Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg reveals the Muse'charm' device during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, this week. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg reveals the Muse'charm' device during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, this week. We earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. The tech giant has launched a cute'little guy' that can answer emails, book travel or do your weekly food shop After the recent backlash against Meta's so-called "pervert" smart glasses, this week Mark Zuckerberg launched a much cuter alternative: the Muse "charm" device. With a screen that shows a cutesy little avatar, it has drawn comparisons with Tamagotchis.

Climate protesters say tech companies, not AI, are the real'danger to humankind' - and the planet O n Monday evening, protesters gathered outside the unmarked Manhattan offices of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, holding signs calling to "Eat the rich, save the planet". Over the next two days, groups also picketed outside the offices of fellow tech giants Google and Amazon; other protesters, including clergy, were arrested while disrupting a closed-door AI health summit in the city. Tonight, protesters will target a Brooklyn gas power plant that was set to close - until it was purchased to power AI datacenters. The protests come on the heels of an Anthropic employee quitting his job with a warning that intensified an already-growing AI panic: "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." Though it was far from the first time an AI expert had issued a doomsday message about the threat the tech poses, this time it dominated public attention, arriving as trust in big tech has hit an all-time low and communities across the country are trying to stop the building of datacenters.

'This gap opens up of doubt and scepticism about everything': Jess and Morgs confront the politics of deepfakes I t appears the interviewer has got him on the ropes. "For the record, I did not take part in a pagan ceremony with minor members of the royal family in which we daubed ourselves in paint," states the beleaguered politician, caught outside Buckingham Palace with his flies undone and forced to defend himself. This is a fabrication, of course - I'm watching the scene play out in an east London dance studio - but it doesn't feel miles away from something that could be true. And how do we know what's the truth anyway? The pair tell modern stories with ambitious tech - film and live camera work - and often techy themes, too.

Lane-keeping assist technology and autonomous emergency braking will be mandated on all passenger vehicles imported into Australia from March 2029. But research has also identified problems with existing driver-assistance technology. Lane-keeping assist technology and autonomous emergency braking will be mandated on all passenger vehicles imported into Australia from March 2029. But research has also identified problems with existing driver-assistance technology. 'In this new car, I feel patronised': which driver assistance systems actually improve safety?

Delivery riders (from left) Graeme Frances, Bijyan, Xabier Villares and Michael Angus in central Edinburgh. Delivery riders (from left) Graeme Frances, Bijyan, Xabier Villares and Michael Angus in central Edinburgh. Food delivery riders call on platforms to open up AI'black box' they say has cut pay G ig economy workers are urging delivery platforms to open up the "black box" of computer-driven algorithms that determine the jobs they are offered and how much they are paid, blaming increased use of AI for lowering wages. A group of food delivery riders in Edinburgh say their rates of pay have fallen and their working conditions have deteriorated at the same time as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat, the three dominant gig economy platforms in the UK and Ireland, have increased their use of automation. "I am making half the money I was making four years ago, for the same amount of hours. It makes no sense," said David, a food delivery rider in Edinburgh for the past seven years who did not want to share his surname.

'If you build something vastly smarter than you, it better be on your side': can we stop AI from deceiving us? We are used to the idea that our fellow humans might intentionally mislead or manipulate us, but the idea that machines can now do the same is deeply unsettling. Researchers are racing to find solutions before it's too late The summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. I n November 2023 - a lifetime ago in the field of artificial intelligence - some of the most powerful people in the world descended on Bletchley Park, the wartime codebreaking hub in Buckinghamshire, to talk about AI safety . In attendance were the then US vice-president, Kamala Harris, the AI bosses Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, delegations from 28 countries, two of the three so-called "godfathers" of AI, and Elon Musk. The first iteration of ChatGPT had been released only a year earlier, and there was already plenty of evidence that AI models could be used for ill, from spreading misinformation to generating deepfakes. A presentation at the summit, however, highlighted a different issue: what if the biggest problem wasn't to come from people misusing the technology, but from AI's own behaviour? A UK government official presented an experiment conducted by Apollo Research, a London-based company that had been set up that year to study AI behaviour.

The five-day robot Olympics staked out China's claim as the undisputed leader in humanoid robotics. The five-day robot Olympics staked out China's claim as the undisputed leader in humanoid robotics. Faster, higher, funnier: what we learned from China's robot games With exploding pelvises, enough comic pratfalls for a Buster Keaton show reel and the odd moment of ruthless violence, the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing gripped the world this week with an unsettling mixture of hilarity, trepidation and relief. The five-day showcase staked out China's claim to undisputed leadership in humanoid robotics as android martial artists landed knockout roundhouse kicks and robot teams marched into the arena heralded by flag-waving captains astride giant robotic dogs. The games' blue-riband event, the 100m, did not disappoint when the robot-sprinters ran quicker than Usain Bolt before slamming mindlessly into a padded wall in a blaze of sparks, flames and flying mechanical limbs.

For decades, a university degree seemed to promise a stable career - but entry-level white-collar jobs across almost all sectors are being disrupted by AI . Budding accountants, software engineers and junior lawyers increasingly find themselves displaced by cheap automation. Even creative fields are struggling against AI tech that can produce artwork, lengthy prose or complex design briefs in seconds. But many young workers have responded by turning to what they see as "AI-proof" heritage crafts. These are the centuries-old, hands-on jobs, such as boat-making, metalwork or bookbinding, that require specialist knowledge built on creative judgment and dexterity, skills not yet mastered by AI. Eryn Lawley, a 27-year-old politics graduate, said future-proofing her career meant walking away from the digital world.

'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.

Actor Tori Thomas on set at the AI studio Promise in Los Angeles filming the studio's newly announced AI-enabled horror film, Touch Grass. Actor Tori Thomas on set at the AI studio Promise in Los Angeles filming the studio's newly announced AI-enabled horror film, Touch Grass. 'I see the incredible promise': on set of an AI film shoot as new studios embrace controversial tech N ear the collonaded entrance to Sony Pictures' historic Culver City film studio, a tech-powered rival has sprung up this summer. The artists at Promise, a new studio feeding off the potential of AI, can glimpse the lots where Singin' in the Rain and Men in Black were shot, but no longer do they need to get beyond the studio's high walls to make their visions come true. From far more modest premises, they are making movies with rapidly accelerating AI models that create backgrounds, special effects and even "synthetic performers" - using US models but also driven by market-leading Chinese AI.