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Future

Yoga, Solar And Eye Scans: A Video Tour Of World's Most Innovative Airports

In Singapore's Changi airport
In Singapore's Changi airport
Anne Sophie Goninet

Airline passenger traffic is not slowing down, registering worldwide growth of 6.8% in 2015. The growing demand means more opportunity but also more competition, and airports need to be innovative to attract both business and pleasure air travelers.

Long layovers can be tiresome, but not necessarily in Changi, Singapore. With free video games, film screenings, a swimming pool and multiple green spaces, the airport has become a bonafide place to relax, part of which helped it get voted the best airport in the world last year.

No more fatigue in Helsinki airport either. Sleeping pods, yoga classes and massages are definitely a way to improve the weary travellers' well-being.

In Dubai, passengers don't have to waste time at immigration counters, thanks to automatic controls of passports, fingerprints and eye scans.
The creators of the new Beijing airport in China, which will be completed in 2018, also thought about efficient alternatives for travelers: With the design of a compact, vertically-oriented terminal, there will be only 650 yards separating the terminal center from the farthest boarding gate.
As for the managers of Kochi airport, in southern India, they've found a way to cut down on high electricity bills and at the same time, be more environmentally-friendly: A vast 45-acre field of solar panels makes it the world's first fully solar-powered airport.

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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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