📲 Oxford researchers: Overblown fears about misinformation from AI
Generative AI like ChatGPT, Midjourney and DALL-E will “trigger the next misinformation nightmare." But so far, the evidence doesn't support this claim and there are good arguments as to why that won't change, writes three researchers.
🔋 Funding for Project Energy Society
Sweden's innovation agency, Vinnova, has awarded $100,000 to Lund for the CoAction project, in which Project Energy Society is included. The goal is to create a new electricity grid with energy sharing, enabling a low fixed price for electricity.
🎧 Gutenberg puts 5000 audiobooks online for free using synthetic speech
Thousands of free e-books are now available as audiobooks thanks to a new system that uses neural text-to-speech The system can customize the speaking speed, style, emotion, and voice of the audiobooks. It can also detect and skip irrelevant text such as tables, footnotes, and page numbers.
💀 Globally the murder rate has dropped 17% in the past 20 years
Europe has seen a sharp decline in the murder rate, and the situation in Asia, Africa and the Americas has also improved.
📶 Record number of internet users, two-thirds are now online
5.4 billion people are now online. More than ever before. Growth in internet connectivity is strongest in low-income countries.
⚡ Kärnfull Next to build Europe's first SMR park in Studsvik, Sweden
Europe's first park for small modular nuclear reactors, SMR, might be located in the Studsvik area near Nyköping, Sweden.
💰 Wealthier and more economically equal (how the world has evolved in the 21st century)
Globally, everyone has become wealthier, but the poor have become wealthier faster.
💰 O'Shaughnessy Ventures launches grants program
Five people have been selected as the inaugural recipients of the O’Shaughnessy Grants. Each will receive a $10,000 grant.
🌳 Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has decreased by a third
Deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 34 percent during the first half of the year compared to 2022. In July, the region entered a dry season with an increased risk for deforestation. Was the positive trend interrupted then?