DIGIT’s Top Trending Stories

World Health Organisation Officially Recognises ‘Gaming Addiction’ as an Illness

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has voted to recognise video game addiction as an official illness despite opposition from academics and industry bodies.

The 194 members of the WHO unanimously agreed to adopt the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which includes ‘gaming disorder’ as a recognised disease at the 72nd World Health Assembly. The new classifications will come into effect on the 1st January 2022.

ICD-11 emphasised that gaming disorder is “characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

The WHO highlighted that in order for gaming disorder to be diagnosed, the behaviour pattern must be of “sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Successful Pilot Raises the Bar for STEM Education in Scotland

More than two-thirds of primary school teachers are more confident teaching STEM subjects thanks to their involvement with the Raising Aspirations in Science Education (RAiSE) programme, figures show.

An external evaluation found that 70% of primary practitioners benefited from the initiative while 87% of pupils enjoyed challenges in their STEM learning. Around 77% of pupils also had increased aspirations in regards to STEM careers following their involvement in the programme.

The evaluation, carried out by the Robert Own Centre and the University of Glasgow, found that that flexibility of the programme had increased teacher confidence in a pupil engagement in a “sustainable, collaborative and systemic way”.

Following this initial success, RAiSE will be made available to other regions on a rolling basis to improve primary teachers’ confidence and ability to deliver high-quality, engaging STEM lessons to young people.

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

More Than 14,000 UK Data Breaches Logged Since May 2018

Four times as many data breaches have been logged in the UK since the introduction of strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) last May, according to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Public complaints have also doubled, from around 21,000 to 41,000. This data suggests that the GDPR has elevated awareness regarding the importance of personal information.

However, fines in the UK have not yet been issued under GDPR. The legislation was designed to give people more authority over their personal data being collected.

Companies must now inform the regulator – the ICO in the UK- within 72 hours if they lose data or share it without permission. Businesses can also be fined up to 20 million euros (£17.6m) or 4% of their annual global turner – whichever is larger – if they break the GDPR law.

The ICO has emphasised that strict fines are on the horizon, however they want organisations “to focus on how data protection law can help firms to get it right…rather than how they might be punished if they get it wrong”.

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

In Case You Missed It…

Amazon Thwarts Facial Recognition Revolt

A proposal to ban government use of Amazon’s Rekognition system failed to attract wide support from shareholders at the company’s AGM.

The call for Amazon to stop selling its facial recognition technology to the police garnered fewer than 3% of votes cast at the firm’s get-together.

Amazon acknowledged that there are civil rights concerns around the technology but said it has not had any reports of law enforcement clients misusing its Rekognition software.

Democrat congressman Jimmy Gomez said: “My office has had nine meetings with representatives from Amazon. We ask questions of experts across the spectrum, and my concerns only grow day by day.

“Shareholders did not not end up passing a ban of Rekognition…and you know what? That just means it’s more important Congress acts.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

New York Looks to Ban Texting While Crossing Roads

A bill has been proposed to make crossing the street while texting illegal in New York.

If the bill passes into law, those caught “using a portable electronic device while crossing a roadway” between $25 and $250

John Liu, the New York state senator who introduced the bill, said: “The bill doesn’t say you can’t talk on the phone. We’re talking about handheld devices. You can wait the five seconds to get to the other side.”

Marco Conner, the interim executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said: “It’s a terribly misguided bill. Barely any data is being cited. Most traffic fatalities nationwide involve some kind of driver. It’s victim-blaming in disguise.”

About 300 pedestrian fatalities occur annually in New York state.

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Deepfake AI Brings Mona Lisa to Life

AI researchers have given the subject of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings a new lease of life.

A video of the lady in the Mona Lisa artwork was developed from a single photo, and shows her moving her head, eyes and mouth.

This deepfake technology was developed in Samsung’s AI research laboratory in Moscow. Its algorithms are based on a public database of 7,000 images of celebrities gathered from YouTube.

The AI system mapped facial features and movements on to a photo to bring it to life.

The team has also used the tech to create videos of Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein and Salvador Dali, with the researchers describing their work as “realistic neural talking heads”.

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.