Content Policy

Springer machine learning book faces fake citation scandal

A Springer Nature book on machine learning has come under scrutiny after researchers discovered that many of its citations were fabricated or erroneous.

A review of 18 citations in Mastering Machine Learning: From Basics to Advanced revealed that two-thirds either referenced nonexistent papers or misattributed authorship and publication sources.

Several academics whose names were included in the book confirmed they did not write the cited material, while others noted inaccuracies in where their actual work was supposedly published. One researcher was alerted by Google Scholar to multiple fake citations under his name.

Govindakumar Madhavan, the author, has not confirmed whether AI tools were used in producing the content, though his book discusses ethical concerns around AI-generated text.

Springer Nature has acknowledged the issue and is investigating whether the book breached its AI use policies, which require authors to declare AI involvement beyond basic editing.

The incident has reignited concerns about publishers’ quality control, with critics pointing to the increasing misuse of large language models in academic texts. As AI tools become more advanced, ensuring the integrity of published research remains a growing challenge for both authors and editors.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Tinder trials face scans to verify profiles

Tinder is trialling a facial recognition feature to boost user security and crack down on fraudulent profiles. The pilot is currently underway in the US, after initial launches in Colombia and Canada.

New users are now required to take a short video selfie during sign-up, which will be matched against profile photos to confirm authenticity. The app also compares the scan with other accounts to catch duplicates and impersonations.

Verified users receive a profile badge, and Tinder stores a non-reversible encrypted face map to aid in detection. The company claims all facial data is deleted when accounts are removed.

The update follows a sharp rise in catfishing and romance scams, with over 64,000 cases reported in the US last year alone. Other measures introduced in recent years include photo verification, ID checks and location-sharing tools.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Meta’s Facebook uses phone photos for AI if users allow it

Meta has introduced a new feature that allows Facebook to access and analyse users’ photos stored on their phones, provided they give explicit permission.

The move is part of a broader push to improve the company’s AI tools, especially after the underwhelming reception of its Llama 4 model. Users who opt in will be agreeing to Meta’s AI Terms of Service, which grants the platform the right to retain and use personal media for content suggestions.

The new feature, currently being tested in the US and Canada, is designed to offer Facebook users creative ideas for Stories by processing their photos and videos through cloud infrastructure.

When enabled, users may receive suggestions such as collages or travel highlights based on when and where images were captured, as well as who or what appears in them. However, participation is strictly optional and can be turned off at any time.

Facebook clarifies that the media analysed under the feature is not used to train AI models in the current test. Still, the system does upload selected media to Meta’s servers on an ongoing basis, raising privacy concerns.

The option to activate these suggestions can be found in the Facebook app’s settings, where users are asked whether they want camera roll data to inform sharing ideas.

Meta has been actively promoting its AI ambitions, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushing for the development of ‘superintelligence’. The company recently launched Meta Superintelligence Labs to lead these efforts.

Despite facing stiff competition from OpenAI, DeepSeek and Google, Meta appears determined to deepen its use of personal data to boost its AI capabilities.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

OpenInfra Summit Europe brings focus on AI and VMware alternatives

The OpenInfra Foundation and its global community will gather at the OpenInfra Summit Europe from 17 to 19 October in Paris-Saclay to explore how open source is reshaping digital infrastructure.

It will be the first summit since the Foundation joined the Linux Foundation, uniting major projects such as Linux, Kubernetes and OpenStack under the OpenInfra Blueprint. The agenda includes a strong focus on digital sovereignty, VMware migration strategies and infrastructure support for AI workloads.

Taking place at École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, the summit arrives at a time when open source software is powering nearly $9 trillion of economic activity.

With over 38% of the global OpenInfra community based in Europe, the event will focus on regional priorities like data control, security, and compliance with new EU regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act.

Developers, IT leaders and business strategists will explore how projects like Kata Containers, Ceph and RISC-V integrate to support cost-effective, scalable infrastructure.

The summit will also mark OpenStack’s 15th anniversary, with use cases shared by the UN, BMW and nonprofit Restos du Coeur.

Attendees will witness a live VMware migration demo featuring companies like Canonical and Rackspace, highlighting real-world approaches to transitioning away from proprietary platforms. Sessions will dive into topics like CI pipelines, AI-powered infrastructure, and cloud-native operations.

As a community-led event, OpenInfra Summit Europe remains focused on collaboration.

With sponsors including Canonical, Mirantis, Red Hat and others, the gathering offers developers and organisations an opportunity to share best practices, shape open source development, and strengthen the global infrastructure ecosystem.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AI training with pirated books triggers massive legal risk

A US court has ruled that AI company Anthropic engaged in copyright infringement by downloading millions of pirated books to train its language model, Claude.

Although the court found that using copyrighted material for AI training could qualify as ‘fair use’ under US law when the content is transformed, it also held that acquiring the content illegally instead of licensing it lawfully constituted theft.

Judge William Alsup described AI as one of the most transformative technologies of our time. Still, he stated that Anthropic obtained millions of digital books from pirate sites such as LibGen and Pirate Library Mirror.

He noted that buying the same books later in print form does not erase the initial violation, though it may reduce potential damages.

The penalties for wilful copyright infringement in the US could reach up to $150,000 per work, meaning total compensation might run into the billions.

The case highlights the fine line between transformation and theft and signals growing legal pressure on AI firms to respect intellectual property instead of bypassing established licensing frameworks.

Australia, which uses a ‘fair dealing’ system rather than ‘fair use’, already offers flexible licensing schemes through organisations like the Copyright Agency.

CEO Josephine Johnston urged policymakers not to weaken Australia’s legal framework in favour of global tech companies, arguing that licensing provides certainty for developers and fair payment to content creators.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

New NHS plan adds AI to protect patient safety

The NHS is set to introduce a world-first AI system to detect patient safety risks early by analysing hospital data for warning signs of deaths, injuries, or abuse.

Instead of waiting for patterns to emerge through traditional oversight, the AI will use near real-time data to trigger alerts and launch rapid inspections.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that a new maternity-focused AI tool will roll out across NHS trusts in November. It will monitor stillbirths, brain injuries and death rates, helping identify issues before they become scandals.

The initiative forms part of a new 10-year plan to modernise the health service and move it from analogue to digital care.

The technology will send alerts to the Care Quality Commission, whose teams will investigate flagged cases. Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England’s medical director, said the UK would become the first country to trial this AI-enabled early warning system to improve patient care.

CQC chief Sir Julian Hartley added it would strengthen quality monitoring across services.

However, nursing leaders voiced concerns that AI could distract from more urgent needs. Professor Nicola Ranger of the Royal College of Nursing warned that low staffing levels remain a critical issue.

She stressed that one nurse often handles too many patients, and technology should not replace the essential investment in frontline staff.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AI governance through the lens of magical realism

AI today straddles the line between the extraordinary and the mundane, a duality that evokes the spirit of magical realism—a literary genre where the impossible blends seamlessly with the real. Speaking at the 20th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Lillestrøm, Norway, Jovan Kurbalija proposed that we might better understand the complexities of AI governance by viewing it through this narrative lens.

Like Gabriel García Márquez’s floating characters or Salman Rushdie’s prophetic protagonists, AI’s remarkable feats—writing novels, generating art, mimicking human conversation—are increasingly accepted without question, despite their inherent strangeness.

Kurbalija argues that AI, much like the supernatural in literature, doesn’t merely entertain; it reveals and shapes profound societal realities. Algorithms quietly influence politics, reshape economies, and even redefine relationships.

Just as magical realism uses the extraordinary to comment on power, identity, and truth, AI forces us to confront new ethical dilemmas: Who owns AI-created content? Can consent be meaningfully given to machines? And does predictive technology amplify societal biases?

The risks of AI—job displacement, misinformation, surveillance—are akin to the symbolic storms of magical realism: always present, always shaping the backdrop. Governance, then, must walk a fine line between stifling innovation and allowing unchecked technological enchantment.

Kurbalija warns against ‘black magic’ policy manipulation cloaked in humanitarian language and urges regulators to focus on real-world impacts while resisting the temptation of speculative fears. Ultimately, AI isn’t science fiction—it’s magical realism in motion.

As we build policies and frameworks to govern it, we must ensure this magic serves humanity, rather than distort our sense of what is real, ethical, and just. In this unfolding story, the challenge is not only technological, but deeply human.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Cybercrime surge hits airlines across North America

According to the FBI and cybersecurity experts, a well-known cybercrime group has launched fresh attacks on the airline industry, successfully breaching the networks of several airlines in the US and Canada.

The hackers, identified as ‘Scattered Spider’, are known for aggressive extortion tactics and are now shifting their focus to aviation instead of insurance or retail, their previous targets.

Airline security teams remain on high alert despite no flights or operations being disrupted. Hawaiian Airlines and Canada’s WestJet have acknowledged recent cyber incidents, while sources suggest more affected companies may step forward soon.

Both airlines reported no impact on day-to-day services, likely due to solid internal defences and continuity planning.

The attackers often exploit help desks by impersonating employees or customers to access corporate systems. Experts warn that airline call centres are especially vulnerable, given their importance to customer support.

Cybersecurity firms, including Mandiant, are now supporting the response and advising firms to reinforce these high-risk entry points.

Scattered Spider has previously breached major casinos, insurance, and retail companies. The FBI confirmed it is working with aviation partners to contain the threat and assist victims.

Industry leaders remain alert, noting that airlines, IT contractors, and vendors across the aviation sector are at risk from the escalating threat.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Hacktivist attacks surge in Iran–Israel tensions

The Iran–Israel conflict has now expanded into cyberspace, with rival hacker groups launching waves of politically driven attacks.

Following Israel’s military operation against Iran, pro-Israeli hackers known as ‘Predatory Sparrow‘ struck Iran’s Sepah Bank, deleting data and causing significant service disruption.

A day later, the same group targeted Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, stealing and destroying over $90 million in assets.

Cyber attacks intensified in the days before and after Israeli strikes. According to NSFOCUS, cyberattacks on Iran peaked three days before the military operation, suggesting pre-attack reconnaissance.

In retaliation, pro-Iranian hackers escalated attacks on Israel on 16 June, focusing on government systems, aerospace, and education.

While attacks on Iran have been fewer, Israeli systems have faced over 1,300 attacks in 2025 alone, with 37% of all global hacktivist activity aimed at Israel since the conflict began.

However, analysts note these attacks have been high in volume but limited in impact. Their malware tactics involve evading antivirus software, deleting data, and turning off recovery systems.

NSFOCUS warns that geopolitical tensions are turning hacktivist groups into informal cyber proxies. Though not formally state-backed, these loosely organised actors align closely with national interests.

As traditional defences lag, cybersecurity experts argue that national infrastructure must adopt more strategic, coordinated defence measures instead of fragmented responses, especially during crises and conflicts.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Google Doppl, the new AI app, turns outfit photos into try-on videos

Google has unveiled Doppl, a new AI-powered app that lets users create short videos of themselves wearing any outfit they choose.

Instead of relying on imagination or guesswork, Doppl allows people to upload full-body photos and apply outfits seen on social media, thrift shops, or friends, creating animated try-ons that bring static images to life.

The app builds on Google’s earlier virtual try-on tools integrated with its Shopping Graph. Doppl pushes things further by transforming still photos into motion videos, showing how clothes flow and fit in movement.

Users can upload their full-body image or choose an AI model to preview outfits. However, Google warns that the fit and details might not always be accurate at an early stage.

Doppl is currently only available in the US for Android and iOS users aged 18 or older. While Google encourages sharing videos with friends and followers, the tool raises concerns about misuse, such as generating content using photos of others.

Google’s policy requires disclosure if someone impersonates another person, but the company admits that some abuse may occur. To address the issue, Doppl content will include invisible watermarks for tracking.

In its privacy notice, Google confirmed that user uploads and generated videos will be used to improve AI technologies and services. However, data will be anonymised and separated from user accounts before any human review is allowed.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!