Technology

Big tech companies have exploited human language for AI gain. Now they want us to see their products as trustworthy collaborators

After publishing my third book in early April, I kept encountering headlines that made me feel like the protagonist of some Black Mirror episode. “Vauhini Vara consulted ChatGPT to help craft her new book ‘Searches,’” one of them read. “To tell her own story, this acclaimed novelist turned to ChatGPT,” said another. “Vauhini Vara examines selfhood with assistance from ChatGPT,” went a third.

The publications describing Searches this way were reputable and fact-based. But their descriptions of my book – and of ChatGPT’s role in it – didn’t match my own reading. It was true that I had put my ChatGPT conversations in the book, but my goal had been critique, not collaboration. In interviews and public events, I had repeatedly cautioned against using large language models such as the ones behind ChatGPT for help with self-expression. Had these headline writers misunderstood what I’d written? Had I?

Continue reading…

US kids are falling prey to a sophisticated network of scammers who extort thousands – and push some victims to suicide

A TikTok video shows a young man fanning out a stack of $100 bills. A second flexes his designer clothes. Another man posts a video of himself dancing and wearing a heavy gold chain. They boast to their eager followers about their path to wealth.

“BM got me a new car,” states one caption on a video. “$5,000 in a few hours.”

Continue reading…

Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing

Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, the first time these machines have raced alongside humans over a 21km course.

The robots from Chinese manufacturers such as DroidVP and Noetix Robotics came in all shapes and sizes, some shorter than 1.2m, others as tall as 1.8m. One company boasted that its robot looked almost human, with feminine features and the ability to wink and smile. Some firms tested their robots for weeks before the race. Beijing officials have described the event as more akin to motor racing, given the need for engineering and navigation teams.

Continue reading…

The US president has said no one is ‘getting off the hook’, as he promises to launch a national security investigation into the semiconductor sector

The exemption of smartphones, laptops and other electronic products from import tariffs on China will be short-lived, top US officials have said, with Donald Trump warning that no one was “getting off the hook.”

“There was no Tariff ‘exception’, Trump said in a social media post on Sunday. “These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

Continue reading…

Facial recognition and a ‘journey pass’ stored on passengers’ phones are part of UN-backed plans to digitise air transport

The days of fumbling around for your boarding pass or frantically checking in for a flight on the way to the airport could soon be over under imminent plans to overhaul the way we travel.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN body responsible for crafting airline policy, plans to dramatically shake up existing rules for airports and airlines through the introduction of a “digital travel credential”.

Continue reading…

Agency that sends volunteers to countries around world expects ‘additional visits’ from Musk cost-cutting team

The Peace Corps is the latest federal agency to be targeted by Elon Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency”. It appears “Doge” could be eyeing cuts to the agency, which sends US volunteers around the world to work in local communities on health, education and environmental initiatives.

“Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency are currently working at Peace Corps headquarters and the agency is supporting their requests,” the agency said in an email to the Guardian on Friday.

Continue reading…

Insiders say Musk will leave soon, when 130-day cap on government service expires but ‘Doge’ team set to continue

Elon Musk’s polarizing stint slashing and bashing federal bureaucracy will probably soon end, with the world’s richest person’s government service hitting its legal limit in the coming weeks.

“He’s got a big company to run … at some point he’s going to be going back,” Donald Trump told reporters on Monday.

Continue reading…