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Italy’s Meloni basks in G7 limelight with Western leaders

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Two contrasting accommodation options were presented for the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy: the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort, known for hosting celebrities like Madonna and the Beckhams, and a deteriorating ship moored off Brindisi for the 2,600 police officers, criticized for its appalling conditions. The resort houses world leaders, while the ship, costing the Italian government €6m and now under fraud investigation, exemplifies the disparity in treatment.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, buoyed by her party’s success in the European elections, hosts the summit, highlighting Italy’s newfound political stability compared to other G7 nations facing political turmoil. Meloni’s government is portrayed as the strongest amidst leaders like Biden, Sunak, and Trudeau, who are struggling domestically.

Low expectations surround the summit due to the precarious political climate in many G7 countries. However, a significant plan to loan Ukraine $50bn from frozen Russian assets is anticipated. Additionally, Sunak will announce substantial support for Ukraine’s energy and humanitarian needs.

Sessions will address the climate crisis, investment in Africa, the Middle East ceasefire, and AI regulation, with Pope Francis attending for the first time. Efforts to broaden global consensus include inviting leaders from Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. Locals in Puglia, like ice-cream maker Vincenzo Iannacone, express pride and excitement for the summit, hoping it brings positive attention to their region.

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ChatGPT banned in Italy over privacy concerns

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Italy has become the first Western nation to obstruct ChatGPT, an intelligent chatbot. The model, developed by US start-up OpenAI and supported by Microsoft, raised privacy issues, according to the Italian data protection authorities.

With “immediate effect,” the agency said it will forbid OpenAI and launch an investigation. Since its debut in November 2022, ChatGPT has been used by millions of users.

With the internet as it was in 2021 as its database, it can replicate different writing styles and respond to queries in a manner that is natural and human-like. It was included to Bing last month after Microsoft invested billions in it.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook will all have a version of the technology integrated into them, according to the company.

Concerns have been raised about the possible downsides of artificial intelligence (AI), including the threat it poses to employment and the spread of bias and false information. Elon Musk and other prominent industry heavyweights called for the suspension of these AI systems earlier this week over concerns that the race to develop them was out of control.

In addition to blocking OpenAI’s chatbot, the Italian watchdog declared that it will look into whether it complies with the General Data Protection Regulation. The GDPR sets rules for the collection, use, processing, and storage of personal data.

The data breach involved user communications and payment details, the watchdog reported on March 20.

It claimed that there was no legal justification for “the widespread collecting and storage of personal data for the purpose of ‘training’ the platform’s operating algorithms.”

It added that the software “exposes minors to utterly improper replies relative to their degree of development and knowledge” because there was no method to confirm the users’ ages.

Due to the same worries, Bard, Google’s competing artificial intelligence chatbot, is currently only accessible to select persons above the age of 18.

The Italian data-protection authority said OpenAI had 20 days to say how it would address the watchdog’s concerns, under penalty of a fine of €20 million ($21.7m) or up to 4% of annual revenues.

Elsewhere, the Irish data protection commission – responsible for upholding the fundamental right of individuals in the EU to have their personal data protected – told the BBC it is following up with the Italian regulator to understand the basis for their action and “will coordinate with all EU data protection authorities” in connection to the ban.

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Bill Gates: AI is most important tech advance in decades

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The development of artificial intelligence (AI), according to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is the most significant technological achievement in decades.

He compared it to the development of the microprocessor, personal computer, Internet, and mobile phone in a blog post on Tuesday. According to him, it will alter how people work, learn, travel, access healthcare, and interact with one another.

He was discussing the technology behind programmes like ChatGPT, a chatbot. ChatGPT, an AI chatbot created by OpenAI, is built to respond to internet queries in a manner that is natural and human-like.

Microsoft, where Mr. Gates still serves as an advisor, made a multibillion dollar investment in the project’s team in January 2023. But it is not the only AI-powered chatbot available, with Google recently introducing rival Bard.

Mr. Gates claimed that since 2016, he has met with OpenAI, the group behind the artificial intelligence that drives chatbot ChatGPT.

Mr. Gates stated in his blog that he issued the OpenAI team a challenge to develop an AI that can pass an Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam in 2022, which is roughly equivalent to an A-level exam. The challenge came with the strict requirement that the AI could not be specifically programmed to respond to questions in biology. A few months later, the findings were made public. According to him, the score was nearly perfect, with only one mark out of fifty being missed.

Mr. Gates claimed that after the test, he instructed the AI to compose a letter to a father of a sick child.

Mr Gates, who co-chairs the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called on governments to work with industry to “limit the risks” of AI, but said the technology could be used to save lives.

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Undeclared pools in France uncovered by AI technology

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The discovery of thousands of unregistered private swimming pools in France has brought the French tax authorities an unexpected windfall. Over 20,000 underground pools were found after an artificial intelligence (AI) experiment.

They have generated about €10 million ($9.9; £8.5 million), according to French media. Because they increase property value, pools can result in higher property taxes and are required to be declared under French law.

During a trial in October 2021, the software—which was created by Google and the French consulting firm Capgemini—found the pools on aerial photographs of nine French districts.

The study was conducted in the regions of the Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Ardèche, Rhône, Haute-Savoie, Vendée, Maine-et-Loire, and Morbihan; however, tax officials claim it may now be implemented nationally. According to data portal Statista, there were more than 3.2 million private swimming pools in France in 2020, and business was flourishing even before the Covid epidemic.

However, as more workers choose to work from home, the number of pools installed increased. A typical pool measuring 30 square metres (322 square feet) is subject to an annual tax of €200 ($200; £170). The software may potentially be used to identify gazebos, patios, and unreported home additions that affect property taxes, according to the tax authorities.

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europe-times-breaking-european-trending-news-technology This Person Does Not Exist
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Do You Really Exist ??

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“Do you really exist?” This question may seem funny or unfair to you. But its time to rethink about the strange facts in such a question. The technology has grown into far distances. Using vast technological areas of the AI (Artificial Intelligence), software engineer Phillip Wang created the website named ‘This Person Does Not Exist’.

The website provides us the images of humans who never existed! This website is created using Generative adversarial network (GANs), which is a class of machine learning algorithms used in unsupervised learning, implemented by a system of two neural networks contesting with each other in a zero-sum game framework.

Each time when you refresh this website, you can see the image of different ‘non-existed’ persons. The website tells us how an artificial image and an identity can easily be created in this hi-tech world. Most of the identity proofs uses our images. Also, the modern gadgets are secured with the owner’s images using AI technology. The technology is linking the real world with the AI generated images.

The GANs technology was first introduced in 2014. But, when the NVIDIA took up the technology in 2017, more realistic images were obtained. This technology can be used in the advertising, modelling, photo shoot and many other fields where computer-generated models will be growing exponentially. And when these images can be moved and transferred into 3D or 5D, movies will be filled with ‘AI- actors’ in future!

Sunaya Paison
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