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Meta Faces Scrutiny Over AI Prompt Disclosure

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Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant may publicly share user prompts, and its apps may have exploited a technical loophole to track Android users without their knowledge, CPO Magazine reported.

Meta’s AI app introduced a pop-up warning that content entered by users — including personal or sensitive information — may be publicly shared, per a June 20 report. It seems these prompts can be published in the “Discover” feed. The feature, which launched earlier this year, showcases AI-generated content and occasionally displays user-submitted prompts, some of which have included private data such as legal documents, personal identifiers and even apparently audio of minors.

Although users can opt out, the setting is enabled by default, and users must manually disable it, the report said. Privacy advocates argue that no other major chatbot service offers a comparable mechanism that proactively republishes private inputs.

Consumers already have privacy concerns around generative AI. The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Generation AI: Why Gen Z Bets Big and Boomers Hold Back” found that 36% of generative AI users are nervous about these platforms sharing or misusing their personal information, and 33% of non-users are kept from adopting the technology because of the same hesitations.

Separately, Meta may have taken advantage of an Android system vulnerability known as “Local Mess” to harvest web browsing data, per a June 17 CPO Magazine report. The loophole, involving the mobile operating system’s localhost address, potentially allowed Meta and Russian tech company Yandex to listen in on users and correlate their behavior across apps and websites. The tech giants may have been able to do this even when users were browsing in incognito mode or using other privacy protections. This data could be linked to a user’s Meta account or Android Advertising ID.

Meta has since halted sending data to localhost, characterizing the issue as a miscommunication with Google’s policy framework. Privacy watchdogs and experts say both cases could trigger regulatory action in the European Union and other jurisdictions.

Meta is already facing legal action over its privacy practices in an $8 billion lawsuit concerning alleged data misuse.

Google, for its part, is scheduled to appear in court later this month for allegedly violating the privacy of both Android and non-Android mobile phone service users.

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Researchers make AI-powered tool to detect plant diseases

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A team of researchers at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool capable of detecting diseases and nutrient deficiencies in bitter gourd leaves, potentially transforming the way farmers monitor crop health.

The study, recently published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Current Plant Biology’ (Elsevier), highlights how AI-driven innovations can play a crucial role in real-time crop monitoring and precision farming.

The newly developed web-based application, named ‘AgriCure’, is powered by a layered augmentation-enhanced deep learning model. It allows farmers to diagnose crop health by simply uploading or capturing a photograph of a leaf using a smartphone.

“Unlike traditional methods, which are time-consuming and often require expert intervention, AgriCure instantly analyses the image to determine whether the plant is suffering from a disease or nutrient deficiency, and then offers corrective suggestions,” explained the researchers.

The collaborative research project was led by Dr Kamaldeep Joshi, Dr Rainu Nandal and Dr Yogesh Kumar, along with students Sumit Kumar and Varun Kumar from MDU’s University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET). It also involved Prof Narendra Tuteja from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi and Prof Ritu Gill and Prof Sarvajeet Singh Gill from MDU’s Centre for Biotechnology.

MDU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rajbir Singh, congratulated the research team on their achievement.

According to the researchers, AgriCure can detect major diseases such as downy mildew, leaf spot, and jassid infestation, as well as key nutrient deficiencies like nitrogen, potassium and magnesium.

“This represents a step towards sustainable agriculture, where AI empowers farmers with real-time decision-making tools,” said corresponding authors Prof Ritu Gill and Prof Sarvajeet Singh Gill. They added that the web-based platform can be integrated with mobile devices for direct use in the field.

The team believes that the technology’s core framework can be extended to other crops such as cereals, legumes, and fruits, creating opportunities for wider applications across Indian agriculture.

Looking ahead, they plan to integrate AgriCure with drones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices for large-scale monitoring, and to develop lighter versions of the model for full offline use on mobile phones.





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Competition to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) is fierce not only in industrial areas but als..

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Competition to introduce AI to the diplomatic front lines of major countries The U.S. actively utilizes the State Department’s exclusive “State Chat” to brainstorm foreign policy. Canada uses it to analyze major countries’ policies

[Photo = Yonhap News]

Competition to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) is fierce not only in industrial areas but also in diplomacy, which is the front line of competition between countries. The U.S. State Department is increasing the work efficiency of diplomats through its own AI. Japan spends more than 600 billion won a year to detect false information. The move is aimed at preventing the possibility that fake information will be misused to establish national diplomatic strategies.

In the United States, the State Department has been operating its own AI ‘State Chat’ since last year. It is an interactive AI in the form of ‘Chat GPT’, similar to the method promoted by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It provides functions such as summarizing internal business documents and professional analysis. E-mails used by diplomats are also drafted according to the format and even have the function of helping “brainstorming” in relation to foreign policy or strategy.

StateChat is dramatically reducing the amount of time State Department employees spend on mechanical tasks. According to State Department estimates, the total amount of time saved by all employees through their own AI amounts to 20,000 to 30,000 hours per week.

The State Department plans to continue expanding the use of StateChat. State Chat is also used for job training. This is due to the advantage of minimizing information that may be omitted during the handover process and enabling in-depth learning by providing data containing stories. State Chat will also be used to manage manpower. Information related to personnel management is also entered in State Chat.

[Photo = Yonhap News]
[Photo = Yonhap News]

Japan has been building a situation analysis system using AI since 2022. AI finally judges the situation by combining reports from local diplomats with external information such as foreign social network service (SNS) posts, reports from research institutes, and media reports. For example, if social media analysis detects residents’ disturbance in a specific area, AI warns of the risk of terrorism or riots.

From 2023, it is using AI to detect fake news that is mainly spread through SNS. It analyzes not only text but also various media types of content such as images, audio, and video. It is a method of measuring the consistency of information based on a large language model (LLM) and then determining whether it is false. In particular, Japan calculates and presents the social impact, such as the scale and influence of the fake news.

Japan believes that numerous fake news after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident has undermined national trust and caused unnecessary diplomatic friction. Japan allocated about 66.2 billion yen (626.5 billion won) in the fiscal 2025 budget to the policy and technology sectors to respond to false information.

Canada introduced a ‘briefing note’ using Generative AI in 2022. A draft policy briefing document is created by analyzing and reviewing policy-related data of major countries. Finland operates a system that collects diplomatic documents through AI and summarizes them on its own, and even visualization functions are provided. The UK has introduced AI to consular services. Classify the services frequently requested by their citizens staying abroad to overseas missions and provide optimal answers.

Last year, France developed an AI tool that summarizes and analyzes diplomatic documents and external data and is using it to detect ‘reverse information (fake news or false information)’ overseas and to identify public opinion trends. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has introduced an unmanned overseas mission model that provides consular services based on AI.



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How artificial intelligence is transforming hospitals

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Story highlights

AI is changing healthcare. From faster X-ray reports to early warnings for sepsis, new tools are helping doctors diagnose quicker and more accurately. What the future holds for ethical and safe use of AI in hospitals is worth watching. Know more below.



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