Consumer & Gadgets news
Consumer & Gadgets
HEART benchmark assesses ability of LLMs and humans to offer emotional support
Large language models (LLMs), artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can process human language and generate texts in response to specific user queries, are now used daily by a growing number of people worldwide. While ...
Feb 24, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Ensuring smartphones have not been tampered with
With increasing cyberattacks and government data breaches, one of the most important devices to keep secure is the one in everyone's pocket: smartphones. The problem is that it is difficult to check that a smartphone has ...
Feb 24, 2026
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How can you avoid AI sycophancy? Keep it professional, researchers say
Drawing boundaries isn't just important for relationships with humans anymore. It could be the key to people's relationships with their favorite AI chatbots. Researchers recently discovered that the overly agreeable behavior ...
Feb 24, 2026
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How eyes affect our perception of a humanoid robot's mind
Eyes are said to be the mirror of the soul. Eyes and gaze direction guide attention, evoke emotions and activate the brain's social perception mechanisms. Researchers at Tampere University and the University of Bremen conducted ...
Feb 21, 2026
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AI chatbots provide less-accurate information to vulnerable users, study shows
Large language models (LLMs) have been championed as tools that could democratize access to information worldwide, offering knowledge in a user-friendly interface regardless of a person's background or location. However, ...
Feb 20, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Humanoid home robots are on the market—but do we really want them?
Last year, Norwegian-US tech company 1X announced a strange new product: "the world's first consumer-ready humanoid robot designed to transform life at home."
Feb 20, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Investigating how people respond to air taxi noise
New kinds of aircraft taking to the skies could mean unfamiliar sounds overhead—and where you're hearing them might matter, according to new NASA research. NASA aeronautics has worked for years to enable new air transportation ...
Feb 20, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Most AI bots lack basic safety disclosures, study finds
Many people use AI chatbots to plan meals and write emails, AI-enhanced web browsers to book travel and buy tickets, and workplace AI to generate invoices and performance reports. However, a new study of the "AI agent ecosystem" ...
Feb 19, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Laughter reveals how we use AI at home
Voice assistants such as Alexa are often marketed as smart tools that streamline everyday life. But once the technology moves into people's homes, interest quickly fades. This is shown by new research in which laughter is ...
Feb 18, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Personalization features can make LLMs more agreeable, potentially creating a virtual echo chamber
Many of the latest large language models (LLMs) are designed to remember details from past conversations or store user profiles, enabling these models to personalize responses. But researchers from MIT and Penn State University ...
Feb 18, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
People are overconfident about spotting AI faces, study finds
Most people believe they can spot AI-generated faces, but that confidence is out of date, research from UNSW Sydney and the Australian National University (ANU) has demonstrated. With AI-generated faces now almost impossible ...
Feb 18, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
AI and kindness: Are we morally obligated to be kind to Grok?
Would you ever kick your Roomba? Or leave a scathing review of the robot at a Thai restaurant who delivered your green curry? What about sending a mean message to ChatGPT?
Feb 18, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Research project launches free tool to make AI safer and more trustworthy
A University of Glasgow-led research project is releasing a free tool to help organizations, policymakers, and the public maximize the benefits of AI applications while identifying their potential harms. The tool, developed ...
Feb 18, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Study maps seven roles for generative AI in fighting disinformation
Generative AI can be used to combat misinformation. However, it can also exacerbate the problem by producing convincing manipulations that are difficult to detect and can quickly be copied and disseminated on a wide scale. ...
Feb 16, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Can AI fulfill our emotional needs?
Fully customizable virtual companions or avatars—and even "digital clones" of deceased people or living ex-partners—are among the new possibilities that artificial intelligence is bringing to the love lives of humans. ...
Feb 16, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
LLMs violate boundaries during mental health dialogues, study finds
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents, particularly those based on large language models (LLMs) like the conversational platform ChatGPT, are now widely used daily by numerous people worldwide. LLMs can generate texts that ...
Consumer & Gadgets
Feeling 'AI anxiety'? Here are the risks people fear most
A patient said to me the other day, half-smiling but clearly unsettled: "I think I've got anxiety about AI." They weren't having a panic attack or describing clinical anxiety. What they were expressing was a persistent sense ...
Feb 14, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Burned out by smartphones, young people are choosing flip phones, cameras and MP3 players instead
Alarm clocks, maps, books, flashlights, watches, radios, MP3 players, Palm Pilots, remote controls, cameras, handheld recorders and other devices have all been gradually absorbed into a single one: the smartphone.
Feb 14, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
New research reveals early warning signs behind streaming subscription cancellations
Even with 1.8 billion video streaming subscriptions worldwide, many services are seeing cancellation rates steadily rise, raising the question of why. An international study, published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer ...
Feb 13, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Privacy risk on your wrist: Smartwatch electromagnetic signals may expose users to cyber surveillance
Sometimes, cybersecurity isn't about passwords or computer chips or networks. Instead, it may be about what's on your wrist. New research led by WPI faculty members and students shows that electromagnetic signals from smartwatches ...
Feb 12, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
All you need to know about the iPhone's Lockdown Mode
A little known security feature on iPhones is in the spotlight after it stymied efforts by U.S. federal authorities to search devices seized from a reporter.
Feb 12, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Washington considers requiring AI companies to add mental health safeguards
As artificial intelligence chatbots become better at mimicking human conversations, the potential for damage has grown, particularly for people who turn to them for mental health advice and to discuss plans to harm themselves.
Feb 12, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
What chatbots can teach humans about empathy
Over half of U.S. adults are using large language models (LLMs)—such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot—in some capacity. Whether using artificial intelligence to create grocery lists, turn oneself into a Muppets character ...
Feb 11, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Are video game developers using AI? Players want to know, but the rules are patchy
As with all creative industries, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been infiltrating video games.
Feb 11, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
The psychology of self-driving cars: Why the technology doesn't suit human brains
Cars with self-driving features are supposed to promise a safer and more convenient future. But there's a problem: human brains weren't designed for the strange new role these vehicles demand of us.
Feb 10, 2026
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