People who hear bullying or abusive voices could find peace with the help of therapy using computer-generated avatars, according to new research. The digital animations are created by people with psychosis to fit the voices they hear. They then role-play with the avatar under the guidance of a therapist, learning to push back against their tormentor. A study by clinical ...
Mount Fuji is yet to see any snow on its slopes this year, with forecasters saying the absence of the white stuff has set a new record. The active volcano southwest of Tokyo is the country’s highest peak at 3,776m. It usually sees its first snow of the year in early October. But as of today, there was still no ...
Global climate action plans are “falling miles short” of what is needed to stop climate change from “crippling” economies, the United Nations has warned. Current national climate plans submitted to the UN should be enough to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 2.6% from 2019 to 2030, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in its annual ...
A paedophile who made thousands of pounds by creating child abuse images using AI and real pictures of children has been jailed for 18 years in a landmark case. Hugh Nelson used a 3D character generator to turn ordinary, non-explicit pictures of children into child abuse images, before selling them on an internet forum used by artists. People who knew ...
A UK-based safety watchdog that tackles online child abuse has warned it is “overwhelmingly” dealing with images taken by children themselves, usually after being groomed. It comes as a Northern Ireland man, who exploited more than 70 children online, was given a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years in jail on Friday. Catfish paedophile Alexander McCartney, 26, persuaded ...
An online predator who led an American girl and her father to take their own lives has been jailed for at least 20 years after the UK’s largest “catfishing” case. Warning: This article contains references to suicide and child sex abuse which readers may find distressing. Alexander McCartney, 26, previously admitted 185 charges, including the manslaughter of a girl who ...
The Kremlin has denied a Wall Street Journal report that Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin have been in regular contact over the last two years. The world’s richest man has repeatedly been in touch with the Russian president, according to the US outlet, citing several current and former US, European and Russian officials. They added that the discussions touch on ...
Amid the hum of cooling fans and squelch of vacuum pumps, a new home for 12 quantum computers has opened in Oxfordshire, as part of a bid to put the UK ahead in a global race to harness the technology. Quantum computers promise to solve problems too hard for even the most powerful supercomputers – like those requiring vast numbers ...
An astronaut was taken to hospital shortly after returning to Earth from an extended mission on the International Space Station. The astronaut, who NASA did not name for privacy reasons, is suffering from an undisclosed medical issue. NASA initially said the entire crew was flown to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital out of precaution, but did not specify whether all ...
The mother of a 14-year-old boy who killed himself after becoming obsessed with artificial intelligence chatbots is suing the company behind the technology. Megan Garcia, the mother of Sewell Setzer III, said Character.AI targeted her son with “anthropomorphic, hypersexualized, and frighteningly realistic experiences” in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Florida. “A dangerous AI chatbot app marketed to children abused ...