Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

Even when AI behaves just like us, people still rate it as less conscious than humans

Stories about AI systems deceiving users, cooperating with one another or pursuing their own goals increasingly invite us to talk about them as if they had minds of their own. But do people really believe that AI is conscious? ...

Consumer & Gadgets

The electric car myths Australians can't shake

Electric cars are dangerous, bad for the environment and impossible to use in the outback. These are just some of the claims circulating among Australians skeptical of the switch to EVs, new research finds.

Consumer & Gadgets

Is it safe to charge your phone overnight?

It's bedtime. You set your alarm, notice your phone is down to 23% battery, plug it in beside the bed and go to sleep. By morning, it's been connected to the charger for seven to eight hours—much longer than it needed to ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Misleading AI-generated summaries can distort human memory

AI-generated summaries are becoming increasingly prevalent—from news article previews to workplace meeting transcriptions to high-stakes settings like police body camera footage—despite studies showing that AI can generate ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Meta launches camera-free AI glasses amid privacy pushback

Meta unveiled several new wearables powered by its AI models Wednesday, including an audio-only, camera-free version of its smart glasses, amid global concerns about privacy and the filming of women and girls without their ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Meta leans into AI, smart glasses amid privacy pushback

Meta has spent billions to stay competitive in artificial intelligence, but the tech giant faces growing pushback as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepares to announce new products built for the AI era Wednesday.

Consumer & Gadgets

How to know if you can trust an AI's answer to your question

I recently typed a simple question into Google Search: How much screen time is too much for teenagers? Instead of presenting links, as Google had been doing for many years, it gave me an AI-generated answer. The artificial ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Could empathic digital humans transform creative learning?

Research originating at Georgia State University's Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) into empathic digital humans and human-centered artificial intelligence continues to evolve, with a new publication, international ...

Consumer & Gadgets

AI can sound empathetic and human—but not at the same time

AI-generated texts are increasingly perceived as human, but people can still recognize human writing as such. However, this distinction becomes much more difficult once AI is explicitly instructed to come across as human. ...

Consumer & Gadgets

New Apple CEO to unveil latest iPhone lineup

Apple is unveiling its latest generation of iPhones, widely expected to include a foldable version, on Wednesday at an event headlined by new CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1.

Consumer & Gadgets

More grip on smart devices? Why legislation falls short

From smart vacuum cleaners and doorbell cameras to complex medical equipment in hospitals, many devices around us are connected to the internet. But are we adequately protected against the risks this poses? Legal scholar ...

Consumer & Gadgets

15-minute training helps people spot AI-generated faces

Researchers at the University of Southampton have come up with a way to help people spot AI-generated faces. They've developed a short training program that improves people's ability to distinguish between real, human faces ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Your smartwatch may not be as smart as you think

Smartwatches can provide useful health information, but many of those numbers are algorithmic estimates rather than direct measurements of the body, and some outputs are more accurate than others, a new University of Michigan ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Personality pairing improves human-AI collaboration

While artificial intelligence (AI) is receiving increased attention for its potential to improve productivity and performance, results can vary widely across different tasks, industries and individuals. Developers can now ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Curiosity, frustration and antipathy: How kids play with AI toys

Claims of "smart" toys go back decades. See Chatty Cathy and Furby. But generative artificial intelligence is increasing the capabilities of interactive toys. The company Curio, for instance, markets itself as a "magical ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Spy-device detector users miss nearly 60% of hidden gadgets

Consumer detectors sold to help people find hidden surveillance devices are often too difficult for typical users to interpret, potentially giving a false sense of security to those most at risk such as domestic abuse survivors, ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Should people marry AI agents?

The widespread use of conversational platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini is raising important new ethical, anthropological and legal questions regarding the potential risks, misuses and shortcomings of artificial intelligence ...