A public policy professor uses the "work vs. gym" analogy to explain when AI assistance is appropriate, arguing that tasks designed for skill development (gym tasks) should not use AI, while efficiency-focused tasks (work tasks) can. This distinction highlights the impact of AI on students' learning and the future of creative professions.
The Five Eyes national security agencies warn of escalating cyber risks due to AI models' autonomous hacking capabilities, emphasizing the need for defensive AI harnessing amid a widening skill-ability gap.
The US government disclosed 3,611 AI use cases, a 70% increase since the Biden administration. Concerns are raised over AI's role in sensitive government functions, lack of transparency, and potential for misuse, despite potential benefits.
University of Toronto researchers have created an AI-powered worm prototype using open-source models that can exploit known computer vulnerabilities across multiple platforms without human intervention, potentially causing widespread chaos.
Data from University of Toronto suggests Canadians are avoiding US cities during the second Trump administrationA new research tool that tracks cell phone activity has found a 42% drop in visitors from Canada to big metropolitan areas in the US that is much higher than official border-crossing data, suggesting Canadians during the second Trump administration are avoiding US cities in particular.Researchers from the University of Toronto said the tool showed a “year-over-year median decline of approximately 42% in Canadian visits to US metropolitan areas – significantly higher than official border-crossing data, which showed a roughly 25% decline”. Continue reading...
Lost anti-fascist Yiddish songs from World War II, collected by Soviet ethnologist Moisei Beregovsky, are set to make their Asian debut in Shanghai through a performance project by Anna Shternshis and Psoy Korolenko.
More than 2,300 mathematicians from nearly 80 countries have signed a petition to move the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians out of the United States, citing visa barriers, safety concerns and US policies they say undermine the inclusiveness of global science. The petition, co-organised by Varma, calls on Chinese mathematicians to support the boycott and convince their mathematical societies to do the same.
