Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

DeepMind researchers find LLMs can serve as effective mediators

A team of AI researchers with Google's DeepMind London group has found that certain large language models (LLMs) can serve as effective mediators between groups of people with differing viewpoints regarding a given topic. ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Humans sympathize with, and protect, AI bots from playtime exclusion, finds study

In an Imperial College London study, humans displayed sympathy towards and protected AI bots who were excluded from playtime. The researchers say the study, which used a virtual ball game, highlights humans' tendency to treat ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Apple unveils Depth Pro, an AI app that can map the depth of a 2D image

A team of engineers at Apple has developed an AI-based model called Depth Pro that can map the depth of a 2D image. The team has written a paper describing the app and its capabilities and has posted it on the arXiv preprint ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Exploring the hidden costs of free apps

Procrastination, sleep deprivation and reduced focus are part of the price we pay for free mobile apps. This is according to researchers at Linköping University and RISE, who have investigated the costs hidden behind the ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Q&A: Generative AI embraced faster than internet, PCs

ChatGPT's debut in November 2022 caused a near-instant sensation. It gave most users their first opportunity to try out a new type of artificial intelligence that uses existing data and published materials to create content ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Will Meta's Orion smart glasses be the next 'iPhone moment'?

Meta supremo Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Orion smart glasses, a new augmented reality (AR) prototype, at the annual Meta Connect developer conference. Ten years in the making, and still not expected on high streets until 2027, ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Here's how to maintain healthy smartphone habits

What is the first thing you do in the morning after you awaken? Many people immediately check their phones for notifications of messages, alerts and social media updates by their social ties.

Consumer & Gadgets

Why computer security advice is more confusing than it should be

If you find the computer security guidelines you get at work confusing and not very useful, you're not alone. A new study highlights a key problem with how these guidelines are created, and outlines simple steps that would ...

Consumer & Gadgets

With a new app, smart devices can use GPS underwater

Even for scuba and snorkeling enthusiasts, the plunge into open water can be dislocating. Divers frequently swim with limited visibility, which can become a safety hazard for teams trying to find each other in an emergency. ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Hollywood strike: Is AI really a threat to actors?

Better pay and new agreements with streaming platforms: the actors' strike that brought Hollywood to a standstill a few days ago is mainly about money. But there is something else that film actors are worried about—the ...

Consumer & Gadgets

AI has personalities and they're sometimes mean

It's bad enough most of us must deal on occasion with coworkers or store clerks who are tactless or rude. And the more we entrust our finances, transactions and business affairs to automated representatives, the more frustration ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Can Threads replace Twitter as Washington's political watercooler?

A week after Meta launched Threads, a Twitter doppelgänger disguised as Instagram-but-for-text, Washington's professional posters are watching it closely, curious to see whether it will knit together a viable online community ...