RIO DE JANEIRO -- Artificial intelligence could replace 80 percent of human jobs in the coming years -- but that's a good thing, says US-Brazilian researcher Ben Goertzel, a leading AI guru. Mathematician, cognitive scientist and famed robot-creator Goertzel, 56, is founder and chief executive of SingularityNET, a research group he launched to create "Artificial General Intelligence," or AGI -- artificial intelligence with human cognitive abilities. With his long hair and leopard-

LONDON (AFP) -- More than 14 million people tuned in to watch King Charles III's coronation on BBC television, the corporation said on Sunday. At its peak, 13.4 million watched on the main BBC One channel, with an average of 11.9 million watching Saturday's coverage of the ceremony. A signed version on BBC Two peaked at 1.7 million, averaging at 1.4 million, a statement from the public broadcaster read. Saturday's coronation -- the first to be held in Britain in 70 years -- was on

Charles III will be crowned king on Saturday in a solemn Christian ceremony steeped in 1,000 years of history and tradition, but adapted to reflect 21st-century Britain. St Edward's Crown -- a solid gold, sacred symbol of the monarch's authority used only once in their reign -- will be placed on Charles's head to cries of "God Save the King." Trumpet fanfares will sound through London's Westminster Abbey and ceremonial gun salutes will blast out across land and sea

Aftershocks shook Japan a day after a powerful earthquake left at least one person dead, with officials assessing damage Saturday from the jolt that destroyed several buildings. The 6.5 magnitude quake hit the central Ishikawa region mid-afternoon on Friday at a depth of 12 kilometers, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Around 55 aftershocks, some of them strong, had occurred by Saturday morning, the agency said, as it warned that heavy rain could trigger landslides in the area. At le

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Meta on Wednesday warned that hackers are using the promise of generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT to trick people into installing malicious code on devices. Over the course of the past month, security analysts with the social-media giant have found malicious software posing as ChatGPT or similar AI tools, chief information security officer Guy Rosen said in a briefing. "The latest wave of malware campaigns have taken notice of generative AI technology t

WASHINGTON (AFP) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived at the White House in Washington for a state visit Wednesday, at which Yoon and his US counterpart Joe Biden will announce a beefed-up US nuclear shield for Washington's vital ally in the face of an aggressive North Korea. A military honor guard and hundreds of guests massed outside the White House where Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, arrived for a day of pomp and ceremony -- and far-reaching geostrategic discussions. S

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a "long and meaningful" phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday -- the first between the two leaders since the start of Russia's invasion. "I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping," Zelenskyy said on Twitter. "I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of

The energy required to make chips for electronics, used in everything from smartphones to AI hardware and cars, will skyrocket this decade, Greenpeace said on Thursday. This requires major firms to commit to seriously cutting emissions, the activist environmental NGO said. The global semiconductor manufacturing industry is projected to emit 86 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030 -- more than double Portugal's total emissions in 2021 -- Greenpeace said in a new report. The

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated from a port in Wakayama on Saturday after a blast was heard, but he was unharmed in the incident, local media reported. Footage on Japanese television showed a disturbance in a crowd gathered where Kishida was due to speak, and then the sound of a blast and white smoke. A person was detained at the site in western Japan, national broadcaster NHK and others said. There was no immediate official confirmation of the incident, with l

PODGORICA -- Prosecutors in Montenegro on Friday charged fugitive cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon with forgery and South Korean officials vowed to press for his extradition. The Terraform founder is accused of fraud over his company’s dramatic collapse last year, which wiped out about $40 billion of investors’ money and shook global crypto markets. Kwon, whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung, was arrested with a companion on Thursday at the airport in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica

DUBAI--Twitter boss Elon Musk said Wednesday that a new CEO might be running the online platform by the end of 2023, after a "rollercoaster" since he took full ownership last year. "I'm guessing probably towards the end of this year should be good timing to find someone else to run the company," he told the World Government Summit conference in Dubai via video. "I need to stabilise the organisation and make sure it's in a healthy place and that the product roadmap is cle

ANTAKYA, Turkey -- Freezing temperatures deepened the misery Thursday for survivors of a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed at least 15,000 people, as rescuers raced to save countless people still trapped under rubble. The death toll from Monday's 7.8 magnitude quake is expected to rise sharply as rescue efforts near the 72-hour mark that disaster experts consider the most likely period to save lives. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday conceded "shortco

MONTEREY PARK, California -- Detectives probing why an elderly Asian immigrant shot dead 11 people as they celebrated Lunar New Year at a dance hall in California are examining whether jealousy or a personal dispute was behind the tragedy, a report said Monday. Huu Can Tran, 72, used a semiautomatic pistol in a rampage in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing men and women in their 50s, 60s and 70s. One person was shot in the parking lot. He then drove to another dan

　 London (AFP) - Prince Harry‘s denial that he accused his family of racism was interpreted in the UK press Monday as a bizarre peace offering, but commentators argued the damage had already been done as his unflinching memoir comes out. The midnight release of “Spare” is being accompanied by four television interviews in Britain and the United States, where Harry now lives with wife Meghan. In the first to air, with Britain’s ITV, the Duke of Sussex caused bafflement b

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries. "With sorrow, I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement. The German pope emeritus, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, had been living a quiet life in a former convent