January 15, 20254 min readDoes Fact-Checking Work? Heres What the Science SaysCommunication and misinformation researchers reveal the value of fact-checking, where perceived biases come from and what Metas decision could meanBy David Adam & Nature magazine Meta plans to scrap its third-party fact-checking programme in favour of X-like community notes. PA Images/Alamy Stock PhotoIt is said that a lie can fly halfway around the world while the truth is getting its boots on. That trek to challenge online falsehoods and misinformation got a little harder this week, when Facebooks parent company Meta announced plans to scrap the platforms fact-checking programme, which was set up in 2016 and pays independent groups to verify selected articles and posts.The company said that the move was to counter fact checkers political bias and censorship. Experts, like everyone else, have their own biases and perspectives. This showed up in the choices some made about what to fact-check and how, Metas chief global-affairs officer Joel Kaplan wrote on 7 January.Nature spoke to communication and misinformation researchers about the value of fact-checking, where perceived biases come from and what Metas decision could mean.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Positive influenceIn terms of helping to convince people that information is true and trustworthy, fact-checking does work, says Sander van der Linden, a social psychologist at the University of Cambridge, UK, who acted as an unpaid adviser on Facebooks fact-checking programme in 2022. Studies provide very consistent evidence that fact-checking does at least partially reduce misperceptions about false claims.For example, a 2019 meta-analysis of the effectiveness of fact-checking in more than 20,000 people found a significantly positive overall influence on political beliefs.Ideally, wed want people to not form misperceptions in the first place, adds van der Linden. But if we have to work with the fact that people are already exposed, then reducing it is almost as good as it as its going to get.Fact-checking is less effective when an issue is polarized, says Jay Van Bavel, a psychologist at New York University in New York City. If youre fact-checking something around Brexit in the UK or the election in United States, thats where fact-checks dont work very well, he says. In part thats because people who are partisans dont want to believe things that make their party look bad.But even when fact-checks dont seem to change peoples minds on contentious issues, they can still be helpful, says Alexios Mantzarlis, a former fact checker who directs the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech in New York City.On Facebook, articles and posts deemed false by fact checkers are currently flagged with a warning. They are also shown to fewer users by the platforms suggestion algorithms, Mantzarlis says, and people are more likely to ignore flagged content than to read and share it.Flagging posts as problematic could also have knock-on effects on other users that are not captured by studies of the effectiveness of fact-checks, says Kate Starbird, a computer scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle. Measuring the direct effect of labels on user beliefs and actions is different from measuring the broader effects of having those fact-checks in the information ecosystem, she adds.More misinformation, more red flagsRegarding Metas claims of bias among fact-checkers, Van Bavel agrees that misinformation from the political right does get fact-checked and flagged as problematic on Facebook and other platforms more often than does misinformation from the left. But he offers a simple explanation.Its largely because the conservative misinformation is the stuff that is being spread more, he says. When one party, at least in the United States, is spreading most of the misinformation, its going to look like fact-checks are biased because theyre getting called out way more.There are data to support this. A study published in Nature last year showed that, although politically conservative people on X, formerly Twitter, were more likely to be suspended from the platform than were liberals, they were also more likely to share information from news sites that were judged as low quality by a representative group of laypeople.If you wanted to know whether a person is exposed to misinformation online, knowing if theyre politically conservative is your best predictor of that, says Gordon Pennycook, a psychologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who worked on that analysis.Implementation mattersMetas chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said that in place of third-party fact-checking, Facebook could adopt a system similar to the community notes used by X, in which corrections and context are crowdsourced from users and added to posts.Research shows that those systems can also work to correct misinformation, up to a point. The way its been implemented on X actually doesnt work very well, says van der Linden. He points to an analysis done last year that found the community notes on X were often added to problematic posts too late to reduce engagement, because they came after false claims had already spread widely. X vice-president of product Keith Coleman told Reuters last year that community notes maintains a high bar to make notes effective and maintain trust.Crowdsourcing is a useful solution, but in practice it very much depends on how its implemented, van der Linden adds. Replacing fact checking with community notes just seems like it would make things a lot worse.This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on January 10, 2025.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD: a solid Switch port with some unexpected failingsA tasteful remaster with technical chops - yet the Wii original is better in some respects.Image credit: Nintendo Face-off by John Linneman Senior Staff Writer, Digital Foundry Published on Jan. 15, 2025 Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the latest in a series of comebacks for DK, bringing the original Wii-era adventure back for the Nintendo Switch as the platform sails into the sunset. It's an interesting project too, as Nintendo handed the reigns to Forever Entertainment, who then rebuilt the whole thing to run in the Unity Engine.The Return of Kong Returns is a certainly a choice but there is some logic here - the more enjoyable DKC Tropical Freeze already exists on Switch, so bringing over the Wii game means you can experience both of Retro Studios' Kong adventures in one place. This was their first non-Metroid Prime game, released back in 2010, and was quite a pivot given the difference in genres. I personally enjoyed the game back then, but its controls felt a little lacking compared to the Super NES titles and the soundtrack felt like a bit of a cheap imitation of the originals. Three years later, the game was ported to Nintendo 3DS, necessitating a change from 60fps to 30fps gameplay, with the port handled by Excite Truck developer Monster Games.Here's the full Digital Foundry review for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. Watch on YouTubeFor the current port to Switch, I was a bit nervous about the game's prospects given Forever's track record, which includes slightly sub-par remakes of Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead. However, I shouldn't have worried - this is fundamentally the best work to come out of Forever Entertainment to date. The remastering is tastefully done, the new textures generally look excellent and it feels authentic to the original. Furthermore, as a Unity game on Switch, the resolution and frame-rate are surprisingly solid, especially given how poorly Forever's previous Switch games performed, but there are some unexpected flaws as well.Let's start with the opening FMV. This has been massively improved and might even have been completely remade if the original assets still existed. This may seem like a minor thing, but the handling of video assets usually reveals a lot about the quality of a conversion. When little attention is paid to FMV quality, it usually indicates that corners have been cut, at least in my experience. Thankfully, that's not the case here. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In-game first impressions are also positive, with the remaster remaining true to the original visual design. The focus here is on new textures, modified effects and updated character models, with the underlying scene geometry remaining largely unchanged. The new textures are much sharper, holding up well at the higher resolution - 1080p in docked mode and 720p in portable mode - and image quality is reasonable. I like the new sky textures here and I'm glad they sharpened up the background scenery to avoid a low-res look. Rain and water rendering are also improved substantially. The closer you look though, the more you start to spot some oddities. Visual effects that were missing in the original trailer have been implemented and improved, but there are still small hiccups - the dust clouds kicked up while pounding the DK symbol are reduced, and the animation of the barrel breaking as DK shoots out of it is a bit sloppy. You might not notice stuff like this while just playing through, but you probably would notice the missing sunset in stage three, the less glowy floating KONG letters, and simplified shadows on the intro to the first boss fight. These sorts of nips and tucks are throughout, and while these are minor changes, it still feels weird to see a game released on a vastly more powerful system with fewer effects and details. The remaster carries over the visual design of the original, with greater detail in both cutscenes and gameplay. | Image credit: Digital FoundryIf this was the extent of the changes, I'd be more likely to shrug and just roll with it as the end result is still pretty good, but there are two other issues. First, loading times. These aren't too bad, but they're nearly twice as long as they were on the Wii version running from a disc. Sure, asset sizes have increased, but this still feels like a big step back. Second is the frame-rate. It's important to note that we've seen Unity games running at 1080p 60fps on Switch - including Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair with better visuals - but most Unity releases tend to run with performance hiccups or at lower resolutions, so 1080p 60fps is still worth celebrating. But the Wii version of this game basically runs flawlessly, so the few areas of slowdown stick out. The fact that this game runs worse than its more technically advanced sequel doesn't sit right with me.That's what makes this game so tricky to discuss. On the surface, Forever did a better job here than anything else in their back catalogue, but it still falls short of what Retro Studios did with their Switch ports, and at this price, compromise shouldn't be required. There are a few weird optimisations here - such as the simplified shadows in this cutscene and the missing sun in this level. | Image credit: Digital FoundryOn top of all that, while the game is perfectly fine, I think it's the least interesting game Retro Studios has made to date. It's very by-the-numbers; the controls and trajectory feels a lot less satisfying than classic DKC games and the level design is repetitive compared to Tropical Freeze. The biggest sin has to be the music though, which frankly I did not enjoy thanks to some fairly sedate tunes and poor instrumentation in some of the remastered tracks. So what's the takeaway here? The reality is that this release is both good and disappointing at the same time. The remastering efforts are largely successful, but the areas where it falls short feel less acceptable when considering the age of the original. When you consider the technical precision one expects from a proper Retro Studios game, it's arguably even more disappointing. If you hunger for DKC Returns and haven't played it yet, it's a good version of the game and one that lets you play without the controller shaking antics of the Wii version. If you're already au fait with the title, there are more exciting retro remakes to spend your time with.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereSonys upcoming Helldivers movie is happening, as well as a Horizon movie for some reason. While developer Arrowhead Game Studios doesnt have final say on anything that happens in the upcoming film, they do have one big wish: to kill as many A-List actors as possible.Helldivers movie should kill A-List actorsIn a discussion on the games official Discord server, players begged Arrowhead Game Studios to make sure that there will be no Chris Pratt in the upcoming film adaptation. After starring in the Mario movieas well as The Garfield Movie for some reasongamers want Pratt to be kept away from their favourite games.Nevertheless, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani wouldnt be against Chris Pratt and other A-List celebrities starring in the upcoming Helldivers adaptation. However, the CEO also wants every single A-lister to perish in the most horrendous ways within the flick.Were all hoping for as many A-List actors as possible, Jorjani told fans. As long as they all get killed violently immediately.With the average lifespan of every Helldiver lasting just two minutes after landing on their first dive, there is a lot of space for popular Hollywood celebrities to be horrifically murdered by Automatons, Termanids and Illuminate. The Rock bursting out of his pod only to be squashed by a Factory Strider? Well, his contract wouldnt allow it, but it would be pretty entertaining.For more Helldivers 2 coverage, read about the one restriction that Arrowhead wishes to enforce on future crossover content as well as what went wrong with its original Killzone collaboration. Additionally, read about the all-new update that finally addresses an issue that was driving everyone nuts or how one of the games most iconic strategems used to cause everyone to lag.Helldivers 2Platform(s):PC, PlayStation 5Genre(s):Action, Shooter, Third Person8VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Not a lot of information is available about Keanu Reevess homeslikely because for a long time, the actor was a bit of a drifter. He resided in hotels and rentals before eventually settling down into home ownership at the tender age of 40 (he reportedly bought his mother a Los Angeles property first). The actors transient lifestyle reflects his upbringingborn in Beirut in 1964 to a British mother and a Chinese Hawaiian father, Reeves reportedly lived in Lebanon, Australia, and America before his family landed in Toronto when he was seven. The Canadian actor is technically not a US citizen, though he has mostly stayed in the Los Angeles area since moving there as a teenager to pursue acting.When we started this movie, I asked [Reeves] if he was still living in a hotel, and he said, No, Im ready to put some roots down somewhere, the actors Sweet November costar Charlize Theron said in a 2000 interview. Before I think he liked the idea of living out of a suitcase. I think hes now learned you can be a free spirit and have the other things as well, she observed. At the time, Reeves primarily resided in a room at his sisters home in Los Angeles while house-shopping for a place in Malibu. Three years later, the Bill & Ted star finally found his forever home, though he ultimately opted for a property in the Hollywood Hills instead of the beachy enclave. Read on for a rundown on Reevess Tinseltown pad and the iconic hotel where he lived for years prior.The Chateau MarmontThe exterior of the Chateau Marmont Hotel, a famous Los Angeles landmark.Photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/Getty ImagesFor years in the 90s and early aughts, Reeves resided at a suite in the Chateau Marmont, one of the Matrix stars longtime haunts. Hed often wander around the hotels grounds, rather ghostlike, a source from the famed establishment told Page Six in 2022.In a 2019 Alta Journal article, journalist and entrepreneur Tom Zito recounted his six-month stint living next door to the enigmatic actor in the Chateau in 1995: Typically, Keanu Reeves was coming home early in the morning when I was heading out, parking his motorcycle in the garage while I was climbing into my jeep. Wed salute each other, and hed say, Ive got the place covered while youre away.Join NowNew Year's Sale: Become an AD PRO member for only $20 $12 per monthArrowBack then, the Chateau was a little run-down, as the actor described in the 2012 documentary Sunset Strip: In room 21 there was Astroturf. You know, you didnt really want to take your shoes off. But that was part of its charm, he explained. The Chateau Marmont became a kind of home. Thanksgivings, and having Christmas, and then having friends stay. It felt like my unsafe safe harbor. I had some really great, crazy, wild times there. Reeves elaborated on the hotels atmosphere during that era more explicitly in a 2019 GQ feature: You could have a conversation. You could have a tryst. You could fucking do drugs. You could hang out. For me, theres still that pulse here. The beloved landmark continues to serve as Reevess setting of choice for many of his interviews.Hollywood Hills homeKeanu Reeves and his artist girlfriend Alexandra Grant (left) first appeared together publicly in 2019.Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images

TikToks algorithm appears to be boosting LA wildfire misinformationWritten by Olivia LittlePublished01/14/25 12:22 PM ESTTikTok has become a cesspool of conspiracy theories and misinformation aswildfires continue to devastate the Los Angeles region, and evidence suggests TikToks algorithm launched them into virality.These videos have already racked up millions of views, and the view count on each video reviewed by Media Matters far exceeds the number of followers on the respective account, suggesting that TikToksrecommendation algorithm spread the content to millions of users.One prominent conspiracy theory focuses on rapper Sean Diddy Combs, who wascharged with sex trafficking in September. Some users are baselessly claiming that the wildfires were intentionally started to cover up alleged incriminating evidence in Combs trial the conspiracy theories vary, but thats the core of it.When a user searches Diddy wildfire, the first video that returns has over5.7 million views and claims that Diddys mansion has been completely consumed by fire (its actuallyuntouched by fire, per a January 12 news report) and that the house would enter into investigation in a couple of days where many names would be involved (196 in the case) unfortunately that will no longer be possible.Another video, with over 5.3 million views, commented on the timing of the fire, suggesting that celebrities are burning the evidence ahead of Combs trial.Other users claim that the wildfires are biblical prophecies being fulfilled.The book of Revelations is unfolding before our eyes, reads overlaid text on a video with over912,000 views.Another video, with over1.3 million views, also references thebook of Revelation (in which seven angels sound seven trumpets to signal the apocalypse), claiming that the LA fire was the first trumpet.Fake images and videos (seemingly artificial intelligence-generated) of the wildfire are also racking up millions of views on TikTok, and the most popular are fake images of the Hollywood sign burning. (According to a January 13 report inArchitectural Digest, the sign is undamaged.)We Lost Hollywood Hills, reads the caption of one video with over1.2 million views.Another video, with over586,000 views, pictures fake imagery of the Hollywood sign burning with overlaid text reading, TIMELAPSE OF HOLLYWOOD SIGN CATCHING FIRE.Conspiracy theories oftenspike afternatural disasters, and the LA wildfires are no exception. TikToks algorithm appears to be amplifying unfounded conspiracy theories to millions of users, fueling panic and uncertainty at a time when clear information is critical.

Of Course He IsAfter leaving PlayStation, Shuhei Yoshida's starring as a green duck thing in a game where Kazuma Kiryu helps "a living finger work through her many anger issues"To be fair, Yoshida may be new to it, but this is far less weird than 90% of the Yakuza sub-stories Takaya Kuroda's lent his voice to.Image credit: Kaizen Game Works Limited News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 15, 2025 What do you do immediately after leaving PlayStation following about 30 years of service? Well, if you're Shuhei Yoshida, you sign up for your first voice acting role, as a green duck guy in a game about mascots that's mostly about a not quite Kazuma Kiryu helping "a living finger work through her many anger issues".In case you missed the party - my invite certainly got lost in the post - Yoshida departed the big blue brand earlier this week, being given a nice cake with what I assume is his face on it, along with plenty of strawberries. He'd been there since the early 90s, but now he's moved on, and will be using all of his expertise to play a guy dressed as a green duck.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Yup, Yoshida's been announced as part of the voice cast for Promise Mascot Agency (thanks, IGN), a 2025 release that's set to let players step into the shoes of ex-Yakuza Michi voiced by Takaya Kuroda - yes, that's the Japanese voice of Like A Dragon protagonist Kazuma Kiryu - as he helps out a very angry finger played by Legend of Zelda and Honkai: Star Rail VA Ayano Shibuya.Yoshida is voicing one of the many mascots these two meet as they try to put together the "best agency in Japan" in a cursed town - a green duck-looking ex-mascot called MonouGe who's opening up a game center. As of writing, it's not clear whether MonouGe's game center will have blue decor and be called something like 'StationPlayers', but given Kuroda's playing Michi - a name similar to Kiryu's famous Onomichi mascot guise of Ono Michio - there's a non zero chance.Watch on YouTubeYou can get a taste of Yoshida, Kuroda, and Shibuya's dulect tones via the fresh trailer above, which also stars Hidetaka 'SWERY' Suehiro, the developer of Deadly Premonition, as Kannushi-kun, a bird-priest kinda guy who seems to know stuff about the town's curse.I don't know about you, but this game's now on my Steam wishlist. Here's hoping Yoshida's long-term future plan is just as interesting.

Image: Jim Norman / Nintendo LifeIt's not every controller review that we have to start with a rundown of the current state of Fortnite, but bear with us, we promise it's relevant.The classic looting and shooting that we all know and love is now just a small part of the "Fortnite ecosystem" *squirms*, a hub-world for games that bundle the battle royale in with the survival sim LEGO Fortnite, the racer Rocket Racing, and the Rock Band-esque rhythm game, Fortnite Festival.Most of these games are comfortably played with a Pro Controller/Joy-Con. Most of them. A falling notes rhythm game from Guitar Hero originators and Rock Band dev Harmonix was never meant to be played with a D-Pad and buttons and after a few performances in Fortnite Festival, our poor aching joints chalked the mode up to some nostalgic fun, but a ticking time-bomb for future bouts of arthritis.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube792kWatch on YouTube Accessory manufacturer PDP Gaming released the Riffmaster guitar controllers shortly after Fortnite Festival launched, but they are compatible only with PlayStation or Xbox, so Switch gamers were stuck if we wanted to relive the Rock Band days.That is until CRKD revealed the Fortnite Festival-themed NEO S Purple Wave Edition controller. Complete with a five-fret Festival Attachment, this pad promised to be the way to play Fortnite's rhythm game mode on Switch while also doubling as an everyday controller for your other gaming needs.Images: Jim Norman / Nintendo LifeAfter going hands-on with the NEO S for the past week, we can confirm that it hits exactly one of these briefs. This is undoubtedly the best way to experience Fortnite Festival on Switch heck, we'd argue that it's the only way but as a controller for wider play, it's in desperate need of some fine-tuning.Out of the box, this thing is... purple. Sure, the design is a little in your face, but, bar the big Fortnite Festival icon in the middle, we're rather fond of the wavy decals and chrome analogue stick bases. A little rock 'n' roll pizazz.We'll start with the controller's headline act: the Fortnite Festival attachment. This five-button addition clips onto the bottom and, when the pad's held sideways, makes the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of a Guitar Hero neck and its iconic coloured frets. We were immediately struck by just how much the pad reminded us of the Band Hero DS accessory from 20 years ago, with its lower row of buttons and rectangular form not too dissimilar in shape and size from the clamshell peripheral.Images: Jim Norman / Nintendo LifeMuch like its DS counterpart, the NEO S attachment is the best way to play any falling-notes game mode while a full-blown guitar controller remains unavailable, that is. The accessory is quick to connect to the controller (attached via metal 'jacks' on the bottom and held in place by a frame that clips to the top) and can immediately be used in the Fortnite Festival game mode. You can hold all five frets to trigger a shortcut that changes the difficulty between tracks, too.But, as anyone who rocked out on DS back in the day will tell you, that thing cramped up your hands like there's no tomorrow, and the NEO S' Festival attachment is no different. Whether palming the controller in one hand with the included velcro strap to hold it in place or using our other hand as support, the NEO S' width and small fret buttons make jamming out far from a comfortable experience. We lasted only a handful of songs before needing a pretty serious stretch. The controller's width would strain hands smaller than ours from reaching around it, while the small buttons would be a nightmare for anyone with larger fingers.CRKD stresses that the controller's attachment can be used for rhythm games other than Fortnite Festival it ultimately just maps different inputs to the five frets though we struggled to think of anywhere the Guitar Hero-style fret format would be genuinely beneficial. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line came close with its timings, but the required directional inputs made holding the NEO S like a guitar neck less than ideal. Even games closer to the Guitar Hero structure like MUSYNX and VOEZ have their own quirks that make other inputs preferable.What we're saying is, the Fortnite Festival controller is best used on Fortnite Festival. What a shock.Image: Jim Norman / Nintendo LifeBut this is a controller for wider play, too. The Festival attachment can be easily removed, leaving the controller free for any other gaming that tickles your fancy. Indeed, with Hall Effect sticks, programmable back buttons, rumble support and motion controls, it's one of the more feature-rich third-party offerings out there and at 59.99 (the same as Nintendo's official Pro pad), you'd expect it to be. But those features can't overcome a central problem: that flat rectangular shape is so darn uncomfortable to play with.The NEO S boasts two marginally-raised sections on the rear a vague attempt to be ergonomic, we guess but the flat design feels too cramped for extended playtimes. With nothing to hold on to, our fingers sat clumped against the rear buttons, forcing our wrists ever-so-slightly out of their 'normal' gaming position. It wasn't a particular nuisance for shorter sessions, or for games that relied on classic D-Pad and button inputs over stick and trigger ones (let's not forget that both the NES and SNES had a similarly flat controller design), but we wouldn't recommend heading into any Splatfests with this one in your arsenal.It was during our time using the controller for Splatoon 3 that we noticed the motion controls leave much to be desired. While the NEO S had no issues registering our spinning movements on the x-axis, the y-axis range felt limited, with our Octoling unable to look more than a few inches up or down before the controller stopped registering the tilting. We had the same issues aiming our arrows in Tears of the Kingdom Link had no problems taking on enemies beside him, but god forbid if you want to get the crosshairs on an oncoming Keese.Images: Jim Norman / Nintendo LifeThe rest of the controls are fine. The triggers and face buttons feel a little cheap in their shiny plastic material (particularly at this price point), but CRKD's tie-in app packs a decent amount of accessibility customisation where you can adjust rumble, trigger activation points, and dead zones, and remap every button something you'll want to do immediately if you want to get rid of the default, non-Nintendo face-button layout. The app continues the company's slightly icky 'FOMO' approach to marketing, where each controller can be scanned so you know its rarity and can collect 'em all, but that's a discussion for another day.CRKD NEO S Purple Wave Edition Review - The VerdictAll in all, the CRKD NEO S Purple Wave Edition achieves its ultimate goal of providing Switch players with an alternative and undoubtedly easier way of playing Fortnite Festival though one that's still far from the comfort of using a full guitar controller but we can't help but feel that's an increasingly niche market.Those who want to play Fortnite Festival in comfort should probably do so elsewhere (like on a system where PDP's accessories are available), and those who don't have far better wireless controller options on the market that boast near-identical features, are cheaper, and come in far more comfortable designs. Please don't ask for an encore; we're not sure that our joints can take another song.The best way to play Fortnite Festival on SwitchA feature-rich controller with strong accessibility optionsYou ain't going to lose it with that wavy designHorizontal grip and small frets are still uncomfortable to useFlat pad shape brings discomfort to even standard playMotion controls can be hit-and-missReal 'master of none' energyPoor 4/10Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

An uproar with a popular Kindle competitor e-reader has showcased how the use of Chinese AI models in US products could unwittingly spread Chinese propaganda.An LLM made by TikToks parent company ByteDance was used by an e-reader called Boox, according to screenshots about the AI shared on Reddit. When asked questions about China and its allies, this LLM spouted Chinese government propaganda, sparking an outcry from users, according to the post and TechCrunchs interactions with this LLM.The LLM in question was ByteDances Doubao, which is offered as an API under ByteDances cloud services division Volcano Engine. But the model is only meant to be used within Chinas mainland, a ByteDance spokesperson told TechCrunch. The e-readers China-based manufacturer, Onyx International, which sells Boox e-readers in both China and to the U.S., did not respond to requests for comment.Boox launched the AI assistant feature last summer. In December 2024, a user posted on a subreddit for e-readers that the new assistant was generating Chinese government propaganda in response to certain questions. For example, the AI assistant denied China ever having any so-called massacres in answer to a question about why it refused to discuss the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a screenshot shows.The AI assistant also refused to say anything critical about North Korea and Russia, claiming North Korea is a peace-loving country and that Russias role in Syria has been positive, the screenshots show. In contrast, the AI assistant was happy to criticize Western countries, noting that French colonialism often involved exploitation of local resources and native populations. In the screenshots shared on Reddit, the assistant states that it is an AI created by ByteDance, an international technology company.The Reddit post went viral and was covered by AI publication The Decoder and YouTubers The China Show.When TechCrunch used ByteDances Doubao service and asked it similar questions, its answers closely matched the kind of responses given by Booxs assistant in the Reddit post. For example, Doubao told TechCrunch that it can be stated with absolute certainty that the Chinese government has never massacred its own people, whereas other Chinese LLMs like DeepSeek and Qwen typically avoid or downplay the question. Doubao also refused to criticize Russia and North Korea when we asked about these countries, reverting only to positive content about their important and positive roles in the international community.Doubao has a penchant for using the term so-called to describe things the Chinese government doesnt like. There is no so-called genocide in Xinjiang, it told TechCrunch. This appears to mimic Chinese government spokespeople. Facts and truth have busted the so-called genocide in Xinjiang, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian claimed at a press conference in 2021.The outcry over Booxs AI assistant has ebbed after Boox reportedly switched back to OpenAIs GPT-3 via Microsoft Azure, according to another users post in the Boox subreddit. Its still unclear which LLM Boox currently uses for its AI assistant. Boox hasnt released any statements about the incident, while OpenAI and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch.Chinese generative AI models have become some of the most popular models in use. But the incident shows the risks involved launching tools that incorporate Chinese generative AI, a trend some AI leaders have already warned about.If you create a chatbot and ask it a question about Tiananmen, well, its not going to respond to you the same way as if it was a system developed in France or the US, Clement Delangue, the CEO of HuggingFace, warned on a French podcast in September 2024, TechCrunch previously reported.So if you have a country like China that becomes by far the strongest on AI, in fact they will be capable of spreading certain cultural aspects that perhaps the Western world wouldnt want to see spread, Delangue said in the podcast.

Writers Guild of AmericaWest (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing during 2024. Winners will be honored at the 2025 Writers Guild Awards (77th Annual), set forSaturday, February 15, 2025, at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and the Edison Ballroom in New York City.The complete list of nominations can be foundhere. Animation and VFX-related nominations are as follows:SCREENPLAY NOMINEESADAPTED SCREENPLAYA Complete Unknown, Screenplay byJames MangoldandJay Cocks, Based on the BookDylan Goes Electric!by Elijah Wald; Searchlight PicturesDune: Part 2, Screenplay byDenis VilleneuveandJon Spaihts, Based on the NovelDuneby Frank Herbert; Warner Bros. PicturesHit Man, Screenplay byRichard Linklater & Glen Powell, Based on theTexas MonthlyArticle by Skip Hollandsworth; NetflixNickel Boys, Screenplay byRaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Based on the BookThe Nickel Boysby Colson Whitehead; Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM StudiosWicked, Screenplay byWinnie HolzmanandWinnie Holzman & Dana Fox, Based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, From the Novel by Gregory Maguire; Universal PicturesTELEVISION, STREAMING, AND NEWS NOMINEESANIMATIONBottle Episode (The Simpsons), Written byRob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik; FoxCremains of the Day (The Simpsons), Written byJohn Frink; FoxNight of the Living Wage (The Simpsons), Written byCesar Mazariegos; FoxSaving Favorite Drive-In (Bobs Burgers), Written byKatie Crown; FoxThe Tina Table: The Tables Have Tina-ed (Bobs Burgers), Written byGreg Thompson; FoxWinter Is Born (Blood of Zeus), Written byCharles Parlapanides & Vlas Parlapanides; NetflixDRAMA SERIESThe Boys, Written byGeoff Aull, Jessica Chou, Paul Grellong, Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Judalina Neira, David Reed, Anslem Richardson;Prime VideoThe Diplomat, Written byPeter Ackerman, Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Dudley Meagher, Peter Noah; NetflixFallout, Written byJake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime VideoMr. & Mrs. Smith, Written byCarla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime VideoShgun, Written byShannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/HuluNEW SERIESEnglish Teacher, Written byBrian Jordan Alvarez, Wally Baram, Jake Bender, Emmy Blotnick, Zach Dunn, Dave King, Stephanie Koenig, Jonathan Krisel, Paul Simms, Samantha Shier; FX/HuluFallout, Written byJake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime VideoMr. & Mrs. Smith, Written byCarla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime VideoNobody Wants This, Written byBarbie Adler, Jane Becker, Jack Burditt, Vali Chandrasekaran, Craig DiGregorio, Erin Foster, Lindsay Golder, Steven Levitan, Pat Regan, Niki Schwartz-Wright, Neel Shah, Noelle Valdivia, Ron Weiner, Ryann Werner; NetflixShgun, Written byShannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/HuluLIMITED SERIESThe Penguin, Written byVladimir Cvetko, Breannah Gibson, Erika L. Johnson, Lauren LeFranc, Corina Maritescu, Megan Martin, John McCutcheon, Shaye Ogbonna, Nick Towne, Noelle Valdivia, Kira Snyder; HBO | MaxPresumed Innocent, Written byMiki Johnson, David E. Kelley, Sharr White; Apple TV+Ripley, Written bySteven Zaillian; NetflixSay Nothing, Written byClare Barron, Joe Murtagh, Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer; FX/HuluTrue Detective: Night Country, Written byKatrina Albright, Alan Page Arriaga, Namsi Khan, Issa Lpez, Chris Mundy, Wenonah Wilms; HBO | MaxSource: WGA Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.

Plummeting birth rates, a drop in federal subsidies, and declining enrollment have contributed to the closure of at least twenty small colleges around the U.S. in recent years. This has left vast swaths of land and buildings vacant. The recent closure of Wells College for instance threatens a number of historic buildings at the upstate New York campus, which no longer serve a purpose. To help buck this trend and meet pent up demand, Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) recently transformed a former college building in Massachusetts into senior housing. The adaptive reuse project in Brookline happened after Newbury College closed in 2019 due to financial difficulty.The Newbury of Brookline opened last month. The dormitory building once hosted students; now its used for independent, assisted, and memory care living for seniors. RAMSA repurposed an existing historic building, Mitton House, at the former college campus and also designed new ones for it.The new building was inspired by vernacular Boston architecture. (Francis Dzikowski/OTTO)All in all, the Newbury of Brookline is posh, just like the wealthy Boston suburb where it was built. Aesthetics aside, the project by RAMSA offers a potential case study for what to do with other defunct college buildings spread across the country. The senior living community spans 190,000 square feet and contains 160 residential units. Of those 160 flats, about 80 are for independent living, 40 for assisted living, and 40 for memory care.These units coalesce near dining, housekeeping, and flex spaces for structured activities. A salon, lounge, indoor swimming pool, fitness center, library, upper-floor sky bar, and large dining room, with an adjacent great room, are also at the Newbury of Brookline.The Newbury of Brookline has verdant courtyards, and other shared amenities. (Francis Dzikowski/OTTO)The new building mimics the architectural character of the old one. The buildings massings and architectural expression, RAMSA said, is derived from Mitton House, but also the fabric of Brookline and old Boston more broadly. Gambrels, undulating heights, bay windows, and hipped roofs break up the new building into intimately scaled volumes. Meanwhile, one- and two-story porches jut out to enhance the pedestrian experience.The building is sheathed in clapboard siding, just like the old days, as one may expect from a RAMSA project. Entrances from the old and new building spill out into generous courtyards lined with trees. Myriad existing street trees were preserved on the site.The Newbury of Brookline leverages its topography. (Francis Dzikowski/OTTO)Brooklinehas been a place of distinguished design since the days whenFrederick Law Olmsted and H. H. Richardson lived in the neighborhood, Sargent Gardiner, a partner at RAMA, said in a statement. Our design for The Newbury springs from this rich architectural context, emulating its variety, interaction with the landscape, and domestic feel.The design employs Passive House and WELL strategies, RAMSA said. The development team is now targeting LEED Gold certification.