AI VCC News
[Apr. 04, 2026] Developing Robots Serves Wars: In an article by Luke Harding published in the Guardian today points out that the use of unmanned ground vehicles has grown exponentially since 2024 and argues that this rapid development of drones and robots and their broad use in wars changes the nature of war into a contest of technology. The article titled “‘The frontline is like Terminator’: fighting robots give Ukraine hope in war with Russia” features a wide range of robots including killer robots that have been developed in the Ukraine in the five years of war. This development shows that all development of very smart robots for peaceful application also supports the further development of those that can kill and do kill.
[Mar. 08, 2026] Should Tech Oligarchs Reshape Humanity and Determine Our Future?: Eduardo Porter in the Guardian article titled “Tech oligarchs reshape humanity while billionaires of old seem quaint” emphasizes the uniqueness of the current situation, where the future of technology, and with this the future of humanity, is determined by a few tech oligarchs without any deliberation or democratic processes involving many. The author underlines the worldview of these oligarchs “is embedded in a belief that technology offers the best solution to all of humanity’s challenges, whether social, political, economic, demographic, biological, psychological, environmental, or whatever other dimension one might think of.” Porter reminds us of Altman, the CEO of OpenAI arguing that “Humanity “will be the first species ever to design our own descendants.”
Platform News
[May. 22, 2026] DRG VCC opened: The "Disaster Risk Governance VCC" has been initialized and is open now.
[May. 21, 2026] NEXUS VCC opened: The "Food-Water-Energy Nexus VCC" has been initialized and is open now.
[May. 11, 2026] ILie VCC opened: The "I Lie and Why it Needs to Stop VCC" has been initialized and is open now.
[May. 09, 2026] Doomsday Clock is Getting Closer to Midnight: In January, the Doomsday clock was set to 85 seconds before midnight, the closest setting since it was established in 1947 in response to the threat of nuclear war. Sophie McBain in her article “‘The odds are not in our favour’: who sets the Doomsday Clock – and what can they tell us about the future of humanity?” emphasizes that with the wars on Iran and on the Ukraine, the rapid and largely uncontrolled development of AI and the climate breakdown all together increasing the likelihood of a nuclear war, the clock now stands closer to midnight than ever before. She asks the question of whether we can buy ourselves more time.
[Apr. 25, 2026] World Happiness Report Finds Positive Impacts of Collaborative Platforms: The World Happiness Report 2026 has a strong focus on the impacts of social media and the Web in general on human happiness. The results of most studies indicate that the use of most social media seems to have a negative impact on happiness, while those tools that generate trust and collaboration have a positive impact. The report sumarizes: “Internet activities fall into two groups. Communications, news, learning, and content creation are associated with higher life satisfaction. Social media, gaming, and browsing for fun are associated with lower life evaluations.” This supports the mission of Place4Us as a trust-focused collaborative platform for intercreativity and learning.
