All Civil Servants in England and Wales to Undergo AI Training

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

This fall, all civil servants in England and Wales will undergo practical training focused on utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency, according to reports from the Guardian.

More than 400,000 civil servants will be briefed on this training initiative on Monday afternoon, as part of a commitment by Prime Minister Pat McFadden of the Principality of Lancaster to assess civil service operations and boost productivity.

Concurrently, the civil service workforce will decrease by tens of thousands through voluntary redundancies and a decision not to fill retiree vacancies. Officials will be encouraged to leverage AI technology wherever feasible to optimize their tasks.

Staff are currently testing a suite of AI tools known as Humphrey, a nod to the senior official from the 1980s TV sitcom.

In March, it was proclaimed that officials should follow the principle that “Digital or AI must not invest significant time in tasks that can be performed with improved speed and quality.”

The forthcoming practical training this fall aims to equip civil servants with AI knowledge to minimize the time spent on routine activities.

A recent AI trial by the Scottish government employed Humphrey tools to analyze consultations on cosmetic surgery adjustments, yielding results comparable to human output but at a faster pace.

While broader developments remain undecided, the government has indicated that over 500 annual consultations using this tool could save staff around 75,000 days of analysis each year.

The Ministry of Labor and Pensions is also utilizing AI to process extensive communications, which previously took weeks. This will assist in identifying recipients of merit or pension who may be vulnerable and require immediate support.

In a communication to all employees, Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormaldo expressed pride in civil servants’ continual adaptability to new challenges.

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He stated: “The Prime Minister has issued a significant challenge in fostering a productive and agile state.”

He added: “We must seize the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and other technological advancements, continuously modernizing our processes.”

The training is orchestrated via the One Big Thing initiative, which emphasizes various crucial skills each year.

The government is swiftly adopting AI in Whitehall; however, some have raised concerns regarding the potential introduction or exacerbation of errors and biases in the absence of proper human oversight. The Guardian highlighted in December that the AI system utilized by the UK government to identify welfare fraud exhibited bias based on age, disability, marital status, and nationality.

Source: www.theguardian.com

The dinosaur history of Wales illuminated by 205-million-year-old bone bed

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The recently discovered Late Triassic bonebed at Labanock in South Wales is a storm deposit that preserves a rich coastal marine biota, including a diverse range of fish and marine reptiles.

A view of the cliff face at Labanock Point from the eastern end of the beach shows how the red mudstones of the Williton Member (Marcia Mudstone Formation) transition upward into the bedded shales of the Westbury Formation. Image courtesy of Evans others., doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.001.

“The new bone beds paint a picture of a tropical island that was frequently battered by storms, washing material from the surrounding areas on land and at sea into the tidal zone,” said paleontologist Owain Evans from the University of Bristol.

“This means that from just one fossil bed, we can reconstruct a complex ecosystem containing a wide variety of marine reptiles, such as underwater ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and placodonts, as well as land-based dinosaurs.”

The discovery was made at Labanock Head, near Cardiff and Penarth in South Wales, where dark shale and limestone cliffs reveal an ancient, shallow sea.

Several layers contain deposits of bones, including the remains of fish, sharks, marine reptiles, and occasionally dinosaurs.

“I grew up in Cardiff and have been visiting Penarth beach all my life but I'd never noticed any fossils,” Ms Evans said.

“And the more I read, the more amazing it became.”

“Local geologists have been collecting the bones since the 1870s, and most of them are in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.”

“The Labanock collection dates back to the 19th century and many parts of the bone bed have been collected over many years,” said Dr. Cindy Howells, curator of palaeontology at the National Museum Wales.

“The presence of dinosaur remains at the site ensures that it will remain one of the most important sites for palaeontology in Wales.”

The paleontologists also unearthed the remains of a placodont osteoderm and a coelacanth throat bone.

“Coelacanth and other placodont fossils are relatively rare in the UK, which makes this find all the more remarkable,” said Dr. Chris Duffin, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol and the Natural History Museum in London.

“Just these two fossils alone, Rhaetian What would it have been like in England?”

“The amount of dinosaur fossils found at Labanoc is extremely exciting and provides an opportunity to study a complex and often mysterious period in dinosaur evolutionary history,” said Professor Michael Benton, from the University of Bristol.

“We are a big Plateosaurus “Similar animals and several other bones possibly belonging to a predatory theropod were found.”

of Investigation result Appears in Proceedings of the Association of Geologists.

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Owain Evans othersA microvertebrate from the basal Rhaetian bone bed (Late Triassic) at Lavanock, South Wales. Proceedings of the Association of GeologistsPublished online May 23, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.001

Source: www.sci.news

Romantic Inscription Found on Ancient Silver Thimble in Wales

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A post-medieval silver thimble was discovered by Robert Edwards while metal detecting in Pembrokeshire, a county in south-west Wales.

An ancient silver thimble discovered in the Carew community in Pembrokeshire, Wales.Image credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum of Wales

“I was searching behind an oak tree and had no success until I changed the program and found a very clear signal,” Edwards said.

“At first I thought it was a sixpence, but to my surprise it was not a coin, but a silver piece!”

“When I later saw a similar waffle pattern on another thimble, I knew I had found something special.”

“To be honest, my cousin who is also my detection partner was a little jealous!”

“I like to think about who used it,” he added.

“Was it used in the castle we saw on the way?” Did someone get into trouble by losing it? I'm so happy to be able to share it with you all. ”

According to experts, Amgefa Cymru – Museum of Walesthe ancient thimble is tall and narrow, but heavy.

This artifact is a two-piece construction with a rounded top soldered to the main body.

Six horizontal bands are placed in a zigzag pattern around the body and overlaid on an incised brick or basket weave pattern.

“'' is engraved at the base of the band.I still love you like' Roman capital in serif font.

The researchers said: “Posey's inscription appears on several 17th-century silver thimbles found across England and Wales.”

“The Cardiff, Kent and Hampshire examples were all reported through the Treasure Act 1996.”

“Such romantic passages are very similar to those found on modern posey rings,” they added.

“Perhaps a thimble, worn on one's finger while sewing, was considered an intimate (and therefore romantic) possession, suitable as a gift between lovers.”

Source: www.sci.news

Kate, Duchess of Wales, Princess of Wales, embroiled in scandal over photo tampering sensitivity.

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

In a time where concerns over media manipulation are at an all-time high, the Princess of Wales’ photo scandal highlights the sensitivity towards image manipulation.

Back in 2011, Duchess Kate found herself in an image-editing scandal when Grazia altered a photo of her on her wedding day. However, this was before advancements in artificial intelligence raised significant concerns for everyone.

Recent years have seen an abundance of AI-generated deepfakes, from manipulated videos of Volodymyr Zelensky to explicit images of Taylor Swift. While historical instances of image manipulation have been controversial, AI-generated content is now highly reliable.

Duchess Kate’s recent adjustment to a family photo amidst social media speculation about her health reflects growing questions about trust in images, texts, and audio content as the world faces crucial elections.

Shweta Singh, an assistant professor at Warwick Business School, emphasized the importance of addressing manipulated media in the critical year of 2024.

Michael Green, a senior lecturer at the University of Kent, noted that the Welsh family photos were amateurishly edited but pointed out that recent online uproar prompted major video agencies to remove them for violating guidelines.

Despite guidelines against manipulation, the photos passed through. This incident serves as a reminder for media organizations to thoroughly scrutinize every story in an age of technological sophistication.

Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, provided assurance that the images were not entirely generated by AI, indicating the need for deeper scrutiny.

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Technological advancements like AI pose new challenges in detecting manipulated media, requiring a diverse approach to combat disinformation.

Efforts to address this issue include the Coalition on Content Authenticity, involving members like Adobe, the BBC, and Google, to establish standards for identifying AI-generated disinformation.

Dame Wendy Hall, a professor at the University of Southampton, emphasized that the Welsh family photo incident underscores the ongoing challenge of trusting the narrative in evolving technological landscapes.