Try talking to yourself without opening your mouth, by simply saying words internally. What if you could search the internet like that—and get an answer back? In the first live public demo of his new technology, TED Fellow Arnav Kapur introduces AlterEgo: a wearable AI device with the potential to let you silently talk to… Continue reading AlterEgo: a device that lets you speak with your mind
A group of researchers studied 15 months of human mobility movement data taken from 1.5 million people and concluded that just four points in space and time were sufficient to identify 95% of them, even when the data weren’t of excellent quality. That was back in 2013. Nearly ten years on, surveillance technologies permeate all aspects of… Continue reading Not Big Brother, but close: a surveillance expert explains some of the ways we’re all being watched, all the time
The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s new book The Anxious Generation delivers an urgent call for action. Haidt argues that the evidence is in. Teenagers’ widespread use of smartphones is causing a mental health crisis. Individual, collective and legislative action is required to limit their smartphone access. Haidt begins his book with an allegory. Imagine someone… Continue reading Have smartphones created an ‘anxious generation’? Jonathan Haidt sounds the alarm
Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the recent boom in EV purchases, they’re still a tiny minority of the cars on the road. We would get more immediate benefit by focusing on electrifying… Continue reading Electric vehicles will start to cut emissions and improve air quality in our cities – but only once they’re common
Fake photography is nothing new. In the 1910s, British author Arthur Conan Doyle was famously deceived by two school-aged sisters who had produced photographs of elegant fairies cavorting in their garden. Today it is hard to believe these photos could have fooled anybody, but it was not until the 1980s an expert named Geoffrey Crawley… Continue reading AI image generation is advancing at astronomical speeds. Can we still tell if a picture is fake?
There is a fine line between creativity and self-destruction. Apple’s new crush advert, which shows items linked to creative pursuits being pulverised to make way for the new iPad Pro, tried to find that line but instead appears to have made a rare mis-step. It has angered a lot of people in the process. Apple has now apologised… Continue reading Apple’s ‘crush’ advert annoys people across generations – that’s why it misfired
With the proliferation of female robots such as Sophia and the popularity of female virtual assistants such as Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon), and Cortana (Microsoft), artificial intelligence seems to have a gender issue. This gender imbalance in AI is a pervasive trend that has drawn sharp criticism in the media (even Unesco warned against the dangers of… Continue reading Why is AI mostly female?
“Larry David is one of the best-dressed men on television,” declared New York magazine in 2020. Stylist Allison Bornstein, among others on TikTok, has celebrated David as an “accidental style icon,” praising his “classic, layered, and practical” fashion choices. His “laid-back dad style” has been lauded by fashion publications, and he has even graced the… Continue reading The Larry David style: a closer look at the fashion evolution of the Curb Your Enthusiasm star
Martin Scorsese’s 1995 gambling masterpiece is as big and brash as the city it’s set in. Swanning around Las Vegas in fur coats and garish colours, messrs De Niro, Pesci and Stone are the epitome of mid-seventies sleaze. And we love it. Never have more lurid shirts been worn underneath such grey suits — but,… Continue reading Stylish sleaze in Casino
After the “indefinite” postponement of its scheduled Pre-Fall 2024 runway show at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Dior Men’s has chosen to unveil its latest collection through a vibrant blue lookbook, captured by photographer Jackie Nickerson. Under the creative direction of Kim Jones, the collection offers a fresh perspective on formalwear, infused with a… Continue reading Dior Men’s Pre-Fall 2024 collection: a fusion of eclectic formalwear
