A national push to bring AI into public schools has moved ahead in Greece after the launch of an intensive training programme for secondary teachers.
Staff in selected institutions will receive guidance on a custom version of ChatGPT designed for academic use, with a wider rollout planned for January.
The government aims to prepare educators for an era in which AI tools support lesson planning, research and personalised teaching instead of remaining outside daily classroom practice.
Officials view the initiative as part of a broader ambition to position Greece as a technological centre, supported by partnerships with major AI firms and new infrastructure projects in Athens. Students will gain access to the system next spring under tight supervision.
Supporters argue that generative tools could help teachers reduce administrative workload and make learning more adaptive.
Concerns remain strong among pupils and educators who fear that AI may deepen an already exam-driven culture.
Many students say they worry about losing autonomy and creativity, while teachers’ unions warn that reliance on automated assistance could erode critical thinking. Others point to the risk of increased screen use in a country preparing to block social media for younger teenagers.
Teacher representatives also argue that school buildings require urgent attention instead of high-profile digital reforms. Poor heating, unreliable electricity and decades of underinvestment complicate adoption of new technologies.
Educators who support AI stress that meaningful progress depends on using such systems as tools to broaden creativity rather than as shortcuts that reinforce rote learning.
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A recent survey reveals that 38.7% of Portuguese individuals aged 16 to 74 used AI tools in the three months preceding the interview, primarily for personal purposes. Usage is particularly high among 16 to 24-year-olds (76.5%) and students (81.5%).
Internet access remains widespread, with 89.5% of residents going online recently. Nearly half (49.6%) placed orders online, primarily for clothing, footwear, and fashion accessories, while 74.2% accessed public service websites, often using a Citizen Card or Digital Mobile Key for authentication.
Digital skills are growing, with 59.2% of the population reaching basic or above basic levels. Young adults and tertiary-educated individuals show the highest digital proficiency, at 83.4% and 88.4% respectively.
Household internet penetration stands at 90.9%, predominantly via fixed connections.
Concerns about online safety are on the rise, as 45.2% of internet users reported encountering aggressive or discriminatory content, up from 35.5% in 2023. Reported issues include discrimination based on nationality, politics, and sexual identity.
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Nokia has announced a $4 billion expansion of its US research, development, and manufacturing operations to accelerate AI-ready networking technologies. The move builds on Nokia’s earlier $2.3 billion US investment via Infinera and semiconductor manufacturing plans.
The expanded investment will support mobile, fixed access, IP, optical, data centre networking, and defence solutions. Approximately $3.5 billion will be allocated for R&D, with $500 million dedicated to manufacturing and capital expenditures in Texas, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Nokia aims to advance AI-optimised networks with enhanced security, productivity, and energy efficiency. The company will also focus on automation, quantum-safe networks, semiconductor testing, and advanced material sciences to drive innovation.
Officials highlight the strategic impact of Nokia’s US investment. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick praised the plan for boosting US tech capacity, while CEO Justin Hotard said it would secure the future of AI-driven networks.
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Security researchers have confirmed that the Ultralytics YOLO library was hijacked in a supply-chain attack, where attackers injected malicious code into the PyPI-published versions 8.3.41 and 8.3.42. When installed, these versions deployed the XMRig cryptominer.
The compromise stemmed from Ultralytics’ continuous-integration workflow: by exploiting GitHub Actions, the attackers manipulated the automated build process, bypassing review and injecting cryptocurrency mining malware.
The maintainers quickly removed the malicious versions and released a clean build (8.3.43); however, newer reports suggest that further suspicious versions may have appeared.
This incident illustrates the growing risk in AI library supply chains. As open-source AI frameworks become more widely used, attackers increasingly target their build systems to deliver malware, particularly cryptominers.
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As AI continues to scale rapidly, the environmental cost of powering massive data centres is becoming increasingly urgent. Machines require substantial amounts of electricity and water to stay cool, and a significant portion of this energy comes from fossil-fuel sources.
Scientists at UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering, led by Professors Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan, have proposed a novel solution called Federated Carbon Intelligence (FCI). Their system doesn’t just prioritise low-carbon energy; it also monitors the health of servers in real-time to decide where and when AI tasks should be run.
Using simulations, the team found that FCI could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 45 percent over five years and extend the operational life of hardware by about 1.6 years.
Their model takes into account server temperature, age and physical wear, and dynamically routes computing workloads to optimise both environmental and machine-health outcomes.
Unlike other approaches that only shift workloads to regions with cleaner energy, FCI also addresses the embodied emissions of manufacturing new servers. Keeping current hardware running longer and more efficiently helps reduce the carbon footprint associated with production.
If adopted by cloud providers, this adaptive system could mark a significant milestone in the sustainable development of AI infrastructure, one that aligns compute demand with both performance and ecological goals. The researchers are now calling for pilots in real data centres.
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Google’s new AI model, Gemini 3, was left temporarily confused when it refused to accept that the year was 2025 during early testing by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy.
The model, pre-trained on data only through 2024 and initially disconnected from the internet, accused Karpathy of trickery and gaslighting before finally recognising the correct date.
Once Gemini 3 accessed real-time information, it expressed astonishment and apologised for its previous behaviour, demonstrating the model’s quirky but sophisticated reasoning capabilities. The interaction went viral online, drawing attention to both the humour and unpredictability of advanced AI systems.
Experts note that incidents like this illustrate the limitations of LLMs, which, despite their reasoning power, cannot inherently perceive reality and rely entirely on pre-training data and connected tools.
Observers emphasise that AI remains a powerful human aid rather than a replacement, and understanding its quirks is essential for practical use.
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Students at the University of Staffordshire in the UK have criticised a coding course after discovering much of the teaching was delivered through AI-generated slides and voiceovers.
Participants in the government-funded apprenticeship programme said they felt deprived of knowledge and frustrated that the course relied heavily on automated materials.
Concerns arose when learners noticed inconsistencies in language, suspicious file names, and abrupt changes in voiceover accents during lessons.
Students reported raising these issues with university staff, but the institution maintained the use of AI, asserting it supported academic standards while remaining ethical and responsible.
Critics argue that AI teaching diminishes engagement and reduces the opportunity to acquire practical skills needed for career development.
Experts suggest students supplement AI-driven courses with hands-on learning and critical thinking to ensure the experience remains valuable and relevant to their professional goals.
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Generative AI is reshaping the job market by reducing the need for entry-level positions, particularly in white-collar industries. Analysts warn that young workers are losing the opportunity to acquire skills through traditional on-the-job experience, which has historically paved the way for promotions.
Employers are drawn to AI for its efficiency, as it can complete tasks in a fraction of the time it once took human teams. This shift poses a threat to the traditional career ladder, resulting in a shortage of trained candidates for senior and managerial roles in the years to come.
Young professionals can counter these trends by acquiring practical AI skills, even outside of technology sectors. Combining human strengths, such as strategic thinking, with AI proficiency may help early-career workers remain competitive and adapt to evolving workplace demands.
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Researchers have introduced a biology foundation model that can recognise over a million species and understand relationships across the animal and plant kingdoms.
BioCLIP 2 was trained on one of the most extensive biological datasets ever compiled, allowing it to identify traits, cluster organisms and reveal patterns that support conservation efforts.
A model that relies on NVIDIA accelerated computing instead of traditional methods and demonstrates what large-scale biological learning can achieve.
Training drew on more than two hundred million images that cover hundreds of thousands of taxonomic classes. The AI model learned how species fit within wider biological hierarchies and how traits differ across age, gender and related groups without explicit guidance.
It even separated diseased leaves from healthy samples, offering a route to improved monitoring of ecosystems and agricultural resilience.
Scientists now plan to expand the project by utilising wildlife digital twins that simulate ecological systems in controlled environments.
Researchers will be able to study species interactions and test scenarios instead of disturbing natural habitats. The approach opens possibilities for richer ecological research and could offer the public immersive ways to view biodiversity from the perspective of different animals.
BioCLIP 2 is available as open-source software and has already attracted strong global interest. Its capabilities indicate a shift toward more advanced biological modelling powered by accelerated computing, providing conservationists and educators with new tools to address long-standing knowledge gaps.
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Armenia’s ambassador, Narek Mkrtchyan, has met senior Apple representatives in Cupertino to discuss expanding the company’s activities in the country. The visit included talks with Jason Lundgaard, Apple’s senior director for international cooperation at corporate government affairs.
The ambassador outlined the Armenia–US memorandum on AI and semiconductor cooperation signed on 8 August and highlighted Armenia’s technology ecosystem and investment potential. Both sides explored areas for collaboration and the conditions under which Apple could expand its presence.
Apple plans to send a delegation to Armenia in the coming period to assess opportunities for growth and engagement with local institutions. The discussions signalled early steps toward a more structured partnership.
During the meeting, the ambassador thanked Mr Lundgaard for supporting the launch of Apple’s first educational programme at the Armenian College of Creative Technologies. The initiative forms part of a wider effort to strengthen skills development in Armenia’s digital sector.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to deepen cooperation and expand the educational partnership as Armenia positions itself as a regional hub for advanced technologies.
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