Tell us: have you ever used AI to navigate everyday life and social relationships?

Lots of people now use chatbots as personal assistants, not just for work but in everyday life and social interactions. We want to hear your stories about the ways you’re using chatbots to navigate your social life or significant life decisions.Have you ever drafted a breakup text using AI? Or crafted a message to delicately cancel plans? Have you consulted AI on whether to take, or quit, a job? Or sought advice from a chatbot on a tricky friendship or relationship?Did that advice work, or backfire?Tell us about it in the form below or by messaging us. Please include as much detail as possible. Please include as much detail as possible

Digital blackface flourishes under Trump and AI: ‘The state is bending reality’

Late last year, as a US government shutdown cut off the Snap benefits that low-income families rely on for groceries, videos on social media cast the fallout in frantic scenes. “Imma keep it real with you,” a Black woman said in a viral TikTok post, “I get over $2,500 a month in stamps. I sell ’em, $2,000 worth, for about $1,200-$1,500 cash.” Another Black woman ranted about taxpayers’ responsibility to her seven children with seven men, and yet another melted down after her food stamps were rejected at a corn-dog counter.Visible watermarks stamped some videos as AI-generated – apparently, too faintly for the racist commentators and hustlers more than happy to believe the frenzy was real

How the anxiety over AI could fuel a new workers’ movement

In 2026, it’s a scary time to work for a living.Gone are the days of quiet quitting, the Great Resignation, and the highly visible union-organizing battles that began the decade and signaled that perhaps worker power was on the rise again in the US. Instead, much of that momentum is being crowded out of our minds by anxieties: a worsening affordability crisis, geopolitical instability and the specter of artificial intelligence looming over the workplace.For the tech CEOs leading the AI race and enriching themselves as they jostle for dominance, AI isn’t a phantasm at all, but a glimmering unicorn. When they predict AI is just months away from being able to do everything a software engineer does, or that it will one day take over CEOs’ jobs, their excitement for the future is palpable

Ebay buys Depop for $1.2bn in effort to lure younger shoppers

The online retailer eBay has agreed to buy the British secondhand fashion resale app Depop from Etsy for about $1.2bn (£890m) in cash, as eBay targets younger fashion-loving consumers.The deal comes at a time when secondhand marketplaces continue to soar in popularity, especially among gen Z shoppers – born between 1997 and 2012 – amid a squeeze on household incomes and concerns about sustainability in fashion.However, the sale to eBay marks a $400m loss for Etsy, an online market that focuses on craft and handmade items, which bought Depop for $1.6bn less than five years ago

Macron defends EU AI rules and vows crackdown on child ‘digital abuse’

Emmanuel Macron has hit back at US criticism of Europe’s efforts to regulate AI, vowing to protect children from “digital abuse” during France’s presidency of the G7.Speaking at the AI Impact summit in Delhi, the French president called for tougher safeguards after global outrage over Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot being used to generate tens of thousands of sexualised images of children, and amid mounting concern about the concentration of AI power in a handful of companies.His remarks were echoed by António Guterres, the UN secretary general, who told delegates – including several US tech billionaires – that “no child should be a test subject for unregulated AI”.“The future of AI cannot be decided by a few countries or left to the whims of a few billionaires,” Guterres said. “AI must belong to everyone”

TV set is most popular way to watch YouTube in UK, study finds

The television has replaced laptops, tablets and smartphones as the most common device for UK viewers to watch YouTube at home, according to data confirming the platform’s place as a living room mainstay.More than half of all YouTube viewing through a domestic wifi connection is now done through the traditional TV, making it the top-ranking YouTube device across all age groups.The findings, from a Barb Audiences review, found that YouTube viewing is still skewed towards children, with whom the platform has been popular for some time. It has led to some concerns about the platform’s dominance in children’s TV, as well as the kinds of shows its algorithm serves up.However, TV sets became the first-choice device for YouTube viewing for over-55s in October 2023, for those between 35 and 54 in April 2024 – and finally for 16- to 34-year-olds in December 2024