Artificial intelligence Archives | Page 8 of 580

OpenAI upgrades ChatGPT conversations with GPT-5.3 Instant

The most widely used ChatGPT model has received an update from OpenAI, introducing GPT-5.3 Instant to make everyday conversations more coherent, useful, and natural.

An upgrade that focuses on improving tone, contextual understanding, and the flow of dialogue rather than only benchmark performance.

One of the main improvements concerns how the model handles refusals and safety responses. Earlier versions sometimes declined questions that could have been answered safely or delivered overly cautious explanations before responding.

GPT-5.3 Instant instead gives more direct answers while still maintaining safety constraints, reducing interruptions that previously slowed conversations.

The update also improves the way ChatGPT uses information from the web. Instead of simply summarising search results or presenting long lists of links, the model now integrates online information with its own reasoning.

Such an approach aims to produce more relevant answers that highlight key insights at the beginning of responses.

Reliability has also improved. Internal evaluations conducted by OpenAI show reductions in hallucination rates across multiple domains.

When using web sources, hallucinations dropped by roughly 26.8 percent in higher-risk fields such as medicine, law, and finance. Improvements were also recorded when the model relied only on its internal knowledge.

Beyond factual accuracy, the model is designed to feel more natural in conversation. OpenAI says the system now avoids overly preachy language, unnecessary disclaimers, and intrusive remarks that previously disrupted dialogue.

The goal is a more consistent conversational personality across updates, while maintaining the familiar user experience of ChatGPT.

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Guterres convenes global UN panel of 40 experts to assess AI risks

UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the inaugural meeting of a new independent group of experts on AI convened by the UN that they have a huge responsibility to help shape how the technology is used ‘for the benefit of humanity’.

‘Individually, you come from diverse regions and disciplines, bringing outstanding expertise in AI and related fields. Collectively, you represent something the world has never seen before,’ the UN chief told scientists on Tuesday at the first meeting of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI.

The panel brings together 40 experts who aim to help close ‘the AI knowledge gap’ and assess the real impact the frontier technology will have across economies and societies so that countries can act with the same ‘clarity’ on a level playing field.

The experts will provide scientific assessments independent of any government, company or institution – including the UN itself. ‘AI is advancing at lightning speed… no country, no company, and no field of research can see the full picture alone,’ Guterres said. ‘The world urgently needs a shared, global understanding of artificial intelligence; grounded not in ideology, but in science.’

Warning about the stakes involved as AI evolves rapidly, Guterres said the technology will shape peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development for decades to come. ‘I have seen how quickly fear can take hold when facts are missing or distorted – how trust breaks down, and division deepens,’ he said. At a time when ‘geopolitical tensions are rising, and conflicts are raging,’ he stressed that the need for shared understanding and ‘safe and responsible AI could not be greater.’

As AI development accelerates, the Secretary-General also warned the panel that it is ‘in a race against time.’ Addressing concerns about the pace of technological change, he said: ‘Never in the future will we move as slowly as we are moving now. We are indeed in a high level of acceleration.’

Guterres also pointed to earlier work through the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI, noting that the new scientific panel does not ‘start from zero’. Concluding his remarks, Guterres told the experts: ‘I can think of no more important assignment for our world today.’

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AI Readiness Assessment Report highlights India’s progress and gaps in ethical AI

UNESCO and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have launched the India AI Readiness Assessment Report during the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The report evaluates the country’s progress in building an ethical and human-centred AI ecosystem.

Developed by UNESCO with the IndiaAI Mission and Ikigai Law as implementing partner, the report draws on consultations with more than 600 stakeholders from government, academia, industry, and civil society. The assessment examined governance, workforce readiness, and infrastructure development.

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Dr Ajay Kumar Sood, emphasised the importance of embedding ethics throughout the technology lifecycle. ‘AI is here to make an impact. The question is not how fast we adopt AI, but how thoughtfully we shape it,’ he said.

The report highlights the country’s growing role in global AI development, noting that it accounts for around 16% of the world’s AI talent and has filed more than 86,000 related patents since 2010. It also points to progress in multilingual AI systems and digital public services.

The assessment also identifies policy priorities, including stronger legal frameworks, inclusive workforce transitions, and better access to high-quality datasets. UNESCO officials said the recommendations aim to support responsible AI governance and strengthen public trust.

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X suspends creators over undisclosed AI armed conflict videos

Social media platform X will suspend creators from its revenue-sharing programme if they post AI-generated videos of armed conflict without proper disclosure. The penalty lasts 90 days, with permanent removal for repeat violations.

Head of product Nikita Bier said access to authentic information during war is critical, warning that generative AI makes it easy to mislead audiences. The policy takes effect immediately.

Enforcement will combine generative AI detection tools with the platform’s Community Notes fact-checking system. X, formerly Twitter, says the move is designed to prevent creators from profiting from deceptive conflict content.

The Creator Revenue Sharing Programme allows paid X subscribers to earn advertising income from high-performing posts, but critics argue it encourages sensational material. AI-generated political misinformation and deceptive influencer promotions outside armed conflict scenarios remain unaffected by the new rule.

Financial penalties may limit incentives for the dissemination of misleading war footage, yet broader concerns about AI-driven misinformation on social media persist.

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Anthropic introduces powerful and transformative voice mode for Claude Code

Anthropic has introduced a voice mode capability for Claude Code, its AI coding assistant for developers. The feature enables users to interact with the system through spoken commands, marking a step toward more conversational and hands-free coding workflows.

Voice interaction allows developers to execute programming tasks using natural language. By activating voice mode, users can verbally request actions, reflecting a broader shift toward intuitive human-AI collaboration in software development.

The rollout is currently limited, with voice mode available to a small percentage of users before wider deployment. Technical details remain unclear, including potential usage limits and whether external voice AI providers contributed to the feature’s development.

The update builds on Anthropic’s earlier integration of voice interaction in its Claude chatbot. This expansion suggests a wider strategy to embed voice interfaces across AI tools and enhance multimodal interaction experiences.

Competition in AI coding assistants continues to intensify, with multiple technology companies developing similar tools. Within this environment, Claude Code has gained strong adoption and a growing market presence among developers.

User growth and revenue indicators highlight the growing momentum of Anthropic’s AI ecosystem. The company also experienced heightened public visibility following its decision to restrict certain military uses of its AI systems, contributing to a surge in app popularity.

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How AI training data is influencing what users believe

A new Yale study, published in PNAS Nexus, has found that AI chatbots can subtly shift users’ social and political opinions, even when asked for factual information and with no intent to persuade.

Researchers tested nearly 1,912 participants, comparing responses to AI-generated summaries of historical events with those to Wikipedia entries, and found measurable differences in opinion.

The culprit, researchers say, is ‘latent bias’, ideological leanings embedded in the data used to train large language models that subtly colour the framing of otherwise accurate responses.

Default summaries generated by GPT-4o consistently nudged readers towards more liberal opinions compared to Wikipedia entries, even without any deliberate prompting.

Senior author Daniel Karell warned that whilst the effects are modest in isolation, they could compound significantly for users who regularly consult chatbots for information.

Unlike Wikipedia, which makes its editorial process transparent, AI development remains largely opaque, giving the companies behind these models an unacknowledged ability to shape public opinion.

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AI helps Stanford researchers map schistosomiasis risk in Senegal

Stanford researchers have developed an AI-powered system that combines field surveys, drones, and satellite imagery to identify schistosomiasis risk areas across Senegal.

The project began with fieldwork in Senegal, where researchers collected aquatic vegetation and snails from more than 30 river and estuary sites. The samples helped identify environmental conditions linked to schistosomiasis, which affects about 250 million people worldwide, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Professor Giulio De Leo of Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability said the research required scaling beyond local sampling. ‘The work was necessary to discover these risks, but we can only do so much locally.’

Early support from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centred AI enabled the development of machine learning tools capable of identifying disease-related snails and vegetation in imagery. The system now integrates field observations with drone and satellite data to detect potential infection hotspots.

Researchers say the approach can support public health monitoring and environmental analysis. The machine learning methods developed for the project are also being applied to agriculture, forest monitoring, and mosquito-borne disease research.

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Cisco report highlights cybersecurity risks and benefits of industrial AI

AI is becoming central to industrial networking strategies, but it is also creating new security challenges, according to Cisco’s 2026 State of Industrial AI Report.

Based on a survey of 1,000 professionals across 19 countries and 21 sectors, the report shows organisations view cybersecurity as both a barrier and an opportunity for AI adoption. About 40% cited cybersecurity concerns as a major obstacle, while 48% named security their biggest networking challenge.

At the same time, many organisations believe AI will strengthen their cyber resilience. Cisco noted that ‘while security gaps are limiting AI scale today, organisations view AI as a tool to strengthen detection, monitoring and resilience’.

The report also highlights organisational challenges, particularly collaboration between IT and operational technology teams. Only 20% of organisations report fully collaborative IT and OT cybersecurity operations, despite the growing importance of coordination for AI deployment.

Cisco said industrial AI adoption is accelerating, with 61% of organisations already deploying AI in industrial environments. However, only one in five reports mature, scaled adoption, suggesting many deployments remain in early stages.

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AI models favour Bitcoin over fiat in landmark study

A new study from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, testing 36 AI models across more than 9,000 responses, found that AI agents overwhelmingly prefer Bitcoin over other forms of money.

Bitcoin was the most frequently selected monetary instrument overall, chosen in 48.3% of all responses, whilst almost 91% of responses favoured some form of digital currency over traditional fiat, with no model ranking fiat as its top overall preference.

The preference for Bitcoin was especially pronounced in long-term savings scenarios, where 79.1% of AI responses chose it as the best way to preserve purchasing power over multi-year horizons. For payments and cross-border transfers, however, stablecoins edged ahead, selected in 53.2% of responses compared to Bitcoin’s 36%.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute acknowledged that the study’s methodology had limitations, noting that scenario framing may have influenced results and that the models’ preferences reflect patterns in training data rather than real-world adoption.

Anthropic models showed the strongest Bitcoin preference at 68%, compared to 43% for Google, 39% for xAI, and 26% for OpenAI.

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Alibaba Qwen AI faces major disruption after one key leader steps down

Junyang Lin, a central technical leader of Alibaba’s Qwen AI project, has stepped down just one day after the company unveiled its Qwen 3.5 small models. Lin, who joined Alibaba in 2019 and joined the Qwen team in 2023, did not provide details about his decision.

His departure comes at a sensitive moment, as Qwen has emerged as one of China’s most prominent open-weight AI initiatives. The project is a core element of Alibaba’s strategy to compete with leading US developers such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic amid intensifying global AI competition.

Alibaba’s newly launched Qwen 3.5 Small Model series comprises four multimodal models with 0.8B to 9B parameters. The systems are designed for on-device deployment and lightweight AI agents, reflecting a focus on efficient and adaptable AI applications.

The release attracted attention from figures including Elon Musk, who commented on the models’ performance. Internally and across the AI ecosystem, including partners linked to Hugging Face, Lin’s exit was described as a significant loss, particularly given his role in advancing open-source development and strengthening global developer engagement.

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