MAKE AI WORK SMARTER
Asking ChatGPT to write your emails is so two years ago.
Generative AI tools are now going beyond the basic text-prompt phase. Take Google’s NotebookLM, an experimental “AI research assistant” that lets you upload not just text but also videos, links and PDFs. It will provide a summary of the content, answer questions about it, and even make a podcast-like “AI overview” if you want it to — all while organizing your original sources and notes.
Photo: Reuters
As AI tools advance, expect more features like this to be baked into everyday software. All the usual caveats of using AI apply: the responsibility for factchecking lies with you.
BREAK FREE OF THE ALGORITHM
If you’re stuck in a feedback loop of samey music or TV recommendations, go for a refresh. Some platforms, such as Netflix, let you delete your viewing history, which will help clear the slate (select “hide all” under “viewing activity” for a do-over).
Spotify is harder to crack: you’ll need to train it into offering a broader selection by diversifying your listening. Choose playlists that focus specifically on new music, or go old school and ask friends for their tips. Use the “private session” mode or select “exclude from your taste profile” to keep your guilty pleasures (or your kids’ nursery rhymes) from infecting future recommendations.
LEARN TO SPOT AI VIDEO
Manipulated videos, or “deepfakes,” might already be old hat, but you can expect to see more entirely AI-generated videos as text-to-video tools enter the mainstream.
OpenAI’s Sora and Meta’s Movie Gen are continuing to be developed, with impressive (or concerning, depending on your stance) results. Look for watermarks that show a video is AI-generated, and watch out for telltale mistakes, such as errors in anatomy or weird physics. Most importantly, use context clues: if something seems particularly shocking, unlikely, or out of place, be on guard.
LOOK UP, LOOK OUT, MAKE A BACKUP
So-called “snatch thefts” are at a high, with the equivalent of more than 200 such robberies occurring across England and Wales each day. Thieves, often on bikes or mopeds, grab phones to sell overseas. There’s not much you can do in the moment, but you can slightly soften the impact by making sure anything important on your phone is backed up. Many manufacturers offer to automatically sync all your files to a cloud service; alternatively, you can find options for specific media in the relevant phone or app settings.
TACKLE THE TECH DRAWER OF DOOM
Everyone has one: the drawer (or cupboard or box) of discarded devices, broken electronics and tangled cables hoarding valuable metals. Make this the year you reclaim the space from your unwanted e-waste. If your old stuff is in good nick, you can also try selling or donating it; remember to wipe personal data from laptops and phones by doing a factory reset or removing the hard drive.
Feb. 17 to Feb. 23 “Japanese city is bombed,” screamed the banner in bold capital letters spanning the front page of the US daily New Castle News on Feb. 24, 1938. This was big news across the globe, as Japan had not been bombarded since Western forces attacked Shimonoseki in 1864. “Numerous Japanese citizens were killed and injured today when eight Chinese planes bombed Taihoku, capital of Formosa, and other nearby cities in the first Chinese air raid anywhere in the Japanese empire,” the subhead clarified. The target was the Matsuyama Airfield (today’s Songshan Airport in Taipei), which
China has begun recruiting for a planetary defense force after risk assessments determined that an asteroid could conceivably hit Earth in 2032. Job ads posted online by China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) this week, sought young loyal graduates focused on aerospace engineering, international cooperation and asteroid detection. The recruitment drive comes amid increasing focus on an asteroid with a low — but growing — likelihood of hitting earth in seven years. The 2024 YR4 asteroid is at the top of the European and US space agencies’ risk lists, and last week analysts increased their probability
For decades, Taiwan Railway trains were built and serviced at the Taipei Railway Workshop, originally built on a flat piece of land far from the city center. As the city grew up around it, however, space became limited, flooding became more commonplace and the noise and air pollution from the workshop started to affect more and more people. Between 2011 and 2013, the workshop was moved to Taoyuan and the Taipei location was retired. Work on preserving this cultural asset began immediately and we now have a unique opportunity to see the birth of a museum. The Preparatory Office of National
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July