Innehållsförteckning för #646 från AppleMagazine

Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT. Already thousands of doctors are using similar products based on large language models. One company says its tool works in 14 languages. AI saves doctors time and prevents burnout, enthusiasts say. It also shakes up the doctorpatient relationship, raising questions of trust, transparency, privacy and the future of human connection. A look at how new AI tools affect patients: IS MY DOCTOR USING AI? In recent years, medical devices with machine learning have been doing things like reading mammograms, diagnosing…

U.S. lawmakers are threatening to ban TikTok but also say they are giving its Chinese parent company a chance to keep it running. The premise of a bipartisan bill headed for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is that TikTok fans in the U.S. can keep scrolling through their favorite social media app so long as Beijing-based ByteDance gives up on owning it. “It doesn’t have to be this painful for ByteDance,” U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and bill co-sponsor, recently posted on X. “They could make it a lot easier on themselves by simply divesting @tiktok_us. It’s their choice.” But it’s not going to be as simple as lawmakers are making it sound, according to experts. WHO WOULD BUY TIKTOK? While some people have voiced…

OpenAI is reinstating CEO Sam Altman to its board of directors and said it has “full confidence” in his leadership after the conclusion of an outside investigation into the company’s turmoil. The ChatGPT maker tapped the law firm WilmerHale to look into what led the company to abruptly fire Altman in November, only to rehire him days later. After months of investigation, it found that Altman’s ouster was a “consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust” between him and the prior board, OpenAI said in a summary of the findings. It did not release the full report. OpenAI also announced it has added three women to its board of directors: Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellman, a former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, a…

It’s been a common refrain when seeking proof that someone’s story or some event actually took place: “Pics, or it didn’t happen.” But in a world where the spread of technology makes photo manipulation as easy as a tap on your phone, the idea that a visual image is an absolute truth is as outdated as the daguerreotype. And a photo can sometimes raise as many questions as it was meant to answer. That was seen in recent days when controversy descended upon an image of Kate, Princess of Wales, and her three children. News agencies including The Associated Press published, then retracted, the image given out by Buckingham Palace over concerns it had been manipulated, leading to Kate saying on social media that she occasionally “experimented” with photo editing.…

“Kung Fu Panda 4” finds our trusty, rotund hero Po at a career crossroads and he’s nervous. “Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” he is told. “Kung Fu Panda 4” also finds the franchise at an inflection point, but there’s no reason for us to be nervous. DreamWorks knows what it’s doing. The series’ first new installment in eight years is a reliably funny, sweet and wonderfully realized passing of the torch, with a paw in the past and another into the future — an elegant goodbye and a hello. Many other filmmakers — ahem, Marvel and DC — might learn a thing. When we meet him, Po — voiced as always by a lively Jack Black — is being asked to give up his dream role as…

Virginia high school teacher Joe Clement keeps track of the text messages parents have sent students sitting in his economics and government classes: — “What did you get on your test?” — “Did you get the field trip form signed?” — “Do you want chicken or hamburgers for dinner tonight?” Clement has a plea for parents: Stop texting your kids at school. Parents are distressingly aware of the distractions and the mental health issues associated with smartphones and social media. But teachers say parents might not realize how much those struggles play out at school. One culprit? Mom and Dad themselves, whose stream-of-consciousness questions add to a climate of constant interruption and distraction from learning. Even when schools regulate or ban cellphones, it’s hard for teachers to enforce it. And…

European Union lawmakers gave final approval to the 27-nation bloc’s artificial intelligence law Wednesday, putting the world-leading rules on track to take effect later this year. Lawmakers in the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Artificial Intelligence Act, five years after regulations were first proposed. The AI Act is expected to act as a global signpost for other governments grappling with how to regulate the fast-developing technology. “The AI Act has nudged the future of AI in a human-centric direction, in a direction where humans are in control of the technology and where it — the technology — helps us leverage new discoveries, economic growth, societal progress and unlock human potential,” Dragos Tudorache, a Romanian lawmaker who was a co-leader of the Parliament negotiations on the draft law,…

Apple has once again set the stage for a riveting comparison between its latest offerings: the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 MacBook Pro. Both laptops offer unrivaled performance but appeal to different audiences and serve unique purposes for creativity, productivity, and fun. SUPERCHARGED WITH M3 Apple’s M3 chip represents a significant leap in processing power, promising enhanced performance and efficiency. According to one report, the M3 chip offers speeds that are up to 60 percent faster than its M1-equipped predecessor and an incredible 13 times faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air model. The inclusion of this chip in both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro has sparked curiosity and excitement, setting the scene for a head-to-head comparison that delves into every aspect of these innovative machines. The best…

Reddit, that vast, lively and sometimes chaotic repository of internet discussion, projected a price for its initial public offering stock that values the 18-year-old social media platform at up to $6.4 billion. The offering also makes Reddit one of the first online companies to offer shares to its contributors — the “Redditors” who comment on its boards and the moderators who manage them. That’s a break with traditional IPO practice, in which initial shares are typically sold to institutional investors and fund managers who then begin trading the stock on the open market. Adding the company’s users to the mix could make for a much livelier offering, and not necessarily in a good way. It could be an interesting ride. WHAT ARE THE DETAILS OF THE IPO? Reddit plans to…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited the electric car maker’s first European plant on Wednesday as production resumed at the factory just outside Berlin, about a week after a suspected arson attack cut its power supply. Musk was expected at a “team huddle” with employees at the plant in the Gruenheide municipality, employee council chief Michaela Schmitz told regional broadcaster RBB’s Inforadio channel. Reporters at the scene could see him arriving from a distance and he turned their way, shouting “Deutschland rocks” or “Germany rocks.” Production at Tesla’s plant in Gruenheide came to a standstill on Tuesday last week. Tens of thousands of residents, nearby hospitals, nursing homes and a big logistics center for a German grocery chain were also initially affected. The electricity supply to the plant was restored on…

WERQ THE WORLD RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE BYE THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE STRAIGHT TO SEASIDE! JERSEY SHORE: FAMILY VACATION WERQ THE WORLD RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: UNTUCKED! - UNTUCKED REUNION, PT. 2 THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS THE GOOD FIGHT TYLER PERRY’S SISTAS GONE THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE ELEPHANT ON THE BEACH SUMMER HOUSE MAMA JUNE: FROM NOT TO HOT FAMILY CRISIS: MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS BOILING POINT THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC…

The United States is spearheading the first United Nations resolution on artificial intelligence, aimed at ensuring the new technology is “safe, secure and trustworthy” and that all countries, especially those in the developing world, have equal access. The draft General Assembly resolution aims to close the digital divide between countries and make sure they are all at the table in discussions on AI — and that they have the technology and capabilities to take advantage of its benefits, including detecting diseases, predicting floods and training the next generation of workers. The draft recognizes the rapid acceleration of AI development and use and stresses “the urgency of achieving global consensus on safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems.” It also recognizes that “the governance of artificial intelligence systems is an evolving…

Apple has reversed course under regulatory pressure and cleared the way for a nettlesome adversary, video game maker Epic Games, to set up an alternative store for iPhone apps in Europe. The about-face disclosed is the latest twist in a bitter fight between Apple and Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, over the way iPhone apps are distributed and the fees for digital transactions that occur within them. Apple attributed the change of heart to reassurances from Epic that it won’t violate its requirements for getting access to iPhone owners. Epic had brazenly broke the rules in the U.S. in 2020 to trigger an antitrust lawsuit alleging Apple’s App Store is a monopoly. After a month-long trial, a federal judge in 2021 rejected most of Epic’s…

Shoppers thinking about buying a three-row SUV have plenty of options. Unless they want an electric SUV, that is. Fortunately, there are two models that hold a lot of promise: the Kia EV9 and the Rivian R1S. The EV9 is Kia’s latest and largest electric SUV. Think of it as a Kia Telluride that’s electric. As for the R1S, it hails from Rivian, an electric vehicle startup, and boasts massive power and impressive off-road performance. Both can haul lots of passengers and swallow loads of cargo. But which is the better buy? Car experts compare them to find out. RANGE AND CHARGING The EV9’s base model provides a modest EPA-estimated range of 230 miles on a full charge. But for a small price increase, shoppers can upgrade to get an…

A group of 40 state attorneys general have sent a letter to Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta expressing “deep concern” over what they say is dramatic uptick of consumer complaints about account takeovers and lockouts. The attorneys general called on Meta to do a better job preventing account takeovers — when malicious actors take a users’ accounts, lock them out by changing their passwords, and post their own material, read private messages, scam contacts and engage in other harmful or illegal behavior. The letter asks Meta to take “immediate action to increase mitigation tactics and respond to users whose accounts have been taken over.” It also asks the Menlo Park, California-based company to provide information on the number of account takeovers over the past five years, the suspected causes…

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. teens say they feel happy or peaceful when they don’t have their phones with them, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. In a survey published this week, Pew also found that despite the positive associations with going phone-free, most teens have not limited their phone or social media use. The survey comes as policymakers and children’s advocates are growing increasingly concerned with teens’ relationships with their phones and social media. Last fall, dozens of states, including California and New York, sued Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children. In January, the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X and other social media companies…