Latest news with #GeminiAI
The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Parents slam council over new phone policy for schools
As part of work to develop a new policy around smartphones in schools, officials at East Dunbartonshire Council opened online surveys for teachers, parents, secondary school students and upper-primary school pupils. Each survey, which did not collect names but did record information on the schools that young people attend, ran for around two weeks, with the council receiving a total of more than 11,000 responses across the four different groups. In order to process the survey data 'efficiently and consistently', council officers made use of several AI tools to process the contents of open text boxes in which respondents were invited to add 'any additional information' that they wished to be considered as part of the review. This material, including that produced by young children, was input to ChatGPT, Gemini AI and Microsoft Copilot, which were used to 'assist in reviewing and summarising the anonymous comments.' Officials say that this generated a 'breakdown of key messages' that were then provided to the project working group, but when asked to share the summary of survey responses claimed that this 'is not available as yet.' Asked to explain how the output of AI platforms was checked for accuracy, the council stated that cross-validation, human oversight, triangulation and bias-monitoring processes were all applied, with reviews by officials ensuring 'fidelity' to the more than 11,000 responses that were received. Officials stated that these 'safeguards' would ensure that 'the final summaries accurately reflect the breadth and nuance of stakeholder views gathered during the consultation.' However, those taking part in the survey were not informed that their information would be processed using AI platforms. The Information Commissioner's Office, which regulates areas such as data protection across the whole of the UK, told The Herald that they would expect organisations including local authorities to be "transparent' about how data is being processed, including advising of the purpose of AI tools that are to be used and explaining what the council intends to do with the outputs that are generated. The council has told The Herald that the surveys closed on 13 or 14 May, that work on a new policy began on 19 May, and that a full draft policy had been produced and submitted to the legal department by 27 May – the same day on which the council had been approached about the issue. However, material seen by The Herald shows officials advising parents that the policy had been written and submitted to the legal department by 20 May, just one day after the council claims to have begun drafting the document. An explanation has been requested from the council. READ MORE A comparison of the surveys issued to each group also confirms that a key question about was not included in the parents version of the survey, although it was present in the versions that were issued to teachers and pupils. Parents were asked the extent to which they support either a ban on phone use during lessons, or a ban on use during lessons unless their use is approved by a teacher. However, the other versions of the survey also asked explicitly whether respondents support a ban on the use of phones during the whole school day. The omission has provoked an angry response from some parents. As a result of these and other concerns, formal complaints have now been submitted to East Dunbartonshire Council alleging that the 'flawed survey information and structure' is not fit for purpose, and that the views of parents have not been fully explored or fairly represented. Commenting on behalf of the local Smartphone Free Childhood campaign group, one parent raised significant concerns about the council's approach: 'The fact that parents were the only group not asked about a full ban shocked us. But we were assured that the free text answers we gave would be properly looked at and considered. 'As a result, many parents left long, detailed and personal stories in response to this survey question. 'They shared heart-breaking stories of kids losing sleep at night after seeing things they shouldn't have. Other stories included girls and teachers being filmed without their consent - and kids being afraid to report the extent of what they're seeing in school because of peer pressure. 'There were long, careful responses outlining their concerns - where has this all gone? 'We have been told that an AI tool was used to summarise all this into five 'top-line' policy considerations. We're not sure if the rest was looked at? 'Not only is it not good enough - it's a betrayal of parents who have trusted the council to listen to their concerns. 'It's also not clear how they've shared and processed these highly personal responses from parents, children and teachers - some containing identifiable details, to an unknown 'AI platform' without our consent. We don't know who can access the data.' The Herald contacted East Dunbartonshire Council asking whether the information in the open text boxes was checked for personal or identifying details before being submitted to AI systems. Officials were also asked to provide a copy of the council's current policy on AI use. The response received from the council did not engage with these queries. We also asked why the council had given two different dates in response to questions about when its new draft policy was completed, and whether the council has provided false information as a consequence. A spokesperson insisted that "the draft policy was formally submitted to Legal on 27 May for consideration" and asked to be provided with evidence suggesting otherwise so that they could investigate. Finally, the council was asked to explain why the surveys for pupils and teachers included an explicit question about full bans on smartphones during the school day. Their spokesperson said: "The pupil survey included a specific question on full day bans to gather targeted data from young people. The working group which consisted of Head Teachers, Depute Head Teachers, Quality Improvement Officers and an EIS representative, felt that the young people may be less likely to leave an additional comment in the open text box and so wanted to explicitly ask this question. Parents were intentionally given an open text box to avoid steering responses and to allow respondents to freely express their views. The open text box was used by parents to express their view on a full day ban which many did."
Daily Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Tribune
Meta AI bot used a billion times monthly: Mark Zuckerberg
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg touted the tech firm's generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) assistant on Wednesday, telling shareholders it is used by a billion people each month across its platforms. Zuckerberg noted the milestone anew at Meta's annual gathering of shareholders and as the social media behemoth vies with Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and others to be a leader in Gen AI. It was not clear how much Meta AI use involved people seeking out the chatbot versus passive users of Meta AI, as it is built into features in its family of apps. Since Google debuted AI Overviews in search results a year ago, it has grown to more than 1.5 billion users, according to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. 'That means Google Search is bringing Gen AI to more people than any other product in the world,' Pichai said. Google's AI Overviews are automatically provided summaries of search results that appear instead of the previous practice of simply showing pages of blue links to revelant websites. Pichai said last week that Google's dedicated Gemini AI app has more than 400 million monthly users. Tech rivals are rapidly releasing new AI products despite ongoing challenges with preventing misinformation and establishing clear business models, and little sense of how the tech will affect society. Meta unveiled its first standalone AI assistant app on April 29, giving users a direct path to its Gen AI models. 'A billion people are using Meta AI across our apps now, so we made a new standalone Meta AI app for you to check out,' Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted on Instagram at the time. Zuckerberg said the app 'is designed to be your personal AI' and would be primarily accessed through voice conversations with the interactions personalized to the individual user.
Hans India
a day ago
- Hans India
Google Gemini Can Now Summarise Drive Videos with AI-Powered Insights
Google is bringing more convenience to Workspace and Google Drive users with its Gemini AI, now able to summarise video content. The feature, which previously focused on documents and PDFs, is expanding to videos saved in Google Drive, allowing users to gain quick insights without needing to watch complete recordings. Through a chatbot interface, Gemini can provide video summaries or answer specific questions based on the footage. For instance, it can list action items from a recorded meeting or highlight key announcements, making it easier for users to extract relevant information efficiently. This could be especially helpful for professionals managing long video recordings or product briefings. To use this functionality, captions must be enabled on the video files. The summaries are accessible via the overlay preview in Drive or in a new browser tab. Currently, this feature is available in English for Google Workspace and Google One AI Premium users, including those with Gemini Business or Enterprise add-ons. Google notes it may take a few weeks for the rollout to reach all users. Additionally, Google is enhancing video analytics within Drive. The Drive video player now includes engagement data, showing how often a video has been opened, visible under the Analytics section in the Details panel. This update gives users better insight into how their content is being viewed and shared.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Gemini can now watch and analyse videos in Google Drive
Google has said that their Gemini AI can now watch and analyse videos in Google Drive to offer insights to users. Gemini was already integrated in Drive and could summarise documents or folders and gather and analyse data. In case users have missed a recorded meeting, they can ask Gemini to highlight the important cliff notes from it instead of watching the entire video. The tool works based on Google's auto-generated video captions and is accessible only from the Gemini overlay in Drive or in the standalone Drive file viewer. But if the Google Workspace account is managed, the admin could have disabled automatic captioning. If Gemini still doesn't understand the captions, users will need to go to the Manage Caption Tracks setting to generate them. The feature is also available for Google One AI Premium users and will be gradually rolled out to Gemini Business or Enterprise add-ons subscribers.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
AI that gets you: Why the Samsung Galaxy S25 is the ultimate smart companion
Think about it — your phone already organizes your schedule, answers your emails, edits your photos, and even helps you learn new languages. But what if it could go beyond that? What if your smartphone became an intuitive companion that understands your needs before you even ask? Enter the Samsung Galaxy S25 Series, a game-changing lineup that redefines what it means to have a truly smart device in your pocket. With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25, Samsung has taken AI integration to an entirely new level, making these the most powerful and intuitive smartphones the brand has ever created!! Smart, seamless, and supercharged The Galaxy S25 series integrates Samsung's most advanced AI-powered One UI 7 to offer truly intelligent and personalized interactions. Thanks to multimodal AI agents, your phone can now interpret text, speech, images, and videos in real time, allowing for seamless and natural interactions. From upgrading Google's Circle to Search feature to recognising phone numbers and email addresses directly on your screen, to performing context-aware searches, the S25 series makes it effortless to switch between tasks. Ever struggled to find that one photo from last summer? Just ask the Galaxy S25, and it's pulled up in seconds. Need to add your favourite football team's match schedule to your calendar? Simply tell Gemini AI, activated with a single press of the side button, and it's done. AI-powered tools like Writing Assist ensure that every conversation, email, and document is polished and perfectly formatted, while Drawing Assist helps bring your creative ideas to life. Personalised, yet private — your AI, your data AI-powered smartphones are incredible, but what about privacy? Samsung understands that personalisation should never come at the cost of security. With the Personal Data Engine, the Galaxy S25 ensures that your data stays on-device, processing insights without ever leaving your phone. Features like Now Brief and Now Bar make your phone an intelligent personal assistant that suggests relevant actions throughout the day — without compromising your privacy. Additionally, the Galaxy S25 series introduces post-quantum cryptography, safeguarding your personal data from even the most advanced cyber threats. Enhanced Theft Protection and the Knox Matrix dashboard provide a fortified security layer, making this lineup the most secure Galaxy smartphones ever built. Performance that pushes boundaries A powerful phone needs an equally powerful engine. The Galaxy S25 series is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, delivering a massive boost in processing power: 40% faster NPU, 37% better CPU, and 30% improved GPU performance compared to its predecessor. This not only enhances AI capabilities but also fuels next-level gaming experiences with Vulkan Engine and Ray Tracing for ultra-realistic graphics. Worried about overheating...? Samsung has solved this with a 40% larger vapor chamber and advanced thermal materials that keep your phone cool even during intense gaming or AI processing tasks. Sustainable innovation for a better future Samsung isn't just revolutionizing performance - it's doing it responsibly. Every Galaxy S25+ and S25 now features at least one recycled material, including a metal frame made from recycled armor aluminium. For the first time ever, the Galaxy S25's battery includes recycled cobalt sourced from old Galaxy devices, setting a new benchmark for sustainability in mobile technology. And to ensure your device stays relevant for years, Samsung guarantees seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates, extending the life of your phone far beyond the typical upgrade cycle. A galaxy of exclusive perks From AI-powered assistance to unparalleled security, cutting-edge performance, and eco-conscious innovation, Samsung is once again proving why it leads the industry. And the best part is every Galaxy S25 device comes with six months of Gemini Advanced and 2TB of cloud storage at no extra cost, ensuring you have access to the latest AI tools and unlimited possibilities. Available now in stunning colors including Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Black, Titanium Whitesilver, and Titanium Gray for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Navy, Silver Shadow, Icy Blue, and Mint for the Galaxy S25 and S25+.
