'People use AI to avoid paying for school photos, but they don't realise the consequences' Image caption, Photographer Ian Gilbert says he's heard parents boasting about how they use AI to take the watermark off to avoid paying for school photos A photographer is warning parents who use artificial intelligence to take the watermark off school pictures about the dangers of how companies can use images of their children. Ian Gilbert, founder of Emotion Picture Photography, said he had heard parents boasting at the school gates about how they use the tool to avoid paying for photos. The scary thing is when you submit a picture to AI by default it is allowed to do whatever it wants and I don't think a lot of parents realise that, he said. An AI safety expert said he understood why people did it, and that it may seem harmless, but uploading any identifiable information, including photographs, was not worth the risk. Gilbert, from Pontypool, Torfaen, urged parents to think carefully before uploading their child's photograph to an AI tool.

Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has said his party, if it was returned to power, would take £50,000 off the cost of building a new home in England and Wales by cutting back on regulations. The £50,000 figure claimed by Griffith reflects estimates by the housebuilding industry of the costs of new regulations and taxes. However, construction and housing experts warn that some of the savings could ultimately lead to higher government spending on schools, roads, and affordable housing. And some analysts also warn the Conservative plans to scrap environmental regulations could potentially push up household energy bills in future. Where does the £50,000 figure come from?

Giving robot companions animal-like or anime-style faces and voices could maximise their emotional appeal to users, according to new research which could help guide the growing field of social robotics. Social robots can provide companionship and comfort to their owners by mimicking human or petlike behaviours. Although the robots are a fast-growing sector of the tech industry, surprisingly little academic research has explored how their designs can be optimised to make the robots as expressive and emotionally engaging as possible. In a new paper set to be presented at a conference this week, researchers from the University of Glasgow show how they have been working to close that research gap. With the help of a group of volunteers, they used augmented reality technology to test dozens of different combinations of faces and voices overlaid on the body of an existing social robot called a Qoobo, which has a soft, cushion-like body and a swinging tail.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ben Lidgey was messing around with his son in the garden when he was accidentally kicked in the testicles - but it may well have saved his life. When he was still in pain after a week, he sought medical help and found out he had testicular cancer. A new report from men's charity Movember says a third of men in Wales die before their 75th birthday, and calls on the Welsh government to develop a dedicated plan for men's health. The government said its existing suicide prevention and self harm, mental health and cancer strategies are already working to tackle some of the challenges facing men.

About 700 eligible offenders will leave jails in England and Wales on 1 October while some 2,550 are due to be released by the end of the year, under the government's early prison release plan. So why are so many people being let out of jail earlier than expected and how have they been chosen? Why are prisoners being released early? Quite simply, prisons are almost full - and not for the first time. As of last Friday, there were 87,499 people in 120 jails across England and Wales - with around 1,500 available beds.

Energy bills are going up - here's what you can do about it Energy prices have now risen by nearly 4%, with forecasts of a much bigger jump to come in January. Regulator Ofgem's price cap affects about 20 million households in England, Scotland and Wales and sets a maximum price for each unit of gas and electricity. Forecasters have suggested a 16% increase is possible in January, due to high wholesale prices paid by suppliers as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. While that's beyond consumers' control, charities say the government should offer more support - beyond a VAT cut on electricity bills which takes effect on Thursday - and households should reset for winter again. That includes reading the meter now, and taking other steps to keep a check on rising bills.

A nine-year-old boy who completed the Three Peaks challenge alongside his dad after losing his leg has met Catherine, Princess of Wales to celebrate his success. Albie-Junior Thomas, from Holywell, Flintshire, attended a tea party at Windsor Castle after his father sent a letter describing how he had climbed the highest mountains in Wales, Scotland and England . Dad Daniel said he thought the message would resonate with the princess after she completed her own Three Peaks challenge in aid of the hospital where she was treated for cancer. In a post on X, the princess said it was a pleasure to hear the stories of resilience, determination and hope shared by each person she met. The youngster was born without a fibula in his left leg, and his foot was removed at 15 months.

House up for auction for £17k - but it doesn't have a roof Slide 1 of 5, An aerial photo of a ruins of a roofless stone building surrounded by dense woodland and ferns. With property prices soaring in recent years, the idea of buying your own home for £17,000 might seem like a dream come true. But there's a catch - it doesn't have a roof. The ruined shell of 400-year-old Ty Du near Llanberis, Gwynedd, lies in the wooded foothills of Wales' highest mountain, Yr Wyddfa, also know as Snowdon . It dates from the 13th Century, and once belonged to the Goodman family of Ruthin.

AI at School Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable Selects Look Up Say More Safety Net Versus Creator Playbook In My Bag Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series How to watch Portugal vs. Wales online for free Live stream select fixtures from the UEFA Nations League without spending anything. Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Almost half of people who had to use a chatbot found them unhelpful with some concluding the chatbot seemed rigged to'make me give up'. Almost half of people who had to use a chatbot found them unhelpful with some concluding the chatbot seemed rigged to'make me give up'. Citizens Advice says providers of essential services such as energy, banking, phone and internet should guarantee the'right to talk to a human' Stop relying on AI chatbots for customer care and guarantee the "right to talk to a human", Citizens Advice has urged essential service providers, as research found they wasted time, caused stress and delayed problem solving for more than half of users. The spread of the AI-powered systems to provide help about the provision of vital services such as energy, banking, phones and internet, is making it harder for millions of already digitally excluded people to handle snags, according to the frontline charity that last year provided more than 2.7 million people with one-on-one help in England and Wales. The charity concluded that chatbots caused harm, saying too often they trapped humans in an "endless loop" in which nothing got resolved, and almost half of people who had to use a chatbot found them unhelpful, with some concluding the chatbot seemed rigged to "make me give up".