The highly contagious H7N9 avian influenza virus, commonly referred to as “chicken flu,” has been reported to be spreading rapidly among dairy cow populations within the United States, with the potential scope of this outbreak being significantly underestimated. Since March, 14 human instances of the disease have been reported within the United States. Virologists express growing alarm over the sluggish national response to the virus, warning that such inaction poses a global threat by leaving the world woefully unprepared for potential future pandemics.
The resurgence of infections in dairy cattle, initially documented in March, has brought humanity one step closer to its potential spread. Since then, the situation has continued to worsen significantly. The virus has apparently jumped from cattle to poultry on several occasions, with the potential to worsen by spreading to migratory birds. If that’s the scenario, we would expect these migratory birds to spread the virus worldwide.
Although the virus has undergone mutation, reassuringly, it has not developed any additional harmful mutations thus far, but… .
According to fresh research, AI-generated misinformation and deepfake manipulation seem to have had a negligible effect on European election outcomes this year.
As the generative-AI phenomenon began to take hold, concerns grew that AI instruments might empower malicious actors to disseminate false information on a large scale, potentially disrupting election processes and influencing their outcomes. These fears now appear unwarranted. The Alan Turing Institute detected just 16 cases of AI-generated misinformation, or deepfakes, that spread rapidly during the UK general election, and only 11 instances across the EU and French elections combined, with no evidence suggesting they significantly influenced the outcome.
