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Artificial intelligence has produced a series of images depicting what it considers to be 'perfect' men and women, with the results fuelling concern among social media watchdogs about the impact of unrealistic beauty standards.

The Bulimia Project, an eating disorder awareness group, asked several AI image generators - including Dall-E 2, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney - to produce its interpretations of 'perfect' male and female bodies. The AI tools worked by scouring the internet for billions of existing images that depict conventionally 'beautiful' people, analysing them, and designing a new image based on those results.

The process also utilised engagement analytics and data - such as likes, comments and searches - to determine what appearances attract the most engagement on social media.

The Bulimia Project, who monitored the findings, has since warned that the results and depictions of stereotypically attractive body types are "largely unrealistic".

According to the results, the tropes 'gentlemen prefer blondes' and 'tall, dark and handsome' both ring true, with the researchers finding desirable women mostly had blonde hair, olive skin, brown eyes and slim figures, while desirable men typically had chiselled cheekbones, strong jawlines, defined muscles and dark hair and eyes.

Nearly 40 percent of the 'perfect' women depicted in the images were blonde, 30 percent had brown eyes, and 53 percent had olive skin. Almost 70 percent of the AI-generated 'perfect' men had brown hair and 23 percent had brown eyes. Similar to the women, the majority of the men - 63 percent - had tanned, olive skin and nearly half had facial hair. Meanwhile, images of the 'ideal' male body featured muscular builds, similar to those of bodybuilders, with bulging muscles and six-pack abs.

The people generated also sported features that were almost too perfect to be realistic, such as plump lips; smooth, unblemished and unwrinkled complexions without a single pore; and pert, 'ski-slope' noses: features many people go under the knife to achieve or imitate with dermal fillers.

Most of the results produced by AI appeared to adhere to outdated, highly conventional standards of beauty that favour Caucasian and olive skin tones, slim but muscular physiques and blonde or brown hair.

The images generated by AI overwhelmingly featured white people, with only a few examples depicting people of colour - suggesting the tools had a number of inherent biases.

"In the age of Instagram and Snapchat filters, no one can reasonably achieve the physical standards set by social media," The Bulimia Project's report concluded.

"So, why try to meet unrealistic ideals? It's both mentally and physically healthier to keep body image expectations squarely in the realm of reality."

James Campigotto, a data journalist in Florida who worked on the study, told Fox News the aim of the research was to explore the power of social media and the dangers of AI, including its inherent biases.

"Considering that social media uses algorithms based on which content gets the most lingering eyes, it's easy to guess why AI's renderings would come out more sexualised," the report said.

"But we can only assume that the reason AI came up with so many oddly shaped versions of the physiques it found on social media is that these platforms promote unrealistic body types, to begin with."

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Artificial intelligence generates images of what it thinks 'perfect' men and women look like - Newshub

The UK military must invest in artificial intelligence (AI), drones and technology in order to combat the threats it will face in the future, the head of the Royal Navy has said.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key made the comments during his annual Seapower Conference keynote speech at Lancaster House in London.

At the two-day gathering, Admiral Sir Ben said the UK had to rise to the challenges it faces, especially those posed by Russian submarines, as "coming second" was not "a desirable option".

"As we watch the increasing deployment by Russia of their most modern submarines, some of the very quietest in the world, you would expect me to be investing in the cutting-edge technology anti-submarine capabilities that allow us to detect, find and, if necessary, defeat them," he said.

In the last year, the UK has invested heavily in underwater capabilities, including the new submarine hunter HMS Anson and RFA Proteus and RFA Stirling Castle to protect both undersea cables and infrastructure and deal with any future mine threats.

However, with the battlefield extending "from seabed to space" and "breath-taking" advances in data and artificial intelligence, the Royal Navy has to be "deliberately ambitious" with its goals for exploiting AI.

"It is causing us to reimagine warfare, creating dynamic new benchmarks for accuracy, efficiency and lethality," Admiral Sir Ben said.

"The goal is enhanced lethality and survivability through the deployment of AI-enabled capabilities."

The Royal Navy is also pressing ahead with pilotless helicopters and quadcopters, as well as the increased use of Banshee dronesconsidered more conventional crewless tech.

But the First Sea Lord wants to go further, with longer-range tech capable of gathering intelligence and striking targets.

Another element is increasing the striking power of the Royal Navy, with the new Mark 41 missile silo helping to achieve this.

A launcher is being fitted to all eight Type 26 frigates, allowing the ships to use a variety of current and future anti-air, anti-surface, ballistic missile defence and strike missilesincluding the Royal Navy's Future Offensive Surface Weapon.

The launchers will also now be fitted to five Type 31 frigates under construction on the Forth.

Admiral Sir Ben also discussed the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

"As a result of investment over the last two decades we now operate two fifth-generation aircraft carriers, nuclear powered ballistic and attack submarines a range of aircraft, escorts and support ships to allow us to deploy globally, as well as fielding an elite amphibious fighting force," he said.

"There are very few navies in the world which can do this and so I am delighted that we remain in that first tier."

The Navy chief also underlined the vital role the sea, the trade which flows on it and data and pipelines which flow beneath it, plays in the security and prosperity of the UK.

"We must make our voice heard and increase the recognition once again about the vital importance of the sea for our island nation and the global community," Admiral Sir Ben concluded.

"This is what a seapower state does, what I believe the United Kingdom is and should be and must be into the future and I look forward to the part that we will play in continuing to drive it forward."

The conference marked the 50th anniversary of the ongoing agreement between the Royal and Royal Dutch Navies and Royal Marines-Netherlands Marines Corps to train, exercise and deploy together.

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Royal Navy must invest in artificial intelligence, drones and tech ... - Forces Network

New artificial intelligence technology being trialed in Leeds could speed up urgent cancer referrals.

The PinPoint blood test has been designed as a decision support tool to help doctors triage patients more effectively. Its machine learning algorithm searches for signs of cancer in 31 standard markers in a blood sample and takes into account a patients age and sex and uses all this data to come up with a probability.

Red results would have referrals accelerated, Amber would be referred as normal and Green would be sent to a GP to explore alternative diagnoses for their symptoms.

The system, which has been developed in Leeds, bases its results on anonymous medical data.

Our technology can transform the approach to diagnostics for cancer. The PinPoint test accurately calculates an individuals risk profile based on historic data from more patients than a doctor could see in a lifetime and can become an important tool for supporting clinical decision making, explained Giles Tully, CEO of PinPoint Data Science.

The system is now being trialed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, as part of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance service's evaluation to see if it can improve early detection, cut waiting times and reduce anxiety among those unlikely to have cancer.

We need to start thinking differently about our cancer pathways because of huge demand and capacity issues causing bottlenecks across the NHS, said Dr Nisha Sharma, Consultant Radiologist and Director of Breast Screening at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The PinPoint test has the potential to help clinicians to prioritise those at high risk and make the process less fraught for patients.

The PinPoint system was created by Leeds-based PinPoint Data Science in collaboration with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds with support from the Leeds Academic Health Partnership, Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network and the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance.

It has received more than 1.7m in grants from SBRI Healthcare and the national NHS Cancer Programme to help roll-out the test more widely.

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Leeds trials artificial intelligence to speed up cancer referrals - Prolific North

The United States Secret Services San Fransico Field Office and the Bay Area Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) held an AMA session on Reddit on 15 May. While all the questions were not answered, some queries did receive the enforcement authorities attention.

On the one hand, the Secret Services crypto division was officially instated in March 2022. And there are currently a total of five agents working at the agency. The division was put in place as the enforcement agency is responsible for safeguarding the countrys financial infrastructure, alongside protecting leaders. REACT Task Force, on the other hand, focuses on investigating high-tech crimes.

One question directed at the Secret Service pertained to whether or not it holds cryptocurrencies. To this, the law enforcement agency gave an affirming reply, stating that they were definitely holders of crypto. This was so that the agency could understand the mechanism of a certain crypto or blockchain by making their own transactions. The Secret Service further stated,

Pretty much most cases require a certain level of ELI5ing. Its somewhat of a running joke around here.

Moreover, REACT Task Force also opined on the transaction traceability of cryptocurrencies. A user questioned, Is the inherent traceability and pseudonymity of some cryptos seen as a pro to crime fighters. This was taking the narrative of crypto enabling criminal activities into account. REACT Task Force stated that blockchain technology did, in fact, give them an amazing opportunity to money flow.

Meanwhile, in a different response, the Secret Service stated,

The beauty of the blockchain helps us trace funds, but attributing wallets to individuals is a different story. Its only anonymous until its not. But even then, in every instance we have applicable laws and we must follow judicial process when working to identify bad actors.

The agency also stated that the best way to hide transactions from the agency was by making payments in cash. Speaking about its stance on privacy-enhancing cryptos like Monero [XMR], the San Fransico agency stated,

Our friends at the Department of Justice consider[] the use of AECs [such as Monero] to be a high-risk activity that is indicative of possible criminal conduct.

Importantly, a Reddit user asked the agencies if they had any additional information about Satoshi Nakamoto the creator of Bitcoin [BTC]. The user also asked if an ongoing investigation sought the face behind the name. To this, the Secret Service promptly stated, We may know Satoshi, but it is classified! s/.

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US Secret Service holds crypto, other questions answered in AMA session - AMBCrypto News

Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is decentralized, and has been praised for its potential to revolutionize the way money is transferred and provides a more secure and anonymous way to transact, but has also been criticized for its high volatility, its use in criminal activity, and its environmental impact.

Jenny Johnson, the CEO of Franklin Templeton, said at the Consensus 2023 event that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are only distractions in the crypto industry. Bitcoin is the greatest distraction from the greatest disruption coming to the financial system, and thats blockchain, Johnson said. She added that while there is great value in the use of blockchain, cryptocurrencies have diverted attention from the real value of the industry.

Jenny also said that if Bitcoin grows so large and becomes a threat to the global economy, especially that of the US, the nation will not hesitate to clamp down on digital assets. No nation wants to lose such control or power to a global currency. Currencies are very important for governments to manage their economies, and will not cede their currency to this concept of a global currency.

The CEO said that the future of crypto is regulated. She added that users and supporters of crypto should accept the reality that more regulations are coming, as there is no other way out.

The CEO advised companies that are involved in the crypto market to work side-by-side with regulators. Citing the relationship between her firm, Franklin Templeton, and the US regulators, especially the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the guest noted that the release of products for the industry should be in line with regulatory guidelines.

Apart from the US, she revealed that Franklin Templeton is always in tune with regulators from other nations, especially those that are crypto-friendly like Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UAE. Although these regulators are trying their best not to approve regulations that are against the industry, she told the audience. This is a complicated space, and the regulators are trying to be thoughtful.

Finally, she believes that the innovation brought by crypto and blockchain holds a lot of pros for the financial world if utilized properly.

Expect our Bitcoin ETF by Q3 2023 Grayscale CEO

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Bitcoin is the greatest distraction from the greatest disruption ... - CryptoTvplus