AI boom means regulator cannot predict future water shortages in England
Datacentres, which do not have to report amount of water used to cool servers, leave Environment Agency with no idea of shortfalls
AI implications for education
Generative AI Has a Visual Plagiarism Problem
Experiments with Midjourney and DALL-E 3 show a copyright minefield
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using...
This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed...
The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity
Recent generations of frontier language models have introduced Large Reasoning Models
(LRMs) that generate detailed thinking processes…
Labor dispute erupts over AI-voiced Darth Vader in Fortnite
SAG-AFTRA claims Epic didn’t negotiate video game AI voice replacement terms.
An Aggravating New Barrier Is Making It Harder Than Ever to Land a Job. Candidates Are Pissed.
“Tell me about a time when—when—let’s. Let’s circle back. Tell me about a time when—when—let’s.”
“If they don’t have the decency to interview you face to face, they aren’t worth your time,”
dehumanizing
A cheat sheet for why using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment
The numbers clearly show this is a pointless distraction for the climate movement
Worrying about your personal use of ChatGPT is wasted time that you could spend on the serious problems of climate change instead.
Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”
Researchers find that the more people use AI at their job, the less critical thinking they use.
Microso
Google Maps will rename Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America in US
Tech firm to make change in line with Trump’s executive order, using both names in world outside US and Mexico
‘Serious concerns’ about DWP’s use of AI to read correspondence from benefit claimants
White mail system handles ‘highly sensitive personal data’ and people not told it is processing their information
AI prototypes for UK welfare system dropped as officials lament ‘false starts’
Exclusive: Pilots for staff training, jobcentres and speeding up disability benefit payments not being taken up
ChatGPT linked to declining academic performance and memory loss in new study
New research uncovers a concerning trend: while ChatGPT might aid students under academic pressure, its excessive use is linked to procrastination, memory loss, and poorer grades, highlighting a negative impact on education.
Saying No to Generative AI – Cate Denial
Harder, better, faster, stronger - will AI improve public policymaking?
How do we find a middle path between the idealised potential, and messy reality, of government using data and AI to shape public policymaking?
Even where accurate, legitimate and relevant, turning information into data flattens richness and lived experience.
We should be cautious about seeing datasets as proxies for truth and reality, as there are gaps between people’s lived experiences and the data that has been collected. A care organisation collecting data on the number of visits to a vulnerable patient may have little understanding of the dignity, respect and safety felt by that patient.
Replacing existing consultation analysis with this Consult tool would save thousands of hours of work. However, this approach privileges quantitative over qualitative analysis, undermining the potential of finding a ‘golden nugget’ of data: a compelling quote or story that shifts thinking.
A more fundamental issue (sometimes glossed over by those enthusiastic about headline productivity gains) is that inserting technology into any system changes that system.
Instead, they create ripple effects - altering people’s behaviours and expectations around each technology. Professionals may defer to a tool, ignore it completely, or learn how to ‘game’ it to get the desired results.
As Goldman Sachs’ Head of Global Equity Research points out ‘eighteen months after the introduction of generative AI to the world, not one truly transformative—let alone cost-effective—application has been found.’ Indeed a recent survey of workers and C-suite executives found 77% claim generative AI has added to their workload, leading to increased pressure to work longer hours to be more productive due to using AI.
Where AI does successfully support public sector decision making, we must still carve out resources to complement that data-driven insight with other forms of qualitative, relational and experiential understanding from both publics and professionals.
AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has transformed numerous aspects of daily life, yet its impact on critical thinking remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between AI tool usage and critical thinking skills, focusing on cognitive offloading as a mediating factor. Utilising a mixed-method approach, we conducted surveys and in-depth interviews with 666 participants across diverse age groups and educational backgrounds. Quantitative data were analysed using ANOVA and correlation analysis, while qualitative insights were obtained through thematic analysis of interview transcripts. The findings revealed a significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool usage and critical thinking abilities, mediated by increased cognitive offloading. Younger participants exhibited higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores compared to older participants. Furthermore, higher educational attainment was associated with better critical thinking skills, regardless of AI usage. These results highlight the potential cognitive costs of AI tool reliance, emphasising the need for educational strategies that promote critical engagement with AI technologies. This study contributes to the growing discourse on AI’s cognitive implications, offering practical recommendations for mitigating its adverse effects on critical thinking. The findings underscore the importance of fostering critical thinking in an AI-driven world, making this research essential reading for educators, policymakers, and technologists.
As AI tools become increasingly integrated into everyday life, their impact on fundamental cognitive skills warrants careful consideration.
a significant negative correlation between the frequent use of AI tools and critical thinking abilities, mediated by the phenomenon of cognitive offloading.
One potential direction is to investigate the longitudinal effects of AI tool usage on critical thinking skills over time. This could involve tracking individuals’ cognitive development and AI tool usage patterns over several years to comprehensively understand the long-term impacts.
Silicon Valley stifled the AI doom movement in 2024 | TechCrunch
For several years now, technologists have rung alarm bells about the potential for advanced AI systems to cause catastrophic damage to the human race. But
Energy-hungry AI is already harming health – and it's getting worse
The electricity required to support AI could contribute to approximately 600,000 asthma cases and create a $20 billion public health burden by 2030
The Secret Plan Behind Artificial Intelligence
There’s a war brewing between a handful of billionaires to seize control of AI. They want you to think their tech will make the world better for all of us. We dug into what they really want.
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The long and the short of our confidence in AI
𝐀𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐠 reviews AI Snake Oil and The Ordinal Society
It may seem as though we are simply talking about technology, but when it comes to AI, we are talking about whether we can or should use the technology to attempt to know the unknowable, what William James described as “our indomitable desire to cast the world into a more rational shape in our minds than the shape into which it is thrown there by the crude order of our experience.”
The habit of confident prediction, especially when expressed probabilistically, gives a rational sheen to the most unhinged speculation.
Many skeptics are so focused on proving AI doesn’t work that they miss it when AI works exactly as intended, sometimes with disastrous consequences for individuals or society.
“tug of war in which recommendation algorithms amplify harmful content and content moderation algorithms try to detect and suppress it” will not be settled by AI.
As William S. Burroughs observed, capitalism eats quality and shits quantity.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Turnitin AI Detector (But Were Afraid to Ask)
This is the sum total of human knowledge about the Turnitin AI detector. How does it work? What are some criticisms towards it? How have Turnitin responded t...
Mastering%20 ai%20 policies a%20 framework%20for%20 institutional%20 alignment v4 11 23
In AI we trust, part II
Wherein AI adjudicates every Supreme Court case
Tackling AI Hyping
AI and Ethics - The introduction of a new generation of AI systems has kicked off another wave of AI hype. Now that AI systems have added the ability to produce new content to their predictive...
AI isn't useless. But is it worth it?
AI can be kind of useful, but I'm not sure that a "kind of useful" tool justifies the harm.
IDF colonel discusses ‘data science magic powder’ for locating terrorists
Video of official from Unit 8200 in February 2023 raises questions about Israel’s denials of use of AI in Gaza
'Human intelligence'
Another abominable idea from the AI industry
Jon Stewart On The False Promises of AI | The Daily Show
Jon Stewart tackles the AI revolution and how its creators are promising a better future while building technology to make human workers obsolete. #DailyShow #JonStewart #AI
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The 12 Days of AI – A self-directed online course to learn about AI in higher education
Tyler Perry halts $800m studio expansion after being shocked by AI
US film and TV mogul says he has paused his plans, having seen demonstrations of OpenAI video generator
AI: Plymouth students experimenting with university work
Arts University Plymouth students have been learning how to use artificial intelligence "ethically and critically".