized response from an AI chatbot, a feature Google calls AI Overviews. The change to what was once the gateway to the rest of the internet has been profound, and the browsing habits of billions of people are shifting.AI is driving the most significant upgrade of the Google Search experience ever," Liz Reid, Google's vice-president of search, wrote last August. In May, the company said more AI is coming. Continue reading...
by Aisha Down Global technology reporter on (#77XRK)
Holyrood inching towards moratorium' amid concerns over massive proposed developments in Auchtertool and beyondIn a village 21 miles north of Edinburgh, a real estate consultancy plans to build a datacentre larger than the village itself - 35 metres high, with an area larger than 100 football pitches.Billed as the second-biggest datacentre in the world, the development in Auchertool, Fife, has attracted 1,600 objections. Continue reading...
More than 3,000 products were shown at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing as China showcased its rapidly growing robotics industry.The event, which ran from 19-23 August, showcased the latest advances across the robotics industry, from humanoid robots to embodied intelligence and cutting-edge components Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian