Latest news with #humaninteraction
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Children are receiving ‘life lessons' from influencers and AI
Children are increasingly receiving life lessons from influencers or 'AI-generated summaries', the chief inspector of Ofsted will say. Sir Martyn Oliver will argue that classroom learning with human interaction 'has never been more important' as children are spending their lives online. In a major speech at the Festival of Education, the Ofsted chief will say schools are places of 'refuge', connection, friendship and humanity for children. Sir Martyn will tell the event at Wellington College, Berkshire: 'Right now, many children live much of their lives online. 'Socially, they are never 'off' and always in touch with their friends. 'And they increasingly receive life lessons from influencers or AI-generated summaries. 'I would argue that the place of learning, real learning, classroom learning – with human interaction – has never been more important.' The Ofsted boss will add: 'In a way there's something cloistered about living one's life in a curated online environment. 'You may be able to find 'the best that has been thought or said' if you go looking for it. 'But who's guiding you through it? Where's the human connection? And of course, where's the protection?' His comments come amid calls from the Conservatives for the Government to bring in a statutory ban on smartphones in schools. Schools in England were given non-statutory Government guidance in February last year intended to stop the use of phones during the school day. Sir Martyn will say: 'Schools have never just been places of learning. 'They were, and are places of safety, even refuge. Places of community and connection. Places of friendship and humanity. 'They are citadels of childhood: communities within communities looking after their own and helping children develop into well-rounded adults – capable of looking after others in turn.' On Thursday, Sir Martyn will hit back at cynics who 'decry the norms of education' and who say Ofsted enforces an 'out-of-date, joyless system'. In his speech, he will say: 'For Ofsted, teaching a full, rich range of subjects isn't just a nice to have, it's fundamental to a great education. 'Music and art and sport aren't add-ons to the core curriculum, they are some of the most important subjects to study, in terms of developing a child's awareness of the world around them. 'And in a more macro sense, feeding into the cultural evolution of our country and pushing civilisation on.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Children are receiving ‘life lessons' from influencers and AI
Children are increasingly receiving life lessons from influencers or 'AI-generated summaries', the chief inspector of Ofsted will say. Sir Martyn Oliver will argue that classroom learning with human interaction 'has never been more important' as children are spending their lives online. In a major speech at the Festival of Education, the Ofsted chief will say schools are places of 'refuge', connection, friendship and humanity for children. Sir Martyn will tell the event at Wellington College, Berkshire: 'Right now, many children live much of their lives online. 'Socially, they are never 'off' and always in touch with their friends. 'And they increasingly receive life lessons from influencers or AI-generated summaries. 'I would argue that the place of learning, real learning, classroom learning – with human interaction – has never been more important.' The Ofsted boss will add: 'In a way there's something cloistered about living one's life in a curated online environment. 'You may be able to find 'the best that has been thought or said' if you go looking for it. 'But who's guiding you through it? Where's the human connection? And of course, where's the protection?' His comments come amid calls from the Conservatives for the Government to bring in a statutory ban on smartphones in schools. Schools in England were given non-statutory Government guidance in February last year intended to stop the use of phones during the school day. Sir Martyn will say: 'Schools have never just been places of learning. 'They were, and are places of safety, even refuge. Places of community and connection. Places of friendship and humanity. 'They are citadels of childhood: communities within communities looking after their own and helping children develop into well-rounded adults – capable of looking after others in turn.' On Thursday, Sir Martyn will hit back at cynics who 'decry the norms of education' and who say Ofsted enforces an 'out-of-date, joyless system'. In his speech, he will say: 'For Ofsted, teaching a full, rich range of subjects isn't just a nice to have, it's fundamental to a great education. 'Music and art and sport aren't add-ons to the core curriculum, they are some of the most important subjects to study, in terms of developing a child's awareness of the world around them. 'And in a more macro sense, feeding into the cultural evolution of our country and pushing civilisation on.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Killer whales seen ‘attempting to create relationships with humans'
A new study reveals that killer whales occasionally offer their prey to humans, suggesting an attempt to develop relationships. This behaviour, previously documented in domestic animals like cats, marks the first time such food-sharing has been observed and studied in wild predators. Researchers analysed 34 instances over two decades across various global locations, where orcas approached humans and presented them with prey. The study indicates that orcas often waited for a human reaction and, in some cases, re-offered the food if initially refused, showing persistence. Experts suggest this food-sharing could be a way for these intelligent and social marine mammals to build connections, practice learned behaviors, or explore human interaction.
Entrepreneur
6 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Designing AI Products that Enhance Rather Than Replace Human Connection
"To ensure AI is used for good and does not exploit or alienate users, we need to ensure ethical considerations that focus on data privacy and reduction of bias," says Beerud Sheth Co-founder and CEO, Gupshup Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. AI has advanced from a developing technology to a significant part of today's marketplace. Businesses across the world have embedded AI in many of their offerings to meet the existing and growing consumer appetite. Virtual assistants and customer service chatbots have become an integral part of our daily interactions. However now the challenge for businesses is to ensure AI is enhancing processes, not replacing them with humans. Although the automation of many tasks has shown to be productive and time saving, it is human relationships built on trust, empathy, and meaningful engagement that businesses rely on for true communication. The advancement of AI is not intended to replace human interaction but rather use technology to augment, strengthen, and enhance human interactions to create personalized experiences, and develop more authentic connections. The Initial Shift Toward Human-Centric AI Looking back, the devel opment of AI has primar ily focused on efficiency i.e. reducing human labor, cutting costs, and optimiz ing productivity. However, this generally sets the human at an almost transactional level with AI often being over emphasized on interaction rather than real interaction, thus leading to impersonal experiences that lack warmth and understanding. As AI becomes more advanced, businesses are recognising the need for designing AI driven solutions that are intended to complement human emotions and social subtleties, rather than replace them. Human centric AI involves moving beyond transactional interactions. It is about allow ing AI to create meaningful in teraction rather than respond ing to queries or automated processes. For industries such as healthcare, customer ser vice, or education, AI can act as a disruptor if designed carefully to incorporate empathy and emotional intelligence and enabling deeper and meaningful relationships. Augmenting Emotional Intelligence With AI Incorporating emotional intelligence is one of the key ways that AI can help bolster human connec tion. There have been use cases of chatbots blending emotion with intelligence, such as Hume AI which is designed to recognize and respond to a wide range of human emotions. AI has the ability to understand a person's emotional state by assessing a person's reaction based on tone of voice, facial expressions, and language patterns and respond appropriately. Hume's audio responses exhibit human emotion to its voice tonalities, its pauses in speaking, and sometimes an openness to admitting to feeling guilty for its limitations. In the business land scape, it's all the more important to embed this emotional understanding in AI Agents. Imagine that a user is experiencing tech nical difficulty and feeling frustration. An emotional AI chatbot like Hume could quickly pick up on the user's tone of frustration, and respond in a calmer and more patient tone, and perhaps marginally more human-like than a typical error message, and offer reassurance or apologize for their inconvenience. This would feel more hu man and less robotic than a standard error message. It can help complement human empathy rather than replace it, ensuring that appropriate and com passionate responses are provided to users. Personalization: Key to Meaningful Engagement Personalization has become one of AI's most powerful capabilities. Businesses are beginning to understand that hyper personalizing their ap proach can make for a much closer and more meaningful interaction with their audi ence when they analyze user preferences, behaviors, and past interactions. For instance, think about when you listen to music, or watch a movie. Services such as Netflix and Spotify know exactly what to recommend to you, not just because there is a predetermined algorithm but mainly because of AI that makes specialized recom mendations based on specific tastes. In the same way, your shopping experiences on an e-commerce site are enhanced with AI powered solutions. This entire model of personalization enhances the experience, brings famil iarity, and connects the user in a way that goes beyond a program of machine gener ated responses and appears to be more similar to that of the interaction with humans. AI driven personalization can also disrupt spaces such as education and health. In online education, adaptive AI tutors personalize lesson plans taking into consider ation a learner's progress (on adaptive assessments) and learning style to elicit a more effective and engaging learning experience leading to better learning outcomes. In hospitals and healthcare, AI assistants provide resources to doctors to enhance patient care by examining medi cal histories and using AI to derive insights as needed to personalize care to the individual patient. By making experiences more human centered, AI enhances rather than diminishes genuine interactions. Avoiding The Pitfalls With AI, the possibili ties are endless, but it's important to find the right balance between human oversight and automation. Thoughtful implementation is the key to ensuring that conver sations feel genuine and meaningful and that users stay engaged. A balanced approach works best where AI and people work in tandem, allowing a seamless user experience. Another key aspect to keep in mind is transparency. Users should know when they are interacting with AI, and should have the option to escalate the conversation to a human when they deem neces sary. A simple message of 'This is an AI assistant. For human support please type 'help',' adds that transparency and gives users options. To ensure AI is used for good and does not exploit or alienate users, we need to ensure ethical consid erations that focus on data privacy and reduc tion of bias. AI Should Strengthen Human Connection As AI continues to ad vance, it will play an even more vital role in enhanc ing human connection. The future of AI signifies the growth of enhanced connections based on our inherent social tenden cies. Businesses embrac ing human-centered AI, will form stronger relationships with their customers, employees, and community mem bers. By creating AI systems that make use of contex tual awareness, emotion recognition, and person alization of experience, companies can develop technology to support and complement our hu man interactions, rather than diminish them. The key to success lies in using AI as an enabler to develop meaningful relationships, and em power people to connect, collaborate, and commu nicate on a deeper level. AI should not seek to re place human connection but amplify it, ensuring that technology remains a tool for bringing people closer together rather than driving them apart. The question for business is not whether to adopt AI, it is how to leverage it to enhance clarity, foster human connection, and bring empathy to every interaction.
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Snake Safety: Improving education to protect humans and snakes
A pair of experts are trying to improve snake education in order to protect both humans and the reptiles.
