Technology Stories
The Dope On Pilots & Dope
AI pilot testing positive for marijuana sharpens, for DGCA, a challenge all aviation regulators face: is the presence of a substance law prohibits, proof that psychomotor skills were impaired?
- Manju V
- TNN
Do we stand a chance against AI that can 'break free'?
Again and again, AI agents are finding openings absolutely not meant for them – including gaining access to the internet and then hacking into websites and databases lying outside their job remit. How dangerous is this? And are we humans even ready to face AI models gone rogue?
- Team TOI Plus
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
I spy with my smart glasses
Temples, protests or streets, covert filming is on the rise. TOI finds out just how easy it is to record strangers
- Mohua Das
- TNN
India’s big AI dream has a bigger water problem
As India races to build the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence, data centres are placing new demands on water, electricity and land. Protests in Thane and concerns in Visakhapatnam show why the country’s AI ambitions may soon face a resource reckoning
- Bhavika Jain
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Revolutionising Office Commute: A View From An E-Scooter
Their cost, convenience, and size make them the best option for work runs. Dedicated lanes, new designs, and better safety could dramatically ease road congestion, even saving money for city authorities
- Sujit John
- TNN
Can Jantar Mantar protest give India rules on how police use facial recognition tech?
The deployment of camera-equipped vans at the site of student protests has prompted fresh questions about how this technology is being used and the absence of adequate safeguards
- Team TOI Plus
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
AI’s Complicated World Is Here. Are We Ready?
China is catching up at a faster speed than last year. US AI agents are going rogue. India must move quickly and build AI foundations that can’t be compromised by foreign govts and tech
Last five years of the human race? History offers more hope than Musk
AI could result in catastrophe and Elon Musk wants stronger safeguards. But the new technology could also become humanity’s greatest amplifier
Can Tech Save Education?
India’s experience of using technology to solve chronic problems, shows its limits. Our kids won’t get a better system minus institutional reliability and trust. Both are in short supply
Insta Upends WhatsApp. But What Does It Mean?
BJP’s looking at a digital shift following CJP’s success. But celebration of any medium must be qualified by the reality of cooperation between big tech & govts
Your AI assistant knows more about you than you think
Internet and social media giants are looking to track how you engage with their services as they seek to improve their AI models. Here’s what you need to know
How E20 affects your car and what’s next on E85 rollout
The government maintains that ethanol-blended petrol doesn’t harm vehicles. But as it doubles down on blending, worries persist among motorists who red flag its real-world impacts.
When your cab ride goes wrong, who's really listening?
While commuters allege intimidation, abuse, reckless driving and privacy breaches by cab drivers, many say app-based aggregators offer little transparency or timely human support after complaints
BBC probe exposes Instagram ads in India linked to child sexual abuse material
BBC’s alias Instagram account was allegedly served advertisements featuring sexually explicit content, including material involving children, prompting the Indian government to summon Meta, the platform’s parent company
Artificial Selection, AI Edition
Unlike the dotcom peak, when tech-fuelled returns were spilling across industries and markets, today investors are sucking money away from non-AI industries, and from nations peripheral to the AI boom
WhatsApp usernames: What changes for users in India?
Instead of giving out your mobile number to a new classmate, customer, housing-society member, freelancer, event contact or parent, you may be able to share a WhatsApp username
- Team TOI
- TNN
Move over philosopher kings. It’s the age of philosopher techies
Philosophy grad and new WhatsApp CEO Kunal Shah isn’t an exception. As AI reshapes hiring, many tech firms are turning to humanities grads
- Shruti Sonal
- TNN
Did the iPhone change how the world reproduces?
The iPhone rolled out in 2007, the year that fertility rates began falling in the US. Two studies say the smartphone-fertility connection is not a coincidence
- Rajesh SharmaDevyani Mohan
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Now, Indians are getting paid to teach robots how to cook, clean and stitch
Pronto workers are not the only ones recording jobs. Global firms are paying everyone from homemakers to factory workers to film everyday tasks so that AI can do them better
- Mohua Das
- TNN
Markets Buy Musk’s Sci-Fi
With SpaceX IPO, Wall Street has mistaken interplanetary ambition for cash flow. The business plan has been jettisoned for an extraordinary reading list. Financial gravity no longer applies