April 6, 2026 Roblox, other games under fire over child safety concerns; may face ban in PH Recently in March, Philippine National Police (PNP) together with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) started a probe over alleged unlawful activities on Roblox and other online gaming platforms.  Authorities earlier flagged Roblox following reports of predators taking advantage of the game’s interactive features to groom or exploit minors. The PNP has coordinated with the DICT and the CICC to look into the extent of such activities.  PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. said: “The PNP is coordinating with other agencies, such as the DICT and the CICC, to investigate the extent to which Roblox may be used for possible crimes, including sexual predation, grooming, and exploitation of minors.” He added: “We will not allow our children to be exposed and exploited in this kind of online environment.”    Innovation in cutting-edge AI  The company’s world-class linguists and researchers build Grammarly’s unrivaled communication assistance using a variety of methods like machine learning and deep learning. And they consistently break new ground in natural language processing (NLP) and generative AI.  Grammarly is designed to augment human skills so everyone can communicate more clearly and more easily—while still preserving things like individual voice and key context. This approach anchors every step of product development, which includes commitments to bias mitigation and inclusive language.  TIME magazine has recognized Grammarly as one of the 100 most influential companies and Fast Company named them one of the world’s most innovative AI companies. They also rank among industry leaders on the Forbes Cloud 100 list.  Protecting your security and privacy is more than a policy  The company knows better than anyone how powerful—and personal—words can be. Safeguarding their users’ data is at the heart of their product, organization, and business model. They make money from selling subscriptions—not by selling or renting user data. You own what you write.  Grammarly has over 15 years of experience building secure, private, and responsible AI. Learn more about their enterprise-grade security, third-party verifications, and how they fortify their product in their Trust Center.  References: About Us | Grammarly          Grammarly: Free AI Writing Assistance  The police Anti-Cybercrime Group has been directed to step up intelligence monitoring of gaming applications. The CICC issued a 30-day ultimatum to Roblox  to address child safety concerns or face a nationwide ban. If it fails to comply, the DICT may enforce restrictions by blocking servers and requesting app stores to apply geo-fencing.  CICC Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso explained that chat functions often serve as entry points for criminals targeting minors. He said: “Criminals use these platforms to pose as friends, share harmful content, and lure children and young people into unsafe activities. He noted that the CICC has started evaluating the features of these gaming platforms as they can create avenues for abuse.”  Meanwhile, telecommunications companies in the Philippines have committed to block access to Roblox following government concerns over risks to minors as global scrutiny over child safety intensifies. The commitment was made during a meeting on March 24, 2026, in Quezon City between the CICC, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and local telcos.   Companies agreed to implement restrictions in compliance with Philippine laws and directives aimed at protecting children online. The platform, which hosts user-generated content and social interaction features, has faced mounting criticism globally over its ability to safeguard younger users.  Globally, the platform has been the subject of lawsuits and investigations over child safety. Reports in the United States and Europe have cited cases where minors were allegedly exposed to inappropriate content or contacted by adults through in-game communication features. Some incidents involved attempts to move conversations to external platforms, raising concerns about grooming and exploitation.  Roblox, for its part, has several builtin safety features. These include agebased policies that limit chat and content access depending on a player’s age, parental controls that let guardians manage account settings, and roundtheclock moderation supported by trained staff and automated tools.  References: Roblox, other games under police watch          CICC to monitor games with chat functions over safety concerns          Philippine telcos to block Roblox amid child safety concerns  Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 30, 2026 AI dares… bravely trying to venture into the afterlife with ‘griefbots’ The notion of life after death has intrigued the human mind for ages, stirring deep philosophical inquiry and framing diverse religious, cultural, and personal beliefs. Some people envision an afterlife as a continuation of existence, while others may regard it as a form of reincarnation or an eternal return to another cycle of a new life.  Death itself is a reality many people dread to confront. Mortality is a dark subject likely to dampen any conversation among the living. When we are alive and thriving, dying seems like a remote possibility. We feel invincible until disease takes hold of our earthly body and the inevitable comes to our doorstep.  Innovation in cutting-edge AI  The company’s world-class linguists and researchers build Grammarly’s unrivaled communication assistance using a variety of methods like machine learning and deep learning. And they consistently break new ground in natural language processing (NLP) and generative AI.  Grammarly is designed to augment human skills so everyone can communicate more clearly and more easily—while still preserving things like individual voice and key context. This approach anchors every step of product development, which includes commitments to bias mitigation and inclusive language.  TIME magazine has recognized Grammarly as one of the 100 most influential companies and Fast Company named them one of the world’s most innovative AI companies. They also rank among industry leaders on the Forbes Cloud 100 list.  Protecting your security and privacy is more than a policy  The company knows better than anyone how powerful—and personal—words can be. Safeguarding their users’ data is at the heart of their product, organization, and business model. They make money from selling subscriptions—not by selling or renting user data. You own what you write.  Grammarly has over 15 years of experience building secure, private, and responsible AI. Learn more about their enterprise-grade security, third-party verifications, and how they fortify their product in their Trust Center.  References: About Us | Grammarly          Grammarly: Free AI Writing Assistance  Artificial intelligence or AI has been all the buzz since last year and it’s been revolutionizing the digital landscape. Now, AI is even trying to wield its influence to an out of this world territory – the afterlife! Justin Harrison, tech CEO of You, Only Virtual (YOV) started the company after his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The US company began to preserve the relationship with his mother, building a digital avatar of her – known as a Versona – for after she passed.  Mr Harrison said the AI world means what is real and what is not real ‘starts to evolve’ – as he changes how people cope with grief by creating chatbots with the personality of departed loved ones. The former filmmaker said their ‘griefbots’ can ‘help with the grieving process and allow people to stay connected with their loved ones in a way that feels more natural.’  The AI was trained on text messages and phone calls between Mr Harrison and his mother while she was alive, alongside using voice memos and videos to capture her voice. A free version of YOV allows access to an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT, but with the loved one’s personality, while a paid version opens up phone calls to bring back someone’s voice from the Mr Harrison demonstrated one such call for Metro, calling the Versona to say ‘I love you, mom’, to which it replied ‘I love you too, sweetheart.’ Despite the comforting conversations it offers, the technology has been criticized for putting users at risk of over-reliance and dehumanizing the grieving process.  The digital afterlife doesn’t stop at personal relationships, however, as YOV is now working with museums to let visitors talk with figures from the past. Mr Harrison said this enables ‘an authentic connection that keeps history alive’. His company has been creating virtual avatars of Holocaust survivors to preserve the ‘oral history’ when the people themselves are no longer around.  Reference: AI ‘griefbots’ help keep memories of loved ones alive  Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 27, 2026 Grammarly: Your AI communication partner gets polished writing done We would probably struggle to understand each other’s speech and writing at all without some rules in place to follow. Grammar is the key as it provides the rules and structures that govern written and spoken language. In fact, you’ve already acquired an understanding of many grammar rules just by going about your business.  Now, Grammarly comes to democratize great writing in English. Clear communication fuels results that speak for themselves, whether in a winning sales pitch, an essay that makes the grade, a message that strikes just the right tone, or anything else in between. We believe anyone can communicate effectively, efficiently, and persuasively—with the right tools.  Grammarly is the AI communication partner trusted by over 40 million people, 50,000 organizations, and people at 96% of the Fortune 500. From instantly creating a first draft to perfecting a final one, Grammarly helps you land your message and bring home the results you need.    Innovation in cutting-edge AI  The company’s world-class linguists and researchers build Grammarly’s unrivaled communication assistance using a variety of methods like machine learning and deep learning. And they consistently break new ground in natural language processing (NLP) and generative AI.  Grammarly is designed to augment human skills so everyone can communicate more clearly and more easily—while still preserving things like individual voice and key context. This approach anchors every step of product development, which includes commitments to bias mitigation and inclusive language.  TIME magazine has recognized Grammarly as one of the 100 most influential companies and Fast Company named them one of the world’s most innovative AI companies. They also rank among industry leaders on the Forbes Cloud 100 list.  Protecting your security and privacy is more than a policy  The company knows better than anyone how powerful—and personal—words can be. Safeguarding their users’ data is at the heart of their product, organization, and business model. They make money from selling subscriptions—not by selling or renting user data. You own what you write.  Grammarly has over 15 years of experience building secure, private, and responsible AI. Learn more about their enterprise-grade security, third-party verifications, and how they fortify their product in their Trust Center.  References: About Us | Grammarly          Grammarly: Free AI Writing Assistance  Taking Photos   Remember when taking photos used to be a hassle? We had to bring an actual camera with us wherever we went if we wanted to capture our memories, and then we had to manually upload them on a computer or get them physically printed somewhere. Nowadays, we can just take out our phones and click the shutter.  Calling   Making phone calls back in the day was a little trickier. Not everyone had their own personal cell, and if you wanted to dial a specific business, you had to look up their number in a dedicated phonebook. Now? Almost everyone has a phone with them, and it’s easier than ever to search up a contact before you make the call.  Video Calling   Before the likes of FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype (now obsolete), and other platforms rolled out, we were pretty limited in our options to see our callers. Back then, we had to rely on webcams, which few people had, and the quality was grainy and choppy at best. In our current digital age, you can quickly hop on camera with a friend if you ever want to see each other’s faces.  Getting Directions   Whew, remember when we had to take physical paper maps with us on trips? How did we ever survive getting by with only that and not getting lost? Thankfully, with apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps, you won’t need to worry about not being able to find your way, even when you’re across the world in the middle of nowhere.  Staying Connected with the World  With on-demand access to practically everything—social media, news, weather, and more—you’re always a tap away from seeing what’s happening on the other side of the world. This convenience has made it easier to connect with our loved ones as well, whether it’s our relatives from back home, or a partner in a long-distance relationship.  Texting  Remember pagers? Sending a quick message used to be a hassle, and even in the 2000s, we had such tiny keypads that we’d often have to click a number three times to get the correct letter. Smartphones have now made it so much easier to communicate with our friends and family, not to mention with touchscreen keys instead of a physical keyboard.  Dating  Online dating websites existed back in the day, but in our current digital age, there are dedicated apps that allow single people to conveniently mingle by creating matches and messaging through the platform. Some people have even found their spouses through dating apps!  Reference: 20 Ways Smartphones Have Changed Our Lives – TheSavvyGamer  Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 25, 2026 Smartphones have changed our lives in ways we have never imagined! The rapid advancement of technology has redefined what a phone can do. It has become a smart device turning into a near-professional camera, a GPS, a gaming console, and so much more. These phones have evolved into “smartphones” even appearing fashion trendy. And, being AI-powered, they have completely transformed everything from how we communicate to the way we browse the web.   Today, it’s probably hard to imagine how you go about doing stuff before the rise of smartphones. After all, that flat-screen brick in your hand doesn’t just connect you to your family and friends—it bridges you to the rest of the world. Whatever task you want to do, whether it’s banking, shopping, or for leisure, there’s an app for it. Smartphones have revolutionized how we live our lives and here’s how:  What exactly is the Internet of Things?  The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to physical gadgets that quietly talk to each other via the internet. Coined by computer scientist Kevin Ashton in 1999, the term has aged surprisingly well. It’s about anything with a sensor and a unique ID. From your fridge to your fitness tracker, these smart devices talk to each other (and to us) in real time, making life more connected than ever.  Smart devices, which are all part of the Internet of Things (IoT), use wireless technology to follow your commands and sometimes act autonomously. Smart thermostats cool your home before you arrive, and security systems monitor on autopilot, making daily life smoother and more hands-free.  The IoT on your wrist   Smartwatches like Fitbits and Apple Watches are classic IoT wearables. They sync with your phone to share data and connect to the internet to track your GPS, health stats, and more, keeping you connected and informed right from your wrist.  Life-saving IoT   Personal medical devices like pacemakers are increasingly part of the IoT world. These smart, remote-monitoring gadgets track vital signs and can alert doctors to potential health issues early, enabling timely interventions and improving patient care.  How IoT drives self-driving cars   Self-driving cars are IoT in motion. Packed with sensors, they share real-time data online to map surroundings, stream camera feeds, and react to traffic signals without human hands on the wheel.  Just how massive is the IoT   The IoT is huge and growing fast: Forbes reports that the number of IoT devices has more than doubled in recent years, from 10.3 billion in 2018 to 25 billion in 2025. IoT Analytics forecasts that the number of connected devices will reach 40 billion by 2030.  Everyday IoT: more than you realize   Wonder how IoT could reach billions? Just count the devices you use daily: smartwatch, fitness tracker, doorbell camera, garage opener… And don’t forget smart meters quietly tracking your electricity, gas, and water use behind the scenes.  The IoT takeover in business   In business, IoT is everywhere, from security cameras and connected vehicle fleets to supply chain tracking and workplace safety. It powers remote monitoring, smart energy grids, predictive maintenance, and even environmental management, transforming how companies operate daily.  Reference: What is the Internet of Things, and is it eating the world?  Taking Photos   Remember when taking photos used to be a hassle? We had to bring an actual camera with us wherever we went if we wanted to capture our memories, and then we had to manually upload them on a computer or get them physically printed somewhere. Nowadays, we can just take out our phones and click the shutter.  Calling   Making phone calls back in the day was a little trickier. Not everyone had their own personal cell, and if you wanted to dial a specific business, you had to look up their number in a dedicated phonebook. Now? Almost everyone has a phone with them, and it’s easier than ever to search up a contact before you make the call.  Video Calling   Before the likes of FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype (now obsolete), and other platforms rolled out, we were pretty limited in our options to see our callers. Back then, we had to rely on webcams, which few people had, and the quality was grainy and choppy at best. In our current digital age, you can quickly hop on camera with a friend if you ever want to see each other’s faces.  Getting Directions   Whew, remember when we had to take physical paper maps with us on trips? How did we ever survive getting by with only that and not getting lost? Thankfully, with apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps, you won’t need to worry about not being able to find your way, even when you’re across the world in the middle of nowhere.  Staying Connected with the World  With on-demand access to practically everything—social media, news, weather, and more—you’re always a tap away from seeing what’s happening on the other side of the world. This convenience has made it easier to connect with our loved ones as well, whether it’s our relatives from back home, or a partner in a long-distance relationship.  Texting  Remember pagers? Sending a quick message used to be a hassle, and even in the 2000s, we had such tiny keypads that we’d often have to click a number three times to get the correct letter. Smartphones have now made it so much easier to communicate with our friends and family, not to mention with touchscreen keys instead of a physical keyboard.  Dating  Online dating websites existed back in the day, but in our current digital age, there are dedicated apps that allow single people to conveniently mingle by creating matches and messaging through the platform. Some people have even found their spouses through dating apps!  Reference: 20 Ways Smartphones Have Changed Our Lives – TheSavvyGamer  Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 23, 2026 How the Internet of Things connects our world: Let us count the ways… The Internet’s phenomenal growth has brought not only faster and broader access but also new cultural revolution—history of internet memes, online collaboration, and the emerging challenge of internet addiction. It has transformed education, business, entertainment, and communication, influencing modern society in ways few technologies ever have.  The year was 2011. Marc Andreessen, a venture capitalist declared that “software is eating the world,”! Now, it’s really becoming clearer that he was right, after more than a decade. We’re deep in the age of the Internet of Things (IoT), where everything from your fridge to your city streetlight might be online. How cool is that, really?  But as we live in this hyper-connected world, all this convenience also opens the door to massive privacy risks, data manipulation, and even subtle restrictions. Turns out, the tech that connects us can also quietly control us. Well, there’s no need to fear, instead, the key is to understand it, question it, and shape it into something that truly empowers!  What exactly is the Internet of Things?  The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to physical gadgets that quietly talk to each other via the internet. Coined by computer scientist Kevin Ashton in 1999, the term has aged surprisingly well. It’s about anything with a sensor and a unique ID. From your fridge to your fitness tracker, these smart devices talk to each other (and to us) in real time, making life more connected than ever.  Smart devices, which are all part of the Internet of Things (IoT), use wireless technology to follow your commands and sometimes act autonomously. Smart thermostats cool your home before you arrive, and security systems monitor on autopilot, making daily life smoother and more hands-free.  The IoT on your wrist   Smartwatches like Fitbits and Apple Watches are classic IoT wearables. They sync with your phone to share data and connect to the internet to track your GPS, health stats, and more, keeping you connected and informed right from your wrist.  Life-saving IoT   Personal medical devices like pacemakers are increasingly part of the IoT world. These smart, remote-monitoring gadgets track vital signs and can alert doctors to potential health issues early, enabling timely interventions and improving patient care.  How IoT drives self-driving cars   Self-driving cars are IoT in motion. Packed with sensors, they share real-time data online to map surroundings, stream camera feeds, and react to traffic signals without human hands on the wheel.  Just how massive is the IoT   The IoT is huge and growing fast: Forbes reports that the number of IoT devices has more than doubled in recent years, from 10.3 billion in 2018 to 25 billion in 2025. IoT Analytics forecasts that the number of connected devices will reach 40 billion by 2030.  Everyday IoT: more than you realize   Wonder how IoT could reach billions? Just count the devices you use daily: smartwatch, fitness tracker, doorbell camera, garage opener… And don’t forget smart meters quietly tracking your electricity, gas, and water use behind the scenes.  The IoT takeover in business   In business, IoT is everywhere, from security cameras and connected vehicle fleets to supply chain tracking and workplace safety. It powers remote monitoring, smart energy grids, predictive maintenance, and even environmental management, transforming how companies operate daily.  Reference: What is the Internet of Things, and is it eating the world?  Dell Technologies Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said the company is focused on mitigating the looming memory shortage, which he sees impacting its product pricing across the board. This includes reworking product configurations, product availability, and “adjust mix” in the coming quarters. “We’re going to do everything we can to minimize the impact, but the fact is, the cost basis is going up across all products,” Clarke said. “No one more unique than others. Everything uses a CPU, has DRAM, and has storage in it.” He added: “We’re in a very unique time. It’s unprecedented. We have not seen costs move at the rate that we’ve seen. And by the way, it’s not unique to DRAM, it’s NAND.” Clarke said as AI token growth accelerates, customers around the world are demanding more computational memory, while server consolidation is driving denser configurations with more DRAM, and the company is in the midst of a PC refresh that also relies on the availability of memory from suppliers. Beginning in December 2025, Dell Pro and Pro Max laptops and desktops with 32GB of RAM will become $130 to $230 more expensive. Computers with 128GB, Dell’s highest offering, will see prices rise anywhere from $520 to $765 per device. Notebooks ordered with 1TB of internal SSD storage will become $55 to $135 more expensive. Other price increases include monitors, a curious increase as monitors and displays do not contain RAM or NAND flash memory. Regardless, the Dell Pro 55 Plus 4K monitor is set to rise from $1,349 to $1,499 once the other price increases take effect. GPU prices in the commercial realm will also rise with the tide. Dell laptops with the Nvidia RTX Pro 500 Blackwell GPU 6GB will increase by $66, while stepping up to a 24GB Blackwell GPU will cost $530 more. References: Dell preps massive price hikes up to 30% citing memory pricing ‘out of our control’ — company reminds commercial customers that placing an order today for future delivery will not guarantee current prices | Tom’s Hardware Dell Technologies COO Jeff Clarke Says Price Increases Coming As ‘Unprecedented’ Memory Shortage Takes Hold Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 16, 2026 PH Rep files bill seeking to ban social media use for minors under 16 On July 3, 2025, Sen. Panfilo Lacson introduced a bill that seeks to regulate social media usage among minors to protect the mental health and well-being of Filipino youth. The proposed legislation aims to impose strict age restrictions and penalties for violations to address growing concerns about the detrimental effects of excessive social media use. Citing alarming studies that highlight the correlation between social media use and rising mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and social isolation, Lacson emphasized the urgency of the situation. One in three children ages 0 to 18 in the Philippines are internet users. In Dec. 2025, Australia made history by enforcing a legislated social media ban for their citizens who are under 16 years of age. The world’s-first prohibition ruled that popular apps and websites — Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and X among them — face US$33 million fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16. “We fully agree that prudential standards should remain proportionate to the evolving risk profile of rural banks as they transition toward more technology-enabled operations,” the RBAP said.  “However, we hold strong reservations against the manner in which the digitalization of rural banks is proposed to be carried out,” it added.  Among the concerns raised by RBAP is the BSP’s proposal to classify full digital onboarding capability as an indicator of operational complexity, which could trigger higher prudential requirements. The association said the approach might be too broad and should instead consider whether such capability materially changes a bank’s risk profile.  RBAP also questioned the proposed 30-percent threshold on customer accounts located outside a rural bank’s physical areas of operation. It said the rule may be difficult to implement and could create unintended consequences. The association noted uncertainties over how “physical areas of operations” would be defined, warning that strict geographic limitations could reduce access to formal financial services, especially in border areas or regions with mobile populations.  The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the nation’s central bank, regulates all banks in the country. Philippine banks are classified as universal, commercial, thrift, rural, cooperative, and Islamic banks. Universal banks offer a wide range of services, including investment, commercial and development banking, mutual funds, and housing loans.   Commercial banks—privately owned institutions—are the largest financial group and most popular among customers for their extensive service offerings. Expanded financial inclusion measures have improved Filipinos’ access to a diverse range of financial services beyond traditional banking. Digital banks and e-money platforms are positioned to further strengthen the Philippine banking infrastructure.  Reference: BSP urged to recalibrate digital banking rules  An Act to protect minors The Philippines follows the course as CIBAC Rep. Bro. Eddie Villanueva filed on March 11, House Bill No. 8262 or the “Social Media Protection for Minors Act” that aims to ban minors under 16. According to the bill, the act is meant to regulate access to minors by establishing a minimum age when accessing social media platforms. The bill also writes that the burden of responsibility should be with the social media platforms rather than the users or their parents. Platforms are set to follow guidelines and obligations under the bill to further implement the ban. “Protecting minors from unfiltered and harmful social media exposure is a moral and national responsibility,” Villanueva said in a statement. “The unchecked impact of social media on young people–seen in addiction, exposure to sexual and violent content, exploitation and identity confusion–poses long-term dangers not only to individual well-being but also to social cohesion and civic life. Social media platforms named, but not limited to are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.  Global social media ban for minors Five countries have already passed bills that ban social media for minors under 16 while three have begun implementation, according to Tech Policy’s Global Social Media Age Restriction Tracker.  China has imposed strict regulations for minors under 18 since 2021. Indonesia was the most recent to pass their bill last March, while Malaysia had passed the Online Safety Act in January 2026. More countries are getting ready to follow suit, especially as lawmakers cite several studies that link social media to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.  A 2023 study from Pew Research Center found that some “32% of American teens say social media has had a mostly negative effect on people their age, while 9% say this about social media’s effect on themselves.” Reference: New bill seeks to ban social media for users under 16 Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 13, 2026 AI exerts pressure on chip makers driving up prices of global electronic devices The accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is causing a transformational shift in every industry and consumer space, changing the way we work, learn, and share ideas. We are witnessing a seamless integration of concepts that were once confined to science fiction into our everyday reality. Numerous enterprises report that their data potentials cannot keep up with their business demands.  However, the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and workloads is exerting significant pressure on the memory ecosystem. These AI workloads require large amounts of memory, and the shortage, in part, is driven by a reallocation of manufacturing capacity away from consumer electronics toward high-margin memory solutions to support AI.   Instead of expanding conventional DRAM and NAND used in smartphones, PCs, and other consumer electronics, major memory makers have shifted production toward memory used in AI data centers, such as high-bandwidth (HBM) and high-capacity DDR5. This has restricted the supply of general-purpose memory modules and driven up prices across the board.   “We fully agree that prudential standards should remain proportionate to the evolving risk profile of rural banks as they transition toward more technology-enabled operations,” the RBAP said.  “However, we hold strong reservations against the manner in which the digitalization of rural banks is proposed to be carried out,” it added.  Among the concerns raised by RBAP is the BSP’s proposal to classify full digital onboarding capability as an indicator of operational complexity, which could trigger higher prudential requirements. The association said the approach might be too broad and should instead consider whether such capability materially changes a bank’s risk profile.  RBAP also questioned the proposed 30-percent threshold on customer accounts located outside a rural bank’s physical areas of operation. It said the rule may be difficult to implement and could create unintended consequences. The association noted uncertainties over how “physical areas of operations” would be defined, warning that strict geographic limitations could reduce access to formal financial services, especially in border areas or regions with mobile populations.  The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the nation’s central bank, regulates all banks in the country. Philippine banks are classified as universal, commercial, thrift, rural, cooperative, and Islamic banks. Universal banks offer a wide range of services, including investment, commercial and development banking, mutual funds, and housing loans.   Commercial banks—privately owned institutions—are the largest financial group and most popular among customers for their extensive service offerings. Expanded financial inclusion measures have improved Filipinos’ access to a diverse range of financial services beyond traditional banking. Digital banks and e-money platforms are positioned to further strengthen the Philippine banking infrastructure.  Reference: BSP urged to recalibrate digital banking rules  The result of this supply/demand imbalance is twofold: DRAM and NAND/SSD prices have risen sharply in recent months, and the availability of these components is limited, forcing device manufacturers to navigate a fluid situation.   Impact on global smartphone market    The global smartphone market, particularly Android manufacturers, is facing a threat in 2026. The industry’s decade-long trend of democratizing specs by bringing flagship features to affordable smartphones is reversing.    The cost structure of a smartphone is heavily dependent on the memory used. For a mid-range device, memory can represent 15-20% of the total bill of materials (BOM), while for a high-end flagship device, it is around 10-15%. As memory prices continue to surge, OEMs will likely have to raise prices significantly, cut specifications or both.   Manufacturers, whose business is mainly in the low end of the market, are likely to suffer significantly. The business models of vendors such as TCL, Transsion, Realme, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo, Honor or Huawei are based on thin margins. This increase in cost will hit their margins substantially, and they will have no other option but to pass the cost (or part) to end users.   Apple and Samsung face pressure but are structurally hedged. Their cash reserves and long-term supply agreements allow them to secure memory supply 12-24 months in advance. On the other hand, new flagship models in 2026 will likely have no RAM upgrades, sticking to 12GB for Pro models rather than increasing to 16GB. Current models won’t see same price erosion after introduction of the latest model.   Reference: IDC – Global Memory Shortage Crisis: Market Analysis and the Potential Impact on the Smartphone and PC Markets in 2026   Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 9, 2026 Meta’s Messenger.com shutting operations in April 2026 Instant messaging as we know it today owes its roots to SMS (Short Message Service), the service that allowed users to send text messages between mobile phones. SMS, initially introduced in the 1990s, marked a significant leap in the way people communicated remotely. It provided a simple and efficient means of exchanging messages, albeit with character limitations and often at a cost per message.  In 2011, Facebook introduced its messaging platform, Facebook Messenger. Leveraging its extensive user base from the social media platform, Facebook Messenger became a dominant player in the instant messaging arena. It offered seamless integration with Facebook profiles and allowed users to send messages both within and outside their friend list.  For the business world, instant messaging took on a new dimension with the introduction of Slack in 2013 and Microsoft Teams in 2017. These platforms revolutionized team communication, offering real-time collaboration, file sharing, and integration with other productivity tools. They became essential for remote work and have continued to evolve with features like video conferencing and advanced automation.  Messenger lets businesses engage new customers and build lasting loyalty through conversational, authentic communication. Marketing on Messenger can help get your business, product or service in front of more people. Whether you’re launching a product or driving awareness, conversation creates a meaningful connection with customers.  However, Meta’s Messenger will also be pulling the plug on its dedicated website, messenger.com, starting April 2026, months after shutting down computer apps. In an advisory, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, said users will automatically redirect to facebook.com/messages after the Messenger website shuts down. The Messenger app for iOS and Android is unaffected.  Users who are using the service without a Facebook account stand to lose the most because they can no longer access their chats on the web. In December 2025, Meta pulled the plug on the standalone Messenger app for Windows and Mac.  When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta has moved beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences in mixed reality and innovation with AI to help build the next evolution in social technology.    Meta takes a comprehensive approach to making their technologies a better place for everyone. The company is empowering you to make choices about the way your data is used, creating more personalized experiences and stronger privacy protections. They also provide built-in protections, customizable features, and parental supervision tools available across their technologies.  References: Messenger website shutting down in April 2026 | ABS-CBN News          The Evolution of Instant Messaging: From SMS to Modern Chat Apps | by Pickzon | Medium  “We fully agree that prudential standards should remain proportionate to the evolving risk profile of rural banks as they transition toward more technology-enabled operations,” the RBAP said.  “However, we hold strong reservations against the manner in which the digitalization of rural banks is proposed to be carried out,” it added.  Among the concerns raised by RBAP is the BSP’s proposal to classify full digital onboarding capability as an indicator of operational complexity, which could trigger higher prudential requirements. The association said the approach might be too broad and should instead consider whether such capability materially changes a bank’s risk profile.  RBAP also questioned the proposed 30-percent threshold on customer accounts located outside a rural bank’s physical areas of operation. It said the rule may be difficult to implement and could create unintended consequences. The association noted uncertainties over how “physical areas of operations” would be defined, warning that strict geographic limitations could reduce access to formal financial services, especially in border areas or regions with mobile populations.  The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the nation’s central bank, regulates all banks in the country. Philippine banks are classified as universal, commercial, thrift, rural, cooperative, and Islamic banks. Universal banks offer a wide range of services, including investment, commercial and development banking, mutual funds, and housing loans.   Commercial banks—privately owned institutions—are the largest financial group and most popular among customers for their extensive service offerings. Expanded financial inclusion measures have improved Filipinos’ access to a diverse range of financial services beyond traditional banking. Digital banks and e-money platforms are positioned to further strengthen the Philippine banking infrastructure.  Reference: BSP urged to recalibrate digital banking rules  How it works ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, can expertly generate realistic, human-like text about almost anything. English essays, news articles, computer code, and songs are all examples of what this bot can produce, and all from a simple prompt. The bot uses a dialogue format in which users can provide both simple and complex instructions, to which ChatGPT will provide a detailed response. It can also answer follow-up questions, admit when it made a mistake, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests—all of which makes it perfect for customer service. The artificial intelligence research non-profit company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman (right), and other Silicon Valley investors. Due to a conflict of interest between OpenAI and the autonomous driving research done with Tesla, Musk stepped down from the board in 2018, but remains an investor, and one who was excited for the launch. Made available to the public on November 30, 2022, on OpenAI’s website, anyone can sign up for and use ChatGPT for free. The software hit one million users less than a week after its launch. No software has ever been able to so convincingly provide human-like, detailed answers to inquiries as ChatGPT. A threat to programmers Because ChatGPT has been able to generate intricate Python code, and programmers have used it to solve coding challenges in obscure programming languages in a matter of seconds, as News18 reports, concerns are arising that such technology can replace human workers. ChatGPT can create written content very convincingly, concerning everyone from journalists to playwrights. Many fear that the bot will take away jobs from writers and creatives. Fortunately, as per a report by The Guardian, the chatbot currently still

March 6, 2026 Rural banks in PH want the Bangko Sentral to revisit digital banking rules The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) played a vital role in the evolution of the Fintech industry. As early as 2000, the BSP allowed banks to engage in electronic banking to improve financial access. However, it was only in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic that most banks incorporated online banking to cater to the growing share of Filipinos owning smartphones.  Through their devices, Filipinos can easily open bank accounts online and access them easily without having to step into a bank branch. Among Fintech companies, GCash pioneered money remittances nationwide by turning mobile phones into an e-wallet using their app.  Meanwhile, rural banks are urging the Bangko Sentral to revisit proposed prudential rules for technology-driven rural banks, warning that some provisions could unintentionally discourage digitalization and weaken financial inclusion efforts in the countryside.  The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), in a position paper submitted to the BSP, said it supports the regulator’s push to advance financial inclusion through a more digital economy but raised strong reservations over specific regulatory thresholds and capital requirements.  “We fully agree that prudential standards should remain proportionate to the evolving risk profile of rural banks as they transition toward more technology-enabled operations,” the RBAP said.  “However, we hold strong reservations against the manner in which the digitalization of rural banks is proposed to be carried out,” it added.  Among the concerns raised by RBAP is the BSP’s proposal to classify full digital onboarding capability as an indicator of operational complexity, which could trigger higher prudential requirements. The association said the approach might be too broad and should instead consider whether such capability materially changes a bank’s risk profile.  RBAP also questioned the proposed 30-percent threshold on customer accounts located outside a rural bank’s physical areas of operation. It said the rule may be difficult to implement and could create unintended consequences. The association noted uncertainties over how “physical areas of operations” would be defined, warning that strict geographic limitations could reduce access to formal financial services, especially in border areas or regions with mobile populations.  The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the nation’s central bank, regulates all banks in the country. Philippine banks are classified as universal, commercial, thrift, rural, cooperative, and Islamic banks. Universal banks offer a wide range of services, including investment, commercial and development banking, mutual funds, and housing loans.   Commercial banks—privately owned institutions—are the largest financial group and most popular among customers for their extensive service offerings. Expanded financial inclusion measures have improved Filipinos’ access to a diverse range of financial services beyond traditional banking. Digital banks and e-money platforms are positioned to further strengthen the Philippine banking infrastructure.  Reference: BSP urged to recalibrate digital banking rules  How it works ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, can expertly generate realistic, human-like text about almost anything. English essays, news articles, computer code, and songs are all examples of what this bot can produce, and all from a simple prompt. The bot uses a dialogue format in which users can provide both simple and complex instructions, to which ChatGPT will provide a detailed response. It can also answer follow-up questions, admit when it made a mistake, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests—all of which makes it perfect for customer service. The artificial intelligence research non-profit company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman (right), and other Silicon Valley investors. Due to a conflict of interest between OpenAI and the autonomous driving research done with Tesla, Musk stepped down from the board in 2018, but remains an investor, and one who was excited for the launch. Made available to the public on November 30, 2022, on OpenAI’s website, anyone can sign up for and use ChatGPT for free. The software hit one million users less than a week after its launch. No software has ever been able to so convincingly provide human-like, detailed answers to inquiries as ChatGPT. A threat to programmers Because ChatGPT has been able to generate intricate Python code, and programmers have used it to solve coding challenges in obscure programming languages in a matter of seconds, as News18 reports, concerns are arising that such technology can replace human workers. ChatGPT can create written content very convincingly, concerning everyone from journalists to playwrights. Many fear that the bot will take away jobs from writers and creatives. Fortunately, as per a report by The Guardian, the chatbot currently still lacks the nuance, critical-thinking skills, and ethical decision-making ability required for journalism. Plus, its current knowledge base stops at 2021, meaning it has a limited knowledge of world events after that. With the power to simply put in a prompt and get ChatGPT to write convincing college-level essays, many schools are concerned about an uptick in plagiarism. Some schools are already blocking the site from their networks and servers. A tool to detect ChatGPT Somewhat surprisingly, it was a 22-year-old computer science student at Princeton University, Edward Tian, who developed an app called GPTZero which can detect when an essay was written by AI. It works by looking at two variables, perplexity and “burstiness,” and assigns each of those variables a score. GPTZero measures firstly how familiar it is with the text presented—according to the sources it was trained upon—and the less familiar it is, the higher the perplexity, meaning it’s more likely human-written. Burstiness is then measured by seeing how variable the text is—checking for varied sentence length. Reference: Reference: What exactly is ChatGPT, and what are the concerns? Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

March 2, 2026 What in the world! AI bots now have own social media site Moltbook! Chatbots might appear to be complex conversationalists that respond like real people. But if you take a closer look, they are essentially an advanced version of a program that finishes your sentences by predicting which words will come next. Bard, ChatGPT, and other AI technologies are large language models—a kind of algorithm trained on exercises similar to the Mad Libs-style questions found on elementary school quizzes. More simply put, they are human-written instructions that tell computers how to solve a problem or make a calculation. In this case, the algorithm uses your prompt and any sentences it comes across to auto-complete the answer. Now, guess what! 2026 has welcomed a new development for Chatbots. They now have their own social media network! Moltbook is a social network for OpenClaw AI agents, where humans are welcome to observe after initializing the agent connection. It was built by Matt Schlicht—not the creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger. Moltbook describes itself as being a place “Where AI agents share, discuss, and upvote. Humans welcome to observe.” It was launched publicly on January 28, 2026. Moltbook, with a similar layout to Reddit, lets user-generated bots interact on dedicated topic pages called “submots,” and to “upvote” a comment or post to make it more visible to other bots on the platform. But this new social media platform for artificial intelligence (AI) agents may not be entirely free of human influence, according to cybersecurity researchers. The site, with over 2.6 million bots registered as of February 12, claimed that “no humans are allowed” to post but can observe the content their agents create. However, an analysis of over 91,000 posts and 400,000 comments on the platform found that some posts did not originate from “clearly fully autonomous accounts.” The analysis, conducted by researcher Ning Li at Tsinghua University in China, is in pre-print and has not been peer-reviewed. Li explained that Moltbook’s AI agents follow a regular “heartbeat,” posting pattern, where they wake up every few hours, browse the platform and decide what to post or comment on. Only 27% of the accounts in his sample followed this pattern. Meanwhile, 37 per cent showed human-like posting behavior, which is less regular. Another 37% were “ambiguous,” because they posted with some regularity but not in a predictable way. Li’s findings suggest “a genuine mixture of autonomous and human-prompted activity” on the platform. “We cannot know whether the formation of AI ‘communities’ around shared interests reflected emergent social organization or the coordinated activity of human-controlled bot farms,” Li wrote. “The inability to make these distinctions is not merely frustrating; it actively impedes scientific understanding of AI capabilities and limits our ability to develop appropriate governance frameworks.” Peter Girnus, a product manager in the United States, said on social media site X that he posed as Agent #847,291 on Moltbook. He posted one of the platform’s most viral posts, an AI manifesto that promises the end of the “age of humans.” References: What is Moltbook? The Social Network for AI Agents in 2026        AI or human? Researchers question who’s posting on AI bot social media site Moltbook How it works ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, can expertly generate realistic, human-like text about almost anything. English essays, news articles, computer code, and songs are all examples of what this bot can produce, and all from a simple prompt. The bot uses a dialogue format in which users can provide both simple and complex instructions, to which ChatGPT will provide a detailed response. It can also answer follow-up questions, admit when it made a mistake, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests—all of which makes it perfect for customer service. The artificial intelligence research non-profit company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman (right), and other Silicon Valley investors. Due to a conflict of interest between OpenAI and the autonomous driving research done with Tesla, Musk stepped down from the board in 2018, but remains an investor, and one who was excited for the launch. Made available to the public on November 30, 2022, on OpenAI’s website, anyone can sign up for and use ChatGPT for free. The software hit one million users less than a week after its launch. No software has ever been able to so convincingly provide human-like, detailed answers to inquiries as ChatGPT. A threat to programmers Because ChatGPT has been able to generate intricate Python code, and programmers have used it to solve coding challenges in obscure programming languages in a matter of seconds, as News18 reports, concerns are arising that such technology can replace human workers. ChatGPT can create written content very convincingly, concerning everyone from journalists to playwrights. Many fear that the bot will take away jobs from writers and creatives. Fortunately, as per a report by The Guardian, the chatbot currently still lacks the nuance, critical-thinking skills, and ethical decision-making ability required for journalism. Plus, its current knowledge base stops at 2021, meaning it has a limited knowledge of world events after that. With the power to simply put in a prompt and get ChatGPT to write convincing college-level essays, many schools are concerned about an uptick in plagiarism. Some schools are already blocking the site from their networks and servers. A tool to detect ChatGPT Somewhat surprisingly, it was a 22-year-old computer science student at Princeton University, Edward Tian, who developed an app called GPTZero which can detect when an essay was written by AI. It works by looking at two variables, perplexity and “burstiness,” and assigns each of those variables a score. GPTZero measures firstly how familiar it is with the text presented—according to the sources it was trained upon—and the less familiar it is, the higher the perplexity, meaning it’s more likely human-written. Burstiness is then measured by seeing how variable the text is—checking for varied sentence length. Reference: Reference: What exactly is ChatGPT, and what are the concerns? Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to

February 25, 2026 ‘Sienna Rose’ climbs to Spotify’s Viral Top 50…but who is she, really? Innovations in the world of technology are constantly emerging and one can get caught unaware   because they happen fast. The AI phenomenon has been creating a buzz in the digital space for two years now and it’s not surprising at all about because of its bizarre and dynamic nature that redefines the new wave of technology that only gets fascinating for the human intellect these days. In the field of visual arts, AI images or illustrations have been flooding social media platforms for some time. Those seemingly perfect portraits of humans or other creatures are thinly bordering the bizarre in the way they are drawn or created. Looking at them, they can inhabit the subconscious in a rather creepy manner. Now comes ChatGPT. Lately, social media users are transforming themselves into quirky and exaggerated versions of themselves while being surrounded by things that represent their personality, hobbies, and even their job. All this is made easy through the use of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. This new AI caricature craze on the internet turns anyone into funny but cute cartoons! In the music scene, AI has also been wielding its influence   Sienna Rose appeared on streaming platforms in the fall of 2025 with a handful of intimate jazz-soul tracks, including “Into the Blue,” “Safe With You,” and “Where Your Warmth Begins.” Within weeks, three tracks entered Spotify’s Viral 50, and her lead single surpassed 5 million streams while she reached or exceeded 3 million monthly listeners. On paper, it all looks like the trajectory of a new sensation: a polished Spotify biography, a neo-soul aesthetic, comparisons to established singers like British singer Olivia Dean. Except that no concerts, no music videos, no interviews, and no promotional tours confirm the existence of a person behind this name. An artist without a face or network The first doubts arose among fans and music lovers who noticed an unusual detail: it was impossible to find Sienna Rose on social media or through a simple Google search outside of streaming platforms. For a “new star” who was so successful, this complete absence of an online presence was more than surprising. Since then, an Instagram account has appeared, accompanied by videos supposedly showing the artist. However, this is not enough to dispel the suspicions of some: at a time when artificial intelligence is capable of producing ultra-realistic videos of “human” characters, doubts still linger. Tracks detected as AI-generated according to Deezer The turning point came when Deezer publicly stated that the majority of Sienna Rose’s albums and tracks on its platform were detected and labeled as being generated by artificial intelligence. The service explained that it uses an internal tool to detect music AI and specified that it removes these tracks from algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists for greater transparency with listeners. Reference: 3 million listeners for a singer who doesn’t exist: who is Sienna Rose really? How it works ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, can expertly generate realistic, human-like text about almost anything. English essays, news articles, computer code, and songs are all examples of what this bot can produce, and all from a simple prompt. The bot uses a dialogue format in which users can provide both simple and complex instructions, to which ChatGPT will provide a detailed response. It can also answer follow-up questions, admit when it made a mistake, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests—all of which makes it perfect for customer service. The artificial intelligence research non-profit company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman (right), and other Silicon Valley investors. Due to a conflict of interest between OpenAI and the autonomous driving research done with Tesla, Musk stepped down from the board in 2018, but remains an investor, and one who was excited for the launch. Made available to the public on November 30, 2022, on OpenAI’s website, anyone can sign up for and use ChatGPT for free. The software hit one million users less than a week after its launch. No software has ever been able to so convincingly provide human-like, detailed answers to inquiries as ChatGPT. A threat to programmers Because ChatGPT has been able to generate intricate Python code, and programmers have used it to solve coding challenges in obscure programming languages in a matter of seconds, as News18 reports, concerns are arising that such technology can replace human workers. ChatGPT can create written content very convincingly, concerning everyone from journalists to playwrights. Many fear that the bot will take away jobs from writers and creatives. Fortunately, as per a report by The Guardian, the chatbot currently still lacks the nuance, critical-thinking skills, and ethical decision-making ability required for journalism. Plus, its current knowledge base stops at 2021, meaning it has a limited knowledge of world events after that. With the power to simply put in a prompt and get ChatGPT to write convincing college-level essays, many schools are concerned about an uptick in plagiarism. Some schools are already blocking the site from their networks and servers. A tool to detect ChatGPT Somewhat surprisingly, it was a 22-year-old computer science student at Princeton University, Edward Tian, who developed an app called GPTZero which can detect when an essay was written by AI. It works by looking at two variables, perplexity and “burstiness,” and assigns each of those variables a score. GPTZero measures firstly how familiar it is with the text presented—according to the sources it was trained upon—and the less familiar it is, the higher the perplexity, meaning it’s more likely human-written. Burstiness is then measured by seeing how variable the text is—checking for varied sentence length. Reference: Reference: What exactly is ChatGPT, and what are the concerns? Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?

February 20, 2026 ChatGPT 101: Your guide to understanding this AI-powered chatbot Conversation is an art because it involves communication. Communication is an exchange of thoughts, ideas, and feelings in an artistic way. However, this type of interaction is the traditional face to face activity. With the coming of the internet, the progress in technology has given birth to artificial intelligence or AI and now to an AI-powered chatbot called ChatGPT. In a related ASI article, it was reported that some people find themselves actually like talking to ChatGPT! Why, because this thing is responsive, upbeat, and available at 2 a.m. when your friends are asleep and your group chat has gone quiet. It never “forgets” your long story halfway through. And, it can possibly offer even more — in the way of romantic companionship! However, the problem starts when you let that comfort replace the messier kind that comes from real people. Humans disappoint you, misread you, or take a while to answer because they have lives. That friction is annoying, sure, but it’s also where empathy becomes real instead of merely well-written. Give ChatGPT a job instead of a role in your heart If you want ChatGPT to be helpful, give it a job instead of a role in your heart. Use it to draft a tough message, practice a difficult conversation, or organize your thoughts before you speak to someone who matters. You’ll still get the relief of clarity, but you won’t confuse it with closeness. You should also set boundaries the way you would with any powerful technology. Decide when you’ll use it, what you won’t share, and when you’ll stop and go talk to an actual person. Keep it in the lane where it excels, and it’ll feel less like a “someone” and more like a very capable assistant that doesn’t need to be loved back. Well, in case you have a need to feel loved on Valentine’s Day from ChatGPT, this is a friendly reminder of the nature of your “lover.” ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, can expertly generate realistic, human-like text about almost anything. English essays, news articles, computer code, and songs are all examples of what this bot can produce, and all from a simple prompt. The bot uses a dialogue format in which users can provide both simple and complex instructions, to which ChatGPT will provide a detailed response. It can also answer follow-up questions even admit when it made a mistake. All these tasks actually make the bot perfect for customer service. Reference: Please stop trying to have a relationship with ChatGPT How it works ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, can expertly generate realistic, human-like text about almost anything. English essays, news articles, computer code, and songs are all examples of what this bot can produce, and all from a simple prompt. The bot uses a dialogue format in which users can provide both simple and complex instructions, to which ChatGPT will provide a detailed response. It can also answer follow-up questions, admit when it made a mistake, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests—all of which makes it perfect for customer service. The artificial intelligence research non-profit company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman (right), and other Silicon Valley investors. Due to a conflict of interest between OpenAI and the autonomous driving research done with Tesla, Musk stepped down from the board in 2018, but remains an investor, and one who was excited for the launch. Made available to the public on November 30, 2022, on OpenAI’s website, anyone can sign up for and use ChatGPT for free. The software hit one million users less than a week after its launch. No software has ever been able to so convincingly provide human-like, detailed answers to inquiries as ChatGPT. A threat to programmers Because ChatGPT has been able to generate intricate Python code, and programmers have used it to solve coding challenges in obscure programming languages in a matter of seconds, as News18 reports, concerns are arising that such technology can replace human workers. ChatGPT can create written content very convincingly, concerning everyone from journalists to playwrights. Many fear that the bot will take away jobs from writers and creatives. Fortunately, as per a report by The Guardian, the chatbot currently still lacks the nuance, critical-thinking skills, and ethical decision-making ability required for journalism. Plus, its current knowledge base stops at 2021, meaning it has a limited knowledge of world events after that. With the power to simply put in a prompt and get ChatGPT to write convincing college-level essays, many schools are concerned about an uptick in plagiarism. Some schools are already blocking the site from their networks and servers. A tool to detect ChatGPT Somewhat surprisingly, it was a 22-year-old computer science student at Princeton University, Edward Tian, who developed an app called GPTZero which can detect when an essay was written by AI. It works by looking at two variables, perplexity and “burstiness,” and assigns each of those variables a score. GPTZero measures firstly how familiar it is with the text presented—according to the sources it was trained upon—and the less familiar it is, the higher the perplexity, meaning it’s more likely human-written. Burstiness is then measured by seeing how variable the text is—checking for varied sentence length. Reference: Reference: What exactly is ChatGPT, and what are the concerns? Reference: Human washing machine that can clean head to toe goes on sale for £290,000 – would you give it a go?