Future of work Archives | Page 70 of 226 | Digital Watch Observatory

Joule Agent workshops help organisations build practical AI agent solutions

Artificial intelligence agents, autonomous systems that perform tasks or assist decision-making, are increasingly part of digital transformation discussions, but their value depends on solving actual business problems rather than adopting technology for its own sake.

SAP’s AppHaus Joule Agent Discovery and Design workshops provide a structured, human-centred approach to help organisations discover where agentic AI can deliver real impact and design agents that collaborate effectively with humans.

The Discovery workshop focuses on identifying challenges and inefficiencies where automation can add value, guiding participants to select high-priority use cases that suit agentic solutions.

The Design workshop then brings users and business experts together to define each AI agent’s role, responsibilities and required skills. By the end of these sessions, participants have detailed plans defining tasks, workflows and instructions that can be translated into actual AI agent implementations.

SAP also supports these formats with self-paced learning courses and toolkits to help anyone run the workshops confidently, emphasising practical human–AI partnerships rather than technology hype.

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Competing visions of AGI emerge at Google DeepMind and Microsoft

Two former DeepMind co-founders now leading rival AI labs have outlined sharply different visions for how artificial general intelligence (AGI) should be developed, highlighting a growing strategic divide at the top of the industry.

Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis has framed AGI as a scientific tool for tackling foundational challenges. These include fusion energy, advanced materials, and fundamental physics. He says current models still lack consistent reasoning across tasks.

Hassabis has pointed to weaknesses, such as so-called ‘jagged intelligence’. Systems can perform well on complex benchmarks but fail simple tasks. DeepMind is investing in physics-based evaluations and AlphaZero-inspired research to enable genuine knowledge discovery rather than data replication.

Microsoft AI chief executive Mustafa Suleyman has taken a more product-led stance, framing AGI as an economic force rather than a scientific milestone. He has rejected the idea of race, instead prioritising controllable and reliable AI agents that operate under human oversight.

Suleyman has argued that governance, not raw capability, is the central challenge. He has emphasised containment, liability frameworks, and certified agents, reflecting wider tensions between rapid deployment and long-term scientific ambition as AI systems grow more influential.

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Russia considers restoring Roblox access after compliance talks

Roblox has signalled willingness to comply with Russian law, opening the possibility of the platform being unblocked in Russia following earlier access restrictions.

Roskomnadzor stated that cooperation could resume if Roblox demonstrates concrete steps instead of declarations towards meeting domestic legal requirements.

The regulator said Roblox acknowledged shortcomings in moderating game content and ensuring the safety of user chats, particularly involving minors.

Russian authorities stressed that compliance would require systematic measures to remove harmful material and prevent criminal communication rather than partial adjustments.

Access to Roblox was restricted in early December after officials cited the spread of content linked to extremist and terrorist activity.

Roskomnadzor indicated that continued engagement and demonstrable compliance could allow the platform to restore operations under the regulatory oversight of Russia.

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New AI model analyses X-rays to predict ageing and disease risk

AI may offer a new way to assess how quickly the body is aging by analysing chest X-rays, according to research published in The Journals of Gerontology. The CXR-Age AI model detected age-related changes in the heart, lungs, and health more accurately than DNA-based epigenetic clocks.

Researchers compared CXR-Age to two biological age measures, Horvath Age and DNAm PhenoAge, using data from 2,097 adults in the Project Baseline Health Study, a US multi-site initiative exploring health and disease over time.

CXR-Age showed strong links with early signs of heart and lung aging, frailty, and proteins associated with neuroinflammation, while DNA clocks displayed weaker or no correlations, particularly in middle-aged adults.

Findings suggest that AI applied to routine medical imaging could help clinicians identify individuals at risk of age-related diseases before symptoms appear. AI metrics like CXR-Age could enhance traditional assessments and support personalised preventive healthcare.

The study concludes that machine learning and medical imaging have the potential to advance understanding of organ-specific aging, offering a promising tool for monitoring cardiopulmonary health and supporting early interventions.

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OpenAI expands AI training for newsrooms worldwide

The US tech company, OpenAI, has launched the OpenAI Academy for News Organisations, a new learning hub designed to support journalists, editors and publishers adopting AI in their work.

An initiative that builds on existing partnerships with the American Journalism Project and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, reflecting a broader effort to strengthen journalism as a pillar of democratic life.

The Academy goes live with practical training, newsroom-focused playbooks and real-world examples aimed at helping news teams save time and focus on high-impact reporting.

Areas of focus include investigative research, multilingual reporting, data analysis, production efficiency and operational workflows that sustain news organisations over time.

Responsible use sits at the centre of the programme. Guidance on governance, internal policies and ethical deployment is intended to address concerns around trust, accuracy and newsroom culture, recognising that AI adoption raises structural questions rather than purely technical ones.

OpenAI plans to expand the Academy in the year ahead with additional courses, case studies and live programming.

Through collaboration with publishers, industry bodies and journalism networks worldwide, the Academy is positioned as a shared learning space that supports editorial independence while adapting journalism to an AI-shaped media environment.

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Google launches Gemini 3 Flash for scalable frontier AI

The US tech giant, Google, has unveiled Gemini 3 Flash, a new frontier AI model designed for developers who need high reasoning performance combined with speed and low cost.

Built on the multimodal and agentic foundations of Gemini 3 Pro, Gemini 3 Flash delivers faster responses at less than a quarter of the price, while surpassing Gemini 2.5 Pro across several major benchmarks.

The model is rolling out through the Gemini API, Google AI Studio, Vertex AI, Android Studio and other developer platforms, offering higher rate limits, batch processing and context caching that significantly reduce operational costs.

Gemini 3 Flash achieves frontier-level results on advanced reasoning benchmarks while remaining optimised for large-scale production workloads, reinforcing Google’s focus on efficiency alongside intelligence.

Early adopters are already deploying Gemini 3 Flash across coding, gaming, deepfake detection and legal document analysis, benefiting from improved agentic capabilities and near real-time multimodal reasoning.

By lowering cost barriers while expanding performance, Gemini 3 Flash enhances Google’s competitive position in the rapidly evolving AI model market. It broadens access to advanced AI systems for developers and enterprises.

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UNDP and UNESCO support AI training for judiciary

UNESCO and UNDP have partnered to enhance judicial capacity on the ethical use of AI. A three-day Bangkok training, supported by the Thailand Institute of Justice, brought together 27 judges from 13 Asia-Pacific countries to discuss the impact of AI on justice and safeguards for fairness.

Expert sessions highlighted the global use of AI in court administration, research, and case management, emphasising opportunities and risks. Participants explored ways to use AI ethically while protecting human rights and judicial integrity, warning that unsupervised tools could increase bias and undermine public trust.

Trainers emphasised that AI must be implemented with careful attention to bias, transparency, and structural inequalities.

Judges reflected on the growing complexity of verifying evidence in the age of generative AI and deepfakes, and acknowledged that responsible AI can improve access to justice, support case reviews, and free time for substantive decision-making.

The initiative concluded with a consensus that AI adoption in courts should be guided by governance, transparency, and ongoing dialogue. The UNDP will continue to collaborate in advancing ethical, human rights-focused AI in regional judiciaries.

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AI-generated ads face new disclosure rules in South Korea

South Korea will require advertisers to label AI-generated or AI-assisted advertising from early 2026, marking a shift in how the country governs AI in online commerce and consumer protection.

The measure responds to a sharp rise in deceptive ads using synthetic imagery and deepfakes, particularly in healthcare and financial promotions. Regulators say transparency at the point of content delivery is intended to reduce manipulation and restore consumer trust.

Authorities in South Korea acknowledge that mandatory labelling alone may not deter malicious actors, who can bypass rules through offshore hosting or rapidly changing content. Detection challenges and uneven enforcement capacity across platforms remain open concerns.

South Korea’s industry groups warn that the policy could have uneven economic effects within the country’s advertising ecosystem. Large platforms and agencies are expected to adapt quickly, while smaller firms may face higher compliance costs that slow experimentation with generative tools.

Policymakers argue the framework aligns with South Korea’s broader AI governance strategy, positioning the country between innovation-led and precautionary regulatory models as synthetic media becomes more widespread.

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Salesforce expands Stockholm office to advance agentic AI

The San Francisco-based software company Salesforce has opened a significantly expanded office in Stockholm, reinforcing its long-term investment in Sweden and its broader Northern European strategy.

A new location that reflects the growing demand for AI-driven enterprise tools as regional businesses increasingly adopt agent-based technologies across their operations.

Located at Sveavägen 20, the Stockholm office is four times larger than Salesforce’s previous space and has been designed to support hybrid work, collaboration and innovation.

The opening event highlighted the focus of Salesforce on real estate as a strategic enabler for AI transformation, bringing together employees, partners, customers and community organisations.

A launch that also featured the Agentforce Sweden Nonprofit Hackathon, where Swedish charities presented AI agent solutions to improve efficiency and impact.

Majblomman received SEK 150,000 for an autonomous financial aid agent, underlining Salesforce’s ambition to position the Stockholm office as a regional hub for agentic enterprise development and responsible AI adoption.

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Segment Anything adds audio as Meta unveils SAM Audio

Meta has introduced SAM Audio, a new AI model that uses intuitive prompts to isolate and segment sounds from complex audio recordings. The release extends the company’s Segment Anything collection beyond visuals into audio and video workflows.

SAM Audio allows users to separate sounds through text prompts, visual cues, or time-based selections. Creators can extract vocals or instruments, remove background noise, or isolate specific sound sources in recordings without specialised audio engineering tools.

Meta describes SAM Audio as a unified model designed around how people naturally think about sound. It supports combined text, visual, and time-based prompts, enabling flexible audio separation across music, podcasting, film, accessibility, and research.

Meta says the model achieves strong performance across diverse audio environments and is already being used internally to develop next-generation creative tools. The approach lowers technical barriers while expanding the range of possible audio editing applications.

SAM Audio is available through the Segment Anything Playground, where users can test the model with sample assets or upload their own files. Meta has also made the model available for download, signalling broader ambitions to make audio segmentation a core capability of its AI ecosystem.

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