NORTHFIELD, Illinois: The students — most with gray hair, some with canes, all at least in their 60s — couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“Oh, my God,” whispered a retired college professor.
“Does it come with viruses?” wondered a bewildered woman scribbling notes in the second row.
A 79-year-old in a black-and-white floral shirt then asked the question on many minds: “How do you know if it is fake or not?”
This is how older adults — many of whom lived through the advent of refrigeration, the transition from radio to television and the invention of the Internet — are grappling with artificial intelligence: taking a class. Sitting in a classroom in an airy senior center in a Chicago suburb, the dozen students were learning about the latest — and possibly greatest — technological leap in their lives.
And they are not alone. Across the country, scores of such classes have sprung up to teach seniors about AI’s ability to transform their lives and the threats the technology poses.
“I saw ice boxes turn into refrigerators, that is how long I have been around,” said Barbara Winston, 89, who paid to attend the class put on at the North Shore Senior Center in Northfield. “And I think this is probably the greatest technical revolution that I will see in my lifetime.”
Older adults find themselves in a unique moment with technology. Artificial intelligence offers significant benefits for seniors, from the ability to curb loneliness to making it easier for them to get to medical appointments.
But it also has drawbacks that are uniquely threatening to this older group of Americans: A series of studies have found that senior citizens are more susceptible to both scams perpetrated using artificial intelligence and believing the types of misinformation that are being supercharged by the technology. Experts are particularly concerned about the role deepfakes and other AI-produced misinformation could play in politics.
Winston left the class to start her own AI journey, even if others remained skeptical. When she got home, the retired professor downloaded books on the technology, researched the platforms she wanted to use from her kitchen table and eventually queried ChatGPT about how to treat a personal medical ailment.
“This is the beginning of my education,” she said, her floral cup of coffee nearby. “I’m not worried about protecting myself. I’m too old to worry about that.”
Classes like these aim to familiarize aging early adopters with the myriad ways the technology could better their lives but also encourage skepticism about how artificial intelligence can distort the truth.
Balanced skepticism, say experts on the technology, is critical for seniors who plan to interact with AI.
“It’s tricky,” said Michael Gershbein, the instructor of the class in Northfield. “Overall, the suspicion that is there on the part of seniors is good but I don’t want them to become paralyzed from their fears and not be willing to do anything online.”
The questions in his class outside Chicago ranged from the absurd to the practical to the academic. Why are so many new shoes no longer including shoelaces? Can AI create a multiday itinerary for a visit to Charleston, South Carolina? What are the geopolitical implications of artificial intelligence?
Gershbein, who teaches classes on a range of technological topics, said interest in AI has ballooned in the last nine months. The 52-year-old teaches an AI course once or twice a week, he said, and aims to create a “safe space where (seniors) can come in and we can discuss all the issues they may be hearing bits and pieces of but we can put it all together and they can ask questions.”
During a 90-minute-long session on a June Thursday, Gershbein discussed deepfakes — videos that use generative AI to make it appear someone said something they did not. When he played a few deepfakes, the seniors sat agog. They could not believe how real the fakes seemed. There are widespread concerns that such videos could be used to trick voters, especially seniors.
The threats to seniors go beyond politics, however, and range from basic misinformation on social media sites to scams that use voice-cloning technology to trick them. An AARP report published last year said that Americans over 60 lose $28.3 billion annually to financial extortion schemes, some assisted by AI.
Experts from the National Council on Aging, an organization established in 1950 to advocate for seniors, said classes on AI at senior centers have increased in recent years and are at the forefront of digital literacy efforts.
“There’s a myth out there that older adults don’t use technology. We know that that’s not true,” said Dianne Stone, associate director at the National Council on Aging who ran a senior center in Connecticut for over two decades. Such courses, she said, are meant to foster a “healthy skepticism” in what the technology can do, arming older Americans with the knowledge “that not everything you hear is true, it’s good to get the information, but you have to kind of sort it out for yourself.”
Striking that balance, said Siwei Lyu, a University at Buffalo professor, can be difficult, and classes tend to either promote AI’s benefits or focus on its dangers.
“We need this kind of education for seniors, but the approach we take has to be very balanced and well-designed,” said Lyu, who has lectured to seniors and other groups.
Seniors who have taken such AI classes said they came away with a clear understanding of AI’s benefits and pitfalls.
“It’s only as good as the people who program it, and the users need to understand that. You really have to question it,” said Linda Chipko, a 70-year-old who attended an AI class in June in suburban Atlanta.
Chipko said she took the class because she wanted to “understand” AI, but on her way out said, “It’s not for me.”
Others have even embraced it. Ruth Schneiderman, 77, used AI to help illustrate a children’s book she was writing, and that experience sparked her interest in taking the Northfield class to learn more about the technology.
“My mother lived until she was 90,” Schneiderman said, “and I learned from her if you want to survive in this world, you have to adjust to the change. Otherwise you are left behind.”
Older Americans prepare themselves for a world altered by artificial intelligence
https://arab.news/zc89b
Older Americans prepare themselves for a world altered by artificial intelligence
- Artificial intelligence offers significant benefits for seniors, from the ability to curb loneliness to making it easier for them to get to medical appointments
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuit weeks after $50m ruling
- The suit, filed at the city’s superior court, claims one of the cups in her order was not properly secured
- The negligence suit seeks unspecified general and special damages
LOS ANGELES: Starbucks was facing another lawsuit over a spilled hot drink Wednesday, just weeks after a court ordered the coffee giant to pay $50 million to a man who was injured by a cup of tea.
A lawsuit lodged in California claims Sabrina Michelle Hermes was seriously hurt when hot liquid tipped into her lap at a drive-through in Norwalk, near Los Angeles, two years ago.
The suit, filed at the city’s superior court, claims one of the cups in her order was not properly secured when it was handed to her, and the drink sloshed out onto her legs, a hip, a knee and her feet, causing severe injuries.
Starbucks “owed a duty to exercise reasonable care with respect to the preparation, handling and service of hot beverages so as to prevent them from spilling onto and injuring customers such as plaintiff,” the suit says.
The negligence suit seeks unspecified general and special damages, including reimbursement for past and future medical costs and lost earnings.
A spokesperson for Starbucks told AFP on Wednesday the company would be contesting the claim.
“We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks,” the spokesperson said.
“We are aware of Ms. Hermes’ claims and firmly believe they are without merit. We look forward to presenting our case in court.”
Last month a jury in Los Angeles ordered the firm to pay $50 million to delivery driver Michael Garcia, who suffered burns when a super-sized drink spilled in his lap at a drive-through.
Garcia’s lawyers claimed the server who handed him three large drinks in February 2020 did not push one of them into the cardboard cupholder properly.
Starbucks said at the time of the ruling that it would appeal the award, which it said was “excessive.”
A landmark legal ruling against McDonalds in New Mexico in 1994 established something of a precedent for Americans suing fast food companies when 79-year-old Stella Liebeck was awarded over $2.8 million after spilling hot coffee on herself.
Although the award was reduced on appeal, the case was often cited as an example of the need to reform US tort laws.
Slovakia allows culling 350 bears, riles conservationists
- Fico’s government has also declared a state of emergency in most Slovak districts over “undesirable” bear presence
- The Slovak parliament already eased the rules for bear culling in May 2024
BRATISLAVA: The Slovak government on Wednesday approved the shooting of 350 bears citing danger posed to people, a move conservationists slammed as unlawful.
The decision follows several bear attacks on people, including the discovery of the remains of a man in central Slovakia probably killed by a bear on Sunday.
“We can’t live in a country where people are afraid to go to the woods,” Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters.
Fico’s government has also declared a state of emergency in most Slovak districts over “undesirable” bear presence.
The Slovak parliament already eased the rules for bear culling in May 2024, allowing exemptions from a ban in several districts.
But the country must follow an EU directive that allows culling only of problem bears damaging property or attacking people, and only if there is no other solution.
A total of 93 bears were shot in the EU member country of 5.4 million people in 2024, while 36 died in car accidents, the daily Dennik N said earlier.
But journalists from the Jan Kuciak Investigative Center said hunters probably never killed bears that had attacked people, based on a study of 50 cases from 2024.
Environment Minister Tomas Taraba said on Wednesday there were more than 1,300 bears in Slovakia, and that 800 was a “sufficient number,” as the population keeps growing.
But conservationists criticized the government, saying Wednesday’s decision was in violation of international obligations and that the environment ministry knowingly breached the law.
They called on the ministry to instead teach people how to stay safe in nature.
“Instead of ineffective solutions, we need to strengthen prevention — education, provision of garbage removal, regulation of baiting of game or informing the public about safe movement in nature,” the Aevis Foundation said on Facebook.
Oil, sand and speed: Saudi gearheads take on towering dunes
- Drivers modified their cars to improve performance months in advance
- For many dune bashing and desert drifting is a passion that began in adolescence
Az Zulfi — SAU
Az Zulfi, Saudi Arabia, April 2, 2025 : Wearing a helmet and strapped securely into his four-wheel-drive, Abdelilah Al-Rabea tore off across the Saudi desert, kicking up clouds of sand as a crowd of hundreds cheered him on.
Every year through the end of April, droves of people flock to Zulfi, more than 200 kilometers northwest of Riyadh, where adrenaline-seeking motorists drive superpowered cars across steep dunes.
Dune bashing, or tatees in Arabic, is an adventure sport that involves driving off-road across challenging desert landscapes, and has long been a popular pastime in the oil-rich kingdom.
“This is a popular sport in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf because we have these dunes,” Rabea said.
It requires “considerable effort,” he added, but the payoff is “a real rush of adrenaline.”
Abdallah Al-Amar, who came to watch the show with his son, said spectators were willing to “travel great distances” for the meets, flocking from all over the country to watch the drivers perform their stunts.
Saudi Arabia, as the world’s biggest oil exporter, enjoys bargain-basement gasoline prices, with a liter costing just 2.33 riyals ($0.62).
The cheap fuel, combined with prolonged periods of extreme heat, means cars reign supreme in the kingdom — further fueling a passion for motorsports.
Waiting all year
In Zulfi, hundreds of cars and pick-up trucks dotted the sands as far as the eye can see, while nearby a motorist raced up a 100-meter-tall dune.
“The cars you see here are specially equipped” for the challenge, Rabea told AFP.
Crowds made up almost exclusively of men looked on, drinking coffee and tea on carpets strewn on the sand.
Engines roared, crowds cheered and plumes of dust rose with every turn of the wheels.
“We wait for this moment all year. We optimize the engine, the car, every single detail,” Rabea said.
At the foot of the dune, modified cars and trucks with oversized tires and powerful engines were lined up, waiting to take on the dunes.
Their drivers were making final adjustments to the vehicles, preparing to defy gravity racing uphill at dizzying speed.
'Always loved the dunes'
For many, dune bashing and desert drifting is a passion that began in adolescence.
Badr Al-Ghamas, a 33-year-old man from Al-Qassim, began practicing the sport when he was only 15 years old.
“For some, sports means to play football or swimming. For us, it’s going dune bashing,” he said with a smile.
One experienced drifter, Ahmed Al-Rumi told AFP that drivers modified their cars to improve performance months in advance.
But the extreme sport is not without risk.
“A while ago, there was an accident because the car was not fully safe,” Rumi said, adding that no one was hurt.
Many of the drivers, however, brushed off the risk of accidents, citing safety precautions they take.
In his 2014 book “Joyriding in Riyadh: Oil, Urbanism, and Road Revolt,” researcher Pascal Menoret said this passion for speed and high-risk maneuvers was rooted in a desire to project an image of power and masculinity.
At sunset the drivers headed home, leaving behind splotches of oil on the sand and track marks scarring the dunes.
But Amar said the gas-guzzling sport was not necessarily in conflict with nature.
“I grew up on a farm and I’ve always loved the dunes,” he said.
“Now, I bring along my son who shares the same passion.”
Film ‘Warfare’ immerses viewers in real-time Iraq War mission
- “Warfare” sees the young men taking up positions in a residential building in the dark of night
LONDON: New A24 movie “Warfare” places audiences among a platoon of US Navy SEALs as they battle insurgents during the Iraq War.
Written and directed by combat veteran Ray Mendoza and filmmaker Alex Garland, the movie is a real-time re-enactment of a 2006 surveillance operation gone awry and based entirely on the memories of Mendoza and the soldiers who took part in it.
“Warfare” follows Garland’s 2024 film “Civil War,” which Mendoza worked on as a military supervisor, and features an ensemble cast of top talent including Cosmo Jarvis, Will Poulter, Charles Melton, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.
It pays tribute to wounded sniper Elliott Miller, played by Jarvis, whose recollections of the events are sparse.
“I wanted to make it for Elliott,” Mendoza said at the film’s London premiere on Tuesday. “He doesn’t recall what happened. Over the years he’s asked a lot of questions. I’ve been in this industry for 15 years now, and it’s kind of a goal, a journey, for me to acquire all the tools and skills I needed along the way to make it.”
The filmmakers set a rule to “not invent or heighten anything” and recount the events as accurately as possible.
“What films usually do is they find a way to dramatize, and that sometimes means romanticize combat and conflict and to be inaccurate. We tried to strip all of that out and present war in this instance, as it was. That was our sole intention,” Garland said.
“Warfare” sees the young men taking up positions in a residential building in the dark of night. It depicts their close bond and the chaos that ensues when they come under fire and try to evacuate wounded soldiers.
For the cast, portraying real people and recreating the events in Ramadi, came with responsibility.
“We had to try and do the story, what happened, justice and try to do these characters justice,” said Connor, who plays gunner Tommy.
“Warfare” was shot outside London over five weeks in early 2024. In preparation for its extended takes and carefully choreographed scenes, the cast took part in an intensive three-week boot camp.
“That included weapons handling, strategy, tactics, some of the language that is unique to SEALs and the military. We learned radio communications, first aid, some navigational stuff, and then went out on a few exercises as a team and put it into practice,” said Poulter, who plays an officer in charge of the operation.
Although immersing audiences in warfare, the movie is rooted in humanity, said Michael Gandolfini, who plays Lt. Macdonald.
“It’s about human beings and it’s about consequences of human beings doing these things to other humans. You walk out, I believe, feeling immense pain but immense humanity.”
“Warfare” begins its global theatrical rollout on April 10.
A fire at a New York cat sanctuary kills its founder and dozens of cats
- The body of founder Christopher Arsenault, 65, was found in a back room, officials said
- An estimated 150 cats are believed to have survived at the facility
NEW YORK: A fire burned down a Long Island cat shelter, killing its founder, who lived there, and at least 59 of the felines he rescued, authorities said.
The fire at the Happy Cat Sanctuary in the hamlet of Medford was reported shortly after 7 a.m. Monday. The cause is under investigation.
The body of founder Christopher Arsenault, 65, was found in a back room, officials said.
“He appeared to be a very caring person,” said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County SPCA. “His life was about the cats.”
An estimated 150 cats are believed to have survived at the facility, which also included outdoor buildings, Gross said. Some of the surviving animals suffered burns and smoke inhalation. The SPCA and other animal rescue groups were working together to arrange care for them.
Arsenault founded Happy Cat in 2006 after the death of his 24-year-old son, Eric, in a motorcycle accident, according to the sanctuary’s website. Arsenault described finding his calling when he came across a colony of 30 sick kittens and nursed them back to health.
At the time of the fire, he was planning to move the sanctuary from Long Island to a farm upstate, Gross said.
“Unfortunately, this disaster happened and now he’s gone,” Gross said. “Right now it’s in the early stages of trying to put all of this together to get these animals cared for.”
