Digital identities

Smarter Alexa+ powers Amazon’s new gadgets

Amazon has unveiled a refreshed lineup of devices in New York, designed to work with its new AI-powered assistant Alexa+. The showcase featured Echo speakers, Fire TV devices, a Kindle with a colour display and enhanced Ring and Blink cameras, all set to be released later this year.

After years of investment, the company is seeking to reignite interest in Alexa, adding AI to provide more personalisation and a natural conversational style instead of the more mechanical responses of earlier versions.

New silicon chips promise faster processing across Echo devices, while Ring cameras can now use AI to distinguish between a courier and a potential intruder.

Ring’s founder, Jamie Siminoff, who recently returned to Amazon, demonstrated how updated cameras can assist communities by helping to identify missing dogs through neighbourhood alerts. Siminoff described the effort as turning individual concerns into community action.

Ring devices will be priced between 60 and 350 dollars, depending on features, while Blink cameras now offer sharper resolution for indoor and outdoor monitoring.

Amazon’s device chief, Panos Panay, presented the new Kindle Scribe, a $630 tablet with stylus support, and the first Kindle with a colour screen, which offered a paper-like writing feel.

Updated Fire TV sets and a $40 streaming stick also integrate Alexa+, enabling users to search scenes or retrieve information about actors through voice commands instead of traditional menus.

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AI impact on employment still limited

A new study by Yale’s Budget Lab suggests AI has yet to cause major disruption in the US labour market. Researchers found little evidence that generative AI has significantly altered employment patterns since the launch of ChatGPT nearly three years ago.

The report shows that the mix of occupations has shifted slightly faster than in previous periods, but not dramatically. Many of the changes appear to have begun before generative AI became widely available, suggesting broader economic trends are at play.

US based industry-level analysis revealed more noticeable shifts in information and financial services. Yet these changes, too, reflect longer-term developments rather than sudden AI-driven disruption. Overall, employment and unemployment levels show no clear link to AI exposure or adoption.

The researchers stress that impacts may take longer to materialise, as seen with past technologies such as computers and the internet. They call for better data from AI developers and continued monitoring to capture longer-term effects on workers.

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Sora 2.0 release reignites debate on intellectual property in AI video

OpenAI has launched Sora 2.0, the latest version of its video generation model, alongside an iOS app available by invitation in the US and Canada. The tool offers advances in physical realism, audio-video synchronisation, and multi-shot storytelling, with built-in safeguards for security and identity control.

The app allows users to create, remix, or appear in clips generated from text or images. A Pro version, web interface, and developer API are expected soon, extending access to the model.

Sora 2.0 has reignited debate over intellectual property. According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI has informed studios and talent agencies that their universes could appear in generated clips unless they opt out.

The company defends its approach as an extension of fan creativity, while stressing that real people’s images and voices require prior consent, validated through a verified cameo system.

By combining new creative tools with identity safeguards, OpenAI aims to position Sora 2.0 as a leading platform in the fast-growing market for AI-generated video.

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Calls for regulation grow as OpenAI and Meta adjust chatbots for teen mental health

OpenAI and Meta are adjusting how their chatbots handle conversations with teenagers showing signs of distress or asking about suicide. OpenAI plans to launch new parental controls this fall, enabling parents to link accounts, restrict features, and receive alerts if their child appears to be in acute distress.

The company says its chatbots will also route sensitive conversations to more capable models, aiming to improve responses to vulnerable users. The announcement follows a lawsuit alleging that ChatGPT encouraged a California teenager to take his own life earlier this year.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is also tightening its restrictions. Its chatbots will no longer engage teens on self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, or inappropriate topics, instead redirecting them towards expert resources. Meta already offers parental controls across teen accounts.

The moves come amid growing scrutiny of chatbot safety. A RAND Corporation study found inconsistent responses from ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude when asked about suicide, suggesting the tools require further refinement before being relied upon in high-risk situations.

Lead author Ryan McBain welcomed the updates but called them only incremental. Without safety benchmarks and enforceable standards, he argued, companies remain self-regulating in an area where risks to teenagers are uniquely high.

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How AI is transforming healthcare and patient management

AI is moving from theory to practice in healthcare. Hospitals and clinics are adopting AI to improve diagnostics, automate routine tasks, support overworked staff, and cut costs. A recent GoodFirms survey shows strong confidence that AI will become essential to patient care and health management.

Survey findings reveal that nearly all respondents believe AI will transform healthcare. Robotic surgery, predictive analytics, and diagnostic imaging are gaining momentum, while digital consultations and wearable monitors are expanding patient access.

AI-driven tools are also helping reduce human errors, improve decision-making, and support clinicians with real-time insights.

Challenges remain, particularly around data privacy, transparency, and the risk of over-reliance on technology. Concerns about misdiagnosis, lack of human empathy, and job displacement highlight the need for responsible implementation.

Even so, the direction is clear: AI is set to be a defining force in healthcare’s future, enabling more efficient, accurate, and equitable systems worldwide.

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Doctors and nurses outperform AI in patient triage

Human staff are more accurate than AI in assessing patient urgency in emergency departments, according to research presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress in Barcelona.

The study, led by Dr Renata Jukneviciene of Vilnius University, tested ChatGPT 3.5 against clinicians and nurses using real case studies.

Doctors achieved an overall accuracy of 70.6% and nurses 65.5%, compared with 50.4% for AI. Doctors also outperformed AI in surgical and therapeutic cases, while nurses were more reliable overall.

AI did show strength in recognising the most critical cases, surpassing nurses in both accuracy and specificity. Researchers suggested that AI may help prioritise life-threatening situations and support less experienced staff instead of acting as a replacement.

However, over-triaging by AI could lead to inefficiencies, making human oversight essential.

Future studies will explore newer AI models, ECG interpretation, and integration into nurse training, particularly in mass-casualty scenarios.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Barbra Backus from Amsterdam said AI has value in certain areas, such as interpreting scans, but it cannot yet replace trained staff for triage decisions.

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Google unveils smarter AI Mode for visual searches

Google’s upgraded AI Mode in Google Search now supports conversational queries and image uploads, delivering highly relevant visual results. Launched in the US in English, the feature allows users to refine searches naturally, perfect for finding inspiration or specific items effortlessly.

AI Mode simplifies shopping; users describe items like ‘barrel jeans, not too baggy,’ to get tailored, shoppable results. Google’s Shopping Graph, boasting over 50 billion product listings, provides details like reviews, deals, and availability, with 2 billion listings refreshed hourly.

The update harnesses Gemini 2.5’s advanced multimodal capabilities and a ‘visual search fan-out’ technique, enabling deeper image analysis. The approach identifies subtle details and secondary objects, ensuring results align closely with the user’s intent and the image’s full context.

On mobile, users can dive deeper by searching within specific images, asking follow-up questions to explore creative ideas or pinpoint exact items. The intuitive experience transforms how users seek inspiration or shop online, making searches more natural and precise.

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UK users lose access to Imgur amid watchdog probe

Imgur has cut off access for UK users after regulators warned its parent company, MediaLab AI, of a potential fine over child data protection.

Visitors to the platform since 30 September have been met with a notice saying that content is unavailable in their region, with embedded Imgur images on other sites also no longer visible.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) began investigating the platform in March, questioning whether it complied with data laws and the Children’s Code.

The regulator said it had issued MediaLab with a notice of intent to fine the company following provisional findings. Officials also emphasised that leaving the UK would not shield Imgur from responsibility for any past breaches.

Some users speculated that the withdrawal was tied to new duties under the Online Safety Act, which requires platforms to check whether visitors are over 18 before allowing access to harmful content.

However, both the ICO and Ofcom stated that Imgur decided on a commercial choice. Other MediaLab services, such as Kik Messenger, continue to operate in the UK with age verification measures in place.

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Athens Democracy Forum highlights AI challenge for democracy

The 2025 Athens Democracy Forum opened in Athens with a dedicated session on AI, ethics and democracy, co-organised by Kathimerini in partnership with The New York Times.

Held at the Athens Conservatoire, the event placed AI at the heart of discussions on the future of democratic governance.

Speakers underlined the urgency of addressing systemic challenges created by AI.

Achilleas Tsaltas, president of the Democracy & Culture Foundation, described AI as the central concern of the era. At the same time, Greece’s minister of digital governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, warned that AI should remain a servant instead of becoming a master.

Axel Dauchez, founder of Make.org, pointed to the conflict between democratic and authoritarian governance models and called for stronger civic education.

The opening panel brought together academics such as Oxford’s Stathis Kalyvas and Yale’s Hélène Landemore, who examined how AI affects liberal democracies, global inequalities and political accountability.

Discussions concluded with a debate on Aristotle’s ethics as a framework for evaluating opportunities and risks in AI development, moderated by Stephen Dunbar-Johnson of The New York Times.

The session continues with panels on the AI transformation blueprint of Greece, regulation of AI, and the emerging concept of AI sovereignty as a business model.

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Greece considers social media ban for under-16s, says Mitsotakis

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has signalled that Greece may consider banning social media use for children under 16.

He raised the issue during a UN event in New York, hosted by Australia, titled ‘Protecting Children in the Digital Age’, held as part of the 80th UN General Assembly.

Mitsotakis emphasised that any restrictions would be coordinated with international partners, warning that the world is carrying out the largest uncontrolled experiment on children’s minds through unchecked social media exposure.

He cautioned that the long-term effects are uncertain but unlikely to be positive.

The prime minister pointed to new national initiatives, such as the ban on mobile phone use in schools, which he said has transformed the educational experience.

He also highlighted the recent launch of parco.gov.gr, which provides age verification and parental control tools to support families in protecting children online.

Mitsotakis stressed that difficulties enforcing such measures cannot serve as an excuse for inaction, urging global cooperation to address the growing risks children face in the digital age.

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