Workplace AI, robots and trackers are bad for quality of life, study finds

Tech such as laptops, tablets and instant messaging has more positive effect on wellbeing, says thinktank

Exposure to new technologies including trackers, robots and AI-based software at work is bad for people’s quality of life, according to a groundbreaking study from the the Institute for Work thinktank.

Based on a survey of more than 6,000 people, the study analysed the impact on wellbeing of four groups of technologies that are becoming increasingly prevalent across the economy.

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Google restricts AI chatbot Gemini from answering questions on 2024 elections

Change, made out of ‘abundance of caution’, now applies to US and India and will roll out in nations where elections are held this year

Google is restricting its Gemini AI chatbot from answering election-related questions in countries where voting is taking place this year, limiting users from receiving information about candidates, political parties and other elements of politics.

“Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, we have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses,” Google’s India team stated on the company’s site.

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Australian news media could seek payment from Meta for content used to train AI

News media bargaining code could apply to tech companies using massive amounts of online information for generative AI, researchers say

Australian media companies could seek compensation from Meta for its use of online news sources in training generative AI technology, researchers have said.

When Meta announced last week that it would not sign new deals to pay for news in Australia for use on Facebook, it downplayed the value of news to its services, stating that just 3% of Facebook usage in Australia was related to news.

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Canada lawyer under fire for submitting fake cases created by AI chatbot

Chong Ke, from Vancouver, under investigation after allegedly using ChatGPT to cite case law – but those cases did not exist

A lawyer in Canada is under fire after the artificial intelligence chatbot use she used for legal research created “fictitious” cases, in the latest episode to expose the perils of using untested technologies in the courtroom.

The Vancouver lawyer Chong Ke, who now faces an investigation into her conduct, allegedly used ChatGPT to develop legal submissions during a child custody case at the British Columbia supreme court.

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Revealed: the names linked to ClothOff, the deepfake pornography app

Exclusive: Guardian investigation for podcast series Black Box reveals names connected to app that generated nonconsensual images of underage girls around the world

The first Miriam al-Adib learned of the pictures was when she returned home from a business trip. “Mum,” said her daughter. “I want to show you something.”

The girl, 14, opened her phone to show an explicit image of herself. “It’s a shock when you see it,” said Adib, a gynaecologist in the southern Spanish town of Almendralejo and a mother of four daughters. “The image is completely realistic … If I didn’t know my daughter’s body, I would have thought that image was real.”

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India confronts Google over Gemini AI tool’s ‘fascist Modi’ responses

Junior minister accuses tech firm of violating country’s IT laws with ‘downright malicious’ answers

A response from Google’s AI platform suggesting that some experts believe the policies of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, polices to be “fascist” has provoked a confrontation between the company and the government.

The journalist Arnab Ray last week put the question as to whether Modi was a fascist to Google’s generative AI platform, Gemini. He received the answer that Modi was “accused of implementing policies some experts have characterized as fascist”.

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UK’s enemies could use AI deepfakes to try to rig election, says James Cleverly

Home secretary, who is due to meet US tech bosses, says states such as Russia and Iran could target other countries as well

Criminals and “malign actors” working on behalf of malicious states could use AI-generated “deepfakes” to hijack the general election, the home secretary has said.

James Cleverly was speaking before meetings with social media bosses and said the rapid advancement of technology could pose a serious threat to elections across the globe.

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Australia politics live: Queensland introduces bill for carbon reduction target; Garnaut argues for zero-carbon exports

‘Export of zero-carbon goods can underpin a long period of high investment, rising productivity, full employment and rising incomes,’ economist tells press club. Follow the day’s news live

When it comes to treaty and truth-telling though, things are a little less clear. For all intents and purposes the government seems to be backing away from a designated federal process. We heard some of that yesterday, but Linda Burney continues it today.

For all Jacinta Price is accusing the Labor government of doing treaty “by stealth” that doesn’t appear to be the reality. Instead, existing processes look like being utilised.

I am having discussions with the cabinet about that, and I’m not going to go into those discussions. But the issue of truth-telling is incredibly important. And there are many, many ways in which that can happen, including the school curriculum.

The reality is the treaty process is well under way at a state and in many ways at a local level. You look at the Noongar agreement in and around Perth. For all intents and purposes, that’s a treaty.

What I’m suggesting is that we will listen to what people are saying.

I know that there are some people in the media, but I want to talk also to community leadership. I’m meeting with land councils today, for example, who are in Canberra this week for estimates. Those are the organisations that really worked very hard towards the referendum and I want to hear from them where they believe the next steps should be.

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AI firm considers banning creation of political images for 2024 elections

Midjourney’s CEO David Holz says company close to ‘hammering’ images of Donald Trump, Joe Biden and others ‘for next 12 months’

The groundbreaking artificial intelligence image-generating company Midjourney is considering banning people from using its software to make political images of Joe Biden and Donald Trump as part of an effort to avoid being used to distract from or misinform about the 2024 US presidential election.

“I don’t know how much I care about political speech for the next year for our platform,” Midjourney’s CEO, David Holz, said last week, adding that the company is close to “hammering” – or banning – political images, including those of the leading presidential candidates, “for the next 12 months”.

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AI safeguards can easily be broken, UK Safety Institute finds

Researchers find large language models, which power chatbots, can deceive human users and help spread disinformation

The UK’s new artificial intelligence safety body has found that the technology can deceive human users, produce biased outcomes and has inadequate safeguards against giving out harmful information.

The AI Safety Institute published initial findings from its research into advanced AI systems known as large language models (LLMs), which underpin tools such as chatbots and image generators, and found a number of concerns.

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Shares in chip designer Arm soar by more than 50% leaving it valued at $120bn

Chief executive, Rene Haas, says UK-based firm is benefiting from huge demand for AI-powered products and apps

Shares in Arm have soared by more than 50% after raising profit and revenue forecasts amid red-hot demand for artificial intelligence technology, valuing the UK-based tech company at double the market capitalisation when it floated in September.

Shares in the world’s biggest supplier of design elements for processing chips used in products from smartphones to games consoles opened up 58% on the Nasdaq in the US on Thursday.

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Iran-backed hackers interrupt UAE TV streaming services with deepfake news

Microsoft analysts cite reports saying disruption by group known as Cotton Sandstorm also reached audiences in UK and Canada

Iranian state-backed hackers interrupted TV streaming services in the United Arab Emirates to broadcast a deepfake newsreader delivering a report on the war in Gaza, according to analysts at Microsoft.

The tech company said a hacking operation run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, a key branch of the Iranian armed forces, had disrupted streaming platforms in the UAE with an AI-generated news broadcast branded “For Humanity”.

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Don’t wait for Post Office-style scandal before regulating AI, ministers told

Government to say binding measures for overseeing artificial intelligence are needed, but not immediately

Ministers have been warned against waiting for a Post Office-style scandal involving artificial intelligence before stepping in to regulate the technology, after the government said it would not rush to legislate.

The government will acknowledge on Tuesday that binding measures for overseeing cutting-edge AI development are needed at some point – but not immediately. Instead, ministers will set out “initial thinking for future binding requirements” for advanced systems and discuss them with technical, legal and civil society experts.

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Australian ‘contemporary’ portrait prize allows entries wholly generated by AI

Organisers of Brisbane Portrait Prize back artificial intelligence stating art is not stagnant and ‘traditionalists’ once opposed photographs

A prestigious portrait competition has defended allowing entrants to submit artwork generated by artificial intelligence, arguing art is not stagnant and should reflect societal change.

The Brisbane Portrait Prize – with a top prize worth $50,0000 – has been described as Queensland’s answer to the Archibalds with selected entries displayed at the Brisbane Powerhouse later in the year.

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George Carlin’s estate sues over AI-generated standup comedy special

Estate says Dudesy podcast outlet had no license to Carlin’s likeness or copyrighted material, which was used to create special

The estate of George Carlin is suing the media company behind a fake, hour-long comedy special whose creators boasted of using artificial intelligence to re-create the late standup comic’s style and material.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday asks that a judge order the podcast outlet Dudesy to immediately take down the audio special, George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead, in which a synthesis of Carlin delivers commentary on current events. Carlin died in 2008.

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OpenAI bans bot impersonating US presidential candidate Dean Phillips

Company removes account of developer saying ChatGPT bot violated policies on political campaigning

OpenAI has removed the account of the developer behind an artificial intelligence-powered bot impersonating the US presidential candidate Dean Phillips, saying it violated company policy.

Phillips, who is challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic party candidacy, was impersonated by a ChatGPT-powered bot on the dean.bot site.

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Australia may ask tech companies to label content generated by AI platforms such as ChatGPT

New report reveals low public trust of growing technology as government pledges stricter regulation for ‘high risk’ products

Tech companies could be asked to watermark or label content generated by artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT as the federal government grapples with “high risk” AI products evolving faster than legislation.

The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, will on Wednesday release the government’s response to a consultation process on Safe and responsible AI in Australia, which cites McKinsey research to suggest adopting AI and automation could grow Australia’s GDP by up to $600bn a year.

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Geopolitical tensions and AI dominate start of World Economic Forum

Ukraine, Middle East and Taiwan overshadow annual meeting at Davos, with artificial intelligence also high on agenda

Growing concern that heightened geopolitical tension could damage an already shaky global economy has dominated the start of the annual gathering of the world’s business and political elite in Davos, Switzerland.

Three potential flash points – Ukraine, the Middle East and Taiwan – threatened to overshadow the meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) aimed at rebuilding trust after the series of setbacks suffered in the past four years, including war, the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

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AI will affect 40% of jobs and probably worsen inequality, says IMF head

‘Crucial’ that countries build social safety nets to mitigate impact on workers, says Kristalina Georgieva

Artificial intelligence will affect 40% of jobs around the world and it is “crucial” that countries build social safety nets to mitigate the impact on vulnerable workers, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund.

AI, the term for computer systems that can perform tasks usually associated with human levels of intelligence, is poised to profoundly change the global economy with advanced economies at greater risk of disruption.

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Michael Cohen accidentally gave his lawyer fake citations, court filing says

Former Trump lawyer says he used AI program Google Bard and blames his lawyer for not fact-checking him

Michael Cohen, the former attorney and fixer for ex-president Donald Trump, said in a newly unsealed court filing that he accidentally gave his lawyer fake legal citations that were made up by an artificial intelligence program.

In a sworn declaration made public on Friday, Cohen told a Manhattan judge that the sham citations had been generated by the AI program Google Bard, and had made their way into his lawyer’s filing because of a pair of misunderstandings – including his failure to realize that the information spat out by the program was not based in reality.

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