AI discovers the first new antibiotic in over 60 years
A deep-learning algorithm has helped scientists identify new compounds that are effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria – a public health threat that causes thousands of deaths annually. With doctors concerned that antibiotics have become increasingly ineffective since Fleming first purified penicillin in 1928, the recent discovery of a compound which...
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Hackers leak more than a terabyte of Insomniac Games’ private data
A week after unsuccessfully blackmailing Sony for a $2 million payout, a ransomware outfit has leaked a trove of internal data from Insomniac Games totalling 1.67 terabytes. Oh, to be a game developer. In what is becoming an alarmingly regular occurrence, yet another major game studio has fallen victim to an...
Search engines are amplifying misinformation
A study published in Nature last week has uncovered that using online search engines to vet conspiracies can actually compound the probability that someone will believe it. In November, UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay sounded the alarm on the intensification of misinformation and hate speech online, which she said poses...
New European AI laws hope to influence global tech regulations
As AI technology rapidly advances, policymakers have agreed upon a new set of regulations to ensure its capabilities are used ethically across EU member states. Once passed, they hope the laws will act as a blueprint for other nations around the globe. With the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
‘The Day Before’ shuts down four days after launching
Our hunch was correct. After five years of so-called development, post-apocalyptic MMO ‘The Day Before’ has vanished from stores four days into release. Its studio, Fntastic, has also liquidated. All signs point to a scam. A few hundred days late, and more than a buck short. RIP ‘The Day Before’...
What’s behind Gen Z’s love for ‘dumb phones’?
Dumb phones offer many of the more essential features we expect from our handheld devices (such as the ability to call and text) but you won’t find yourself browsing Instagram or checking TikTok on them. As consumers become more clued-up on the downsides of smartphone use — with negative impacts...
Will AI-generated influencers dominate social media’s future?
If Instagram is the place where the world’s most beautiful people can easily garner global attention, followers, brand deals, and immense wealth – is it not the perfect playground for influencers generated by AI to succeed? Would you buy a product promoted by a person who wasn’t real? It’s possible you already have. The capabilities of Artificial Intelligence, specifically its capacity for realistic image generation, are getting freakishly good. At the...
UAE’s ‘low carbon’ blue ammonia debunked by experts
Hydrogen is heralded by many as the key to decarbonising energy, but the UAE’s ‘low carbon’ way of transporting it through blue ammonia is drawing scepticism from experts. When the president of the world’s leading climate conference is simultaneously the chief of a top 10 oil production empire, it’s understandable that experts would want his grandiose ecological claims to be substantiated with science. In recent years, Sultan Al Jaber has touted...
Flip is a ‘shopping social network’ which could crack Gen Z
Those of us who purchase products on TikTok almost habitually have Trustpilot open in another tab. Can emerging ‘shopping social network’ Flip cut out the middleman by combining authentic video reviews and in-app ecommerce? When you’ve a captive audience boasting $360bn in spending power but markedly declining attention spans, what do you do? You quite literally create a one-stop shop. Meet Flip, the ‘social shopping network’ targeting Gen Z which...
Employee pressure sees Sam Altman reinstated as OpenAI chief
Having been ousted by board members late last week, Sam Altman is already due to be reinstated as OpenAI CEO. The tech tycoon has his workforce to thank. Well, this is awkward. Cast your mind all the way back to last Friday (November 17th), when the surprising news broke that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had been dismissed by the company board. Having led OpenAI’s first developer conference just a week prior, in...
