'Digging the grave of my profession': the Hollywood creatives training AI to do their jobs H ollywood creatives are taking gig work to train AI models to replicate their skills in a bid to offset tightening earnings in a trend one compared to being "handed a shovel and asked to dig the grave of my profession". Experienced and award-winning writers, directors and producers are being paid from $12 to $200 an hour to teach AI models the intricacies of their jobs, from writing a screenplay to devising a shooting schedule. With feelings ranging from fatalism to guilt, the creatives have signed up with some of the booming training agencies, which have contracts with the biggest AI companies including Anthropic and OpenAI, to pass on hard-won human skills in industries such as finance, health, law and social work. While they wait for entertainment industry work, they give notes on the AI systems' attempts to do the tasks they would hope to be paid for themselves. It comes amid a slump in jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industries, where AI is starting to take roles from actors, editors and special effects artists.

'Here we have a leap in the erosion of our privacy rights through this slick technology that big tech promises will enrich our lives,' says Ryan Clarkson, one of the lawyers bringing a class-action suit against Meta over its privacy assurances. 'Here we have a leap in the erosion of our privacy rights through this slick technology that big tech promises will enrich our lives,' says Ryan Clarkson, one of the lawyers bringing a class-action suit against Meta over its privacy assurances. Did someone wearing Meta Glasses film you today? People say they've been secretly filmed in their own home, at concerts and at work. Are the wildly popular smartglasses the final nail in the coffin of personal privacy? The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. "I've had one person who told me that their intentions were creepy," a man tells me over a video call, on condition of anonymity.

'Companies in the US are increasingly turning to AI to make faster and more efficient workplace decisions, often under the guise of objectivity.' 'Companies in the US are increasingly turning to AI to make faster and more efficient workplace decisions, often under the guise of objectivity.' Will AI give you the job? F or the last four years, Erin Kistler has applied for thousands of jobs at companies like Paypal, Microsoft and Netflix, only to find her résumé disappear into a black hole. A product manager with nearly 20 years of experience, Kistler believes she was qualified for every role, yet she never received a single interview.

Are Microsoft's AI plans being held back by a shortage of chips? Mon 17 Aug 2026 00.00 EDTLast modified on Mon 17 Aug 2026 00.15 EDT The chips are quite small and some can be held in the palm of a hand. They are fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence models - and the world's biggest technology companies need vast numbers of them to keep ahead. Microsoft is one of them. And, on paper, it seems to have a problem.

The communications minister, Anika Wells, had said the report showed'many effective options' for online age verification in implementing Australia's social media ban. The communications minister, Anika Wells, had said the report showed'many effective options' for online age verification in implementing Australia's social media ban. Report supporting Australia's teen social media ban appears to contain AI hallucinations, Senate hears The authors of a report testing the technology underpinning Australia's social media ban have conceded ChatGPT was used in editing, but denied a number of citation errors in the report were due to AI hallucinations. The $3.48m age assurance technology trial, run by the UK-based Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) last year, tested various types of technology that could be used by social media platforms as part of Australia's under-16 social media ban. The communications minister, Anika Wells, heralded the report as showing "many effective options" for checking people's ages, and it paved the way for the ban to come into effect in December last year.

'My theory is that it's masses and masses of AI money': Stuart and Mary Manley, the co-owners of Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland. 'My theory is that it's masses and masses of AI money': Stuart and Mary Manley, the co-owners of Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland. Secondhand booksellers in UK and Ireland suspect AI firms behind'strange' bulk orders Development comes after Anthropic was found to have spent millions on books to scan for'data acquisition' Secondhand booksellers in the UK and Ireland are reporting a flurry of bulk orders from mystery buyers, amid speculation AI companies are acquiring the tomes for their data. Bookshops contacted by the Guardian say they have been receiving orders from buyers in the US, Canada, continental Europe and the UK. The increase has been replicated around the world, with booksellers in the US, Australia and Europe also reporting unusual orders.

A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT. Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared on Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges. Authorities allege Arjun killed his mother, 45-year-old Sudha Venkatesan, and his 14-year-old brother, Siddharth Aravind, inside the family's home on Tuesday. The investigation began after the teenager's tutor arrived for a scheduled appointment at the home on Tuesday and "was unable to make contact with residents upon arrival", prosecutors said. The teen's father, who had last spoken with his wife before leaving for work that morning, then contacted police.

'I feel like I'm at war': are we losing the battle against machine-made music? This year, the battle for song of the summer has been eclipsed by a much more complicated - some would even say disturbing - debate. That's because we find ourselves asking not "What's the song of the summer?" but rather "Is the song of the summer even?" Among the top contenders for the title is Fenix Flexin's Rubberz, a single released in June that has ascended to No 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and racked up more than 35m Spotify streams. The artist is known for his trap music as part of the rap duo Shoreline Mafia, but Rubberz is a mildly noirish, 80s-inspired synth-pop track featuring a voice nothing like his.

Mark Zuckerberg arrives to the Los Angeles superior court on 18 February 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Mark Zuckerberg arrives to the Los Angeles superior court on 18 February 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Major legal battles against Meta over child safety are playing out in courts across the US - and the tech giant is losing. Recent rulings raise big questions about social media companies' responsibility to their youngest users. Meanwhile, more key executives have jumped ship from Google as it battles OpenAI and Anthropic in the race for AI dominance, and Meta's smart glasses face a fearsome backlash.

When Sir Demis Hassabis said AI had brought the world to a "pivotal moment in human history" last month, he knew another big change was imminent. This shift was closer to home. The Nobel prize-winning head of Google DeepMind, Google's AI unit, announced this week he was relinquishing his day-to-day duties as chief executive and becoming chair. He is also taking on the role of chief scientist at DeepMind's parent, Alphabet. Hassabis and DeepMind have been key players in AI's breakthrough era.