Human rights principles

Spanish joins Google’s global AI Mode expansion

Google is rapidly expanding AI Mode, its generative AI-powered search assistant. The company has announced that the feature is now rolling out globally in Spanish. Spanish speakers can now interact with AI Mode to ask complex questions that traditional Search handles poorly.

AI Mode has seen swift adoption since its launch earlier this year. First introduced in March, the feature was rolled out to users across the US in May, followed by its first language expansion earlier this month.

Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese were the first languages added, and Spanish now joins the list. Google says more languages will follow soon as part of its global AI Mode rollout.

Google says the feature is designed to work alongside Search, not replace it, offering conversational answers with links to supporting sources. The company has stressed that responses are generated with safety filters and fact-checking layers.

The rollout reflects Google’s broader strategy to integrate generative AI into its ecosystem, spanning Search, Workspace, and Android. AI Mode will evolve with multimodal support and tighter integration with other Google services.

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Yale students explore AI through clubs and fellowships

Across Yale, membership in AI-focused clubs such as the Yale Artificial Intelligence Association (AIA), Yale Artificial Intelligence Alignment (YAIA) and Yale Artificial Intelligence Policy Initiative (YAIPI) has grown rapidly.

The organisations offer weekly meetings, projects, and fellowships to deepen understanding of AI’s technical, ethical, and societal implications.

Each club has a distinct focus. YAIA addresses long-term risks and safety, while the AIA emphasises student-led technical projects and community-building. YAIPI explores ethics, governance and policy, particularly for students without technical backgrounds.

Fellowships, paper-reading groups and collaborative projects allow members to engage deeply with AI issues.

Membership numbers reflect this surge: AIA’s mailing list now includes around 400 students, YAIPI has over 200 subscribers, and YAIA admitted 25 students to its safety fellowship. The clubs are also beginning to collaborate, combining technical expertise with policy knowledge for joint projects.

Professional schools and faculty-led initiatives, including law and business-focused AI groups, further expand opportunities for student engagement.

AI’s role in classrooms remains varied. Some professors encourage experimentation with generative tools, while others enforce stricter rules, particularly in humanities courses. Yale’s Executive Committee warned first-year students against using AI platforms like ChatGPT without attribution.

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Gemini brings conversational AI to Google TV

Google has launched Gemini for TV, bringing conversational AI to the living room. The update builds on Google TV and Google Assistant, letting viewers chat naturally with their screens to discover shows, plan trips, or even tackle homework questions.

Instead of scrolling endlessly, users can ask Gemini to find a film everyone will enjoy or recap last season’s drama. The AI can handle vague requests, like finding ‘that new hospital drama,’ and provide reviews before you press play.

Gemini also turns the TV into an interactive learning tool. From explaining why volcanoes erupt to guiding kids through projects, it offers helpful answers with supporting YouTube videos for hands-on exploration.

Beyond schoolwork, Gemini can help plan meals, teach new skills like guitar, or brainstorm family trips, all through conversational prompts. Such features make the TV a hub for entertainment, education, and inspiration.

Gemini is now available on the TCL QM9K series, with rollout to additional Google TV devices planned for later this year. Google says additional features are coming soon, making TVs more capable and personalised.

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AI-powered OSIA aims to boost student success rates in Cameroon

In Cameroon, where career guidance often takes a back seat, a new AI platform is helping students plan their futures. Developed by mathematician and AI researcher Frédéric Ngaba, OSIA offers personalised academic and career recommendations.

The platform provides a virtual tutor trained on Cameroon’s curricula, offering 400 exam-style tests and psychometric assessments. Students can input grades and aspirations, and the system builds tailored academic profiles to highlight strengths and potential career paths.

OSIA already has 13,500 subscribers across 23 schools, with plans to expand tenfold. Subscriptions cost 3,000 CFA francs for locals and €10 for students abroad, making it an affordable solution for many families.

Teachers and guidance counsellors see the tool as a valuable complement, though they stress it cannot replace human interaction or emotional support. Guidance professionals insist that social context and follow-up remain key to students’ development.

The Secretariat for Secular Private Education of Cameroon has authorized OSIA to operate. Officials expect its benefits to scale nationwide as the government considers a national AI strategy to modernise education and improve success rates.

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Waterloo study links blood patterns to spinal injury prognosis

Routine hospital blood samples could help predict spinal cord injury severity and even mortality, a University of Waterloo study has found. Researchers used machine learning to analyse millions of data points from over 2,600 patients.

The models identified patterns in routine blood measurements, including electrolytes and immune cells, collected during the first three weeks following injury. These patterns forecast recovery outcomes even when neurological exams were unreliable or impossible.

Researchers said the models were accurate in predicting injury severity and mortality as early as one to three days after admission. Accuracy improved further as more blood test data became available over time.

Unlike MRI or fluid-based biomarkers, which are not always accessible, routine blood tests are low-cost and widely available in hospitals. The approach could help clinicians make more informed and faster treatment decisions.

The team says its findings could reshape early critical care for spinal cord injuries. Predicting severity sooner could guide resource allocation and prioritise patients needing urgent intervention.

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Genetic experts and Microsoft design AI assistant to streamline sequencing

Microsoft, Drexel University, and the Broad Institute have developed a generative AI assistant to support genome sequencing. The study in ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems demonstrates how AI can accelerate searching, filtering, and synthesising data in rare disease diagnosis.

Whole genome sequencing often takes weeks and yields a diagnosis in fewer than half of cases. Analysts must decide which unsolved cases to revisit as new research appears. The AI assistant flags cases for reanalysis and compiles new gene and variant data into a clear, usable format.

The team interviewed 17 genetics professionals to map workflows and challenges before co-designing the prototype. Sessions focused on problems such as data overload, slow collaboration, and difficulty prioritising unsolved cases, helping ensure the tool addressed real-world pain points.

The prototype enables collaborative sensemaking, allowing users to edit and verify AI-generated content. It offers flexible filtering to surface the most relevant evidence while keeping a comprehensive view, saving time and improving decision-making.

Microsoft-led researchers plan to test the assistant in real-world environments to measure its effect on diagnostic yield and workflow efficiency. They emphasise that success will depend on collaboration among developers, genetic experts, and system designers to build trustworthy and explainable tools.

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Global call grows for limits on risky AI uses

Over 200 scientists, political leaders and cultural figures have signed a global appeal to set boundaries on AI use. The Global Call for AI Red Lines initiative aims to establish an international agreement on applications that should never be pursued.

Signatories include Nobel laureates, former heads of state, and leading AI researchers such as Geoffrey Hinton, Ian Goodfellow and Yoshua Bengio. OpenAI co-founder Wojciech Zaremba, authors Yuval Noah Harari and Stephen Fry.

Supporters argue that unchecked AI development risks destabilising societies and violating human rights. Consensus is urgently needed to prohibit applications threatening democracy, security, or public safety.

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Lawmakers told to harness AI for democracy

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hajia Memounatou Ibrahima, has urged lawmakers to embrace AI to strengthen legislative work and democratic governance across West Africa.

Speaking at the Parliament’s 2025 Second Extraordinary Session in Port Harcourt, she said AI could improve communication with citizens, support regulatory frameworks, and drive inclusive growth.

Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, Sen. Jibrin Barau, highlighted AI’s potential to enhance efficiency, accountability and oversight while cautioning lawmakers to examine associated risks.

Nigerian ambassador Ahmed Dunoma, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that AI is already shaping education and security sectors. He called for proactive guidance to ensure its deployment deepens integration and safeguards democracy.

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UN reports at a crossroads

As world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly, an unusual but timely question is being raised. In his recent blog, ‘Should the United Nations continue writing reports?’, Jovan Kurbalija argues that while some reports are vital, such as those exposing the role of tech companies in conflict zones, many have become little more than bureaucratic rituals with limited impact.

The UN Secretary-General himself has voiced concerns that the endless production of papers risks overshadowing the organisation’s true mission. The debate reveals two opposing views.

On one side, critics say reports distract from the UN’s core purpose of convening nations, negotiating compromises, and resolving crises. They point to history, such as the failed Treaty of Versailles, to warn that diplomacy loses its strength when buried under data and ‘scientific’ prescriptions.

Reports, they argue, cannot prevent wars or build trust without political will. Worse still, the drafting process is often more about avoiding offence than telling the truth, blurring the line between reporting and negotiation.

Defenders, however, insist that UN reports remain essential. They provide legitimacy, establish a shared baseline of facts, and create informal spaces for diplomacy even before formal talks begin.

During deep geopolitical divides and mistrust in institutions, independent UN analysis could be one of the few remaining tools to anchor global debates. While AI is increasingly capable of churning out facts and summaries, Kurbalija notes that human insight is still needed to read between the lines and grasp nuance.

The way forward, he suggests, is not to abandon reports altogether but to make them fewer, sharper, and more focused on action. Instead of endless PDFs, the UN should channel its energy back into mediation, dialogue, and the intricate craft of diplomacy. In a world drowning in information but starving for wisdom, reports should illuminate choices, not replace the art of negotiation.

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Europe prepares formal call for AI Gigafactory projects

The European Commission is collaborating with the EU capitals to narrow the list of proposals for large AI training hubs, known as AI Gigafactories. The €20 billion plan will be funded by the Commission (17%), the EU countries (17%), and industry (66%) to boost computing capacity for European developers.

The first call drew 76 proposals from 16 countries, far exceeding the initially planned four or five facilities. Most submissions must be merged or dropped, with Poland already seeking a joint bid with the Baltic states as talks continue.

Some EU members will inevitably lose out, with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, hinting that priority could be given to countries already hosting AI Factories. That could benefit Finland, whose Lumi supercomputer is part of a Nokia-led bid to scale up into a Gigafactory.

The plan has raised concerns that Europe’s efforts come too late, as US tech giants invest heavily in larger AI hubs. Still, Brussels hopes its initiative will allow EU developers to compete globally while maintaining control over critical AI infrastructure.

A formal call for proposals is expected by the end of the year, once the legal framework is finalised. Selection criteria and funding conditions will be set to launch construction as early as 2026.

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