Made you look: The concerning rise of fake AI images

You might have come across some rather bizarre photos of public figures lately. Did you see Pope Francis walking around in a trendy puffer coat? What about Donald Trump being arrested in chaotic scenes?

These images would have marked incredible turns of events indeed - had they been real.

They are the latest examples of deep fakes brought to you by generative AI. A plethora of tools lets people upload photos and then edit them to create almost any scenario with the help of AI.

At a trivial (if not rather disrespectful level) this could result in pictures of world leaders dressed bizarrely. At worst, these artificial images could fraudulently claim that riot police have used inappropriate force towards protesters. They could even depict a world leader caught red-handed at the scene of whatever conspiracy theory is trending at that moment.

Bad actors could further their attempts to weaponise these AI technologies, eventually producing fake images in bulk. Then they could have a whole series of conspiracy theories and artificial political scandals trending globally in minutes. The result - potentially massive social unrest created over complete fiction.

Faked AI images represent real longterm risks to both public order and public confidence in institutions.

Institutions across the UK will need to carefully coordinate with each other and their international partners in the creation of automated platforms to debunk fake images. Response speeds will be crucial to removing these images before they trend.

Check your inbox for plants…

Has spinach ever emailed you? Leafier emails than usual could soon alert us to droughts, landmines, and harmful chemicals in soil. Scientists from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) are using nanotubes to detect harmful changes in plant chemistry through infrared light. Their specialist Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) research group carries out this work.

A nanotube is a tiny layer of graphene rolled very tightly. Scientists embed these tubes - designed to emit infrared light if certain chemicals are detected - into plant issues. A $35 Raspberry Pi device similar to a smartphone is all you need to record the infrared signals. The plant then notifies you of any discoveries via email. A smartphone itself suffices if you turn off the infrared filter in the device’s camera.

Professor Michael Strano and his team at SMART DiSTAP have pioneered research in this area for almost a decade. Following their success with spinach, the team substituted the leafy green for the unique fern, Pteris cretica when testing soil for arsenic. They were then able to detect arsenic in soil at an unprecedented 0.2 parts per billion. The current regulatory limit for arsenic detection in many global markets is 10 parts per billion.

Better still, the scope of their research beckons a future without the hugely expensive equipment and time-consuming sampling techniques which are currently staples of arsenic detection. That means safer food for everyone.

The scope of their research doesn’t stop at detection. As innovation of nanobionic optical sensors progresses even further, scientists will be able to engineer certain functions in plants. Improved yields of key minerals for treating cancer and drought prevention are now realistic targets.

Every generation experiences scientific breakthroughs that open new realms of human potential. Professor Strano and his team are providing one of ours, working tirelessly to protect millions of people from the scourges of landmines, terminal illness and food poverty.

Why did the UK join the CPTPP?

The Prime Minister’s announcement that the UK has joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has received much unfair criticism. The agreement improves trade between the UK and 11 other countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The criticism has come because this improvement is only projected to add 0.08% to UK GDP over the next decade. Meanwhile, Brexit is set to wipe 4% off GDP over the longterm.

When evaluating UK accession to the CPTPP, it is important not to see the agreement primarily as a trade deal. It is much more of a geopolitical digital and tech alliance that happens to involve some trade.

The deal makes it much easier for the UK to contribute to digital and legal services infrastructures within the group. By helping to strengthen these infrastructures the UK can make it much more difficult for China to assert digital and regulatory dominance across the Pacific and into Latin America.

The UK is committed to promoting a free and open Pacific both on and offline.

Crucially, the Agreement also removes tariffs on UK imports such as cheese, chocolate and whisky to other CPTPP signatories. While nobody is expecting the next industrial revolution’s success to hinge on cheese, these mementos of British culture are key diplomatic soft power tools. They help to build popular support for the UK abroad.

Regarding imports, the deal gives the UK preferential access to key markets for lithium and rare earth metals (crucial for building new tech infrastructure) in Chile and Vietnam. That could significantly reduce UK dependency on China for these imports over the long-term.

Joining the CPTPP is less about balance sheets and much more about tilting the digital and cultural balance of power in a crucial global region towards the UK. The prospect of approving Taiwanese accession and having a say over Beijing’s access to the bloc only enhances opportunities in this regard.

Could AI replace Professional Advisers?

Further artificial intelligence (AI) development will not come without risks. There is much concern that advances in AI could contribute to catastrophic increases in the UK’s unemployment figures. Telecoms giant BT accompanied publication of their FY23 annual report with the announcement that they anticipate replacing up to 55,000 jobs with AI by 2030. Many fear this is just the beginning of a redundancy wave that could spread across the entire economy.

Others, however, feel that improved AI could create a new era of fulfilling careers and widespread prosperity throughout the UK.

Lamwyk spoke exclusively to Lisa Beale, director of Vetted Adviser (VA) - which is set to become the go-to digital portal for the UK’s most trusted advisers - about how she expects AI’s advances to impact the professional services sector.

(Tom O’Brien) Thanks so much for speaking to us, Lisa. Do you share concerns that

AI-powered machines might eventually replicate the empathy at the heart of adviser-client relationships?

(Lisa Beale) Thanks Tom - no, in short. People will always buy from people. Would you really want to leave writing your Will, buying or selling your home, or taking painful but necessary legal action to a robot? Phenomenal trust sits at the heart of all great client-adviser relationships. Most advisers thrive on looking after generations of the same family from cradle to grave. A machine, however intelligent, simply can’t replicate that kind of relationship. AI can certainly greatly help advisers to complete their work more efficiently. It can’t replace them though.

(TOB) What do you think that help might look like?

(LB) By offering clients unprecedented convenience, AI already gives advisers a crucial competitive edge. What does the future look like? Drawing an end to physical document checking will make onboarding smoother than ever before. Clients and advisers will save so much time. Meanwhile, the proliferation of virtual meetings which we have seen since the pandemic will only continue. These meetings facilitate meaningful interactions at the client’s convenience and at short notice. They also remove time lost travelling to and from in-person meetings.

(TOB) Are you worried that AI-driven deep fakes and scams could damage advisers’ reputations?

(LB) Absolutely - False accusations, fake news and malicious fake reviews can cause untold damage to businesses. Proper vetting of business information published online forms a vital part of countering these reputational threats to advisers.

(TOB) How can VA protect advisers from these threats?

(LB) Our hard-working humans go through every single piece of information that advisers submit for uploading onto the portal. Individuals and businesses trust us to provide completely accurate and impartial information about all advisers listed on VA. We feel it would be irresponsible to leave that process to a machine. Algorithms can miss things. A dedicated team of staff don’t.

It’s a great relief to know that Lisa and her team at VA are helping advisers to navigate AI’s risks and use its innovations to grow their businesses. VA’s unique feedback vetting and storage capabilities are key to this growth. They provide one portal for professionals to grow both their reputations and business networks as the world enters an increasingly complex technological era.

Give your business an edge with cognitive diversity

How many times have you heard someone say: ‘think outside the box?’ With very good reason, society regards box departure as an essential first step to innovation and commercial advantage. Nonetheless many organisations accidentally expand the boxes they think in while attempting to narrow them.

Why? Well people will often hire or retain individuals who think like them. You could invite 10 of the country’s brightest minds to a boardroom and task them with solving an intractable challenge. But if their minds all operate in the same way and travel in the same direction, the outcomes of any meeting between them will form 10 similar solutions. A journey to new innovative heights then somehow morphs into a cul-de-sac to Groupthink Avenue.

Imagine if the boardroom described above were differently composed. What if you had 10 people who held completely different views and thought in completely different ways sitting next to each other. Some were neurotypical, while others were neurodivergent. A few knew each other previously. Others had never met before. Many held polar opposite views on a range of political and social topics.

How many different solutions do you think they would create? Hundreds of ideas that were previously unsayable (and perhaps even unthinkable) would suddenly become debatable.

If you come across colleagues, entrepreneurs and applicants whose mannerisms may seem odd or whose views may seem off-putting, resist the urge to immediately discount their opinions. Analyse how they think. Are some solutions they suggest workable (politics aside)? Are their arguments well-reasoned? Do they possess skills that your existing decisionmakers lack?

Someone who appears antisocial could be immensely hard-working with meticulous attention to detail. Why would you not want to take their advice on seeing solutions that nobody else sees?

The line between profit and loss is waferthin. To cross it with aplomb, make sure you hire outside the box rather than along its outskirts.

Rethinking Rail...

How would you react if one of your suppliers emailed to say that they were unable to fulfill 23,000 of your orders? Would they remain one of your suppliers for long?

TransPennine Express (TPE) was projected to cancel 23,000 services in 2023 as Q1 drew to a close. How is it that such inconvenience for consumers has become normalised?

While much investment goes into connecting Leeds with Manchester and London, local lines are seeing precious little investment and improvement.

There is only a solitary hourly train from Scarborough to Leeds. Almost every day, at least one of these trains is cancelled causing yet further inconvenience to commuters, tourists and business owners. Yorkshire deserves so much better. West Yorkshire created 36,600 jobs in

February 2023 alone, despite all the economic challenges inflation has posed to businesses.

Improving connections with North Yorkshire and other areas of the County would not only fill more of these vacancies but would also spread economic growth further across Yorkshire.

Despite the tireless work of local authorities to improve rail services, there is only so much influence that they can have over a railway system that favours private-sector ownership of train operators.

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has publicly called for TPE “to start afresh under new ownership,” alongside numerous other regional Mayors. They received such enormous public support in their demands for improvement that the Department of Transport has announced that it would not renew or extend First Group’s contract to operate the TPE franchise following the deal’s expiration on 28th May.

With so many operators currently now under public control, many are asking whether the UK’s rail services should be fully nationalised.

Introducing a sole nationalised rail operator doesn’t seem like a viable longterm solution to tackling inadequate rail passenger services.

With the UK’s national debt currently topping £2.5 trillion, it’s unclear how the government would afford the significant costs involved in rail ownership and investment in passenger services without private sector support.

Moreover, do local communities really want to hand even more control of their local infrastructure to Westminster? Perhaps the UK needs a completely new approach to rail ownership, involving a more imaginative mix of private and public ownership. Imagine if a governmentbacked company bought stakes in rail operators (or their holding companies), but then converted this equity to bonds. Those bonds could then be sold to pension funds.

The rail sector would see significant private sector investment from funds eager to benefit from guaranteed returns. That would allow significantly greater scope for rail operators to improve passenger services, without increasing their costs so much that they became disincentivised from involvement in the sector.

Rethinking rail will be pivotal to economic growth across Yorkshire and the UK as a whole. It may well be necessary to enter an era of rail ownership structures we’ve never seen before.