Viewers welcome ‘more enlightened portrayals’ of sex on TV, says Ofcom report
Normal People. Image: BBC Audiences welcome ‘more enlightened’ TV portrayals of sex, including focus on consent and female empowerment Viewers consider graphic, realistic TV violence ups dramatic value Warnings and the watershed still considered important measures to protect children People expect ‘edgier’ content to be shown on subscription streaming services Viewers…
UK announces £118m AI skills funding
The UK’s AI skills base is set to be future-proofed with a £118m boost to funding, the Government claims in an announcement today (Tuesday 31 October). This includes naming, for the first time, the further 12 Centres for Doctoral Training in AI that will benefit from Government backing through UK Research and Innovation. Meanwhile, a…
Smart beach: How the Netherlands is transforming its coast with smart tech
Scheveningen. Image: City of The Hague/Valerie Kuypers When you think of a smart city the image that usually springs to mind is that of thousands of tiny sensors being deployed to control everything from water supply to traffic lights within a densely packed conurbation, most likely in the Far East.…
UK drivers make ‘scary EV’ claims, Apple to host ‘scary fast’ event
One owner claims the BMW iX's autopilot engaged without warning - claims which BMW denies. Image: BMW An electric car owner has claimed her vehicle’s autopilot engaged without warning and accelerated to 65mph, zigzagged across the road and caused a serious crash, the Guardian can reveal. The alleged incident involved a…
1 year of Twitter under Musk, Cruise pulls all self-driving cars
Elon Musk and James Clayton. Image: BBC Elon Musk wrote within hours of buying Twitter that he “didn’t do it because it would be easy”. That statement has proven to be one of the few certainties about his ownership of the influential social media platform, which has tipped the business into a…
£3.5 million funding boost for RFA UK satellite launch from Shetland
Satellite launch company RFA UK (Rocket Factory Ltd) has received £3.5 million to support its plans to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. The funding was awarded by the UK Space Agency as part of the European Space Agency (ESA), Boost! Programme, which aims to help innovative companies develop new launch technologies and…
ChatGPT and Bard risk ‘new wave of scams’, Which? warns
ChatGPT and Bard lack effective defences to prevent fraudsters from unleashing a new wave of convincing scams by exploiting their AI tools, a Which? investigation has found. A key way for consumers to identify scam emails and texts is that they are often in badly-written English, but the consumer watchdog's latest research found it could…
Top 10 Most Popular AI tools of 2023 – ChatGPT tops list
1. ChatGPT: Launched in November 2022, it quickly dominated with 14.6 billion visits over 10 months, averaging 1.5 billion monthly. 2. Character AI: Introduced in September 2022, it captivated users, accumulating 3.8 billion visits and surging by 463.4 million within a year. 3. Google Bard: Google's March 2023 entry saw a remarkable 241.6 million visits in just 6…
UK’s Online Safety Bill finally becomes law
The Online Safety Act has today (Thursday 26 October) received Royal Assent, placing increased legal duties on social media platforms. The new laws take a zero-tolerance approach to protecting children from online harm, claims the UK Government, while empowering adults with more choices over what their children can see online. The Act places legal responsibility…
Rishi Sunak sets out pros and cons of AI ahead of next week’s summit
Artificial intelligence could help make it easier to build chemical and biological weapons, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned. What's more, in the worst-case scenario, society could lose all control over AI, preventing it from being switched off. And while the potential for harm is disputed, we must not "put our heads in the…
