A new report from IE University in Madrid suggests a decent level of support for the implementation of AI in security and surveillance, with many Europeans favoring the use of technologies like facial recognition and biometric data.
However, concerns about AI’s role in elections and public decision-making highlight the complex relationship between trust in AI and fears of manipulation.
According to the study, 75% of respondents support the use of AI technologies by police and military forces. Given Europe’s stringent data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the fear of authorities or AI misusing data is far lower than it would be in the US. GDPR imposes severe penalties for non-compliance, with fines reaching up to 4% of a company’s annual revenue or 20 million euros, whichever is higher.
Fear of manipulation persistsWhile many Europeans are comfortable with AI’s use in public administration and security, they express significant concern about its impact on elections. The report found that 67% of respondents fear that AI could manipulate democratic processes, particularly by spreading misinformation.
Moreover, nearly a third (31%) of Europeans believe AI has already played a role in shaping their voting decisions, underscoring the growing influence of these technologies in political campaigns.
The public enthusiasm for AI use in some areas like traffic management is high with 79% of respondents supporting its use in optimizing transportation systems. However, opinions shift when AI is applied to more sensitive tasks, such as deciding parole outcomes, with 64% opposing its involvement in judicial matters.
The younger generation, aged 18 to 34, is more open to the idea of delegating political decisions to AI and about 34% of respondents in this age group said they would trust an AI-powered app to vote on their behalf.
Only 29% of individuals aged 35 to 44 would consider using AI to cast their votes. The skepticism becomes even more pronounced among older adults, with just 9% of people aged 65 and above willing to trust AI in the voting process.
Via CNBC
You might also likeHugging Face has introduced its latest offering, Hugging Face Generative AI Services (HUGS), aimed at simplifying the deployment and scaling of generative AI applications using open-source models.
Built on Hugging Face technologies such as Transformers and Text Generation Inference (TGI), HUGS promises optimized performance across various hardware accelerators.
For developers using AWS or Google Cloud, the service is available at $1 per hour per container, with a five-day free trial on AWS to help users get started.
Streamlining AI with zero-configuration inferenceHUGS offers developers a solution to run AI models on their own infrastructure without the need for manual configuration. One of the primary challenges when deploying large language models (LLMs) is optimizing them for specific hardware environments. Each accelerator, whether it is an NVIDIA GPU or an AMD GPU, requires fine-tuning to extract maximum performance.
With HUGS, these optimizations are managed automatically, delivering high throughput out of the box. In addition to NVIDIA and AMD GPUs, the company promises that its support will soon extend to AWS Inferentia and Google TPUs.
Hugging Face aims to ease the transition from black-box APIs to open, self-hosted solutions with support for a wide array of models, including well-known LLMs like Llama and Gemma, with plans to introduce multimodal models such as Idefics and Llava soon. In the future, the company says it will include embedding models like BGE and Jina, giving developers even more options to customize their AI applications.
This service uses standardized APIs compatible with OpenAI’s model interfaces, therefore, developers can migrate their own code.
For startups in particular, HUGS provides an opportunity to build AI applications without incurring the high costs associated with proprietary platforms. The availability of one-click deployments on DigitalOcean makes it even easier for small teams to experiment with generative AI technologies.
Meanwhile, larger enterprises can leverage HUGS to scale their applications without being locked into a single cloud provider or proprietary API. On DigitalOcean, HUGS is included at no extra charge beyond the standard cost of GPU Droplets. Hugging Face also offers custom deployment solutions for enterprises through its Enterprise Hub.
You might also likeThe Samsung Galaxy S25 series has been extensively tipped and rumored at this point, so we have a good idea of what the key features of these phones will be.
By ‘features’ we refer here to the major upgrades and new things relative to the Samsung Galaxy S24 series – so in other words the main things that might make you consider buying a Samsung Galaxy S25 over a Galaxy S24.
You’ll find all of these claimed features and upgrades below, and note that we’re looking at the whole Samsung Galaxy S25 line here – so the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra as well as the base model.
MagSafe-like charging The Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future)One interesting addition that has only recently got tipped is the possible presence of a MagSafe-like system on the Samsung Galaxy S25 line, though exactly how it will work is uncertain.
One rumor suggested the Samsung Galaxy S25 series would all support Qi2 wireless charging, which is a very similar tech to MagSafe, with magnets in the phone that let you magnetically attach wireless chargers and accessories, such as battery packs and tripods.
However, another suggested that instead Samsung might simply sell some magnetic cases, which you could then attach magnetic accessories to.
We’re inclined to say that both of these rumors are probably true – that the phones will support Qi2 charging, but also that Samsung might release a range of magnetic cases, perhaps so that you can still firmly attach magnetic accessories when there’s a case on the phone.
A new ultra-wide camera The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)Several sources have suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could have a new ultra-camera, with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s fairly modest 12MP ultra-wide being replaced with a more pixel-packed 50MP sensor.
This should allow for more detailed photos, and will hopefully lead to an overall quality increase, bringing ultra-wide shots more in line with photos taken with the main camera.
However, this upgrade is reportedly just for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, with the other models likely sticking with the same cameras as their predecessors.
A super-powered chipset The Snapdragon 8 Elite powering an unnamed phone (Image credit: Qualcomm)Perhaps the most noticeable upgrade in day-to-day use could be a new chipset, with every Samsung Galaxy S25 model sure to have a faster chipset than their predecessors.
There’s been some debate about which chipset or chipsets will be used, but the consensus seems to be that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra at least will have a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which based on benchmarks should deliver a huge boost in power.
As for the other models, they may well use the Snapdragon 8 Elite too, but there’s a chance that in some regions they could use an Exynos 2500 instead. This is a chipset that Samsung itself makes, and based on past form it probably won’t be quite as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Elite – but it should still be a big upgrade on the Galaxy S24’s chipset.
A new ‘Slim’ model The Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future | Roland Moore-Colyer)Not a feature as such, but the biggest ‘new’ thing in the Samsung Galaxy S25 line might be a completely new model, which for now we’re referring to as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim.
This – as that name suggests – could be a much thinner alternative to the other Galaxy S25 models, and we’ve heard that the Galaxy S25 Slim could even have an ‘Ultra’-level camera.
However, to keep it slim there may be compromises elsewhere, such as in the number of lenses or the size of the battery.
Extra RAM Using AI to create a wallpaper on the Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)Going by rumors, it’s looking very likely that both the base Samsung Galaxy S25 and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have more RAM than their predecessors. The former could ship with 12GB (up from 8GB in the Samsung Galaxy S24), and the latter with up to 16GB (up from 12GB in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra).
However, one tip suggests that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s starting configuration will still have 12GB of RAM, with only higher storage variants getting 16GB.
In any case, a boost in RAM could be desirable, especially for AI tasks, which can be very dependent on RAM. Notably though there’s no sign of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus being boosted from the 12GB of its predecessor.
A larger screen The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra specifically might have a bigger screen than its predecessor, with reports suggesting it could have a 6.86-inch display, which would likely be marketed as 6.9 inches. That’s up slightly from 6.8 inches on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
So this probably won’t make a drastic difference, but it will bring the phone more in line with the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max.
However, the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus will probably have the same screen sizes as their predecessors, at 6.2 inches and 6.7 inches respectively.
You might also likeWelcome, folks, to a week that has included some of the biggest announcements we might see before CES 2025, in what was an uncharacteristically busy few days so close to the holidays.
Samsung dropped a buzzer-beating announcement to keep its promise we’d find out about its XR tech “this year,” Apple Intelligence finally dropped its most-hyped features, and the Nintendo Switch 2 possibly broke cover. Phew!
To help you get all caught up, scroll down for our picks of the seven biggest tech news stories of the week. Once you’ve recapped the news, why not check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to watch this weekend (December 13).
7. Sony’s PlayStation Wrap-Up broke day one (Image credit: Sony)It’s the end of the year and that means Spotify Wrapped clones for everything – not just your music. PlayStation got in on the action with its own gaming Wrap-Up, but either because it was too popular or due to some glitch it was down for a while after launch.
Thankfully it’s back up now, so you can finally head to the official PlayStation Wrap-Up 2024 page to see your stats – I apparently played nearly 200 hours of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in my hunt for the Platinum Trophy, and over 50 hours just of Balatro, TechRadar’s Game of the Year.
6. We celebrated the lighter side of (wild) life Smooching owlets, Sarthak Ranganadhan (Image credit: © Milko Marchetti)From more than 9,000 images 45 finalists were shortlisted for this year’s Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2024, with Italian photographer Milko Marchetti scooping the top award for a hilarious image of a squirrel looking like it’s stuck head-first in a tree.
Every image is an inspiring look at what artists can achieve with the best cameras on the market, and some creativity.
A free exhibition is happening from 11-15 December in the Gallery@Oxo in London, but if you can’t make it, all of 2024's finalists can be seen on the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards website.
5. We saw the Switch 2, maybe (Image credit: Shutterstock/Kyli Petersen)The Nintendo Switch 2 is one of tech most poorly kept secrets. The follow up to the hugely popular Nintendo console has been the subject of multiple leaks over the past few months, and we might now have our first glimpse of it thanks to a now-deleted trailer from third-party accessory manufacturer Satisfye.
The video was for the Zengrip 2 specifically, and the trailer for the add-on seemingly showed us a blurry Nintendo Switch 2 model which highlighted a similar overall design to the original but with the rumored extra button which has been teased.
There are questions around whether this leak is legitimate or merely a way to stoke up hype for a Nintendo Switch grip, but with a release date announcement for the Switch 2 possible before the end of 2024, even, we might not have long to wait before we see the console for real.
4. Apple crowned the 17 best App Store apps (Image credit: Kino)Following Google’s recent announcement of the best Android apps of 2024, Apple has revealed the 17 apps it thinks are the best its App Store had to offer us this year.
iPhone App of the Year Kino will help you capture better videos, Mac App of the Year Adobe Lightroom will help you edit those videos and other snaps, while Apple Arcade Game of the Year Balatro+ will help you lose a lot of hours from the working day (I’m definitely not speaking from experience on that one. Not at all).
There are a lot of good picks among them, so you’ll want to see what the winners have to offer users across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro.
3. Sora video generation looks scarily good (Image credit: Future)OpenAI has been busy of late, giving us a slew of big new reveals as part of its 12 Days of OpenAI event.
This week, it finally gave us access to Sora, its new AI video-generation platform that lets you generate shockingly realistic-looking videos. We’ve been giving it a test and even in our brief hands-on it’s clear that the tech will bring about a video creation revolution – though maybe not in a great way.
You can give it a try at Sora.com once you log into your ChatGPT Plus account; you need at least that level of access to start creating up to 50 generations a month, while Pro gets you unlimited. However, while it is kinda fun to play around with the software to create fun clips, their realistic look can’t help but set off fears that this technology could be abused.
The tech isn’t perfect right now, with our own tests generating dogs with tails that grow and disappear at random, for example – but it is something to be wary of as you browse the web. It's all very impressive, sure, but it's about to become a lot harder to tell what is and isn’t real online.
2. iOS 18.2 took Apple Intelligence up a notch (Image credit: Apple / Kino / NYT / Moises)Apple Intelligence has, to put it mildly, been feeling a little lacking. That was until this week, when iOS 18.2 rolled out with some much-needed updates to Apple's AI.
These include Genmoji and Image Playground for generating custom emoji and images using text prompts, ChatGPT integration into Siri for more in-depth answers, and the rollout of Apple Intelligence to non-US English – meaning you can access it in the UK and Australia without changing your phone’s language settings.
It wasn’t just for iPhones either; Apple Intelligence updates came to Apple’s full suite of products via iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 updates.
1. Samsung’s Project Moohan broke cover (Image credit: Google)The worst-kept secret in tech – even more so than the Switch 2 – finally got unveiled this week, with Samsung and Google showcasing Project Moohan, the pair’s mixed-reality headset. And yes, it does look a lot like an Apple Vision Pro.
Powered by the Android XR platform, Moohan will launch sometime in 2025, with the developer kit rolling our right now to app creators so they can make software ahead of the headset’s release.
Details are light on the ground with regards to cost, a precise release date, and even battery life and weight – but we do know that Samsung has a pair of AR glasses up its sleeve, too. Once again, though, we’ll have to wait a while before we hear more about them, and even longer until we can try the specs out for ourselves.
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #552) - today's words (Image credit: New York Times)Today's NYT Connections words are…
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #552) - hint #2 - group answersWhat are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #552) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Connections, game #552, are…
There was one head-scratcher in every group today – making it one of those strangely satisfying games.
WORDS BEFORE “CUP” definitely warranted its Purple status, but even the Yellow group had a FISH that could just as easily have been one of the GLOBAL CURRENCIES.
How much is the fish?
25 Tang to you.
You could say it was a FLUKE, but I made it home without a hitch.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 13 December, game #551)NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #286) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Nothing can stop me!
NYT Strands today (game #286) - hint #2 - clue wordsPlay any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
• Seize the day types
NYT Strands today (game #286) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?First side: left, 5th row
Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #286) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Strands, game #286, are…
Being the CEO of my organization (employees: one, me), I like to think that I bring passion, drive, and a sense of purpose to the production of the daily Strands hints and answers page. I am passionate about completing these puzzles one day at a time with methodical professionalism and focused intensity.
It is with a great source of pride that I completed today’s Strands in record time (well, less than 20 minutes) to achieve the stretch goal of returning to bed for a snooze. Being a GO GETTER is sooo exhausting.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 13 December, game #285)Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.
Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Quordle today (game #1055) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #1055) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.
Quordle today (game #1055) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.
Quordle today (game #1055) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.
If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:
Quordle today (game #1055) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?• S
• O
• T
• D
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #1055) - the answers (Image credit: Merriam-Webster)The answers to today's Quordle, game #1055, are…
I love you Quordle… I’ve always loved you…
DITTO
I was at it from the ONSET today determined to tame the four-word beast. But no.
I’m beginning to think that the only way to complete Quordle is to take it to the edge and hope you get lucky on the final go.
Fortunately, that final scene in Ghost sprang to mind, and with a tear rolling down my cheek I was able to bring this particular baby (wrong movie alert) home.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Daily Sequence today (game #1055) - the answers (Image credit: Merriam-Webster)The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1055, are…