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AI therapy: Voice-assisted Lumen app hopes to help people with mild depression and anxiety

Researchers hope the new app can help bridge the gap between supply and demand for mental health support.

Asking an AI chatbot to give a rundown on Napoleonic wars is fine. But using a chatbot service for a therapy session?

Even ChatGPT suggests going to a traditional mental health practitioner when you pour your heart out to the AI – perhaps because the most important element of therapy is the client-therapist relationship.

UK telecoms giant BT plans to slash 55,000 jobs, with 10,000 being replaced by AI ‘by the end of the decade’

The announcement comes shortly after IBM announced it would replace 7,800 jobs with AI.

After IBM’s CEO, earlier this month, announced that the company could easily replace at least 7,800 human personnel with artificial intelligence (AI) over the next five years, another startling announcement in the ‘Will AI replace humans’ debate has come to the fore.

BT, a prominent British multinational telecommunications firm, said it will become a ‘leaner business’ as it announced its plans to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade, mostly in the United Kingdom. The company also announced that approximately 10,000 of its workforce will be replaced by AI, said a report by The Guardian.

Students’ future in question after lecturer fails entire class for using ChatGPT

According to RollingStone, and other news outlets, a group of students at Texas A&M University-Commerce’s graduations is in question after being accused of using ChatGPT for their essays.

A Texas A&M University-Commerce professor has taken drastic action to fail all his students after suspecting them of using ChatGPT to write their papers. This decision has now delayed them from passing their diplomas. According to RollingStone, the professor, Dr. Jard Mumm, the decision appears flawed as he used the natural language processing software to analyze each essay and judge whether it generated it.


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“I copy and paste your responses in [ChatGPT], and [it] will tell me if the program generated the content,” the professor wrote in the email. He went on to say that he had tested each paper twice. Dr. Mumm then went on to offer the class a makeup assignment to avoid the failing grade — which could otherwise, in theory, threaten their graduation status.

Exploring the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Metaverse

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse are some of the most captivating technologies of the 21st century so far. Both are believed to have the potential to change many aspects of our lives, disrupt different industries, and enhance the efficiency of traditional workflows. While these two technologies are often looked at separately, they’re more connected than we may think. Before we explore the relationship between AI and the metaverse, let’s start by defining both terms.

The metaverse is a concept describing a hypothetical future design of the internet. It features an immersive, 3D online world where users are represented by custom avatars and access information with the help of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and similar technologies. Instead of accessing the internet via their screens, users access the metaverse via a combination of the physical and digital. The metaverse will enable people to socialize, play, and work alongside others in different 3D virtual spaces.

A similar arrangement was described in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science-fiction novel Snow Crash. While it was perceived as a fantasy mere three decades ago, it seems like it could become a reality sooner rather than later. Although the metaverse isn’t fully in existence yet, some online platforms incorporate elements of it. For example, video games like Fortnite and Horizon World port multiple elements of our day-to-day lives into the online world.

Norman Foster retrospective exhibition opens at Centre Pompidou in Paris

An exhibition dedicated to the work of British architect Norman Foster has opened at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, showcasing drawings and original models produced by the architect over the last six decades.

The exhibition, which according to the Norman Foster Foundation is the largest-ever retrospective display of Foster’s work, features around 130 of the architect’s projects including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters, Hong Kong International Airport and Apple Park.

Designs that informed Foster’s work are also exhibited, including works by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, French painter Fernand Léger, Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi and Italian painter Umberto Boccioni, and even cars, which the architect is passionate about.

ChatGPT proves AI is finally mainstream — and things are only going to get weirder

At its I/O developer conference, the search giant needs to rethink its AI strategy if it wants to catch Microsoft. The missing element? Experimentation. Google has had a rough six months. Since ChatGPT launched last November — followed by the new Bing in February and GPT-4 in March — the company has failed to establish its AI credentials. Its own offering, the “experimental” chatbot Bard, compares poorly to rivals, and insider reports have portrayed a company in panic and di… See more.


AI outputs are increasingly defining the cultural moment — just not Google’s.

Is buzzy startup Humane’s big idea a wearable camera?

The demo is clever, questionably real, and prompts a lot of questions about how this device will actually work.

Buzz has been building around the secretive tech startup Humane for over a year, and now the company is finally offering a look at what it’s been building. At TED last month, Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri gave a demonstration of the AI-powered wearable the company is building as a replacement for smartphones. Bits of the video leaked online after the event, but the full video is now available to watch.

The device appears to be a small black puck that slips into your breast pocket, with a camera, projector, and speaker sticking out the top. Throughout the 13-minute presentation, Chaudhri walks through a handful of use cases for Humane’s gadget: * The device rings when Chaudhri receives a phone call. He holds his hand up, and the device projects the caller’s name along with icons to answer or ignore the call. He then has a brief conversation. (Around 1:48 in the video) * He presses and holds one finger on the device, then asks a question about where he can buy a gift. The device responds with the name of a shopping district. (Around 6:20) * He taps two fingers on the device, says a sentence, and the device translates the sentence into another language, stating it back using an AI-generated clone of his voice. (Around 6:55) * He presses and holds one finger on the device, says, “Catch me up,” and it reads out a summary of recent emails, calendar events, and messages. (At 9:45) * He holds a chocolate bar in front of the device, then presses and holds one finger on the device while asking, “Can I eat this?” The device recommends he does not because of a food allergy he has. He presses down one finger again and tells the device he’s ignoring its advice. (Around 10:55)

Chaudhri, who previously worked on design at Apple for more than two decades, pitched the device as a salve for a world covered in screens. “Some believe AR / VR glasses like these are the answer,” he said, an image of VR headsets behind him. He argued those devices — like smartphones — put “a further barrier between you and the world.”

Humane’s device, whatever it’s called, is designed to be more natural by eschewing the screen. The gadget operates on its own. “You don’t need a smartphone or any other device to pair with it,” he said.

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