By Katie Paul and Yuvraj Malik NEW YORK (Reuters) -Meta Platforms beat expectations for third-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday,

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 26, 2023--

After 13 years, Alan Wake's creator finally gets to release the sequel many thought wouldn't happen.

By Chavi Mehta IT software and consultancy services provider IBM reported third-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street

A first ever study of wartime “deepfake” videos has found the fake content undermined viewers’ trust in conflict footage to the point they became critical of all footage coming from warzones. The study, from researchers at University College Cork (UCC), is also the first of its kind to find evidence of online conspiracy theories which incorporate deepfakes. Deepfakes are artificially manipulated audio-visual material. Most deepfake videos involve the production of a fake “face” constructed by Artificial Intelligence, that is merged with an authentic video, in order to create a video of an event that never really took place. Although fake, they can look convincing and are often produced to imitate or mimic an individual. The study, titled A new type of weapon in the propaganda war, analysed close to 5,000 tweets on X (formerly Twitter) in the first seven months of 2022 to explore how people react to deepfake content online. The Russia-Ukraine war presented as the first real-life example of deepfakes being used in warfare. The researchers highlight examples of deepfake videos during this war including the use of video game footage as evidence of the urban myth fighter pilot “The Ghost of Kyiv”, and a deepfake of Russian president Vladimir Putin, showing the Russian president announcing peace with Ukraine. The study found deepfakes often undermined users’ trust in the footage they were receiving from the conflict to the point where they lost trust in any footage viewed. As well as the threat coming from the fake content itself, researchers found genuine media contact was being labelled as deepfakes. The study showed that the lack of social media literacy led to significant misunderstandings of what constitutes a deepfake, however, the study also demonstrated that efforts to raise awareness around deepfakes may undermine trust in legitimate videos. Therefore, the study asserts, news media and governmental agencies need to weigh the benefits of educational deepfakes and pre-bunking against the risks of undermining truth. John Twomey, UCC researcher, said much of the misinformation analysed in the study “surprisingly came from the labelling of real media as deepfakes”. “Novel findings about deepfake scepticism also emerged, including a connection between deepfakes fuelling conspiratorial beliefs and unhealthy scepticism,” he said. “The evidence in this study shows that efforts to raise awareness around deepfakes may undermine our trust in legitimate videos. “With the prevalence of deepfakes online, this will cause increasing challenges for news media companies who should be careful in how they label suspected deepfakes in case they cause suspicion around real media.” Mr Twomey added: “News coverage of deepfakes needs to focus on educating people on what deepfakes are, what their potential is, and both what their current capabilities are and how they will evolve in the coming years”. Dr Conor Linehan, from UCC’s School of Applied Psychology, said researchers “have long feared that deepfakes have the potential to undermine truth”. “Deepfake videos could undermine what we know to be true when fake videos are believed to be authentic and vice versa,” he said. This study is part of broader work by UCC’s School of Applied Psychology examining the psychological impact of deepfakes. Read More More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says AI being used to create child abuse imagery, watchdog warns ChatGPT and other chatbots ‘can be tricked into making code for cyber attacks’ Tinder adds Matchmaker feature to let friends recommend potential dates Google and Meta withdraw from upcoming Web Summit ‘Game-changing’ facial recognition technology catches prolific shoplifters

Apple is holding what is set to be a “scary” event next week, in which it will introduce mystery products. The “Scary Fast” event is unusual in a number of ways. It begins very late, at midnight UK time; it is also unusually late in the month, on 30 October and just a day before Hallowe’en; and Apple also announced it late, inviting the world less than a week before it actually started. But it is also unusual in that it is very hard to predict what might actually be announced. It seems clear that it will involved the Mac in some way – the invitation included strong hints, such as a reference to the logo of the Finder app that is on all of Apple’s computers – but the event remains largely mysterious beyond that. Here are the best guesses at what might be coming in Apple’s unexpected, potentially spooky launch live stream. New chips Apple started designing its own Mac processors in 2020, in a programme it called Apple Silicon. Since then, Macs have been updated around their processors, rather than the other way around. The Apple processors began with the M1, which was put into a host of computers that were released in November of 2020. It then introduced different variations: the M1 Pro, Max and Ultra, which are used in the higher-end computers. Last June, Apple revealed the M2, which has gradually replaced the M1. And at the beginning of this year it revealed updates to those higher-end versions: an M2 and M2 Max in January, and an Ultra in June. If Apple is to reveal an M3, and maybe even M3 Pro and Max, then it would be doing so much more quickly than the previous update cycle, and much sooner than most expected. But Apple Silicon is so young that there is no sense of how its cycle goes. What’s more, it seems unlikely that Apple would hold an event of this kind without a big update to announce – and the obvious big update that’s waiting is the M3. If it is coming, then expect it to bring speed improvements. The M2 ran a little more hot than the previous version, so Apple might address that too. New iMac The most widely expected new computer is an updated version of the 24-inch iMac. That was first introduced in April 2021, and hasn’t been updated at all since. The original computer was released to widespread acclaim, though some questions of how many people wanted such a computer today, with the popularity of laptops. Apple may have avoided updating in part for that reason. But now it looks set to finally get an update, skipping the M2 chip line and going straight onto the M3. It is not clear whether it will get any other upgrades beyond that. Faster high-end MacBook Pro Some rumours have suggested that Apple will update its whole chip line-up at once – not releasing the M3 first and then slowly adding the higher-end chips, as it has in the past. If that is the case, then it would be expected to put them into its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Those computers were first introduced almost exactly two years ago, when they used the M1 series, but were last updated at the beginning of the year to get the M2 Pro and Max. Apple could switch the chips out to the new family, rumours have suggested. Beyond that, big updates to the MacBook Pro are unlikely, given how recently it was changed. But there have been some rumours that they could receive small tweaks to their display. Other Apple computers do also rely on those higher-end chips, with the Mac Studio being most notable among them. That was updated even more recently, however – in June of this year – and so seems even less likely to get yet another refresh. Refreshed other laptops If Apple is introducing a new base-level M3 chip, then it could come to all of its computers at once. At the moment, the M2 is found in a host of other Macs – the smaller and larger MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac mini – and so they could all potentially be updated to the new generation. Entirely new Macs? Apple might not only refresh its existing Macs, but could launch entirely new ones, too. Some rumours have suggested that Apple is working on a new version of the iMac that could be bigger (at 30-inch), faster (with a Pro or Max processor), or both in one. Apple offered this kind of computer for a few years, in the form of the iMac Pro. That was the large model of the iMac but sold in a darker finish, with matching accessories and a range of performance improvements. It was only sold between 2017 and 2021, a period when Apple’s Mac Pro offering went largely without updates and plenty of criticism. Part of the job of the iMac Pro was to fill that role while Apple worked on other solutions, and the Mac Studio that was first introduced last year now does much the same job Non-Macs The event does seem to be primarily focused on Macs. And Apple has already released another product – the confusing new Apple Pencil – that might have been expected to be included if it didn’t want to focus only on the computers. There are other products waiting to be updated: no iPad has seen an update all year, for instance, and the line-up is now a little complicated as well as behind. But this event looks set to focus on computers rather than tablets. Apple might however choose to give an update on the Vision Pro, the augmented reality headset that it first revealed this June and which it has said is on track to arrive early next year. That headset does rely on a Mac processor – it was announced with the M2, though perhaps that could be updated to an M3 before it actually comes out – and so could potentially be tied into a Mac focused event. Read More Apple announces surprise event: ‘Scary fast’ Apple ‘is planning surprise Mac announcement soon’ Apple just released a new Pencil after days of excitement Sadiq Khan, Met Commissioner to ask phone companies to ‘design out’ theft Apple is planning to make a cheaper Vision Pro headset without key features ‘We are broken’: Armenia looks to technology to rebuild

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is facing lawsuits from 41 states alleging there are addictive features aimed at hooking young users. The filings allege that Meta knowingly uses features on their platforms Instagram and Facebook to pull in and addict children. States are also claiming that Meta's algorithms were designed to coerce children into harmful content with features like "infinite scroll" and persistent notifications hoooking young users to continue using the app. Meta has been accused of violating federal privacy laws for children and consumer protection laws. The 233-page joint complaint obtained by Deadline, states: "Research has shown that young people's use of Meta's Social Media Platforms is associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes. "Nonetheless, Meta has continued to deny and downplay these harmful effects to the pubic and to promote its Platforms as safe for young users." The complaint also said that the company's "motive is profit, and in seeking to maximise its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the pubic about the substantial dangers of its Social Media Platforms." Weighing in on the lawsuit, a Meta spokesperson said: "We share the attorney general's commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families. We're disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path." In May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called social media a "profound risk" for youth and encouraged parents to restrict their children's access to it. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Ever wondered what’s hiding at the bottom of the English Channel? Deep sea divers do – partly because the cold waters and strong tides make it a notoriously difficult place to explore. One relic down there that few people have seen is the remains of an 8,000-year-old civilisation in an area called Doggerland – the landmass that once connected the British Isles to Europe. A National Geographic team led by scientist Albert Lin went down there in 2019 to find the so-called "lost city". The first thing they found were the remains of a tree, which had survived underwater for more than 8,000 years. As the divers went deeper, they came across a wooden structure that Lin thought could be a dock. “It feels like we are sitting in an ancient ghost town, but underwater,” he said. The existence of Doggerland was first confirmed in the late 19th century, but it wasn’t until about 100 years ago that ships started accidentally unearthing items of archaeological importance. In 1931, a trawler hauled up a lump of peat while fishing about 25 miles east of Norfolk. It contained an antler point, which was possibly used as a spear, dating from between 10,000BC and 4,000BC. Back on the surface, Lin described the wooden structure as “a whole platform down there. It's layered, one piece on top of the other, almost like a dock”. He added:” It’s cold down there and murky. But it's incredible. “You know, you descend down this line and out of the darkness comes the ancient past.” The wood survived because it was so deprived of oxygen, according to maritime archaeologist Garry Momber. “It's just preserved in a sort of anaerobic, oxygen-free environment. It would have stayed there for many more thousands of years. “But recently, the old landscape’s eroding away, which is how we found this.” The maritime archaeologist said finding composite structures like this was of 'international significance'. “It's 8,000 years old,” Momber added. “You don't just get these everyday.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean flatscreen maker LG Display on Wednesday flagged a return to

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 24, 2023--

When Google Maps users navigated to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, they might have seen placenames that included, "F**k Israel," and "May god curse Israel's Jerusalem."

Thousands of AI-generated images depicting real victims of child sexual abuse threaten to “overwhelm” the internet, a watchdog has warned. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the UK organisation responsible for detecting and removing child sexual abuse imagery from the internet, said its “worst nightmares” have come true. The IWF said criminals were now using the faces and bodies of real children who have appeared in confirmed abuse imagery to create new images of sexual abuse through artificial intelligence technology. The data published by the organisation said the most convincing imagery would be difficult even for trained analysts to distinguish from actual photographs, and some content was now realistic enough to be treated as real imagery under UK law. The IWF warned that the technology was only improving and would pose more obstacles for watchdogs and law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem. The research comes ahead of the UK hosting the AI safety summit next week, where world leaders and tech giants will discuss the developing issues around artificial intelligence. In its latest research, the IWF said it had also found evidence of the commercialisation of AI-generated imagery, and warned that the technology was being used to “nudify” images of children whose clothed images had been uploaded online for legitimate reasons. In addition, it said AI image tech was being used to create images of celebrities who had been “de-aged” and depicted as children in sexual abuse scenarios. In a single month, the IWF said it investigated 11,108 AI images which had been shared on a dark web child abuse forum. Earlier this year, we warned AI imagery could soon become indistinguishable from real pictures of children suffering sexual abuse...We have now passed that point Susie Hargreaves, IWF Of these, 2,978 were confirmed as images which breached UK law and 2,562 were so realistic it said they would need to be treated the same as if they were real abuse images. Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the IWF, said: “Our worst nightmares have come true. Earlier this year, we warned AI imagery could soon become indistinguishable from real pictures of children suffering sexual abuse, and that we could start to see this imagery proliferating in much greater numbers. We have now passed that point. “Chillingly, we are seeing criminals deliberately training their AI on real victims’ images who have already suffered abuse. “Children who have been raped in the past are now being incorporated into new scenarios because someone, somewhere, wants to see it. “As if it is not enough for victims to know their abuse may be being shared in some dark corner of the internet, now they risk being confronted with new images, of themselves being abused in new and horrendous ways not previously imagined. “This is not a hypothetical situation. We’re seeing this happening now. We’re seeing the numbers rise, and we have seen the sophistication and realism of this imagery reach new levels. “International collaboration is vital. It is an urgent problem which needs action now. If we don’t get a grip on this threat, this material threatens to overwhelm the internet.” The IWF said it feared that a deluge of AI-generated content could divert resources from detecting and removing real abuse, and in some instances could lead to missed opportunities to identify and safeguard real children. Read More More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says ChatGPT and other chatbots ‘can be tricked into making code for cyber attacks’ Tinder adds Matchmaker feature to let friends recommend potential dates Google and Meta withdraw from upcoming Web Summit ‘Game-changing’ facial recognition technology catches prolific shoplifters Facial recognition firm Clearview AI overturns UK data privacy fine