Smile to enter: China embraces facial recognition technology

This week's Tech 24 is a special edition from the south of France, where the World AI Cannes Festival is taking place. Almost every sector is abuzz with talk of AI, and investment in the technology is through the roof. But will it change the world completely? Or will it simply keep providing useful tools for specific circumstances? Peter O'Brien went to the festival to find out.

For years, the US has been arming and training Ukraine's army. But recent reports claim American intelligence is now helping deliver major blows to the Russian military. Could this heat up the Ukraine conflict further?

The apocalyptic idea of computer-run robots turning against the human race and taking over the planet is not something we should dismiss, but for now we should be celebrating and embracing the positive side of artificial intelligence (AI). That's the view of Professor Anthony Elliott, the author of a new book entitled "Making Sense of AI". He says AI currently does a lot of good, helping us for example in the fields of industrial robots and self-driving cars, as well as providing vital information for fighting pandemics such as Covid-19. However, he admits that with AI, "to some extent, we lose control over decision-making".

British military intelligence says Russian-occupied Kherson was "virtually cut off" as Ukrainian forces stage a counteroffensive helped by newly acquired long-range artillery capability.

The heads of Germany's spy agencies warned of continued "naivety" toward China at a parliamentary hearing. They also advised against handing Beijing too much leverage when it comes to cooperation and infrastructure.

The declassified materials are believed to point at links between the COVID outbreak and a Chinese laboratory. Biden vowed not to disclose information deemed harmful to national security.

Viral photos appear to show a beached shark in the United States being rescued by local residents. But that is what the social media posts want people to think. The photos are actually fake, generated by artificial intelligence software, and their creator seemingly wants to take advantage of the confusion. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

More than 50 Pentagon documents, some classified as secret, have recently surfaced online. They deal with various geopolitically significant developments — and put the US government in an uncomfortable position.

The person who leaked US classified documents prompting a national security investigation is a gun enthusiast in his 20s who worked on a military base, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing fellow members of an online chat group.

"A challenge that European democracies are totally unprepared for." That was the reaction of one MEP to images that recently went viral on social media. The pictures, generated by artificial intelligence, purported to show French President Emmanuel Macron collecting rubbish, and former US president Donald Trump being arrested.

The 21-year-old made his first court appearance in Boston a day after his arrest. He will remain in custody pending a detention hearing next week.

Data breaches involving facial recognition data increase the potential for identity theft, stalking, and harassment because, unlike passwords and credit card information, faces cannot easily be changed.