MPs fear data centre boom could derail Miliband's net zero plans Ed Miliband has been urged to explain whether a planned boom in energy-hungry data centres have been factored into his plans to deliver net zero carbon emissions. In a letter to the energy secretary, Labour MP Toby Perkins, who chairs the Environmental Audit Committee, said data centres are a key area of concern in hitting the emissions target. Data centres are giant facilities full of powerful computers used to run digital services, such as streaming and artificial intelligence (AI). The government has backed plans for many more to be built to help turn the UK into an AI superpower, despite the large amounts of electricity needed to run them, including from gas-powered generators. Perkins said it was concerning that the UK government was relying on a carbon-reduction plan that made no allowance for the impact of data centres.

Canva, which began life as a platform for visual design, has tossed the rules aside. In addition to Visual Suite 2.0, the company has added coding, spreadsheets, and graphs to its AI capabilities. It's a rather sharp change for Canva--although if a social media company like Facebook can toss its brand identity aside for a failed run at the metaverse, then why can't Canva try its own hand at its own pivot? Canva's shift toward the spreadsheet actually makes sense, according to the company. "While data is a critical part of visual communication, whether it's creating charts, forms, reports, dashboards, or infographics, it's also complex and disconnected from the creative process," Melanie Perkins, the chief executive of Canva, said in a blog post. The snippet of video that shows off what's being called "Canva Sheets" is impressive: not only are Canva's Sheets visually bright and dynamic, but Canva has included so-called "Magic Insights" and "Magic Formulas."

Design platform Canva launched in 2013 with the aim of democratizing visual creation through features like templates and drag-and-drop graphics. It focused on ease, offering a design suite less daunting for nonprofessionals than tools like Adobe's Photoshop, and simplified access with a web platform and freemium model. Since then, the Sydney-headquartered company has grown to 170 million monthly active users and an 11-figure valuation. But with the advent of generative AI, it's having to innovate to keep its place. Cofounder and CEO Melanie Perkins insists she never saw AI as an existential threat and is excited to embrace it: This year, Canva acquired text-to-image generator Leonardo.ai

This scoping review examines the relationship between Generative AI (GenAI) and agency in education, analyzing the literature available through the lens of Critical Digital Pedagogy. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we collected 11 studies from academic databases focusing on both learner and teacher agency in GenAI-enabled environments. We conducted a GenAI-supported hybrid thematic analysis that revealed three key themes: Control in Digital Spaces, Variable Engagement and Access, and Changing Notions of Agency. The findings suggest that while GenAI may enhance learner agency through personalization and support, it also risks exacerbating educational inequalities and diminishing learner autonomy in certain contexts. This review highlights gaps in the current research on GenAI's impact on agency. These findings have implications for educational policy and practice, suggesting the need for frameworks that promote equitable access while preserving learner agency in GenAI-enhanced educational environments.

The rapid advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) presents both opportunities and challenges for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instruction. This paper proposes an adaptation of the AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) specifically tailored for EAP contexts, termed the EAP-AIAS. This framework aims to provide a structured approach for integrating GenAI tools into EAP assessment practices while maintaining academic integrity and supporting language development. The EAP-AIAS consists of five levels, ranging from "No AI" to "Full AI", each delineating appropriate GenAI usage in EAP tasks. We discuss the rationale behind this adaptation, considering the unique needs of language learners and the dual focus of EAP on language proficiency and academic acculturation. This paper explores potential applications of the EAP-AIAS across various EAP assessment types, including writing tasks, presentations, and research projects. By offering a flexible framework, the EAP-AIAS seeks to empower EAP practitioners seeking to deal with the complexities of GenAI integration in education and prepare students for an AI-enhanced academic and professional future. This adaptation represents a step towards addressing the pressing need for ethical and pedagogically sound AI integration in language education.

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools into education has been a game-changer for teaching and assessment practices, bringing new opportunities, but also novel challenges which need to be dealt with. This paper presents the Comprehensive AI Assessment Framework (CAIAF), an evolved version of the AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) by Perkins, Furze, Roe, and MacVaugh, targeted toward the ethical integration of AI into educational assessments. This is where the CAIAF differs, as it incorporates stringent ethical guidelines, with clear distinctions based on educational levels, and advanced AI capabilities of real-time interactions and personalized assistance. The framework developed herein has a very intuitive use, mainly through the use of a color gradient that enhances the user-friendliness of the framework. Methodologically, the framework has been developed through the huge support of a thorough literature review and practical insight into the topic, becoming a dynamic tool to be used in different educational settings. The framework will ensure better learning outcomes, uphold academic integrity, and promote responsible use of AI, hence the need for this framework in modern educational practice.

The rapid adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies in higher education has raised concerns about academic integrity, assessment practices, and student learning. Banning or blocking GenAI tools has proven ineffective, and punitive approaches ignore the potential benefits of these technologies. This paper presents the findings of a pilot study conducted at British University Vietnam (BUV) exploring the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS), a flexible framework for incorporating GenAI into educational assessments. The AIAS consists of five levels, ranging from 'No AI' to 'Full AI', enabling educators to design assessments that focus on areas requiring human input and critical thinking. Following the implementation of the AIAS, the pilot study results indicate a significant reduction in academic misconduct cases related to GenAI, a 5.9% increase in student attainment across the university, and a 33.3% increase in module passing rates. The AIAS facilitated a shift in pedagogical practices, with faculty members incorporating GenAI tools into their modules and students producing innovative multimodal submissions. The findings suggest that the AIAS can support the effective integration of GenAI in HE, promoting academic integrity while leveraging the technology's potential to enhance learning experiences.

It was 7 a.m. when Benjamin Perkin's parents got an alarming call. The person on the other end of the line identified themselves as a lawyer and said Perkin had killed a U.S. diplomat in a car accident, was in jail, and needed money for legal fees. The lawyer then put Perkin on the phone. "Hey Mom and Dad, I love you. I need this money," he said.

Ruthless scammers are always looking for the next big con, and they might've found it: using AI to imitate your loved ones over the phone. When a 73-year-old Ruth Card heard what she thought was the voice of her grandson Brandon on the other end of the line saying he needed money for bail, she and her husband rushed to the bank. "It was definitely this feeling of... fear," Card told The Washington Post. "That we've got to help him right now." The couple withdrew the maximum of 3,000 Canadian dollars at one bank and went to another for more.

The U.S. Army is continuing to consider ways artificial intelligence, or AI, can augment and improve current operations for sustainment enterprises, including medical logistics. C.J. Lovelace, U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command, reports. Trezia Davenport and Alan Gonzalez, assigned to the 563rd Medical Logistics Company, assemble a tactical combat medical care resupply set in support of U.S. Forces Korea during an exercise at the Army's prepositioned stocks site in South Korea. Lt. Col. Marcus D. Perkins, immediate past commander of the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center-Korea (USAMMC-K), took part as a panelist and medical logistics subject-matter expert during the virtual 2022 DOD Digital and AI Symposium in June. USAMMC-K is a direct reporting unit to U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command.