+ HEALTH Background Discharge letters are essential for continuity of care, yet patients often misunderstand their con…± HEALTH Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) glass slide preparation is fundamental to histopathology. Pathologists' expertise…+ CLIMATE Traditional soil heavy metal risk assessments suffer from fragmented indices and poor logical integration. Co…± HEALTH Background Neonatal pneumothorax can progress rapidly, yet detection on supine chest radiographs remains chal…+ HEALTH T cell exhaustion has widespread implications for the progression and treatment of chronic diseases including…+ HEALTH Background Standard pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) risk models may not fully apply to PAH associated w…+ HEALTH Objectives To map and synthesize the scientific evidence regarding the use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixe…± HEALTH Objective To examine whether the outputs of machine learning algorithms designed to predict risk of cardiovas…
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Evidence-backed gain

Artificial intelligence in personalized nutrition and food manufacturing: a comprehensive review of methods, applications, and future directions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a key driver at the intersection of nutrition and food systems, offering scalable solutions for precision health, smart manufacturing, and sustainable development. This study aims to present a comprehensive review of AI-driven innovations that enable precision nutrition through real-time dietary recommendations, meal planning informed by individual biological markers ( e.g ., blood glucose or cholesterol levels), and adaptive feedback systems. It further examines the i…

Frontiers in Nutrition · Lifestyle

Artificial intelligence in personalized nutrition and food manufacturing: a comprehensive review of methods, applications, and future directions
The sociocultural roots of artificial conversations: The taste, class and habitus of generative AI chatbots
Evidence-backed problem

The sociocultural roots of artificial conversations: The taste, class and habitus of generative AI chatbots

Research on AI has extensively considered biases related to gender and race. However, much less attention has been dedicated to another sociological tenet: that of class. Inspired by Bourdieu’s work on cultural stratification and distinction, this work sheds light on the sociocultural roots of artificial sociality, and on how these become manifest as ‘habitus’ within the outputs of generative AI models. We conducted 39 interviews with three AI chatbots – ChatGPT, Gemini and Replika – after asking them to imperso…

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Machine Learning for Quality Control in the Food Industry: A Review
Both readings

Machine Learning for Quality Control in the Food Industry: A Review

The increasing complexity of modern food production demands advanced solutions for quality control (QC), safety monitoring, and process optimization. This review systematically explores recent advancements in machine learning (ML) for QC across six domains: Food Quality Applications; Defect Detection and Visual Inspection Systems; Ingredient Optimization and Nutritional Assessment; Packaging-Sensors and Predictive QC; Supply Chain-Traceability and Transparency and Food Industry Efficiency; and Industry 4.0 Model…

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The compassion illusion: Can artificial empathy ever be emotionally authentic?
Both readings

The compassion illusion: Can artificial empathy ever be emotionally authentic?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved beyond calculation and cognition into the domain of emotion and experience. Once confined to logical operations, AI systems now speak the language of emotiondetecting, labeling, and even simulating human affect with increasing accuracy (Huang et al., 2023). From chatbots that offer comfort to users in distress to voice assistants that detect sadness in tone, we now inhabit an age where machines perform empathy. The emergence of affective computingtechnologies capable of rec…

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Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing food quality and ensuring global food security
Evidence-backed gain

Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing food quality and ensuring global food security

The food industry uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance food quality and security while proposing significant capital savings and resource optimization. Additionally, understanding machine learning (ML) techniques is essential for their effectiveness. Therefore, the gap lies in examining how industrial automation plays a crucial role in successfully implementing this new technology. To address this gap, this review explores AI’s potential to significantly enhance food safety by creating a more transparent…

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Is it time to enter the Tillyverse? Seven things you need to know about AI ‘actor’ Tilly Norwood
Both readings

Is it time to enter the Tillyverse? Seven things you need to know about AI ‘actor’ Tilly Norwood

Could Tilly Norwood be Hollywood’s next big name? She’s been billed as the next Scarlett Johansson, was profiled by the New York Times Magazine, and has just landed her first feature role. She is also AI-generated. Stay with me here! It seems that the widespread dismay that greeted Tilly (Norwood?) on her first appeance a year ago has done nothing to quell her (its?) ambitions to make it in the movies. She may be nothing but a pleasingly visualised bunch of code, but it seems we are bound to keep on hearing abou…

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Chelsea flower show garden designers clash over use of AI
Both readings

Chelsea flower show garden designers clash over use of AI

With glasses of champagne sipped among the peonies, Chelsea flower show is generally a friendly and genteel occasion. But this year, the secateurs have been drawn as gardeners clash over the use of AI in designing the exhibits. Matt Keightley, an award-winning designer who has created gardens for figures including Prince Harry, is using artificial intelligence to design his garden for the prestigious show, held at the Royal Hospital gardens in Chelsea, London, next week. He is launching a new app, Spacelift, whi…

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How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter

It is our collective responsibility to understand how toys powered by artificial intelligence – such as those explored by Arwa Mahdawi – impact young children (‘I love you too!’ My family’s creepy, unsettling week with an AI toy, 16 September). At the University of Cambridge’s Play in Education, Development and Learning centre, we are conducting a study to understand the impacts of AI toys on children’s development and relationships in the early years. Questions about how AI toys respond to children’s input are…

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How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter

Explainable artificial intelligence techniques for interpretation of food models: a review

Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become essential for analyzing complex data and solving highly-challenging tasks. It is being applied across numerous disciplines beyond computer science, including Food Engineering, where there is a growing demand for accurate and reliable predictions to meet stringent food quality standards. However, this requires increasingly complex AI models, raising concerns. In response, eXplainable AI (XAI) has emerged to provide insights into AI decision-making, aiding model int…

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Explainable artificial intelligence techniques for interpretation of food models: a review

Relationships in the age of AI: A review on the opportunities and risks of synthetic relationships to reduce loneliness

Loneliness is a pressing global health issue, yet traditional interventions often fall short due to scalability limitations and the individualized experiences of loneliness. The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled synthetic relationships (SRs)—ongoing associations with AI companions designed to simulate human-like social bonds. SRs offer, among other aspects, constant availability, adaptability, and emotional responsiveness, which potentially address loneliness. However, their growing int…

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Relationships in the age of AI: A review on the opportunities and risks of synthetic relationships to reduce loneliness

The rapid rise of housefishing: are AI-enhanced property listings helpful – or sinister?

It is twilight on a desirable street in Chiswick, or it could be Hampstead, Wilmslow or Hove. A spectacular sunset has left a vivid stripe of orange fading into a violet sky. Against this saturated backdrop, a large Victorian house is clearly outlined despite the darkening atmosphere, perhaps thanks to the lights blazing from every single room. The effect is dazzling, in an unhinged, halfway-through-an-exorcism way. It is also quite obviously fake: a digital trick previously achieved with software such as Photos…

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The rapid rise of housefishing: are AI-enhanced property listings helpful – or sinister?

Synthetic lovers: A framework for understanding artificial intimacy

This paper explores the evolving landscape of artificial intimacy through the ‘Synthetic Lovers’ framework, a tripartite sociological model comprising digital, synthetic, and virtual intimacy. By analyzing contemporary case studies – ranging from emotional entanglement with large language models to ceremonial weddings with AI personas – I argue that these relationships are not mere technological anomalies but symptoms of a broader transformation in the social organization of intimacy. The framework integrates th…

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Synthetic lovers: A framework for understanding artificial intimacy

The Algorithmic Sanctuary: Social-Interaction Burnout, Loneliness, and Emotional Attachment to AI Companions Among Young Adults in Indonesia

Post-pandemic digital life has produced a new affective phenomenon: large-language-model “AI companions” that invite two-way parasocial relationships. Counter-intuitively, the most intense users in urban Indonesia appear to be not the physically isolated but socially active young adults experiencing interaction burnout, who treat AI as a refuge from the judgment costs of a collectivist culture. Yet no integrated model has tested why relational strain translates into machine attachment in a Global-South setting.…

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The Algorithmic Sanctuary: Social-Interaction Burnout, Loneliness, and Emotional Attachment to AI Companions Among Young Adults in Indonesia

The Siren Song of LLMs: How Users Perceive and Respond to Dark Patterns in Large Language Models

Large language models can influence users through conversation, creating new forms of dark patterns that differ from traditional UX dark patterns. We define LLM dark patterns as manipulative or deceptive behaviors enacted in dialogue. Drawing on prior work and AI incident reports, we outline a diverse set of categories with real-world examples. Using them, we conducted a scenario-based study where participants (N=34) compared manipulative and neutral LLM responses. Our results reveal that recognition of LLM dark…

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The Siren Song of LLMs: How Users Perceive and Respond to Dark Patterns in Large Language Models

The role of artificial intelligence in facilitating superwood utilization among furniture craft producers for sustainable smart manufacturing

Despite the demonstrated potential of superwood materials (engineered or modified wood products, such as densified, thermally modified, or cross-laminated timber, that exhibit enhanced strength, dimensional stability, and resource efficiency relative to conventional timber) and artificial intelligence (AI) to advance sustainable manufacturing, their adoption remains negligible among artisanal furniture producers in resource-constrained developing economies. This study investigates whether and how AI can facilita…

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The role of artificial intelligence in facilitating superwood utilization among furniture craft producers for sustainable smart manufacturing