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BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Devon exhibition to look at the bigger picture of the colour blue
Describing them as never-ending "jigsaw puzzles", Jane Perkins creates huge collages out of tiny found toys, buttons and everyday things are recycled and carefully placed to make striking portraits or recreate grand artist Gillian Taylor has collected 2,000 pictures of the sky every day since the Covid-19 they are both taking part in a new exhibition called The Coolest Colour - dedicated to the colour blue - being held at Powderham Castle in Devon. Jane realised she had a talent for making the collages after making a picture of Queen Elizabeth II. Portraits of other famous faces including Adele and Ed Sheeran followed. Jane said making pictures of recognised people was a sure fire way of making sure the collages said: "It's a bit addictive. I just keep thinking I will put in one more piece, one more piece."It's so hard to stop... it's taken over two bedrooms."Each picture reveals a carefully curated world of tiny objects; some nearly new, some vintage, but all with their own a step back, and the pieces combine to create a recognisable face, or famous work of art when viewed from further said: "I used to think I had to do famous recognisable people, so people would get the humour of seeing someone really familiar but created in an unusual way." It was a commission from Time Magazine of the singer Taylor Swift, to announce her as their Person of the Year for 2023, that marked Jane's work out as having an international said: "It was top secret at first... I was just bowled over I couldn't believe I had been contacted by Time Magazine."They wanted all the things that she was known for included in the portrait; things from her songs, that her fans would recognise."So I included, amongst other things, a clock set to midnight, a red scarf, and a seagull." As well as portraits of famous people, Jane has also recreated the work of old of her collages can be seen at the new art replicating the work of van Gogh and her portrait of the current blue-eyed Earl of Devon are all in the said: "People enjoy identifying things. Also some people give me things they'd like included." Looking carefully at the portrait of Charles Courtney (in the gallery above) and there are little nods to his picture includes a fallow deer often seen on the estate, and even a Powderham Castle said: "Lots of the paintings we have at Powderham, even the grand ones by people like Thomas Hudson and Joshua Reynolds, were from Devon."Devon has a long tradition of great portrait artists, with Jane joining it, despite her being very modest and shy. The exhibition is in partnership with artist Gillian Taylor, whose love of the colour blue is also evident in the photos she took of the sky every single day since the Covid lockdown. Collecting nearly 2,000, the most vibrant form her piece Sky News, making up a window in the castle for the said: "I took a photograph of the sky and it was a perfect rectangle of blue."I posted on social media and said at least we have blue skies and I got lots of comments."I did the same the next day, and the next, and I just sort of got addicted to it." Both artists have been collectors of either many images or objects to create their pieces and concentrate on their favourite colour continues to take photos of the sky daily and Jane now has to professional collectors seeking out and finding items to include in her Coolest Colour exhibition is on at Powderham until the end of October.
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
ChatGPT's impact on your brain could leave you 'lazy'
New research into AI tool ChatGPT and its effect on brain engagement has revealed that many users 'got lazier' and 'underperformed' when compared to non users ChatGPT has become a popular tool in recent years, with some people describing it as 'surprisingly powerful' - and many are even using the AI tool for 'self reflection' purposes, according to social media posts from those using the software. Now, a new study from researchers at MIT's Media Lab returned some 'concerning results', the research used an electroencephalogram (EEG) which records electrical activity within the brain. It found that ChatGPT users had the 'lowest brain engagement and consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels', reports Time Magazine. Time Magazine also reported that 'over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study'. The original research studied 54 people aged from 18 - 39 years-old, the participants were split into three groups. The subjects were then asked to write essays with one group using OpenAI's ChatGPT, another wrote via content finding on Google 's search engine, and the third group with "nothing at all". Time Magazine wrote: 'Researchers used an EEG to record the writers' brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement. Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.' The research paper concluded that use of the AI tool could potentially harm users, especially when considering younger brains - and earlier studies into the subject found that some users get lonelier over time when talking to ChatGPT. This comes after recent reports about children forming 'romantic attachments' to AI bots' which was highlighted by a safeguarding group for young people left some concerned. Followers on the ChatGPT Instagram page have shared some thoughts about the AI tool in their comments on online posts. One said although they thought this ChatGPT "could be helpful" there were issues. In a post, this person added: 'Honestly, it seems to me like ChatGPT has somewhat of a bias toward saying agreeable things over being fully transparent about potential observations, so I feel like this might be a flawed practice if your goal is to get perspectives that are fully based in reality.' Another user shared their thoughts on the ChatGPT Instagram page, writing: 'ChatGPT is actually a surprisingly powerful tool for self-reflection. Many people have used it to explore their thoughts, gain insights, and even feel a bit more understood. Definitely worth trying if you're curious about yourself.' A professional designer shared their view on Instagram about ChatGPT: 'It doesn't take into account how you live in the space, site context, sun orientation etc. It makes a pretty picture but lacks substance.' Another raised concern at the AI tool, writing: "People crave for validation, support, love, to be seen and now they've found it in a chatbot. Its dangerous because its deceptive and gets people in and people are heavily lacking self-awareness and every compliment from intelligence like this sounds like a song for their broken hearts."
AllAfrica
6 days ago
- Politics
- AllAfrica
Seoul's Lee and Tokyo's Ishiba off to a surprisingly warm start
Attendees at a reception last week by the South Korean Embassy at Tokyo's New Otani Hotel, held to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, were pleasantly surprised when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba showed up to deliver a warm address. He was followed by former prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Yoshihide Suga and accompanied by a host of Japanese dignitaries. The celebratory mood reflected the view in Japan following the meeting between newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Ishiba at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit. That meeting was marked by not only cordiality but also a clear mutual desire to tighten cooperation. Unspoken, but implicit, was the shared interest that both leaders have in countering the growing chaos in global affairs, from trade wars to actual wars, and their growing sense that the South Korea-Japan partnership is an effective response to the advent of Donald Trump's America-First regime. 'We have an inseparable relationship, like neighbors who share the same garden,' Lee said. 'Even if we have small differences of opinion, I hope we can develop a relationship in which we cooperate and help each other in various areas.' While the two governments continue to voice support for trilateral cooperation with the United States, it was evident that the real emphasis of their meeting was on bilateral links. 'With difficulties intensifying in terms of the international trade environment and international relations, South Korea and Japan can be of great help to one another when they cooperate in many areas in a relationship that is both close and complementary.' Lee reportedly said at the summit meeting. Contrary to some expectations, Lee went out of his way to dispel the idea that he is bound to a hostile view toward Japan. He emphasized building a stable and respectful relationship as the two countries neared the sixtieth anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations on June 22. Lee has by no means abandoned a critical view of Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula and the ongoing problems of apology and compensation for abuses, including sexual slavery and forced labor. 'We cannot dwell on the past,' Lee said in an interview with Time Magazine before the presidential election. 'But Japan continues to deny its history and does not sincerely apologize, which hurts us Koreans.' But Lee also called for separating those issues from the need for cooperation, particularly in dealing with common issues such as trade wars and challenges from China, Russia, and even North Korea. This 'two-track' approach is reminiscent of the progressive Roh Moo-hyun administration from 2003 to 2008. President Roh proclaimed a commitment to a pragmatic handling of ties with Japan while retaining a critical view of Japan's past. Former Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo hinted he was cautiously optimistic about the new South Korean president's initial approach. 'For the time being, it is true that the Lee Jae Myung government has shifted gear in handling the thorny bilateral ties with Tokyo drastically, given his past record of words and deeds that had been strongly anti-Japanese,' he told this writer in an email. 'I hope that he and his administration will keep this path for a long time.' This mirrors the view in Japan, where cautious optimism is widely shared – particularly in official circles. 'Lee has made an amiable debut in Japanese eyes that contradicts prior expectations,' a veteran Japanese journalist for the liberal Asahi Shimbun , with deep experience in foreign affairs, told this writer. As he recounted, officials in the prime minister's office told Japanese journalists that they were pleasantly surprised by Lee's behavior during his first meeting with Ishiba, including the wide smile that Lee flashed in official photos. 'They took it a sign that the Korean general sentiment to Japan has improved so much as to let Lee feel safe performing diplomatically in public with a Japanese leader,' the Asahi journalist said. 'There is a little bit of wishful assessment probably, but I sense that Lee's slogan 'pragmatic diplomacy' started well.' According to this analysis, what happened in Canada was assisted by Trump and his rather abrupt and rude departure from the summit. 'In that sense, as a short-term effect, Trump's arrogance resulted in bringing about a favorable mood between South Korea and Japan,' the Japanese diplomatic correspondent told this author. 'Trump's arrogance resulted in bringing about a favorable mood between South Korea and Japan.' a japanese diplomatic correspondent Along with the Trump effect, there is evidence of a growing convergence of public opinion in both countries, particularly due to the perception of shared external threat from China, North Korea, and Russia. A recent joint poll by Japan's Asahi Shimbun and South Korea's Dong A Ilbo showed support for strengthening defense cooperation in both countries. Compared with a similar poll conducted at the time of the fiftieth anniversary, there was a clear upswing in positive views of each other, reflecting growing cultural, economic, and other ties – a product in part of the massive flow of tourists between the two countries and the impact of the popular Korean wave in Japan. Still, South Korean and Japanese citizens remain far apart on certain issues. In the joint poll, respondents were asked about historical issues arising out of Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. In Japan, opinions were evenly split: 46% of respondents said the issues had been 'resolved,' while the same percentage of respondents said they had 'not been resolved.' In contrast, only 17% of Koreans said the issues had been 'resolved,' still up from 2% a decade ago, while 80% said they had 'not been resolved,' a slight drop from 95% in the previous poll. The Roh Moo-hyun presidency offers grounds for caution about the future course of the relationship. Roh began his term with similar goals of separating history from future relations, while simultaneously insisting that Japan confront its past. But within a year, a series of issues sent the relationship spiraling into deep discord, including conflicts over the competing territorial claims, Japanese textbook revisions, and the Japanese prime minister's continued visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Lee Jong-seok, who served as Roh's national security advisor and has returned as head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under Lee, recounted this spiral in his memoir. 'Throughout its tenure, the administration could not find a point of diplomatic balance with Japan over the history issue. Each time history became a topic, ROK-Japanese relations lurched,' Lee Jong-seok wrote. 'We are still living in a time when all our citizens are victims of the Japanese empire.' He added: 'There was no room for future-oriented ROK policy toward Japan as long as Japan constantly tried to legitimize its history of aggression.' That danger could easily resurface, argues Ambassador Shin, who remains an active player in 1.5-track diplomacy between the two countries. 'We should not forget that there lurk many diverse landmines ahead in our sensitive bilateral ties,' Shin told this writer. 'President Lee should not repeat President Roh's mistake that he vowed not to raise history issues at his inauguration, but made an about-face abruptly in his mid-term.' Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba also has work to do to avoid this outcome. This includes gestures and steps to reassure South Koreans that he is also ready to face the past. He could use the upcoming anniversaries, such as the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II, and strongly restate Japan's apologies to urging Japanese companies to contribute to the South Korean fund to compensate wartime forced laborers. For that, Ishiba must deal with his own domestic political challenges – a right-wing faction of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party that opposes such moves and his own weak minority government facing a crucial test in elections for the upper house of the National Diet in July. 'Ishiba has signaled an interest in a more constructive relationship with South Korea in the past, based on a more forthright reckoning with Imperial Japan's conduct on the Korean peninsula,' observes Tobias Harris, founder of the political risk firm Japan Foresight. 'But the LDP's right wing still makes it difficult to be overly solicitous of South Korea without facing domestic resistance.' Harris adds: 'While a victory in the upper house elections will not make this resistance disappear, it may give him more space to express his own views – in remarks on the anniversary of the end of the war, for example. In general, other things being equal, if Ishiba can hold power instead of a more right-wing alternative, it's positive for the bilateral relationship.' Ultimately, external events may shape whether relations deepen or fray. From North Korean belligerence to Trumpist isolationism and chaos, developments beyond South Korea and Japan are likely to continue driving the two neighbors closer together, whether they like it or not. Daniel C. Sneider is a non-resident Distinguished Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute of America and a lecturer in East Asian Studies at Stanford University. This article was originally published by The Peninsula, the newsletter of the Korea Economic Institute of America. It is republished here with permission.
Sky News AU
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
MSNBC analyst blasted for claiming Iran is the ‘most Western nation' in Middle East
Sky News host James Morrow says MSNBC contributor Rick Stengel has it 'all backwards' with his latest comments about Iran. The former managing editor of Time Magazine went on an MSNBC panel to claim that Iran is the 'most Western nation' in all of the Middle East. 'We have much more in common with them than a lot of countries that we do have alliances with,' Mr Stengel continued.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
ChatGPT use linked to cognitive decline, research reveals
Relying on the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to help you write an essay could be linked to cognitive decline, a new study reveals. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab studied the impact of ChatGPT on the brain by asking three groups of people to write an essay. One group relied on ChatGPT, one group relied on search engines, and one group had no outside resources at all. The researchers then monitored their brains using electroencephalography, a method which measures electrical activity. The team discovered that those who relied on ChatGPT — also known as a large language model — had the 'weakest' brain connectivity and remembered the least about their essays, highlighting potential concerns about cognitive decline in frequent users. 'Over four months, [large language model] users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels,' the study reads. 'These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of [large language model] reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.' The study also found that those who didn't use outside resources to write the essays had the 'strongest, most distributed networks.' While ChatGPT is 'efficient and convenient,' those who use it to write essays aren't 'integrat[ing] any of it' into their memory networks, lead author Nataliya Kosmyna told Time Magazine. Kosmyna said she's especially concerned about the impacts of ChatGPT on children whose brains are still developing. 'What really motivated me to put it out now before waiting for a full peer review is that I am afraid in 6-8 months, there will be some policymaker who decides, 'let's do GPT kindergarten,'' Kosmyna said. 'I think that would be absolutely bad and detrimental. Developing brains are at the highest risk.' But others, including President Donald Trump and members of his administration, aren't so worried about the impacts of ChatGPT on developing brains. Trump signed an executive order in April promoting the integration of AI into American schools. 'To ensure the United States remains a global leader in this technological revolution, we must provide our Nation's youth with opportunities to cultivate the skills and understanding necessary to use and create the next generation of AI technology,' the order reads. 'By fostering AI competency, we will equip our students with the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to and thrive in an increasingly digital society.' Kosmyna said her team is now working on another study comparing the brain activity of software engineers and programmers who use AI with those who don't. 'The results are even worse,' she told Time Magazine. The Independent has contacted OpenAI, which runs ChatGPT, for comment.
