For emergency alerts Britain is testing an alert system on millions of mobile phones

Britain plans to test a new emergency alert system on Sunday in which millions of mobile phones will sound like a siren in addition to vibrating. Representatives criticized the awarding of the contract for the alert system to the Japanese company Fujitsu, which is responsible for the systems riddled with defects by the Postal Service.

Britain plans to test a new emergency alert system on Sunday in which millions of mobile phones at 3 pm local time (14:00 GMT) will emit a siren-like sound in addition to its vibration.

The national system, modeled on similar systems in Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, aims to warn the public if there is a life-threatening danger in the vicinity, but has raised suspicions of privacy violations by the "custodial country".

A message will appear on the mobile phone saying: "This is a test for Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service to warn you if there is a life-threatening emergency nearby."

Emergency agencies and the government hope to use the system to alert people during disasters such as severe floods and fires.

A 10-second alert, even if the phone is on silent, is expected to disrupt technical and sporting events, including Premier League matches.

The World Snooker Championship organizers will stop playing just before the alert, while the London Theater Association has advised its members to tell the public to turn off their phones.

Drivers have been warned not to pick up their phones during the test, and people who don't want to receive alerts can cancel the service in their device settings.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said: "Keep calm and carry on (...) That's the British way and that's exactly what the public will do when this alert test comes to them at 3pm today."

But some conservative figures have criticized the test, with former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg urging people to defy government calls and turn off phones, saying: "We are back in the foster state".

Sarah Vine, a Daily Mail columnist and wife of former government minister Michael Gove, described the idea as "as terrifying as it is tiring".

"Terrifying because it is a reminder of the tyranny imposed on us all by technology that has invaded our homes," she wrote.

But Judy Edworthy, an expert in alarm systems and professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth, considers the alert system a positive development, even if its first test surprised people.

"If (the regime) encourages people to look at their phones, read the message and act accordingly, it can be said that it succeeded," she said.

Lawmakers also criticized the awarding of the alert system contract to the Japanese company "Fujitsu", which is responsible for flawed systems in the postal service that led to the conviction of managers for fraud.

 

Is this what a ChatGPT bot would look like?

A collection of images provides clues as to what ChatGPT would look like if its creators made a physical copy of their wildly popular AI.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, invested in 1X, a company that makes humanoid bots designed to perform human jobs after the success of the online chatbot.

The robot, called EVE, has manipulators that can pick up objects and pack and unpack boxes - and it's designed to work alongside humans.

OpenAI's startup fund led an investment round that raised $23.5 million for the 1X robot, which is set to hit the market this summer.

The investment is fueled by OpenAI's competition with Elon Musk's Tesla robot, which has yet to start production.

"1X is at the forefront of increasing employment through the use of safe and advanced robotics technologies. The OpenAI Startup Fund believes in the approach and impact that 1X can have on the future of work," Brad Lightcap, OpenAI COO and Director of the OpenAI Startup Fund, said in a statement.

1X intends to use the funds to expand manufacturing of the first commercially available Android EVE in Norway and North America - and to build another bipedal android, NEO.

EVE is designed to move and manipulate objects gently, interact with humans, and complete repetitive tasks.

It is controlled using virtual reality, with a robot operator at a control center looking through the Android's camera 'eyes'.

The company is currently hiring AI experts, according to its recruitment page which reads: "If you're smart and nice and want to build android devices, join us."

Many experts believe that large language models such as ChatGPT will change the way we use and interact with bots.

Speaking to DailyMail, Georg Strakhov, chief strategy officer at advertising firm DDB EMEA, said: "Generative AI will be completely transformative for the two problems we currently have with bots - stupidity, and not always understanding what we want."

And large language paradigms (such as GPT-4) are exceptional at complex reasoning. So when bots are powered by LLMs - they will be able to act more dynamically, respond to environment changes, plan ahead and so on. 

And Strakhov believes that, in the future, we will control robots simply by talking to them.

Microsoft is testing new features that enhance privacy in Windows systems

Microsoft began testing new features in Windows 11 systems that would enhance the protection of the privacy of users of these systems.

According to the available information, Microsoft has begun testing a new privacy setting in version 22624.1610 of the Windows 11 Beta preview, which was launched this week as an update KB5025299.

The new privacy setting is called "Presence Sensing", and through this setting, the operating system will sense whether the user is active in using his device and applications or not, and thus the system will control applications to rationalize energy consumption and preserve the battery charge in the device.

While some saw that this feature may affect user privacy, Microsoft indicated that the feature can prevent some applications from accessing some sensors in devices, which will enhance data privacy.

Microsoft also indicated that the new feature would help lock devices and computers automatically in the event that the user moved away from them or if he forgot his computer was working and the screen was not locked.

The new feature can be accessed if the computer's operating system supports it by going to the device's settings menu, then going to the privacy and security option, and then the "presence sensing" option.