[This story from The Verge provides a vivid, example-filled look at how teens are interacting with AI chatbots, with both positive and potentially negative consequences. Here’s just one presence-related quote: “Character.AI users have also struggled with telling their chatbots apart from reality: a popular conspiracy theory, largely spread through screenshots and stories of bots breaking character or insisting that they are real people when prompted, is that Character.AI’s bots are secretly powered by real people.” See the original version of the story for two more images. –Matthew] [Image: Illustration by Ard Su for The Verge] The teens making friends with…

[As reported in this story from MIT Technology Review, the incorporation of AI and other enhancements are expanding the potential effectiveness of social robots in helping to care for patients with dementia; see the original version of the story for a second image. –Matthew] How cuddly robots could change dementia care Researchers are using AI and technological advancements to create companion robots By Cassandra WillyardMay 17, 2024[This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.] Last week, I scoured…

[The dark side of presence is the focus of this story from Wired about the use of real-time deepfake romance scams. See the original story for two short videos. –Matthew] [Image: Photo illustration credit: Jacqui Vanliew; Getty Images] The Real-Time Deepfake Romance Scams Have Arrived Watch how smooth-talking scammers known as “Yahoo Boys” use widely available face-swapping tech to carry out elaborate romance scams. By Matt BurgessApril 18, 2024 The compliments start flowing as soon as she answers the video call. “Wow, you so pretty, honey,” says the man on the other side of the screen. His video feed shows…

[This thoughtful first-person report from MIT Technology Review describes what it’s like to have the AI startup company Synthesia create a synthetic version of yourself, and considers some of the implications of the fast-evolving technology. This is an abridged version of the story; see the unabridged original for more information, many more images, and two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: David Vintiner] An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary Synthesia’s new technology is impressive but raises big questions about a world where we increasingly can’t tell what’s real. By Melissa HeikkiläApril 25, 2024 I’m…

[Fast Company reports on a new stationary bicycle designed to evoke greater spatial presence and mental engagement in users than the currently available bikes. See the original story for two more images and two videos, and the product’s Kickstarter page for more information. Wired has a somewhat-less-than-enthusiastic review. –Matthew] This ‘Star Trek’-like holographic bicycle could make Peloton obsolete The bike’s specialized display technology tricks your brain into thinking you’re actually riding outdoors. By Jesus DiazMay 10, 2024 Former Google VR researcher Samuel Matson spent the early days of COVID-19 in Colombia. There, he found solace while riding his bike with…

[A portal that connects New York and Dublin has re-opened following some inappropriate behavior by people in both locations, as reported in this story from RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland’s National Public Service Media). The excerpt from coverage by The Guardian that follows below adds context. For more pictures and videos of the portal, see The Cut. –Matthew] [Image: New Yorkers greet people in Dublin during the reveal of the Portal in the Flatiron district in Manhattan, New York, on May 8, 2024. Credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters. Source: The Guardian.] ‘Portal’ linking Dublin and NYC restarts with set hours May 19, 2024…

[This opinion piece from CNN provides a link-filled summary of the significant advances in the latest version of ChatGPT, including a more informal “personality” that creates a “more natural human-computer interaction” likely to evoke greater medium-as-social-actor presence in users. As the author notes, The Daily Show provided an insightful and entertaining take on the features of ChatGPT-4o. See also the related essay, “I Am Once Again Asking Our Tech Overlords to Watch the Whole Movie. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has seemingly cited Her as an inspiration for ChatGPT’s conversational voice assistant update. Maybe don’t!” in Wired. Here’s a key quote:…

[Presence-evoking digital spaces provide new opportunities to not just mimic real life but create new modes of interaction and learning. This story from Aalto University in Finland describes an interesting example in the context of dance instruction. Watch the 1:32 minute video in the original story (and available on YouTube) to see how the innovative WAVE technique works. –Matthew] [Image: The WAVE technique demonstrated in a video screenshot. Credit: Markus Laattala.] Researchers develop a new way to instruct dance in Virtual Reality The new virtual reality technique makes it easier to join a dance routine without first having to learn…

[The camera in an art project called Nuca uses generative artificial intelligence to create photos in which people who are dressed normally appear to be naked. Rather than being prurient, the goal is to make us think about the potential of AI to “destroy reality.” This story about the project is from Fast Company, where the original includes four more images and a 2:38 minute video (which is also available on Vimeo). –Matthew] A new camera can undress people almost in real time—to send a message about AI Nuca, a new deepfake camera, is an art project that shows how…

[Apologies for the glitchy re-start of ISPR Presence News posts; if you didn’t receive the full version of yesterday’s post titled “Virtual reality environment for teens may offer an accessible, affordable way to reduce stress,” you can read it here. The story below is from NPR and reports on a series of AI-generated images distributed on social media that appeared to show certain celebrities attending and modeling dramatic fashions at the recent MET Gala even though those individuals hadn’t attended the event. In one case the AI image deceived even singer Katy Perry’s mother. Both this story and an excerpt…

[Researchers created a virtual reality environment to reduce stress among teens and conducted a study suggesting that it works. This story is from the University of Washington, where the original version includes two more images and a 1:12 minute video; the published study is available from the link in the story. –Matthew] Virtual reality environment for teens may offer an accessible, affordable way to reduce stress By Stefan Milne, UW NewsMay 1, 2024 Social media. The climate crisis. Political polarization. The tumult of a pandemic and online learning. Teens today are dealing with unprecedented stressors, and over the past decade…

[The Apple Vision Pro was the impetus for lots of discussion at an interesting and enjoyable symposium at the University of Toronto last week titled “Questioning Reality: Explorations of Virtual Reality and Our Social Future.” The story below about a new presence-evoking documentary about fashion from Gucci touches on some of the same themes and questions regarding the future of Apple’s new platform and others that will come after it. The story is from fxguide, where the original version features more images; the documentary is available via the GUCCI app on the Apple App Store. For more details and coverage,…