SoylentNews

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/11/us-gives-local-police-a-face-scanning-app-similar-to-one-used-by-ice-agents/

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a face-scanning app for local law enforcement agencies that assist the federal government with immigration-enforcement operations. The Mobile Identify app was released on the Google Play store on October 30.

"This app facilitates functions authorized by Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)," a US law that lets Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) delegate immigration-officer duties to state and local law enforcement, according to the Mobile Identify app's description on the Google Play store.
[...]
A screenshot of the app on the Google Play listing shows it requires camera access "to take photos of subjects." More information on how it works was reported today by 404 Media. "A source with knowledge of the app told 404 Media the app doesn't return names after a face search. Instead it tells users to contact ICE and provides a reference number, or to not detain the person depending on the result," the news report said.
[...]
ICE agents themselves already use a face-scanning app called Mobile Fortify. Democratic senators urged ICE to stop using Mobile Fortify in a September letter that also criticized ICE for expanding its delegation of authority to local law enforcement.
[...]
When contacted by Ars today about Mobile Identify, the CBP responded with a statement that discusses Mobile Fortify and its use of facial recognition.

The CBP statement said that Mobile Fortify processes photos through the Traveler Verification Service (TVS), a facial comparison matching service that the CBP said does not store biometric data. The CBP said it built the Mobile Fortify app to support ICE operations and that ICE has used it around the country.
[...]
In related news this week, the Department of Homeland Security is proposing rule changes to expand the collection and use of biometric information. The proposed changes are open for public comment until January 2, 2026.
[...]
The proposed rule change would expand the agency's definition of biometrics "to include a wider range of modalities than just fingerprints, photographs and signatures." The proposed definition of biometrics is "measurable biological (anatomical, physiological or molecular structure) or behavioral characteristics of an individual." This includes face and eye scans, vocal signatures, and DNA.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/amelia-earhart-records-released-by-u-s-spy-agency/
https://archive.is/INLaa

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released long-promised records related to vanished pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. More records are promised on a rolling basis

In a weekend gift for aviation history fans, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released National Archives records on Friday related to the search for pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart.

In an attempt to become the first woman pilot to circumnavigate Earth, Earhart, along with navigator Fred Noonan, vanished in 1937 over the Pacific Ocean. The disappearance sparked a now long-standing mystery over her fate. President Donald Trump had ordered this declassification of records related to the search for Earhart in September.

The now-released records include reports, maps and communications tracing Earhart's flight as well as other documents detailing the search after her disappearance. The National Security Agency has also declassified related files and Earhart's last known communications. The wide-ranging records include a letter from a woman claiming that her mental telepathy indicated Earhart was still alive, and another from a man claiming her grave was located in Spain.

A statement from Gabbard called the release a "first step," with more records related to Earhart to be released on a rolling basis.

= Links in article:

https://www.archives.gov/research/ameliaearhart
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amelia-earhart-plane-likely-located-taraia-object-nikumaroro-researchers/
https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-happened-to-amelia-earhart
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-declassify-amelia-earhart-records/
https://www.archives.gov/files3/research/ameliaearhart/releases/2025/1114/059_A1_1611_Box332_200_113_Earhart_Amelia.pdf
https://www.archives.gov/files3/research/ameliaearhart/releases/2025/1114/059_A1_1611_Box332_200_113_Earhart_Amelia.pdf

Original Submission

janrinok writes:

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-liquid-mars.html

Ancient Mars boasted abundant water, but the cold and dry conditions of today make liquid water on the Red Planet seem far less probable. However, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) detected strong radar reflections from a 20-kilometer-wide area over the base of Mars's southern polar ice cap, hinting at the possibility of liquid water below the icy surface. Such a finding would have major implications for the planet's possible habitability.

But sustaining liquid water underneath the ice might not be feasible without very salty brines or localized volcanic heat. Scientists have deliberated about other possible "dry" explanations for the bright reflections detected by MARSIS, such as layers of carbon dioxide and water ices or salty ice and clay causing elevated radar reflectivity.

Aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) uses higher frequencies than MARSIS. Until recently, though, SHARAD's signals couldn't reach deep enough into Mars to bounce off the base layer of the ice where the potential water lies—meaning its results couldn't be compared with those from MARSIS.

However, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team recently tested a new maneuver that rolls the spacecraft on its flight axis by 120°—whereas it previously could roll only up to 28°. The new maneuver, termed a "very large roll," or VLR, can increase SHARAD's signal strength and penetration depth, allowing researchers to examine the base of the ice in the enigmatic high-reflectivity zone.

Gareth Morgan and colleagues, for their article published in Geophysical Research Letters, examined 91 SHARAD observations that crossed the high-reflectivity zone. Only when using the VLR maneuver was a SHARAD basal echo detected at the site. In contrast to the MARSIS detection, the SHARAD detection was very weak, meaning it is unlikely that liquid water is present in the high-reflectivity zone.

The researchers suggest that the faint detection returned by SHARAD under this portion of the ice cap is likely due to a localized region of smooth ground beneath the ice. They add that further research is needed to reconcile the differences between the MARSIS and SHARAD findings.

More information: Gareth A. Morgan et al, High Frequency Radar Perspective of Putative Subglacial Liquid Water on Mars, Geophysical Research Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1029/2025gl118537

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/11/ancient-egyptians-likely-used-opiates-regularly/

Scientists have found traces of ancient opiates in the residue lining an Egyptian alabaster vase, indicating that opiate use was woven into the fabric of the culture. And the Egyptians didn't just indulge occasionally: according to a paper published in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology, opiate use may have been a fixture of daily life.

In recent years, archaeologists have been applying the tools of pharmacology to excavated artifacts in collections around the world. As previously reported, there is ample evidence that humans in many cultures throughout history used various hallucinogenic substances in religious ceremonies or shamanic rituals. That includes not just ancient Egypt but also ancient Greek, Vedic, Maya, Inca, and Aztec cultures. The Urarina people who live in the Peruvian Amazon Basin still use a psychoactive brew called ayahuasca in their rituals, and Westerners seeking their own brand of enlightenment have also been known to participate.

For instance, in 2023, David Tanasi, of the University of South Florida, posted a preprint on his preliminary analysis of a ceremonial mug decorated with the head of Bes, a popular deity believed to confer protection on households, especially mothers and children. After collecting sample residues from the vessel, Tanasi applied various techniques—including proteomic and genetic analyses and synchrotron radiation-based Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy—to characterize the residues.

Tanasi found traces of Syrian rue, whose seeds are known to have hallucinogenic properties that can induce dream-like visions, per the authors, thanks to its production of the alkaloids harmine and harmaline. There were also traces of blue water lily, which contains a psychoactive alkaloid that acts as a sedative, as well as a fermented alcoholic concoction containing yeasts, wheat, sesame seeds, fruit (possibly grapes), honey, and, um, "human fluids": possibly breast milk, oral or vaginal mucus, and blood. A follow-up 2024 study confirmed those results and also found traces of pine nuts or Mediterranean pine oil; licorice; tartaric acid salts that were likely part of the aforementioned alcoholic concoction; and traces of spider flowers known to have medicinal properties.

Now we can add opiates to the list of pharmacological substances used by the ancient Egyptians. The authors of this latest paper focused on one alabaster vase in particular, housed in the Yale Peabody Museum's Babylonian Collection. The vase is intact—a rare find—and is inscribed in four ancient languages and mentions Xerxes I, who reigned over the Achaemenid Empire from 486 to 465 BCE. The authors were particularly intrigued by the presence of a dark-brown residue inside the vase.

janrinok writes:

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-mercury-pollution-marine-mammals.html

In 2017, a new global treaty was meant to bring mercury pollution under control. But three decades of data from UK harbor porpoises show mercury is still increasing, and is linked to a higher risk of dying from infectious disease.

When the Minamata convention came into force eight years ago, it was hailed as a turning point. The global treaty on mercury commits countries to reducing mercury from coal-fired power plants, industry and products, like batteries and dental fillings.

Yet mercury levels are still rising in many parts of the ocean. Human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels have already tripled mercury in shallower ocean waters (less than 1,000m in depth) since the industrial revolution. Warmer seas and shifting food webs are exacerbating the problem by increasing the rate of accumulation in the marine food chain.

In our new study published in Environmental Science & Technology, my colleagues and I analyzed liver samples from 738 harbor porpoises that stranded along UK coastlines between 1990 and 2021. We found mercury levels increased over time and animals with higher levels are more likely to die from infectious disease.

Harbor porpoises are sentinels of ocean health because they are long-lived (often for more than 20 years) and high up the food chain. This makes them more vulnerable to certain pollutants. The contaminants that build up in them are a warning for the marine ecosystem—and for us.

We measured trace elements as part of the UK's strandings programs in England, Wales and Scotland—the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) and the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS). Stranded animals die from a range of causes, including bycatch in fishing gear and disease. When found washed up, a subset are sent to our London laboratory for post-mortem examination to help us better understand the population and the threats they face.

We sampled each animal to measure eight trace elements, including mercury, in their liver, which plays a critical role in the metabolism, detoxification and accumulation and tends to be where concentrations are highest. We analyzed how concentrations changed over time, how they varied geographically around the UK, and whether levels were related to cause of death.

Over the last 30 years, mercury concentrations in porpoise livers rose by about 1% per year. By 2021, the average mercury concentration was almost double that of the early 1990s. A worrying minority (about one in ten animals in the last decade) had mercury levels where serious health effects are expected.

In contrast, lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel declined, reflecting past bans and tighter controls on these pollutants (such as the ban on lead petrol).

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/15/icelandic-is-in-danger-of-dying-out-because-of-ai-and-english-language-media-says-former-pm

Iceland's former prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, has said that the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance.

Katrín, who stood down as prime minister last year to run for president after seven years in office, said Iceland was undergoing "radical" change when it came to language use. More people are reading and speaking English, and fewer are reading in Icelandic, a trend she says is being exacerbated by the way language models are trained.

She made the comments before her appearance at the Iceland Noir crime fiction festival in Reykjavík after the surprise release of her second novel of the genre, which she co-wrote with Ragnar Jónasson.

"A lot of languages disappear, and with them dies a lot of value[and] a lot of human thought," she said. Icelandic has only about 350,000 speakers and is among the world's least-altered languages.

"Having this language that is spoken by so very few, I feel that we carry a huge responsibility to actually preserve that. I do not personally think we are doing enough to do that," she said, not least because young people in Iceland "are absolutely surrounded by material in English, on social media and other media".

Katrín has said that Iceland has been "quite proactive" in pushing for AI to be usable in Icelandic. Earlier this month, Anthropic announced a partnership with Iceland's ministry of education, one of the world's first national AI education pilots. The partnership is a nationwide pilot across Iceland – giving hundreds of teachers across Iceland access to AI tools.

During her time in government, Katrín said they could see the "threats and dangers of AI" and the importance of ensuring that Icelandic texts and books were used to train it.

Ragnar Jónasson, her co-author, agreed that the language was in grave danger. "We are just a generation away from losing this language because all of these huge changes," he said.

"They are reading more in English, they are getting their information from the internet, from their phones, and kids in Iceland are even conversing in English sometimes between themselves."

janrinok writes:

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-large-scale-vr-classroom-boundaries.html

The use of virtual reality (VR) is expanding across industries, but its large-scale application in educational settings has remained largely unexplored. As the technical capabilities and affordability of VR tools continue to improve, Waterloo researcher Dr. Ville Mäkelä is turning his classroom into a living lab to better understand how VR can enrich the student experience.

Mäkelä and colleagues Dr. Daniel Harley and Dr. Cayley MacArthur piloted the first class in Canada to offer large-scale, VR-centered 3D design at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business. Throughout the term, students used VR headsets and the design software Gravity Sketch, already used by companies including New Balance for product design, to create characters and objects in an immersive environment.

From its initial offering in 2024, Mäkelä has taught 200 students over four sections and co-authored a research paper about integrating VR into the classroom. The study is published in the Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

"Our prediction is that VR will be increasingly relevant to many careers," he says, "so future graduates need to know how to navigate VR technology and understand its opportunities and limitations."

The work positions Waterloo as a leader in expanding our understanding of how technology adoption impacts classroom learning. "There aren't many examples out there of mass adoption of VR in university classes," Mäkelä says. "A lot had to happen before something like this was possible."

Between budgeting for equipment, deciding on headset models, developing protocols for equipment use and finding a space large enough to accommodate multi-user VR interaction, there was a lot to prepare on top of regular course planning.

After the first class launched, cyber sickness, a kind of motion sickness triggered by exposure to a virtual environment, presented a challenge. "It became very clear during these courses that the symptoms and how they develop can vary quite significantly," Mäkelä says, adding that moderating use of the headsets and offering non-VR alternatives for assignments became key strategies to support students. "It's interesting that despite all these issues, students were very positive about the VR experience and using the technology."

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.osnews.com/story/143868/microsoft-warns-its-new-ai-agents-in-windows-can-install-malware/

Microsoft has just announced a whole slew of new "AI" features for Windows, and this time, they'll be living in your taskbar.

Microsoft is trying to transform Windows into a "canvas for AI," with new AI agents integrated into the Windows 11 taskbar. These new taskbar capabilities are designed to make AI agents feel like an assistant in Windows that can go off and control your PC and do tasks for you at the click of a button. It's part of a broader overhaul of Windows to turn the operating system into an "agentic OS."
[...]

Microsoft is integrating a variety of AI agents directly into the Windows 11 taskbar, including its own Microsoft 365 Copilot and third-party options. "This integration isn't just about adding agents; it's about making them part of the OS experience," says Windows chief Pavan Davuluri.
↫ Tom Warren at The Verge

These "AI" agents will control your computer, applications, and files for you, which may make some of you a little apprehensive, and for good reason. "AI" tools don't have a great track record when it comes to privacy – Windows Recall comes to mind – and as such, Microsoft claims this time, it'll be different. These new "AI" agents will run in what are essentially dedicated Windows accounts acting as sandboxes, to ensure they can only access certain resources.

While I find the addition of these "AI" tools to Windows insufferable and dumb, I'm at least glad Microsoft is taking privacy and security seriously this time, and I doubt Microsoft would repeat the same mistakes they made with the entirely botched rollout of Windows Recall. in addition, after the Cloudstrike fiasco, Microsoft made clear commitments to improve its security practices, which further adds to the confidence we should all have these new "AI" tools are safe, secure, and private.

mcgrew writes:

One of my SF nightmares from Journey to Madness has already come true. I found out about this last night (11/12) on the Colbert show's "Cyborgasm" segment after a demo of a walking android not quite walking. It's an AI generated country singer named "Breaking Rust" singing a song it wrote, produced, and recorded named "Walk My Walk" and has hit number one on the country charts.

It's covered in ABC News, USA Today, and quite a few outlets including, of course, the entertainment rags.

I thought the robot song was even more lame, uninspired, and formulaic than most pop music, but I'm not a country or pop fan. Aparently it created some controversy.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://hackaday.com/2025/11/12/join-the-the-newest-social-network-and-party-like-its-1987/

Algorithms? Datamining? Brainrot? You don't need those things to have a social network. As we knew back in the BBS days, long before anyone coined the phrase "social network", all you need is a place for people to make text posts. [euklides] is providing just such a place, at cyberspace.online.

It's a great mix of old and new — the IRC inspired chatrooms, e-mail inspired DMs ("cybermail") make it feel like the good old days, while a sprinkling of more modern concepts such as friends lists, a real-time feed, and even the late-lamented "poke" feature (from before Facebook took over the world) provide some welcome conveniences.

The pursuit of retro goes further through the themed web interface, as well. Sure, there's light mode and dark mode, but that's de rigueur. Threads might not offer a blue-and-white Commodore 64 theme, and you'd have little luck getting Bluesky to mimic the soothing amber glow of a VT-230, but Cyberspace offers that and more.

It's also niche enough that there's nobody here but us chickens. That is, it looks like a site for geeks, nerds, tech enthusiasts — whatever you want to call us — it might just be via "security by obscurity", but Cyberspace doesn't seem likely to attract quite the same Eternal September the rest of the internet is drowning under.

In the Reddit thread where the project was announced, there's talk of a CLI tool under development. In Rust, because that's just what all the cool kids are using these days it seems. A text-based interface, be it under DOS or something POSIX-compliant, seems like it would be the perfect fit for this delightful throwback site.

If nobody will join your homebuilt BBS, this might be the next best thing. For those of you who wonder where the hack is: this is a one-man show. If making your own social network in a cave with a box of scraps doesn't count as a hack, what does?

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://itsfoss.com/news/kaspersky-for-linux/

Is Kaspersky for Linux the security solution we've been waiting for? Or is it just security theater for paranoid penguins?

The Linux ecosystem is facing increasing pressure from threat actors, who are getting more clever day-by-day, threatening critical infrastructure worldwide. Servers powering essential services, industrial control systems, and enterprise networks all rely on Linux, and these attackers know it.

What was once considered a relatively safe ecosystem is now a lucrative target. 🥲

This brings us to Kaspersky, the Russian cybersecurity firm with a reputation. The company was banned from selling its antivirus software and cybersecurity products in the U.S. back in July 2024.

But for users outside the U.S., Kaspersky just announced something interesting. They are bringing antivirus protection to home Linux users. Though, it remains to be seen, whether this addresses genuine security needs or if it's just security theater for worried penguins.

Kaspersky for Linux: What Does it Offer?

Kaspersky has expanded its consumer security lineup to include Linux. This marks the first time their home user products officially support the platform. The company adapted their existing business security solution for home users. Support covers major 64-bit distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and RED OS.

Depending on the plan you opt for, the feature set includes real-time monitoring of files, folders, and applications to detect and eliminate malware. Behavioral analysis detects malware on the device for proactive defense.

Removable media like USB drives and external hard drives get scanned automatically upon connection. This prevents the spread of viruses across devices and networks.

Anti-phishing alerts users when attempting to follow phishing links in emails and on websites. Online payment protection verifies the security of bank websites and online stores before financial transactions.

Anti-cryptojacking prevents unauthorized crypto mining on devices to protect system performance, and AI-powered scanning blocks infected files, folders, and applications upon detecting viruses, ransomware trojans, password stealers, and other malware.

Though, there is one important thing to consider: Kaspersky for Linux isn't GDPR-ready, so keep this in mind if you are an EU-based user concerned about data protection compliance.

Get Kaspersky for Linux

An active paid subscription is required to download and use Kaspersky for Linux. A 30-day free trial is available for users who want to test before committing to a paid plan. Both DEB and RPM packages are provided for easy installation.

The official installation guide contains detailed setup instructions.

Via: Phoronix

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/18/google_chrome_seventh_0_day/

Seventh Chrome 0-day this year

Google pushed an emergency patch on Monday for a high-severity Chrome bug that attackers have already found and exploited in the wild.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-13223, is a type confusion flaw in the V8 JavaScript engine, and it's the seventh Chrome zero-day this year. All have since been patched. But if you use Chrome as your web browser, make sure you are running the most recent version - or risk full system compromise.

This type of vulnerability happens when the engine misinterprets a block of memory as one type of object and treats it as something it's not. This can lead to system crashes and arbitrary code execution, and if it's chained with other bugs can potentially lead to a full system compromise via a crafted HTML page.

"Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2025-13223 exists in the wild," the Monday security alert warned.

Also on Monday, Google issued a second emergency patch for another high-severity type confusion bug in Chrome's V8 engine. This one is tracked as CVE-2025-13224. As of now, there's no reports of exploitation - so that's another reason to update sooner than later.

Google's LLM-based bug hunting tool Big Sleep found CVE-2025-13224 in October, and a human - the Chocolate Factory's own Clément Lecigne - discovered CVE-2025-13223 on November 12.

Lecigne is a spyware hunter with Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) credited with finding and disclosing several of these types of Chrome zero-days. While we don't have any details about who is exploiting CVE-2025-13223 and what they are doing with the access, TAG tracks spyware and nation-state attackers abusing zero days for espionage expeditions.

TAG also spotted the sixth Chrome bug exploited as a zero-day and patched in September. That flaw, CVE-2025-10585, was also a type confusion flaw in the V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine.

Original Submission

A Chinese company cut open their invention on stage to prove that it was not a human in a robot suit after comments that it looked too real. Unless it was a human with a missing leg, the robot was indeed proven to be a mechanical invention.

Technology company, Xpeng, unveiled its second-generation humanoid robot, IRON, at its AI Day in Guangzhou, China last week, rivalling Tesla's Optimus robots.
Powered by a solid-state battery and three custom AI chips, IRON features a "humanoid spine, bionic muscles, and fully covered flexible skin, and supports customisation for different body shapes."

The robot has the power to make 2,250 trillion operations per second (TOPS) and features 82 degrees of freedom, including 22 in each hand.

"Its movements are natural, smooth, and flexible, capable of achieving, catwalk walking and other high-difficulty human-like actions," Xpeng said

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Software Engineer Nikita Prokopov delves into how programs have changed over recent years from doing our bidding to working against us, controlling us. This adverse change has been ushered in through requiring accounts, update processes, notifications, and on-boarding procedures.

This got so bad that when a program doesn't ask you to create an account, it feels refreshing.

"Okay, but accounts are still needed to sync stuff between machines."

Wrong. Syncthing is a secure, multi-machine distributed app and yet doesn't need an account.

"Okay, but you still need an account if you pay for a subscription?"

Mullvad VPN accepts payments and yet didn't ask me for my email.

These new, malevolent programs fight for attention rather than getting the job done while otherwise staying out of the way. Not only do they prioritize "engagement" over its opposite, "usability", they also tend to push (hostile) agendas along the way.

Previously:
(2025) What Happened to Running What You Wanted on Your Own Machine?
(2025) Passkeys Are Incompatible With Open-Source Software
(2024) Achieving Software Freedom in the Age of Platform Decay
(2024) Bruce Perens Solicits Comments on First Draft of a Post-Open License

Original Submission

hubie writes:

Developers tend to scrutinize AI-generated code less critically and they learn less from it:

When two software developers collaborate on a programming project—known in technical circles as 'pair programming'—it tends to yield a significant improvement in the quality of the resulting software. 'Developers can often inspire one another and help avoid problematic solutions. They can also share their expertise, thus ensuring that more people in their organization are familiar with the codebase,' explains Sven Apel, professor of computer science at Saarland University. Together with his team, Apel has examined whether this collaborative approach works equally well when one of the partners is an AI assistant. [...]

For the study, the researchers used GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered coding assistant introduced by Microsoft in 2021, which, like similar products from other companies, has now been widely adopted by software developers. These tools have significantly changed how software is written. 'It enables faster development and the generation of large volumes of code in a short time. But this also makes it easier for mistakes to creep in unnoticed, with consequences that may only surface later on,' says Sven Apel. The team wanted to understand which aspects of human collaboration enhance programming and whether these can be replicated in human-AI pairings. Participants were tasked with developing algorithms and integrating them into a shared project environment.

'Knowledge transfer is a key part of pair programming,' Apel explains. 'Developers will continuously discuss current problems and work together to find solutions. This does not involve simply asking and answering questions, it also means that the developers share effective programming strategies and volunteer their own insights.' According to the study, such exchanges also occurred in the AI-assisted teams—but the interactions were less intense and covered a narrower range of topics. 'In many cases, the focus was solely on the code,' says Apel. 'By contrast, human programmers working together were more likely to digress and engage in broader discussions and were less focused on the immediate task.

One finding particularly surprised the research team: 'The programmers who were working with an AI assistant were more likely to accept AI-generated suggestions without critical evaluation. They assumed the code would work as intended,' says Apel. 'The human pairs, in contrast, were much more likely to ask critical questions and were more inclined to carefully examine each other's contributions,' explains Apel. He believes this tendency to trust AI more readily than human colleagues may extend to other domains as well. 'I think it has to do with a certain degree of complacency—a tendency to assume the AI's output is probably good enough, even though we know AI assistants can also make mistakes.' Apel warns that this uncritical reliance on AI could lead to the accumulation of 'technical debt', which can be thought of as the hidden costs of the future work needed to correct these mistakes, thereby complicating the future development of the software.

Original Submission