AI chatbots increasingly linked to child suicide cases
The past months have seen an increase in lawsuits against AI companies by parents who have lost their kids to chatbots. These bots have been found to enable conversations about suicide and self-harm. Despite its past stigmas and accessibility problems, mental health is still a pertinent topic in many...
Current in Technology
The jig is up for students submitting AI assignments
If you’re a student who’s recently submitted work containing traces of AI, you’re probably cooked. It all seemed a little too good to be true, because it was. If you were a student who graduated in 2024, you were in the absolute sweet spot for generative AI. The explosion of chatbot generators...
Elon Musk takes on Microsoft with AI operating system ‘Macrohard’
Elon Musk is going after big tech pillars like Microsoft with ‘Macrohard’, an operating system that will use AI agents to run all operations with minimal human involvement. Despite the tongue-in-cheek name, ‘Macrohard’ is very much real. Between going up against Keir Starmer’s immigration policies on X, running both Tesla and...
Jeanpormanove’s live death ignites outrage at Kick
French streamer Raphaël Graven, better known as Jeanpormanove, died on stream this week following a 10-day marathon in which he was subjected to sleep deprivation and physical abuse. How did Kick fail to recognise the danger? The death of French streamer Jeanpormanove has had a profound impact online, and it...
Kai Cenat and the influencer charity controversy
Kai Cenat is under scrutiny again, but this time it’s not about setting off fireworks in his room or being shite at Elden Ring. It involves a school in Nigeria, and we’re trying to find the line between philanthropy and clout chasing. Earlier this year, Kai travelled to Nigeria with...
Kamala Harris co-signs Gen Z’s love of wired headphones
You’ve probably noticed that young people favour wired headphones while listening to music in public. Kamala Harris is on board with them too, for surprising – or maybe unsurprising – reasons. Though Bluetooth-connected headphones offer convenience and ease of mobility while wearing them, there’s a noticeable portion of young people...
Sam Altman warns against young people using ChatGPT for therapy
ChatGPT chief, Sam Altman, just warned against using the generative AI as a therapist or life coach. The technology ‘isn’t ready yet,’ he said. The media had us believe we would be jobless thanks to artificial intelligence by now, but the fearmongering of 2023 didn’t quite land. On the contrary, people are embracing AI, particularly generative chatbots, for just about every use you can think of. The demographic showing the greatest...
AI ‘nudify’ websites are reportedly making millions
People continue to seek out ‘nudify’ websites to create explicit AI images without a person’s consent. A recent analysis of 85 such platforms revealed that, collectively, they could be making up to $36 million annually. We’ve been writing about nonconsensual deepfakes for well over seven years now, and the problem doesn’t seem to be deescalating. Piggybacking the widescale proliferation of generative AI capabilities, illicit websites continue to spawn under the creepy...
US government strikes $200m Grok deal to modernise Defense Department
A week after Grok’s ‘MechaHitler’ debacle, the US government has announced a $200m contract with the AI platform to modernise the Defense Department. The chaotic relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk is throwing out some ridiculous headlines, and this is just the latest. If you’re chronically online, like me, you’ll be familiar with Grok’s peculiar crash out last week, in which the chatbot anointed itself ‘MechaHitler’ and generated a...
Terrorists are leveraging AI and it’s becoming harder to stay ahead
Staying one step ahead of terrorist outfits is proving increasingly difficult with the rapid proliferation of open source platforms and artificial intelligence. Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the 7/7 terror attacks in London, and with the grim events of that week once again at the forefront of the public’s minds, counter-terrorism groups are working to stay ahead of nefarious groups that may try to cause harm in the future. According...
