Worldcrunch
French multinational insurance company AXA has just published the new edition of its Futures Risk Report — and if climate change remains the top concern, many are keeping a close eye on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence’s worrying rise in the list.
Elon Musk has been criticized before for his management of Twitter, now known as X. But it was not until Saturday that the social network revealed just how inept and dangerous it had become, as fake news spread far and wide. It may never recover.
The 157-year-old cosmetics firm is banking on the “personal touch” and enterprise of its familiar women sales representatives to see it through the multiple threats of online retailing, changing tastes and global economic tumult.
As the world’s technologies change, so do the countries with not only advantages in production, but also geography and diplomacy. China knows this, and sees that investing in Moroccan resources is a particularly smart bet in the long run.
The culture of Silicon Valley was once associated with social liberalism and tolerance. However, the tech community worldwide, from moguls such as Elon Musk or Peter Thiel, to IT professionals in Poland, and self-described OSINT users in India, is showing signs of a noted right-wing shift.
There are many frontiers being crossed by AI lately, sparking debate and anxiety. But now, we’re entering strange, new territory: an algorithm that lets bereaved family members communicate with deceased loved ones in the most realistic of ways. Yet it comes with very real and complicated risks.
The inner workings of Artificial Intelligence are impenetrable, unexplainable and unpredictable. That build in some fundamental limits to its capacity and utility.
Research by anthropologist Darren Byler provides a rare look inside the surveillance state China has created to control the Uyghur population of Xinjiang province, where every move is tracked, people are forced to carry cell phones, and “re-education camps” await anyone suspected of trying to break free.
A new biography of the Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and Space X boss reveals that Elon Musk prevented the Ukrainian army from attacking the Russian fleet in Crimea last year, by limiting the beam of his Starlink satellites. Unchecked power is a problem.
The author set off on a three-week vacation trip across Europe in an electric car. Would the charging infrastructure be enough to get all the way, or would they end up stranded without battery, far from home?
Vladimir Putin was eager to welcome Kim Jong-un for a rare visit to Russia in order to replenish depleting supplies of shells and ammunition. But North Korea has its own demands help to build satellites as part of an advanced space program.
Human-made shelters don’t always keep creatures out of harm’s way. Can technology help design a better protect birds and possums?
At first, Find My iPhone was a nifty feature that would help keep your cellphone safe. Now, with new location sharing technology, the app has become a new panopticon of control for Gen-Z couples, with their every move recorded by watchful eyes, nestled away in back pockets.
Depicted by some artists as a threat to creativity, algorithms are used by others as a powerful new instrument, able to stimulate their imagination, expand their creative capabilities and open doors to so-far unexplored worlds.
A smaller replica of the International Space Station, which will orbit the Moon from the end of 2024, is currently under construction at the Thales Alenia Space plants in Turin. A guided tour.
Poland has received widespread investment from multinational companies and now, the country is bucking the worldwide trend by adding jobs in the tech sector.
Created by Donald Trump four years ago, the new U.S. military branch embodies the strategic importance of space defense. Faced with competition from China and Russia, Washington is renewing its commitment (and drastically increasing the amount of money it devotes) to space — marking quite the reversal of fortune for Space Force, which not so long ago was the target of pastiche and mockery.
Canada’s subsoil is among the world’s 10 richest in graphite, lithium and cobalt. Only China can say the same. A report from Quebec, home to North America’s biggest graphite mine project.
With the rise of influencers has come a sub-category: deinfluencers, who tell their followers what NOT to buy instead of promoting products in an effort to reduce wasteful consumption.
Beijing recently placed an export ban to the U.S. of two key metals. The move is a retaliation for U.S. bans of Chinese tech. The question remains of whether the superpowers can compromise before a total tech war breaks out.
On two or four legs, the robots from this MIT spin-off are among the most advanced in the world. And while their videos have conquered YouTube, their new playground is less spectacular, but just as strategic: logistics warehouses.
North Korea has industrialized the theft of cryptocurrency to finance its nuclear weapons program and its state-sponsored hackers are getting better at emptying digital wallets. But global law enforcement agents are in hot pursuit, and cashing in crypto is harder than ever.
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to approve the EU’s first act regulating AI, which banned some potentially abusive AI tech but left the door open to others that could be used to track, control and deny people seeking refuge in Europe — instead of as a tool to save them.
Connected watches don’t just tell the time, they give meaning to life.
The European Commission has asked digital platforms to create an “Artificial Intelligence label” to alert users of AI-generated texts, photos or videos. But will it be able to stop the tsunami of misinformation?
The inventor of ChatGPT is in Europe to try to force leaders on the Continent to face hard questions about what artificial intelligence is bringing to our world, whether they like it or not.
Amid the summit hosted at the White House, and warning from AI experts, the world can’t simply leave the machines to their own devices.
The species of pig evolved into ultra-resilient, disease-free predators while isolated on Auckland Island that could be a boon for state-of-the-art xenotransplantation, a medical procedure in which cells, tissues, or organs from one species are transferred into another species, which could reduce the need for human organ donors.
Goethe was eerily prescient in his predictions about the “unstoppable force” of mechanization. But he didn’t call for a pause in technological advances. More than 200 years ago, he predicted with surprising accuracy how technological and industrial developments would change our world.
Thanks to advances in science, the reintroduction of extinct animal species is now feasible — even inevitable. But beyond possible benefits for biodiversity, these projects raise numerous environmental and ethical dilemmas.
We’ve always expressed our nightmares through images. So one Italian writer fed her dreams to AI-powered Midjourney platform, producing images of her own consciousness.
Fear of technology is contagious, linked to the rapid evolution of breakthroughs and their impact. So what exactly is technophobia in our AI age… and can it be cured?
The African tech ecosystem is bouncing back after a slowdown during the pandemic, with local innovation fueled by increasing investment from foreign tech giants.
GPT-4 and other artificial intelligence systems can pass complicated exams, but this says more about how we conduct tests. Artificial intelligence shouldn’t lead us to despair — instead it should spur us to rethink our learning and education systems.
The Viberti Barolo winery in the Piedmont region of Italy employs cutting-edge solutions to preserve tradition and craftsmanship regardless of severe climate change.
The remarkable power of ChatGPT on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence took Beijing by surprise. As China rolls out its own version, it remains to be seen how the country will balance the need for control with technological development and innovation
Bogus images of angry dark-skinned men and bloodied blond women were quickly flagged as fakes, but the quality of the artificial intelligence is only bound to improve.
Like with the atomic bomb, artificial intelligence will divide the world into the haves and the have-nots, French columnist Édouard Tétreau writes. To win the AI arms race, France and its allies need a new transatlantic partnership.
Everyone from Elon Musk to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to top Artificial Intelligence researchers have signed a public petition calling on a six-month moratorium on AI research. The ultimate decision will be left in the hands of humans, who are smart, but also vain and greedy.
Like photography, new forms of artistic expression arise in every age. Now, new artificial intelligence is making it possible to create incredible images in an instant — but it opens up an ethical and philosophical debate.