Microsoft has a new plan to prove what's real and what's AI online A new proposal calls on social media and AI companies to adopt strict verification, but the company hasn't committed to following its own recommendations. There are the high-profile cases you may easily spot, like when White House officials recently shared a manipulated image of a protester in Minnesota and then mocked those asking about it. Other times, it slips quietly into social media feeds and racks up views, like the videos that Russian influence campaigns are currently spreading to discourage Ukrainians from enlisting. It is into this mess that Microsoft has put forward a blueprint, shared with, for how to prove what's real online. An AI safety research team at the company recently evaluated how methods for documenting digital manipulation are faring against today's most worrying AI developments, like interactive deepfakes and widely accessible hyperrealistic models. It then recommended technical standards that can be adopted by AI companies and social media platforms.

UK's sweeping asylum law changes: How will they impact refugees? Shabana Mahmood, the United Kingdom's home secretary, has said the country's asylum system is "not working" and is placing "intense strain on communities" ahead of proposals for major government reforms that would end refugees' automatic right to settle permanently in the UK. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mahmood said undocumented migration is "tearing the country apart". First, they would end the automatic path to settled status for refugees after five years. And second, they would remove state benefits from those who have the right to work and can support themselves.

AI will listen in to doctors' appointments and automatically generate patient notes in a bid to improve productivity in the NHS. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the plans will cut the time medics spend on admin so they are free to see more patients. But privacy campaigners today described the move as'creepy', while patient groups warned people could come to harm as they will be too embarrassed to discuss medical issues freely while being recorded. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday announced a 3.4billion investment in NHS productivity through things such as expanding the use of AI, reducing paperwork for medics and improving access for patients. In a major keynote speech at the Nuffield Trust think tank's annual summit, Ms Atkins today said the'enormous amount of money' would be transformative.

Last week we got some clarity about what all this may look like in practice. On October 11, a Chinese government organization called the National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee released a draft document that proposed detailed rules for how to determine whether a generative AI model is problematic. Often abbreviated as TC260, the committee consults corporate representatives, academics, and regulators to set up tech industry rules on issues ranging from cybersecurity to privacy to IT infrastructure. Unlike many manifestos you may have seen about how to regulate AI, this standards document is very detailed: it sets clear criteria for when a data source should be banned from training generative AI, and it gives metrics on the exact number of keywords and sample questions that should be prepared to test out a model. Matt Sheehan, a global technology fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who flagged the document for me, said that when he first read it, he "felt like it was the most grounded and specific document related to the generative AI regulation."

Amazon also announced a new collaboration between Astro and the Ring home security camera system, called Virtual Security Guard, which would protect areas outside the home from possible break-ins. Amazon, which bought Ring in 2018, pitched the pairing as a way to further guard small businesses from break-ins, by videotaping intrusions and calling the authorities (though it seems like homeowners should be able to use that capability as well). Ring's approach to surveillance hasn't been without controversy. As my colleague Eileen Guo reported last year, Ring marketed itself as a tool to protect domestic violence survivors, but it simultaneously provided access into survivors' lives. Ring has also been called out for racial profiling and privacy violations.

The concept of using artificial intelligence to help mitigate dull, repetitive or manpower-intensive jobs within government is nothing new. For example, the Post Office has been using AI to scan, route and track letters and packages for several years now. Other agencies are using similar so-called low-level AI for everything from document processing to managing their payroll. Sometimes called robotic process automation, tasking computers with those kinds of jobs makes a lot of sense. A human could do the same repetitive type of job as well, but it would take much longer. And the human would likely get tired at some point and thus be more prone to errors and mistakes. Slowly, however, AI is starting to be asked to perform higher level tasks that are normally undertaken by humans.

The US is hoping to combat the growing criminal use of drones with new rules that will allow local law enforcement agencies and other organisations to have counter-drone systems. At present, legal restrictions in the US hamper efforts to tackle such activity. The Federal Aviation Administration bans anyone from interfering with an aircraft in flight, including drones, while the Federal Communications Commission forbids jamming radio signals, a common anti-drone technique. Only a few federal agencies are permitted to shoot down drones in extreme circumstances, such as threats to critical infrastructure. US police agencies have been clamouring for counter-drone systems in the face of increasing criminal and careless use of drones.

Sony is beefing up its PlayStation Plus subscription service with new plans and a wider selection of games for players to stream or download. On Tuesday, Sony confirmed it will combine the current PlayStation Plus service with PlayStation Now, where players can stream a variety of games for a monthly price, into one larger platform. Starting this June, PlayStation Plus will offer video game console owners three options: an entry-level Essential plan, along with Extra and Premium plans. The Essential plan will cost $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month. The Extra plan will cost $14.99 a month ($99.99 annually), while the Premium plan costs $17.99 a month ($119.99 a year).

NATO defence ministers have agreed upon a new master plan to defend against any potential Russian attack on multiple fronts, reaffirming the alliance's core goal of deterring Moscow despite a growing focus on China. The confidential strategy aims to prepare for any simultaneous attack in the Baltic and Black Sea regions that could include nuclear weapons, hacking of computer networks and assaults from space. "We continue to strengthen our alliance with better and modernised plans," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after the meeting on Thursday, which also agreed a $1bn fund to provide seed financing to develop new digital technologies. Officials stressed that they do not believe any Russian attack is imminent. Moscow has denied any aggressive intentions and said it is NATO that risks destabilising Europe with such preparations.

On Wednesday, I hosted a discussion with former secretary of defense Ashton Carter, who is now the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. The conversation was part of WIRED's CES programming, which tackled the biggest trends that will shape 2021, from medicine to autonomous driving to defense. We took questions from viewers in real time. The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity. Nicholas Thompson: You've had an incredible 35-year career in the US government and in the private sector, working for Republicans and Democrats, always trying to identify what the most important issue of our time is, the smartest solutions to it, and the fairest ways to think about it.