Artificial intelligence

UNESCO surveys women on AI fairness and safety

UNESCO’s Office for the Caribbean has launched a regional survey examining gender and AI, titled Perception of AI Fairness and Online Safety among Women and Girls in the Caribbean. The initiative addresses the lack of data on how women and girls experience technology, AI, and online violence in the region.

Results will guide policy recommendations to promote human rights and safer digital environments.

The 2025 survey is part of a broader UNESCO effort to understand AI’s impact on gender equality. It covers gender-based online violence, generative AI’s implications for privacy, and potential biases in large AI models.

The findings will be used to develop a regional policy brief compared with global data.

UNESCO encourages participation from women and girls across the Caribbean, highlighting that community input is vital for shaping effective AI policies. A one-day workshop on 10 December 2025 will equip young women with skills to navigate AI safely.

The initiative aims to position the Caribbean as a leader in ensuring AI respects dignity, equality, and human rights.

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Adobe launches AI Assistant to simplify creative design

Adobe has launched a new AI Assistant in Express, enabling users to create and edit content from concept to completion in minutes. The tool understands design context and lets users create on-brand visuals by describing their ideas.

Users can seamlessly adjust fonts, images, backgrounds, and other elements while keeping the rest of the design intact.

The AI Assistant integrates generative AI models with Adobe’s professional tools, turning templates into conversational canvases. Users can make targeted edits, replace objects, or transform designs without starting over.

The assistant also interprets subjective requests, suggesting creative options and offering contextual prompts to refine results efficiently, enhancing both speed and quality of content creation.

Adobe Express will extend the AI Assistant with enterprise-grade features, including template locking, batch creation, and brand consistency tools. Early adopters report that non-designers can now produce professional visuals quickly, while experienced designers save time on routine tasks.

Organisations can expect improved collaboration, efficiency, and consistency across content supply chains.

The AI Assistant beta is currently available to Adobe Express Premium customers on desktop, with full availability planned for all users via the Firefly generative credit system. Adobe stresses that AI enhances creativity, respects creators’ rights, and supports responsible generative AI use.

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Estimating biological age from routine records with LifeClock

LifeClock, reported in Nature Medicine, estimates biological age from routine health records. Trained on 24.6 million visits and 184 indicators, it offers a low-cost route to precision health beyond simple chronology.

Researchers found two distinct clocks: a paediatric development clock and an adult ageing clock. Specialised models improved accuracy, reflecting scripted growth versus decline. Biomarkers diverged between stages, aligning with growth or deterioration.

LifeClock stratified risk years ahead. In children, clusters flagged malnutrition, developmental disorders, and endocrine issues, including markedly higher odds of pituitary hyperfunction and obesity. Adult clusters signalled future diabetes, stroke, renal failure, and cardiovascular disease.

Performance was strong after fine-tuning: the area under the curve hit 0.98 for current diabetes and 0.91 for future diabetes. EHRFormer outperformed RNN and gradient-boosting baselines across longitudinal records.

Authors propose LifeClock for accessible monitoring, personalised interventions, and prevention. Adding wearables and real-time biometrics could refine responsiveness, enabling earlier action on emerging risks and supporting equitable precision medicine at the population scale.

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AI-driven diabetes prevention matches human-led programs in clinical trial

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health report that an AI-driven diabetes prevention program achieved outcomes comparable to traditional, human-led coaching. The results come from a phase III randomised controlled trial, the first of its kind.

The trial enrolled participants with prediabetes and randomly assigned them to one of four remote human-led programs or an AI app that delivered personalised push notifications guiding diet, exercise and weight management. Over 12 months, both groups were evaluated against CDC benchmarks for risk reduction (e.g. achieving 5 % weight loss, meeting activity goals, or reducing A1C).

After one year, 31.7 % of AI-app users and 31.9 % of human-led participants met the composite benchmark. Interestingly, the AI arm saw higher initiation rates (93.4 % vs 82.7 %) and completion (63.9 % vs 50.3 %) than human programs.

The researchers note that scheduling, staffing, and access barriers can limit traditional lifestyle programs. The AI approach, which runs asynchronously and is always available, may help expand reach, especially for underserved populations or when human resources are constrained.

Future work will assess how these findings scale in broader, real-world patient groups and explore cost effectiveness, user preferences and the balance between AI and human support.

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Rare but real, mental health risks at ChatGPT scale

OpenAI says a small share of ChatGPT users show possible signs of mental health emergencies each week, including mania, psychosis, or suicidal thoughts. The company estimates 0.07 percent and says safety prompts are triggered. Critics argue that small percentages scale at ChatGPT’s size.

A further 0.15 percent of weekly users discuss explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent. Updates aim to respond more safely and empathetically, and to flag indirect self-harm signals. Sensitive chats can be routed to safer models in a new window.

More than 170 clinicians across 60 countries advise OpenAI on risk cues and responses. Guidance focuses on encouraging users to seek real-world support. Researchers warn vulnerable people may struggle to act on on-screen warnings.

External specialists see both value and limits. AI may widen access when services are stretched, yet automated advice can mislead. Risks include reinforcing delusions and misplaced trust in authoritative-sounding output.

Legal and public scrutiny is rising after high-profile cases linked to chatbot interactions. Families and campaigners want more transparent accountability and stronger guardrails. Regulators continue to debate transparency, escalation pathways, and duty of care.

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New AI boards help Pinterest users refine taste and shop

Pinterest is giving boards an AI upgrade, adding smarter recommendations, fresher layouts, and built-in shopping to help users move from ideas to action worldwide over the coming months.

New tabs tailor each board: Make it yours for fashion and some home decor, More ideas for categories like beauty or recipes, and All saves as a single place to find everything previously pinned.

In the US and Canada, Styled for you creates dynamic AI collages from saved fashion Pins, letting people mix and match apparel and accessories, preview outfits, and shop items that fit their taste.

Pinterest is also testing Boards made for you, personalised boards curated with editorial input and AI picks, delivered to home feeds and inboxes, featuring trending styles, weekly outfit ideas, and shoppable looks.

Executives say boards remain central to Pinterest’s experience; the new AI features aim to act like a personal shopping assistant while keeping curation simple and privacy-respecting by design.

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Adobe Firefly expands with new AI tools for audio and video creation

Adobe has unveiled major updates to its Firefly creative AI studio, introducing advanced audio, video, and imaging tools at the Adobe MAX 2025 conference.

These new features include Generate Soundtrack for licensed music creation, Generate Speech for lifelike multilingual voiceovers, and a timeline-based video editor that integrates seamlessly with Firefly’s existing creative tools.

The company also launched the Firefly Image Model 5, which can produce photorealistic 4MP images with prompt-based editing. Firefly now includes partner models from Google, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Topaz Labs, and others, bringing the industry’s top AI capabilities into one unified workspace.

Adobe also announced Firefly Custom Models, allowing users to train AI models to match their personal creative style.

In a preview of future developments, Adobe showcased Project Moonlight, a conversational AI assistant that connects across creative apps and social channels to help creators move from concept to content in minutes.

A system that can offer tailored suggestions and automate parts of the creative process while keeping creators in complete control.

Adobe emphasised that Firefly is designed to enhance human creativity rather than replace it, offering responsible AI tools that respect intellectual property rights.

With such a release, the company continues integrating generative AI across its ecosystem to simplify production and empower creators at every stage of their workflow.

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OpenAI and Microsoft sign new $135 billion agreement to deepen AI partnership

Microsoft and OpenAI have signed a new agreement that marks the next phase of their long-standing partnership, deepening ties first formed in 2019.

The updated deal builds on years of collaboration in advancing responsible AI, positioning both organisations for long-term success while introducing new structural and operational changes.

Under the new arrangement, Microsoft supports OpenAI’s transition into a public benefit corporation (PBC) and recapitalisation. The technology giant now holds an investment valued at around $135 billion, representing about 27 percent of OpenAI Group PBC on an as-converted diluted basis.

Despite OpenAI’s recent funding rounds, Microsoft previously held a 32.5 percent stake in the for-profit entity.

The partnership maintains Microsoft’s exclusive rights to OpenAI’s frontier models and Azure API until artificial general intelligence (AGI) is achieved, but also introduces several new terms. Once AGI is declared, an independent panel will verify it.

Microsoft’s intellectual property rights are extended through 2032, including models developed after AGI with safety conditions. OpenAI may now co-develop certain products with third parties, while retaining the option to serve non-API products on any cloud provider.

OpenAI will purchase an additional $250 billion worth of Azure services, although Microsoft will no longer hold first-refusal rights for compute supply. The new framework allows both organisations to innovate independently, with Microsoft permitted to pursue AGI independently or with other partners.

The updated agreement reflects a more flexible collaboration that balances independence, growth, and shared innovation.

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Google commits to long-term power deal as NextEra advances nuclear restart

NextEra Energy and Google have launched a major collaboration to accelerate nuclear energy deployment in the United States, anchored by the planned restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Centre in Iowa. The plant has been offline since 2020 and is slated to be back online by early 2029.

Under their agreement, Google will purchase the plant’s energy output through a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). Additionally, NextEra plans to acquire the remaining minority stakes in Duane Arnold to gain full ownership.

Central Iowa Power Cooperative, which currently holds part of the facility, will secure the output under the same terms.

As the energy needs of AI and cloud computing infrastructure surge, the Duane Arnold partnership positions nuclear power as a reliable, carbon-free baseload resource.

The revival is expected to bring substantial economic benefits: thousands of direct and indirect jobs during construction and operation, and over US$9 billion in regional economic impact.

Beyond Iowa, Google and NextEra will explore broader nuclear development opportunities across the US, including next-generation technologies to meet long-term demand.

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Amazon plans up to 30,000 corporate job cuts as AI automation expands

Beginning Tuesday, Amazon plans to cut up to 30,000 corporate roles, nearly 10% of its white-collar workforce, to reduce costs after pandemic over-hiring.

Cuts may hit human resources, operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services. According to people familiar with the policy, the company has also tightened office-attendance rules; employees who are not swiping in daily have been told they are considered to have resigned without severance.

Analysts say AI-driven productivity gains and the need to fund long-term AI infrastructure are key factors behind the reductions in staff. Executives have indicated that greater use of automation and AI to handle routine tasks will drive further reductions.

Internal planning papers reported in US media suggest the company could avoid hiring more than 500,000 US workers by 2033, yielding around $12.6 billion in savings between 2025 and 2027.

The scale and timing of the layoffs could change as financial priorities evolve. Separately, Amazon still expects a busy holiday period and plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers for warehouses and fulfilment roles unrelated to the corporate cuts.

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