Development

AI sparks worry over job loss and skill decline

A 2025 survey by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) shows that 41% of employees think AI could perform part of their job, while 4% fear full replacement. Higher-educated workers and young adults are most likely to believe their tasks could be automated.

Among those using AI at work, 56% expect it could partly or fully do their jobs, compared with 37% of non-users. Almost half of the workers who see AI as a potential replacement expressed concern, with women slightly more worried than men.

Most adults anticipate that AI will lead to job losses (75%), a decline in workforce skills (64%), and less interesting work (48%). Despite these concerns, 57% believe AI could boost productivity by speeding up tasks.

Fewer respondents think AI will solve labour shortages (46%) or replace unsafe jobs (41%). The findings highlight both the opportunities and anxieties surrounding AI adoption in the workplace.

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

OURA launches AI model tailored to women’s physiology with privacy-first design

Guidance for women’s health is entering a new phase as ŌURA introduces a proprietary large language model designed specifically for reproductive and hormonal wellbeing.

The model sits within Oura Advisor and is available for testing through Oura Labs, drawing on clinical standards, peer-reviewed evidence and biometric signals collected through the Oura Ring to create personalised and context-aware responses.

The system interprets questions through women’s physiology instead of depending on general-purpose models that miss critical hormonal and life-stage variables.

It supports the full spectrum of reproductive health, from the earliest menstrual patterns to menopause, and is intentionally tuned to be non-dismissive and emotionally supportive.

By combining longitudinal sleep, activity, stress, cycle and pregnancy data with clinician-reviewed research, the model aims to strengthen understanding and preparation ahead of medical appointments.

Privacy forms the centre of the architecture, with all processing hosted on infrastructure controlled entirely by the company. Conversations are neither shared nor sold, reflecting ŌURA’s broader push for private AI.

Oura Labs operates as an opt-in experimental environment where new features are tested in collaboration with members who can leave at any time.

Women who take part influence the model’s evolution by contributing feedback that informs future development.

These interactions help refine personalised insights across fertility, cycle irregularities, pregnancy changes and other hormonal shifts, marking a significant step in how the Finland-founded company advances preventive, data-guided care for its global community.

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

NVIDIA healthcare survey shows surge in AI adoption and strong ROI

AI is reshaping healthcare as organisations shift from trial projects to large-scale deployment.

The latest industry survey from NVIDIA shows widespread adoption across digital healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical technology, signalling a sector that is now executing rather than experimenting.

Uptake is expanding rapidly, with generative AI and large language models becoming central tools for clinical and operational tasks.

The report highlights how medical imaging, drug discovery and clinical decision support are among the most prominent applications. Radiologists are using AI to accelerate image analysis, while research teams apply advanced models to speed early-stage drug development.

Organisations benefit from workflow optimisation instead of relying on manual administrative routines, with many citing improvements in patient coordination, documentation and coding.

Open-source models are increasingly important, with most respondents considering them vital for domain-specific development.

Experts argue that open-source innovation will guide exploration, whereas deployment in clinical environments will demand rigorous validation and accountability rather than unrestricted experimentation.

Agentic AI is emerging as a new capability for knowledge retrieval and literature analysis.

Evidence of return on investment is clear, prompting 85% of organisations to expand their AI budgets. Many report higher revenue, reduced costs and significant gains in back-office productivity.

Evaluation is becoming a core operational requirement, ensuring AI continues to improve safety, quality and overall clinical performance over time.

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

New Relic advances AI agents for enterprise observability

The expansion into enterprise AI comes with a no-code platform from New Relic that allows companies to build and supervise their own observability agents.

A system that assembles AI-driven monitors designed to detect bugs and performance problems before they affect users, instead of leaving teams to rely on manual tracking.

It also supports the Model Context Protocol so organisations can link external data sources to the agents and integrate them with existing New Relic tools.

The company stresses that the platform is intended to complement other agent systems rather than replace them.

As AI agent software spreads across the market, enterprises are searching for ways to manage risk when giving automated tools access to internal systems.

Industry players such as Salesforce and OpenAI have already introduced their own agent platforms, and assessments from Gartner describe these frameworks as essential infrastructure for wider AI adoption.

New Relic also introduced new tools for the OpenTelemetry framework to remove friction around observability standards.

Its application performance monitoring agents now support OTel data, allowing enterprises to manage these streams in one place instead of operating separate collectors.

The update aims to reduce fragmentation that has slowed OTel deployment across large organisations and to simplify how engineering teams handle diverse observability pipelines.

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

AI preparing kids for careers that don’t exist yet, say education leaders

Education leaders and industry stakeholders in South Africa say the rise of AI is transforming labour-market expectations to the point that tomorrow’s careers may not yet exist.

They argue that traditional curricula, centred on static knowledge and routine tasks, must evolve to prioritise adaptability, problem solving, creativity, ethical reasoning and digital fluency, competencies that complement AI rather than compete with it.

Speakers at recent education forums emphasised that AI will continue to automate routine cognitive and technical work, pushing demand toward roles that require higher-order thinking and human-centred skills.

They described a growing need to integrate AI literacy and data skills into schooling from an early age to reduce future workforce displacement and prepare students to harness AI as a productive partner.

Experts also highlighted equity concerns: without intentional policy and investment to support under-resourced schools and communities, the ‘AI skills gap’ could exacerbate inequality. Some educators recommended stronger partnerships between government, tech industry and educational institutions to co-develop curricula, teacher training and accessible AI tools.

They underscored that competencies such as empathetic communication, cultural awareness and ethical judgement, areas where AI lacks robust capabilities, will remain crucial.

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

AI-powered electronic nose shows promise for early ovarian cancer screening

Researchers at Linköping University have developed an AI-powered electronic nose capable of detecting early signs of ovarian cancer in blood plasma samples. The pilot study, published in Advanced Intelligent Systems, reports 97 per cent accuracy using machine-learning models trained on biobank data.

Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed late because symptoms resemble those of more common conditions. In 2022, around 325,000 new cases and more than 200,000 deaths were recorded globally. Earlier detection could significantly improve survival rates and access to timely treatment.

The prototype device contains 32 commercially available sensors that detect volatile substances emitted by blood samples. Rather than targeting a single biomarker, the system analyses complex chemical patterns, with machine learning identifying signatures linked to ovarian cancer.

Unlike conventional blood tests, which can be slow and rely on specific biomarkers, the electronic nose evaluates a broad spectrum of compounds. Researchers say the approach offers greater precision and could reduce screening costs while improving accessibility.

Developers estimate the test takes around 10 minutes and could become part of cancer screening programmes within three years. Although currently focused on ovarian cancer, the team suggests the method could eventually be adapted to detect multiple cancer types.

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

US tech giants eye Wales for major AI investment

American technology firms are increasingly looking to Wales as a destination for AI investment and data infrastructure. Strong inward investment figures and expanding growth zones are putting the nation firmly on the technology map.

Last year Wales secured £4.6bn in global investment across 65 foreign direct investment projects, marking a 23 per cent rise year on year. Thousands of jobs were created or safeguarded, outperforming many other UK regions.

Major projects underline the shift. US firm Vantage plans to transform the former Ford Bridgend plant into a large-scale data centre campus, while Microsoft is supporting another proposed scheme in Newport, both located within designated AI growth zones.

Beyond data centres, Wales offers land, connectivity and a supportive regulatory environment. Innovation clusters across Cardiff, Newport and North Wales, alongside strengths in life sciences, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy, are strengthening its appeal to global investors.

With expanding energy projects and a growing start-up pipeline, Wales is positioning itself as a competitive base for global business. Investors are increasingly encouraged to see it not as a regional outpost, but as an international platform rooted in strong economic foundations.

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

OpenClaw vulnerabilities exposed by AI-powered code scanner

Researchers at Endor Labs identified six high- to critical vulnerabilities in the open-source AI agent framework OpenClaw using an AI-powered static application security testing engine to trace untrusted data flows. The flaws included server-side request forgery, authentication bypass, and path traversal.

The bugs affected multiple components of the agentic system, which integrates large language models with external tools and web services. Several SSRF issues were found in the gateway and authentication modules, potentially exposing internal services or cloud metadata depending on the deployment context.

Access control failures were also found in OpenClaw. A webhook handler lacked proper verification, enabling forged requests, while another flaw allowed unauthenticated access to protected functionality. Researchers confirmed exploitability with proof-of-concept demonstrations.

The team said that traditional static analysis tools struggle with modern AI software stacks, where inputs undergo multiple transformations before reaching sensitive operations. Their AI-based SAST engine preserved context across layers, tracing untrusted data from entry points to critical functions.

OpenClaw maintainers were notified through responsible disclosure and have since issued patches and advisories. Researchers argue that as AI agent frameworks expand into enterprise environments, security analysis must adapt to address both conventional vulnerabilities and AI-specific attack surfaces.

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

Enterprises rethink cloud amid digital sovereignty push

Digital sovereignty has moved to the boardroom as geopolitical tensions rise and cloud adoption accelerates. Organisations are reassessing infrastructure to protect autonomy, ensure compliance, and manage jurisdictional risk. Cloud strategy is increasingly shaped by data location, control, and resilience.

Regulations such as NIS2, DORA, and national data laws have intensified scrutiny of cross-border dependencies. Sovereignty concerns now extend beyond governments to sectors such as healthcare and finance. Vendor selection increasingly prioritises sovereign regions and stricter data controls.

Hybrid cloud remains dominant. Organisations place sensitive workloads on private platforms to strengthen oversight while retaining public cloud innovation. Large-scale repatriation is rare due to cost and complexity, though compliance pressures are driving broader multicloud diversification.

Government investment and oversight are reinforcing the shift. Sovereignty is becoming part of national resilience policy, prompting stricter audits and governance expectations. Enterprises face growing pressure to demonstrate control over critical systems, supply chains, and data flows.

A pragmatic approach, often described as minimum viable sovereignty, helps reduce exposure without unnecessary complexity. Organisations can identify critical workloads, secure enforceable vendor commitments, and plan for disruption. Early adaptation supports resilience and long-term flexibility.

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

Romania’s job market faces structural change as AI and automation rise

A Think by ING analysis finds that Romania’s recent macroeconomic slowdown reflects more profound structural change than cyclical weakness.

After years of robust consumption-led expansion, fiscal tightening and weak domestic demand have curbed growth, while firms increasingly invest in automation and AI to boost productivity rather than expand headcount.

Industrial employment has declined; for example, manufacturing jobs fell by around 25,000 in late 2025, and labour market hiring has shifted toward defensive, replacement-only patterns.

Firms are integrating robotics, automated assembly lines and intelligent logistics systems, and service-sector work is also being reshaped by AI tools, even where formal adoption is still emerging.

A recent survey suggests that 68% of people in Romania have used AI tools, and 44% rely on them for work tasks such as administrative support and analysis, signalling rising informal use ahead of widespread enterprise deployment.

While automation and AI can raise productivity and output without proportional employment growth, they also tilt the labour market: high-skill specialised roles (e.g. AI, engineering, advanced management) are expected to remain resilient or grow, while routine roles, including some entry-level tech positions, call-centre jobs and administrative tasks, face stagnation or decline.

However, this can create a ‘barbell’ labour market with growth chiefly at the high and low ends, and limited opportunities in mid-skill roles.

Real wage erosion, tight hiring and demographic trends (including a shrinking workforce) add to short-term challenges. In the near term, employment may remain subdued even as economic output recovers modestly by 2027.

Over the longer term, the economy’s shift toward capital-intensive, productivity-driven growth could support stronger output without generating broad employment, underscoring the need for education, reskilling and policy strategies that help workers adapt to AI-driven labour demand.

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