Opinion – Apple’s attempt to redefine ‘screen time’ is eerie
The Apple Vision Pro has the ability to pin virtual screens and notices throughout your home and keep them there. Though the tech is far from mainstream, this could be a nod to the future – and it’s eerie as hell. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is...
Current in Tech
Opinion – Social media’s ageist conversation is exhausting
TikTokers are currently discussing how and why Gen Z are ‘rapidly ageing’ compared to their Millennial peers. The conversation is symptomatic of a wider generational obsession with age, life milestones, and external societal pressures. The whole thing is draining. If you’re an avid TikTok or Instagram Reel user, you’ve...
Study says using AI is way more expensive than human labour
MIT researchers conducted a study to see whether or not AI was more cost-effective than employing human workers across 800 occupations. Your job is probably secure, for now. When revolutionary technologies spring to life, it’s common for people to fear the unknown. The age-old prophecy that ‘machines will take our...
Xbox gamers are not happy about full-screen ads
Unexpected changes to the Xbox dashboard have become commonplace in recent years, but the unsolicited introduction of full-screen ads is arguably the worst to date. If there’s one unforgiving community you really don’t want to antagonise, it’s gamers. A bona fide way of doing so is to immediately interrupt our sessions...
Google’s ‘AMIE’ paves the way for AI-driven medicine
While AMIE has demonstrated superior diagnostic capabilities compared to human doctors, questions remain about the ethics of its implementation. In the realm of medical innovation, Google has recently unveiled a groundbreaking advancement with its AI system, the Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer (AMIE), marking a significant stride in the integration...
Study lays bare Meta’s intrusive data gathering for targeted ads
Facebook has anything but a clean record when it comes to the intrusive data gathering of its consumers. Now, data watchdog Consumer Reports has revealed that tens of thousands of companies send Facebook data on single users. Your phone isn’t actually listening to you, don’t worry about turning your mic...
Music streams reach record-breaking 4 trillion in 2023
On-demand streaming saw continual growth last year, despite a resurgence in physical media and a full return to live events. It follows similar trends in other industries, emphasising subscription models and digital licensing rather than outright ownership. In news that will be unsurprising to most, on-demand music streaming saw exceptional growth in 2023. According to data provided by music and entertainment data analysis firm Luminate, streaming increased by 22.3% over...
World’s first IVF rhino pregnancy could save species
The critically endangered northern white rhinoceros could be brought back from the brink of extinction after scientists successfully transferred a lab-created embryo into a surrogate mother.
At present, there exist only two infertile female northern white rhinoceros on Earth as a consequence of illegal poaching – fuelled by the demand for rhino horn – which has wiped out the wild population across central Africa.
They have been under
OpenAI alleges the New York Times tricked ChatGPT into plagiarism
In what is due to be a definitive case for the future of generative AI, the New York Times is suing OpenAI for training ChatGPT using its articles without permission. The defendant alleges that the media outlet tricked its AI model specifically to produce answers verbatim. The landscape of generative AI may not look so lawless in 2024, if the New York Times can win its landmark case against OpenAI’s...
X launches new AI tool called ‘Grok’ for US-based users
Allegedly modelled after the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it is designed to answer questions and help content creators generate creative and engaging tweets. With the turn of the new year, Elon Musk has introduced a new feature to the platform he acquired a little over a year ago. You know, the one formerly known (and still often referred to) as Twitter, but is officially known as X. GrokBot, or Grok...
