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Nostalgia: The fair itself carried that familiar warmth, such as readers walking slowly between stalls. Photos: Supplied

In a world built for scrolling, can book fairs still survive?

A quiet conversation at the Kingsmead Book Fair became a reflection on shrinking attention spans, digital culture and the fragile future of reading

On AI itself, Pope Leo calls for technological projects that protect what he describes as the grandeur of humanity. He warns against reducing people to measurable outputs, predictive profiles or behavioural categories.

Pope Leo’s AI encyclical and the urgent need for human leadership

He warns against reducing people to measurable outputs, predictive profiles or behavioural categories. Once technology becomes the standard by which human beings are judged, it…

Civility in action: The discussion on “GNU: A curse or a blessing”, moderated by Dan Moyane, featured on eNCA last year. Photo: Screenshot

Local polls call for decorum and fair debate

Politicians’ conduct in parliament, media and public forums shapes not only the tone of electioneering but also the very fabric of democratic trust and social cohesion

In solidarity: This group of protesters condemning violence against young people in Kenya, do so at a time when illegal and unconstitutional
detentions are common and crackdown legislation is consistently used to block peaceful gatherings in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Photo: Ezekiel Aminga

Elections and power in the digital age

These prosecutions mark a rising pattern: as elections approach across Africa, the distance between digital civic space and state power grows

The new apartheid is decentralised, encrypted in algorithms, and cloaked in the language of economic rationality and legal formalism and it’s not only in South Africa. Photo: File

The mask of apartheid – privatisation

The state once enforced exclusion through law, now racial inequality is decentralised and enforced by private actors through economics, technology, the law, capital and technology

Leaders such as , Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu pursue power at the cost of people. (File photo)

After the hashtags: A letter to the youth left with debris

South Africans’ history taught us the cost of inhumanity and that it was defeated by resistance, so we must not be indifferent to those building inequality in the world

The CCMA uses dialogue based on conciliation and mediation to transform labour relations.  Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Justice in the digital age: Can AI transform labour dispute resolution?

Using artificial intelligence would address financial burdens, eliminate geographical restrictions and offer agility in conflict resolution – but there are pitfalls such as bias

Meta’s algorithms have deprioritised news content, reducing organic reach and referral traffic for local publishers.
 (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Meta’s freedom of speech gamble: Rights in the age of algorithms

We need a discussion about the intersection between technology and human rights so the loudest voices don’t drown out the most truthful

A juvenile leopard cat, seized by authorities during an anti-smuggling operation, is seen past suspected smugglers during a press conference announcing the seizure of trafficked exotic animals in Surabaya on March 27, 2019. (Getty)

Facebook is a ‘major enabler’ of illegal trade in wildlife

An Avaaz Investigation shows how its algorithms drag casual users into international wildlife trafficking rabbit hole

Meta’s algorithms have deprioritised news content, reducing organic reach and referral traffic for local publishers.
 (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

How Facebook became the opium of the masses

Facebook’s micro-targeting algorithms have been used to spread disinformation and sow distrust in democratic institutions around the world. It has a responsibility to act

The G20, and countries like South Africa, must work out practical safeguards, framed by ethical responsibility and democratic values to regulate AI. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP

How to game Twitter’s algorithm – and hoodwink journalists

It is possible to convince newsrooms looking for a topical story that something is news when it isn’t, to dangerous effect

The humble syllabus puts students first

By building online courses backwards, the necessary skills can be taught in stages

Dr Mardé Helbig

Optimising algorithms to enhance decision-making

TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher