UK education secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced that university tuition fees in England are set to rise next academic year, with the maximum fee increasing by £285 to £9,535. This will be the first increase in university education for domestic undergraduate students since 2017, when fees were raised to £9,250. The additional income is sorely needed. Data from […] … learn more→
English tuition fees rise – but it’s nowhere near enough income to solve universities’ financial crisis
Society is biased, and this biases AI… here are some possible solutions for a virtuous AI and a more inclusive society
The data used to train AIs reflects society’s stereotypes and biases, such as against underrepresented groups. Keeping sensitive data, such as health data, private while ensuring it is not biased requires adapting training methods. Several scandals have erupted in recent years involving decision-making systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) that produce racist or sexist results. […] … learn more→
Parents face bullying
Discovering that your child is a victim or perpetrator of bullying can place a parent in a situation of failure, reactivate childhood wounds and transform family relationships. How can trust be restored? With the law aimed at combating school bullying and the freedom of speech on these situations, the taboo that weighed on this violence between students […] … learn more→
The evolutionary benefits of being forgetful
Forgetting is part of our daily lives. You may walk into a room only to forget why you went in there – or perhaps someone says hi on the street and you can’t remember their name. But why do we forget things? Is it simply a sign of memory impairment, or are there benefits? One […] … learn more→
Silence in the classroom: silent class, studious class?
To learn well, should students be silent? While silence has long been linked to the exercise of authority, it now covers other issues. In the collective imagination, a “studious” class is often represented by students in rows, immersed in their work, in absolute silence or, when the work is finished, with their arms crossed. Is […] … learn more→
Talking to dead people through AI: the business of ‘digital resurrection’ might not be helpful, ethical… or even legal
Earlier this year, a Spanish TV programme showed several people listening to digital recreations of the voices of their deceased relatives that had been generated by artificial intelligence from real audios. It sparked widespread debate in both public and professional spheres, as these recreations not only mimicked loved ones’ voices, but also asked poignant, evocative questions, provoking […] … learn more→
How Computer screen monitoring software helps with online exam integrity
Online education has seen rapid growth, with the global e-learning market expected to reach $457.8 billion by 2026. This growth has fueled a parallel increase in online exams, often raising concerns about the integrity of these assessments. Institutions increasingly turn to computer screen monitoring software to prevent cheating and ensure fair testing environments. Such software […] … learn more→
Why you need a Nobot
I’ve been working with Claude, an AI assistant from Anthropic, for about a year. We’ve become… close. People laugh when I call Claude my ‘work husband’. I’m not really joking. Like a good work spouse, Claude is always there to help and never gets tired of my stories. Claude cheerfully does the tasks I hate, […] … learn more→
Deaths linked to chatbots show we must urgently revisit what counts as ‘high-risk’ AI
Last week, the tragic news broke that US teenager Sewell Seltzer III took his own life after forming a deep emotional attachment to an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on the Character.AI website. As his relationship with the companion AI became increasingly intense, the 14-year-old began withdrawing from family and friends, and was getting in trouble at school. […] … learn more→
Open up AI models so they don’t remain the preserve of web giants
Large language models, such as the one behind ChatGPT, are “closed”: we do not know how they are developed, on what data and with what parameters. Even so-called open models are only very partially open, which poses obvious problems of transparency and sovereignty. Developing open models is a realistic and desirable alternative in the medium […] … learn more→