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"Russia is automating the spread of false information to fool AI chatbots," reports the Washington Post. (When researchers checked 10 chatbots, a third of the responses repeated false pro-Russia messaging.) The Post argues that this tactic offers "a playbook to other bad actors on how to game AI to push content meant to inflame, influence and obfuscate instead of inform," and calls it "a fundamental weakness of the AI industry." Chatbot answers depend on the data fed into them. A guiding principle is that the more the chatbots read, the more informed their answers will be, which is why the industry is ravenous for content. But mass quantities of well-aimed chaff can skew the answers on specific topics. For Russia, that is the war in Ukraine. But for a politician, it could be an opponent; for a commercial firm, it could be a competitor. "Most chatbots struggle with disinformation," said Giada Pistilli, principal ethicist at open-source AI platform Hugging Face. "They have basic safeguards against harmful content but can't reliably spot sophisticated propaganda, [and] the problem gets worse with search-augmented systems that prioritize recent information." Early commercial attempts to manipulate chat results also are gathering steam, with some of the same digital marketers who once offered search engine optimization — or SEO — for higher Google rankings now trying to pump up mentions by AI chatbots through "generative engine optimization" — or GEO. Our current situation "plays into the hands of those with the most means and the most to gain: for now, experts say, that is national governments with expertise in spreading propaganda." Russia and, to a lesser extent, China have been exploiting that advantage by flooding the zone with fables. But anyone could do the same, burning up far fewer resources than previous troll farm operations... In a twist that befuddled researchers for a year, almost no human beings visit the sites, which are hard to browse or search. Instead, their content is aimed at crawlers, the software programs that scour the web and bring back content for search engines and large language models. While those AI ventures are trained on a variety of datasets, an increasing number are offering chatbots that search the current web. Those are more likely to pick up something false if it is recent, and even more so if hundreds of pages on the web are saying much the same thing... The gambit is even more effective because the Russian operation managed to get links to the Pravda network stories edited into Wikipedia pages and public Facebook group postings, probably with the help of human contractors. Many AI companies give special weight to Facebook and especially Wikipedia as accurate sources. (Wikipedia said this month that its bandwidth costs have soared 50 percent in just over a year, mostly because of AI crawlers....) Last month, other researchers set out to see whether the gambit was working. Finnish company Check First scoured Wikipedia and turned up nearly 2,000 hyperlinks on pages in 44 languages that pointed to 162 Pravda websites. It also found that some false information promoted by Pravda showed up in chatbot answers. "They do even better in such places as China," the article points out, "where traditional media is more tightly controlled and there are fewer sources for the bots." (The nonprofit American Sunlight Project calls the process "LLM grooming".) The article quotes a top Kremlin propagandist as bragging in January that "we can actually change worldwide AI."

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Chris Hughes , 32, and Cheney Hawkes, 53, were the first to fall out after Big Brother rewarded the housemates with a karaoke party after succeeding in a cat themed task.

For Juno, the winner of the Musselburgh race course corgi derby, the roar of the crowd and the inspirational presence of Judy Murray, mother of former Wimbledon champion Andy, were decisive.

The Right Reverend Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani addressed the county, drawing parallels between current times and the first Easter.

The Right Reverend Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani addressed the county, drawing parallels between current times and the first Easter.

Some locations in north and mid Essex trouble people in terms of pronunciation and here are some of the most commonly mistaken.

One coastal town is often overshadowed - and it really shouldn't be

There were a whopping 9,148 records of theft, burglary, criminal damage, vandalism and assault in churches and other religious properties from January 2022 to December 2024.

Number 10 officials are glad Keir Starmer chose the past week to be on holiday. 'With Arsenal beating Real Madrid, he'd have been insufferable,' one senior staffer joked.

In order to sail the seven seas with the ultra-wealthy, crew members are expected to follow strict rules or risk being thrown overboard for silly mistakes.

The 47-year-old rapper's rental of a room at the Sin City staple was marked by mishaps, sources told Dailymail.com, with his conduct raising eyebrows.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine as an 'Easter truce.'

The singer, 55, put on an age-defying display as she flaunted her toned physique in the figure-hugging Barbie pink one-piece.

Top officials from around the world travelled to Paris on Thursday to discuss the war with Russia and Kyiv's security.

Dr James Richardson, a research associate at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh , has said the clock is ticking to safeguard cacao - with the cost of chocolate already having soared this Easter.

Draped in designer labels, hooked on plastic surgery and partial to the odd wine-fuelled cat fight, their lives are like a rolling soap opera.

Kristil Krug wanted to split from her husband Daniel. Then she started getting threatening messages from a previous boyfriend, or so she thought.

Launched in 1958, the "awkward-looking" Vanguard-1 satellite ("the size of a grapefruit") is the oldest artificial object orbiting Earth. "A team of researchers and engineers want to retrieve the satellite for closer inspection and are currently working to find a way to bring Vanguard-1 home," writes Gizmodo: Other satellites of its time have reentered through Earth's atmosphere, burning up in a fiery death, but Vanguard-1 is still in orbit, silently zooming through the void of space... A team of researchers and engineers from Virginia-based consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton have put together a proposal on how to retrieve the satellite from space, bringing it back to Earth to study how its equipment has fared over the years, according to a report by Space.com. The team's proposal is detailed in a study published in the Aerospace Research Center earlier this year... Considering how old Vanguard-1 is, the astronauts would need to handle it with care, according to the team behind the proposal. Before a retrieval attempt, the team suggests that a spacecraft be sent to rendezvous with the satellite to inspect its condition up-close. The engineers suggested partnering with a wealthy space enthusiast willing to fund the outer space venture, or using a SpaceX vehicle to bring the satellite home. Once it's brought back to Earth, experts would examine Vanguard-1 to assess its condition — whether it was struck by space debris, if it's still holding together, and how its time in orbit has affected the satellite. The satellite could then be placed at the Smithsonian for display as a sort of time capsule, a reminder of the history of spaceflight, the team suggests. "Future missions (space debris removal, materials capture for on-orbit manufacturing, and even deep space exploration) could build on techniques demonstrated in the retrieval of Vanguard 1," the paper read. "Retrieving Vanguard 1 would be a challenge, but an achievable and invaluable step forward for the entire U.S. space community." "The researchers suggest that the satellite can be placed in a lower orbit and snagged from space, or reeled into the International Space Station," according to the article. Space.com shares this assessment from Bill Raynor, the associate superintendent of the Naval Research Laboratory's spacecraft engineering division. "For material and radiation effects scientists and engineers, it would be an unprecedented opportunity for investigating the effects of long-term space environmental exposure." Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo for sharing the news.

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Sir Chris Hoy has revealed that his fitness is improving despite a terminal cancer diagnosis - and the six-time Olympic champion has found comfort from the longevity of others affected by the same condition.

Jayden Sheeran's mother was just 14 years old when she was raped by a member of a grooming gang in Blurton, near Stoke on Trent.