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LA STAMPA

Early Christmas For Italian Man As Vespa Turns Up 35 Years After It Was Stolen

When his shiny new Vespa was swiped off the streets of Milan in 1976, its owner figured it was gone for good. And then last week, a call arrived from the police in Sicily. A nice holiday surprise, but at 84, the reunited owner may have to let someone else

Classic Vespa 50 Special (Jen Camera)
Classic Vespa 50 Special (Jen Camera)

*NEWSBITES

MILAN - Just in time for the holidays, an 84-year-old Milan resident has been reunited with his…Vespa.

The classic Italian scooter, a Vespa 50 Special, which had been stolen in Milan 35 years ago, was found in Sicily (more than 900 miles to the south) on a routine police roadside check near the village of Buccheri.

The man was 49-years-old when he bought the white 50 Special, among the most popular models of the 1970s, still considered an icon of Italian design with its long saddle for two seats, and the box on one side. The recovered vehicle was in surprisingly good condition, despite a bit of rust and part of the box missing.

Police called the home of the registered owner, whose son answered. "My dad will be happy," he said. Indeed the holiday reunion story has one last serendipitous nugget: though he's lived in Milan since his youth, the victim is a native of the Sicilian city of Catania, just up the road from where his long-lost scooter was found.

Read more in Italian from La Stampa

Photo - Jen Camera

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Future

AI As God? How Artificial Intelligence Could Spark Religious Devotion

We may be about to see the emergence of a new kind of religion, where flocks worship — literally — at the altar of Artificial Intelligence.

Image of artificial intelligence as an artificial being

Artificial intelligence generated picture of AI as a god

Neil McArthur

The latest generation of AI-powered chatbots, trained on large language models, have left their early users awestruck —and sometimes terrified — by their power. These are the same sublime emotions that lie at the heart of our experience of the divine.

People already seek religious meaning from very diverse sources. There are, for instance, multiple religions that worship extra-terrestrials or their teachings.

As these chatbots come to be used by billions of people, it is inevitable that some of these users will see the AIs as higher beings. We must prepare for the implications.

There are several pathways by which AI religions will emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.

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