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Artificial intelligence (AI), now an integral part of our everyday lives, is becoming increasingly accessible and ubiquitous. Consequently, there’s a growing trend of AI advancements being exploited for criminal activities. One significant concern is the ability AI provides to offenders to produce images and videos depicting real or deepfake child sexual exploitation material. This is particularly important here in Australia. The CyberSecurity Cooperative Research Centre has identified the country as the third-largest market for online sexual abuse material. So, how is AI being used to create child sexual exploitation material? Is it bec...... Read Full article on HadNews

Caryn Marjorie is a social media influencer whose content has more than a billion views per month on Snapchat. She posts regularly, featuring everyday moments, travel memories, and selfies. Many of her followers are men, attracted by her girl-next-door aesthetic. In 2023, Marjorie released a “digital version” of herself. Fans could chat with CarynAI for US$1 per minute – and in the first week alone they spent US$70,000 doing just that. Less than eight months later, Marjorie shut the project down. Marjorie had anticipated that CarynAI would interact with her fans in much the same way she would herself, but things did not go to plan. Users b...... Read Full article on HadNews

Imagine a future where your phone pings with a message that your dead father’s “digital immortal” bot is ready. This promise of chatting with a virtual version of your loved one – perhaps through a virtual reality (VR) headset – is like stepping into a sci-fi movie, both thrilling and a bit eerie. As you interact with this digital dad, you find yourself on an emotional rollercoaster. You uncover secrets and stories you never knew, changing how you remember the real person. This is not a distant, hypothetical scenario. The digital afterlife industry is rapidly evolving. Several companies promise to create virtual reconstructions of deceased ...... Read Full article on HadNews

Nationwide demonstrations have erupted in Kenya over a controversial tax bill. The Finance Bill 2024, initially presented to parliament in May, has sparked discontent with an increase in an array of taxes and levies for Kenyans. The mass protests, initially organised in the capital city, Nairobi, have spread across the country. Demonstrations have taken place in almost every city and major town. Digital media and activism expert Job Mwaura shares his insights into how the protests were mobilised on online, and then onto the streets. How are Kenyans using the digital space in this movement? This is a powerful moment for digital activism. The...... Read Full article on HadNews

Artificial intelligence is the big thing right now, with industries from finance to health care to retail scrambling to adopt AI or risk being left behind. But speaking as professors of business, we think some companies might be jumping the gun. Our recent research suggests that service providers shouldn’t automatically jump on the AI bandwagon. Instead, they should make a choice informed by their strategy. In short, when it comes to AI and service firms, more isn’t necessarily better. Why service providers face a different calculation Are you a manufacturer? Then if AI reduces your costs without lowering quality and gives you the r...... Read Full article on HadNews

OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, and News Corp, the international media conglomerate, have signed a deal that will let OpenAI use and learn from News Corp’s content. In practical terms, this means when a user asks ChatGPT a question, the results might be informed by previous reporting in News Corp outlets, including Australian mastheads such as The Australian and The Daily Telegraph. It’s unclear whether the agreement includes only editorial or also opinion content. OpenAI has licensed News Corp content because generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a ravenous beast: it needs data to learn from and generate useful outputs in return....... Read Full article on HadNews

Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted as a step towards more natural engagement with AI. According to the demonstration video, it can have voice conversations with users in near real-time, exhibiting human-like personality and behaviour. This emphasis on personality is likely to be a point of contention. In OpenAI’s demos, GPT-4o sounds friendly, empathetic and engaging. It tells “spontaneous” jokes, giggles, flirts and even sings. The AI system also shows it can respond to users’ body language and emot...... Read Full article on HadNews

Artificial intelligence (AI) text and image generation tools have now been around for a while, but in recent weeks, apps for making AI-generated music have reached consumers as well. Just like other generative AI tools, the two products – Suno and Udio (and others likely to come) – work by turning a user’s prompt into output. For example, prompting for “a rock punk song about my dog eating my homework” on Suno will produce an audio file (see below) that combines instruments and vocals. The output can be downloaded as an MP3 file. Rebellious Ruff - Suno - A song about a dog eating homework. Suno1.73 MB (download) ...... Read Full article on HadNews

With current physical and financial barriers to accessing care, people with mental health conditions may turn to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots for mental health relief or aid. Although they have not been approved as medical devices by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada, the appeal to use such chatbots may come from their 24/7 availability, personalized support and marketing of cognitive behavioural therapy. However, users may overestimate the therapeutic benefits and underestimate the limitations of using such technologies, further deteriorating their mental health. Such a phenomenon can be classifi...... Read Full article on HadNews

If you’ve spent time on Facebook over the past six months, you may have noticed photorealistic images that are too good to be true: children holding paintings that look like the work of professional artists, or majestic log cabin interiors that are the stuff of Airbnb dreams. Others, such as renderings of Jesus made out of crustaceans, are just bizarre. Like the AI image of the pope in a puffer jacket that went viral in May 2023, these AI-generated images are increasingly prevalent – and popular – on social media platforms. Even as many of them border on the surreal, they’re often used to bait engagement from ordinary users. Our team of re...... Read Full article on HadNews

If you’ve spent time on Facebook over the past six months, you may have noticed photorealistic images that are too good to be true: children holding paintings that look like the work of professional artists, or majestic log cabin interiors that are the stuff of Airbnb dreams. Others, such as renderings of Jesus made out of crustaceans, are just bizarre. Like the AI image of the pope in a puffer jacket that went viral in May 2023, these AI-generated images are increasingly prevalent – and popular – on social media platforms. Even as many of them border on the surreal, they’re often used to bait engagement from ordinary users. Our tea...... Read Full article on HadNews

The incident of a woman misidentified by facial recognition technology at a Rotorua supermarket should have come as no surprise. When Foodstuffs North Island announced its intention to trial this technology in February, as part of a strategy to combat retail crime, technology and privacy experts immediately raised concerns. In particular, the risk of Māori women and women of colour being discriminated against was raised, and has now been borne out by what happened in early April to Te Ani Solomon. Speaking to media this week, Solomon said she thought ethnicity was a “huge factor” in her wrongful identification. “Unfortunately, it wi...... Read Full article on HadNews

The incident of a woman misidentified by facial recognition technology at a Rotorua supermarket should have come as no surprise. When Foodstuffs North Island announced its intention to trial this technology in February, as part of a strategy to combat retail crime, technology and privacy experts immediately raised concerns. In particular, the risk of Māori women and women of colour being discriminated against was raised, and has now been borne out by what happened in early April to Te Ani Solomon. Speaking to media this week, Solomon said she thought ethnicity was a “huge factor” in her wrongful identification. “Unfortunately, it will be t...... Read Full article on HadNews

Google recently made headlines globally because its chatbot Gemini generated images of people of color instead of white people in historical settings that featured white people. Adobe Firefly’s image creation tool saw similar issues. This led some commentators to complain that AI had gone “woke.” Others suggested these issues resulted from faulty efforts to fight AI bias and better serve a global audience. The discussions over AI’s political leanings and efforts to fight bias are important. Still, the conversation on AI ignores another crucial issue: What is the AI industry’s approach to free speech, and does it embrace international f...... Read Full article on HadNews

As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every part of society, from banking and finance through to weather forecasting, health and medicine. Many people are now using AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to get advice, find information or summarise longer passages of text. But our recent research demonstrates how generative AI can be used for much more than this, returning results in different formats. On the one hand, AI tools are neutral – they can be used for good or ill depending on one’s intent. However, the mode...... Read Full article on HadNews

Earlier this year, Neuralink implanted a chip inside the brain of 29-year-old US man Noland Arbaugh, who is paralysed from the shoulders down. The chip has enabled Arbaugh to move a mouse pointer on a screen just by imagining it moving. In May 2023, US researchers also announced a non-invasive way to “decode” the words someone is thinking from brain scans in combination with generative AI. A similar project sparked headlines about a “mind-reading AI hat”. Can neural implants and generative AI really “read minds”? Is the day coming when computers can spit out accurate real-time transcripts of our thoughts for anyone to read? Such tec...... Read Full article on HadNews

From asking our smart speakers for the weather to receiving personalised advice from smartwatches, devices powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly streamlining our routines and decision making. The technology is seeping into our lives in subtle ways. Manufacturers gather vast amounts of user data to ensure these smart devices are responsive and personalised. But this can put users at risk of exploitation by malicious agents, such as hackers looking to steal your data. As AI becomes more ubiquitous, consumers will also need to become savvier. If you want to enjoy the benefits of a smart everyday device, you should be ...... Read Full article on HadNews

A robot is chatting to an elderly British man in his bedroom. The robot has a cheery demeanour and a pleasantly high-pitched voice. The robot – perhaps because of the man’s age – starts asking him about his memories of the second world war: “Please tell me what was the most difficult thing you and your family had to go through?” The elderly man goes on to talk about how his father was in the Royal Air Force and they didn’t see him for almost four years. But why was a robot bluntly asking him about what may have been one of the most traumatic experiences he’s ever had? The robot’s behaviour was the product of the Caresses project (Cult...... Read Full article on HadNews

Every few years, an emerging technology shows up at the doorstep of schools and universities promising to transform education. The most recent? Technologies and apps that include or are powered by generative artificial intelligence, also known as GenAI. These technologies are sold on the potential they hold for education. For example, Khan Academy’s founder opened his 2023 Ted Talk by arguing that “we’re at the cusp of using AI for probably the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen.” ‘How AI Could Save (Not Destroy) Education’ As optimistic as these visions of the future may be, the realities of educational technolog...... Read Full article on HadNews

For much of the year, TikTok has been on the defensive. On March 13, 2024, the House of Representatives voted to approve a bill that would force the short-form video app to be sold off from its Chinese parent company to non-Chinese owners or face a ban in the U.S. The Senate will still have to vote on the legislation, which received broad bipartisan support due to beliefs that TikTok creates risks to national security. Meanwhile, Universal Music Group, one of the biggest record labels in the world, stopped licensing its music to TikTok at the end of January 2024. Since then, songs by Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and scores of other ar...... Read Full article on HadNews