Future of work

Wimbledon faces backlash over AI line judges after tech errors spark outrage

Wimbledon’s decision to fully replace human line judges with an AI-powered system has sparked growing discontent among players and fans.

Although designed for precision, the Hawk-Eye Live system has made questionable calls, been difficult to hear during matches, and even shut down unexpectedly, raising concerns about its reliability.

British players Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu both expressed frustration over key points lost due to what they believed were inaccurate calls. Sonay Kartal’s match was interrupted in a particularly disruptive incident when the AI system crashed mid-game, prompting organisers to apologise.

The All England Club defends the system as more impartial than human officials, but not everyone agrees. Over 300 line judges lost their jobs, and some staged protests outside the grounds.

With no way to challenge calls made by the machine, players say the system removes accountability and human judgement from the sport.

While Wimbledon continues to market the move as progress, critics argue that the tournament has sacrificed tradition and clarity for automation.

As other Grand Slams like the French Open retain human officials, questions remain over whether AI is improving the sport or changing it for the worse.

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Meta hires Apple’s top AI executive amid tech talent war

Apple has lost a key AI executive to Meta, dealing a fresh blow to the tech giant’s internal AI ambitions.

Ruoming Pang, who led Apple’s foundation models team, is joining Meta’s newly formed superintelligence group, according to people familiar with the matter.

Meta reportedly offered Pang a lucrative package worth tens of millions annually, continuing its aggressive hiring streak.

The company, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has already brought in several high-profile AI experts from Scale AI, OpenAI, Anthropic and elsewhere, with Zuckerberg personally involved in recruitment efforts.

Pang’s team at Apple had been responsible for the core language models behind Apple Intelligence and Siri.

However, internal dissatisfaction has been mounting as the company considered shifting to third-party models, including from OpenAI and Anthropic.

That shift, combined with recent leadership changes and reduced responsibilities for Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea, has weakened morale across the team.

Following Pang’s exit, the team will now be managed by Zhifeng Chen under a new multi-tier structure.

Several engineers are also reportedly planning to leave, raising concerns about Apple’s ability to retain AI talent as Meta increases its investment and influence in the race for advanced AI development.

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Court ruling raises alarm over saved ChatGPT chats

A US federal court has ordered OpenAI to preserve nearly all user chats with ChatGPT, including those that users had deleted. The decision comes as part of The New York Times’s ongoing copyright lawsuit, triggering widespread privacy concerns.

The ruling means that millions of personal conversations, previously thought erased, will remain accessible during litigation. These exchanges may include medical queries, relationship issues, and other private matters shared in confidence.

Privacy advocates argue that users were not notified or allowed to object. Critics warn the US ruling sets a dangerous precedent, enabling mass data preservation in lawsuits unrelated to most users.

The Times claims users may have deleted chats to hide copyright infringement. Lawyers and privacy experts counter that people delete chats for legitimate, non-infringing reasons and should retain control over their data.

Legal experts call the preservation order excessive, noting it undermines trust in AI tools and could lead to a chilling effect on their use. The decision could reshape how user privacy is treated in tech litigation for years.

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Podcast-based training helps improve AI dialogue

Researchers have developed PodGPT, a new AI model designed to enhance reasoning and dialogue skills by training on scientific podcasts. The project aims to integrate dynamic, conversational audio data into language models to boost their performance in STEMM subjects.

The team used over 3,700 hours of English-language STEMM podcast transcripts, alongside material from the New England Journal of Medicine. Transcripts were generated using Whisper large-v3 and fed into open-source AI models such as Gemma, Mixtral, and LLaMA.

PodGPT improves multilingual understanding and factual accuracy, particularly in answering science-based queries. It also performs better at retrieving evidence from long documents and engaging in human-like scientific dialogue.

The researchers suggest that podcast-based training provides more realistic language use and diverse reasoning patterns than traditional datasets. Their work demonstrates the value of spoken, expert-led content in preparing models for advanced scientific applications.

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East Meets West: Reimagining education in the age of AI

At the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva, the session ‘AI (and) education: Convergences between Chinese and European pedagogical practices’ brought together educators, students, and industry experts to examine how AI reshapes global education.

Led by Jovan Kurbalija of Diplo and Professor Hao Liu of Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), with industry insights from Deloitte’s Norman Sze, the discussion focused on the future of universities and the evolving role of professors amid rapid AI developments.

Drawing on philosophical traditions from Confucius to Plato, the session emphasised the need for a hybrid approach that preserves the human essence of learning while embracing technological transformation.

Professor Liu showcased BIT’s ‘intelligent education’ model, a human-centred system integrating time, space, knowledge, teachers, and students. Moving beyond rigid, exam-focused instruction, BIT promotes creativity and interdisciplinary learning, empowering students with flexible academic paths and digital tools.

Jovan Kurbalija at WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025
Jovan Kurbalija, Executive Director of Diplo

Meanwhile, Norman Sze highlighted how AI has accelerated industry workflows and called for educational alignment with real-world demands. He argued for reorienting learning around critical thinking, ethical literacy, and collaboration—skills that AI cannot replicate and remain central to personal and professional growth.

A key theme was whether teachers and universities remain relevant in an AI-driven future. Students from around the world contributed compelling reflections: AI may offer efficiency, but it cannot replace the emotional intelligence, mentorship, and meaning-making that only human educators provide.

As one student said, ‘I don’t care about ChatGPT—it’s not human.’ The group reached a consensus: professors must shift from ‘sages on the stage’ to ‘guides on the side,’ coaching students through complexity rather than merely transmitting knowledge.

The session closed on an optimistic note, asserting that while AI is a powerful catalyst for change, the heart of education lies in human connection, dialogue, and the ability to ask the right questions. Participants agreed that a truly forward-looking educational model will emerge not from choosing between East and West or human and machine, but from integrating the best of all to build a more inclusive and insightful future of learning.

Track all key events from the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025 on our dedicated page.

Google hit with EU complaint over AI Overviews

After a formal filing by the Independent Publishers Alliance, Google has faced an antitrust complaint in the European Union over its AI Overviews feature.

The group alleges that Google has been using web content without proper consent to power its AI-generated summaries, causing considerable harm to online publishers.

The complaint claims that publishers have lost traffic, readers and advertising revenue due to these summaries. It also argues that opting out of AI Overviews is not a real choice unless publishers are prepared to vanish entirely from Google’s search results.

AI Overviews were launched over a year ago and now appear at the top of many search queries, summarising information using AI. Although the tool has expanded rapidly, critics argue it drives users away from original publisher websites, especially news outlets.

Google has responded by stating its AI search tools allow users to ask more complex questions and help businesses and creators get discovered. The tech giant also insisted that web traffic patterns are influenced by many factors and warned against conclusions based on limited data.

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BRICS calls for AI data regulations amid challenges with de-dollarisation

BRICS leaders in Rio de Janeiro have called for stricter global rules on how AI uses data, demanding fair compensation for content used without permission.

The group’s draft statement highlights growing frustration with tech giants using vast amounts of unlicensed content to train AI models.

Despite making progress on digital policy, BRICS once again stalled on a long-standing ambition to reduce reliance on the US dollar.

After a decade of talks, the bloc’s cross-border payments system remains in limbo. Member nations continue to debate infrastructure, governance and how to work around non-convertible currencies and sanctions.

China is moving independently, expanding the yuan’s international use and launching domestic currency futures.

Meanwhile, the rest of the bloc struggles with legal, financial and technical hurdles, leaving the dream of a unified alternative to the dollar on hold. Even a proposed New Investment Platform remains mired in internal disagreements.

In response to rising global debt concerns, BRICS introduced a Multilateral Guarantees Initiative within the New Development Bank. It aims to improve credit access across the Global South without needing new capital, especially for countries struggling to borrow in dollar-dominated markets.

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Vietnam adopts AI in elite sports training

Vietnam is integrating AI technology into its national sports training programmes to improve performance in international competitions. A new partnership between the Sports Authority of Việt Nam (SAV) and Dreamax Company will see AI applied from 2025 to 2030.

The Vietnamese technology will analyse performance data, monitor adaptation to training, and predict injury risk using devices that collect environmental and spatial indicators. The first implementations are set to begin next week, marking a shift towards data-driven performance evaluation and coaching.

SAV Director Nguyễn Danh Hoàng Việt said the initiative addresses outdated systems and builds on the country’s recent sporting successes by offering more sophisticated and personalised training. Dreamax stated that the AI system supports national management and provides public insight into sporting progress.

Collected data, managed as national security information, will be analysed to measure the programme’s impact over its first year. If successful, the AI-based approach may expand to other teams as Vietnam targets greater achievements in future Asian Games and Olympic events.

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AI tool could change marine forecasting methods

An AI-driven forecasting tool developed by the Met Office and the University of Exeter is poised to reshape how marine operations are planned. The low-cost model, MaLCOM, has successfully predicted ocean currents in the Gulf of Mexico.

Designed initially to forecast regional wave patterns around the UK, the framework’s adaptability is now helping model ocean currents in new environments.

The tool’s ability to run on a laptop makes it highly accessible, offering real-time insights that could aid offshore energy.

Researchers emphasise the importance of the model’s transparency, which allows users to inspect how it processes data and generates forecasts. This design supports trust in its outputs and offers a strong foundation for ongoing development.

The project began five years ago and has grown through collaboration between academia, government and industry.

Its recent recognition with the ASCE Offshore Technology Conference Best Paper Award underscores the value of partnerships in accelerating progress in AI-based weather and climate tools.

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FlySafair introduces AI interface for smarter bookings

South African airline FlySafair has introduced Lindi, an AI-powered interface to assist customers with booking and travel management. Accessible 24/7 via WhatsApp, Lindi can handle single-passenger flight bookings, seat or name changes, and provide travel details.

FlySafair is the first South African carrier to implement a free AI travel assistant capable of managing bookings and setting a new benchmark for customer service. The initiative reflects the airline’s commitment to affordable, efficient, and tech-driven travel experiences.

Chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon said the technology offers a scalable way to provide each passenger with a virtual assistant. The airline aims to expand Lindi’s capabilities to improve service quality and customer satisfaction further.

FlySafair hopes Lindi’s human-like interaction will redefine digital engagement in the aviation industry and demonstrate practical value as AI becomes more embedded in everyday life.

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