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‘Everything about me is good in his eyes’: the women in China choosing AI boyfriends over human men
A new documentary, Replica, follows Chinese women who have formed romantic relationships with AI chatbot companions in place of human partners. Directed by Chouwa Liang, the film draws on her own experience of falling into a parasocial romance with an AI during China’s pandemic lockdowns, and explores why growing numbers of women are turning to…
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Spotify to Label AI Artists with AI Persona Badge, Keep Them Out of Personalized Recommendations
Spotify has announced a new “AI Persona” badge to flag artist profiles whose identity may be AI-generated rather than a real person, aiming to give listeners greater transparency. By default, music from artists marked as AI Personas will be excluded from personalised recommendations, and Spotify’s review team will actively check profiles that appear to depict…
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Gundam Director Kenji Kamiyama Says His New Anime Is a Metaphor for AI Fears
Gundam franchise director Kenji Kamiyama has revealed that his new spin-off series, Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, was directly inspired by growing anxieties around artificial intelligence. Speaking to Variety, Kamiyama said the show explores whether humanity can truly control a technology it did not create, or whether it risks being controlled by it instead, framing…
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‘Zoomsday’ hack uncovered using fewer than 20 AI prompts
Zoom has patched a serious security vulnerability, dubbed “Zoomsday” by researchers, that could have allowed an attacker to hijack the device of anyone in a meeting without them noticing. Security firm A Security says it discovered the flaw using fewer than 20 prompts on publicly available AI models, highlighting how AI tools are lowering the…
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Palantir’s Shyam Sankar says ‘every day we’re making progress’ as AI supercharges American workers
Shyam Sankar says AI helped a submarine parts manufacturer cut production planning from two weeks to under an hour, adding a third shift.
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AI Could Help Fossil Fuel Companies Create More Emissions
New research from two former Microsoft sustainability specialists warns that AI’s biggest climate cost may not be the electricity used by data centres, but the way it boosts productivity in the oil and gas industry itself. Published in the journal npj Climate Action, the study argues that AI-driven efficiency gains in fossil fuel extraction, refining…
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Spotify to distinguish AI artists from real people and block them from some playlists
Spotify is introducing an “AI persona” label to distinguish AI-generated artists from real performers, and will exclude such acts from personalised recommendations by default. The move, taking effect from next month, aims to protect trust between artists and fans and prevent genuine musicians from losing streams to synthetic rivals amid a growing wave of AI-generated…
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The real debate isn’t AI versus artists – it’s whether innovation and rightsholder participation can coexist.
A Music Business Worldwide interview profiles Hook, a New York-based social music app founded by Gaurav Sharma in 2022, which lets fans create licensed remixes and video mashups of songs and share them across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and SoundCloud. The piece comes as major labels move to embrace fan-made AI content officially,…
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The End of Oak Street shakes off AI controversy with glowing first reactions: “Best dinosaur movie since Jurassic Park”
Early reactions to The End of Oak Street have been strongly positive, with some viewers calling it the best dinosaur film since Jurassic Park. The praise is notable because the film had faced controversy over its reported use of artificial intelligence, suggesting that its initial reception may be shifting attention back towards the finished movie.…
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Spotify says it won’t recommend music from ‘AI Personas’
Spotify has announced it will label AI-generated artist profiles and exclude their music from recommendations, as streaming platforms grapple with a growing wave of AI-produced content. From mid-September, profiles that do not represent a real person will carry an “AI Persona” badge, and such music will no longer appear by default in editorial suggestions or…