Every day, users ask search engines millions of questions. The information we receive can shape our opinions and behaviour. We are often not aware of their influence, but internet search tools sort and rank web content when responding to our queries. This can certainly help us learn more things. But search tools can also return […] … learn more→

Ironically, Mark Zuckerberg’s attempts to muzzle his former employee, Sarah Wynn-Williams, once director of global public policy at Meta, seem to have created a bestseller. While Meta’s legal action successfully prevented Wynn-Williams (who worked there from 2011–17) from promoting her memoir, Careless People, her publisher has continued to promote it without her. In the week of its release, the […] … learn more→

Google announced the launch of AI Overviews, its generative artificial intelligence-fuelled search feature, in May 2024. Initially named Search Generative Experience, AI Overviews offers Google users AI-generated answers by sourcing and summarizing information from different websites. These AI responses are positioned at the top of the page for immediate visibility. The aim is to improve […] … learn more→

The use of information technology (IT) has significant environmental and social impacts, including human mortality from climate change. One striking example is the carbon emissions and impacts associated with digital communication. To quantify the human cost of carbon-emitting technology, researchers use the 1,000-ton rule that estimates that for every 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, […] … learn more→

Large social media companies should have to proactively remove harmful content from their platforms, undergo regular “risk assessments” and face hefty fines if they don’t comply, according to an independent review of online safety laws in Australia. The federal government has today released the final report of the review conducted by experienced public servant Delia Rickard, more than […] … learn more→

In a world where information flows freely, it’s easy to forget that, for centuries, knowledge was much harder to come by. Imagine living in a time when the internet didn’t exist, books were scarce, libraries were few, and most people couldn’t even read. This was the world of Isidore of Seville, a man dedicated to […] … learn more→

People determined to spread toxic messages online have taken to masking their words to bypass automated moderation filters. A user might replace letters with numbers or symbols, for example, writing “Y0u’re st00pid” instead of “You’re stupid”. Another tactic involves combining words, such as “IdiotFace”. Doing this masks the harmful intent from systems that look for […] … learn more→

Search engines are inseparable from the way most users use the Internet today. Google, the most popular in the world, has even given rise to a verb to refer to the action of searching for information on the Internet. Google was founded in 1998 with $100,000. In mid-1999, it received a $25 million capital injection from two venture […] … learn more→

In recent years, there has been growing concern about Russian military activity around the undersea cables that form the backbone of the internet, a network of 500 submarine cables stretching hundreds of thousands of miles, transmitting terabits of data per second. They carry 97% of global communications and are essential for transmitting government, financial and personal data. The threat of a […] … learn more→

Despite huge advances in cyber security, one weakness continues to overshadow all others: human error. Research has consistently shown human error is responsible for an overwhelming majority of successful cyber attacks. A recent report puts the figure at 68%. No matter how advanced our technological defences become, the human element is likely to remain the weakest link in […] … learn more→