1 . China has set new rules limiting the amount of time children can play online games. The rules limit children to just three hours of online game playing a week. That is one hour between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday most weeks.

Li Zhanguo has two children aged 4 and 8. Even though they do not have smartphones, they enjoy playing online games. Like many other parents. Li is happy with new government rules. But experts say it is unclear if such policies can help prevent addiction to online games. Children might just get addicted to social media instead. In the end, experts say, parents should be the ones to set limits and support good practice.

There has been a growing concern in China about gaming addiction among children. Government reports in 2018 found that about one in ten Chinese children were addicted to the Internet. The new rules are part of an effort to prevent young people from spending too much time on unhealthy entertainment. That includes what officials call the “irrational fan culture”

Under the new rules, the responsibility for making sure children play only three hours a day as largely on Chinese gaming companies like Net Ease and Ten cent. Companies have set up real-name registration systems to prevent young users from going past game time limits. They have used facial recognition technology to check their identities. And they have also set up a program that permits people to report what is against the law. It is unclear what punishments gaming companies may face if they do not carry out the policies. And even if such policies are performed, it is also unclear whether they can prevent online addiction.

A specialist treating Internet addiction expects about 20 percent of children will find ways to break the rules by borrowing accounts of their older relatives and find a way around facial recognition. In his opinion, short-video alps such as Douyin and Kuaishou are also very popular in China. They are not under the same restrictions as games.

3 . “Woman reading book, under a night sky, dreamy atmosphere,” I type into Deep Dream Generator’s Text 2 Dream feature. In less than a minute, an image is returned to me showing what I’ve described.

Welcome to the world of AI image generation, where you can create what on the surface looks like top-rank artwork using just a few text prompts (提示). But closer examination shows oddities. The face of the woman in my image has very odd features, and appears to be holding multiple books. And, while there’s an initial thrill at seeing an image appear, there’s no creative satisfaction.

AI image generation could influence everything from film to graphic novels and more. Children’s illustrators were quick to raise concerns about the technology. They say AI-generated art is the exact opposite of what art is believed to be. Fundamentally, art is all about translating something that you feel internally into something that exists externally. Whatever form it takes, true art is about the creative process much more than it’s about the final piece. And simply pressing a button to generate an image is not a creative process.

Beyond creativity, there are deeper issues. To create images from prompts, AI generators rely on databases of already existing art and text. This could lead to the creation of images that are intentionally meant to imitate the style of other artists, without their agreement. There is an argument that AI generators work no differently to humans when it comes to being influenced by others’ work. However, a human artist is also adding emotion and nuance (细微差别) into the mix. AI doesn’t do the same — it can only copy.

The increasing use of AI will also lead to a devaluing (贬低) of the work of artists. There’s already a negative prejudice towards the creative industry. People will begin to think that their “work” is as excellent as that created by someone who has spent a career making art. It’s nonsense, of course. You can use your mobile phone to take a nice picture of your daughter, but you are no match for professionals.

4 . Laughter comes in many forms, from a polite and quiet laugh to a great hearty laugh. Scientists are now developing an AI system to recreate different laughs in proper social contexts. The team behind the laughing robot Erica said that the system could improve natural conversations between people and an AI robot. “We think that one of the important functions of conversational AI is empathy(共情),” said Dr Koji Inoue, the lead author of the research. “So we decided that one way a robot can empathize with its users is to share their laughter.”

The team have set out to teach their AI system the art of conversational laughter. They gathered training data from more than 80 daily dialogues between male subjects and the robot that was initially operated by four actresses remotely. The dialogue data was grouped into social laughs (where polite or embarrassed laughter isn’t involved) and laughter of joy. Based on the audio files, the algorithm(算法) learned the basic characteristics of social laughs, which tend to be softer, and merry laughs, with the aim of mirroring these inappropriate situations.

“Our biggest obstructor in the work was identifying the actual cases of shared laughter because as you know, most laughter is actually not shared at all,” said Inoue. “We had to carefully decide exactly which laughs we could use for our analysis and we couldn’t just assume that any laugh can be responded to. It was really not easy work.” The team said laughter could help create robots with their own distinct character although it could take more than 20 years before it would be possible to have a casual chat with a robot like we would with a friend.

“One of the things we’d keep in mind is that a laughing robot or algorithm will never be able to understand you or the meaning of laughter,” points out Prof. Sandra Wachter of the Oxford Internet Institute. “But with their development, they might get very good at tricking you into believing they understand what’s going on.”

9 . Lucky Candy grocery store (杂货店) held a challenge game for its customers in the neighborhood. The _______ is simple: answer a math question — say, what’s 8×8+50? — and you’ll get five seconds to take as much as you can from the store, all for _______ .

For Ahmed Alwan, 23, joy is as important as breakfast, but his regular customers sometimes _______ for both. So he came up with a clever way to _______ his customers’ days. “I’ve grown up in the neighborhood,” he says. “I know most of them don’t have much money, and sometimes they need _______.”

Lucky Candy is located on a busy street in the Bronx, known as a food _______ , where people are badly in need of affordable, healthy food. Many residents depend on neighborhood shops for their daily _______ .

When kids get an answer right, one of two things _______ happens. Some kids rushed for the candy and who could blame them? Others take things like rice and potatoes, clearly thinking of their _______ at home.

“The store is doing something ________ to many,” a customer told Inside Edition. “Many people here don’t even have anything. A chance to get free stuff like this means a lot.”

Alwan ________ this challenge game with his own monthly pay. And his boss, also his father Aobad, doesn’t ________ offering help, too. As an immigrant (移民), Aobad knows that in one of the ________ and most competitive places in the U.S., a little help goes a(n) ________ way.

“This greatly changed our community,” says Alwan. “They’re showing so much love and care — they’re ________ at the store for a chance to play. No pushing or shouting.”

10 . When I decided to leave my home country of Iran for a PhD. in Canada, I didn’t expect that communication would be a problem. I had taken English lessons and scored well on the English__________for university admission.

But after my arrival in the English-speaking world, I began to know how wrong I was. I had a hard time remaining present and focused in conversations because I was__________thinking about what I would say next. I gradually turned inward and negative, especially when __________ by native English speakers. And I worried about my future.__________, effective communication in English is critical to being recognized in many academic and professional environments.

Then a simple idea occurred to me. Why not__________the discussion by writing an email to my colleagues? Afterwards, I often sat at my computer, putting my__________into English words. Over time, this__________helped me think and speak at the same time in English.

Meanwhile, I learned to be____________with colleagues about the language barriers I faced. I often held back in our meetings because I still wasn’t____________about my English. Soon, however, I realised the native English speakers on the team would____________my apparent lack of participation as a lack of interest. So I decided to remind them that English is not my first language, and I asked them to speak more slowly to help me follow the discussion and____________fully. At first, they seemed slightly surprised and kept speechless for some time. But the situation quickly____________.

Now, 12 years after I moved to Canada, the____________of the conversation can still sometimes present a challenge. But I have learned that I can prepare and be open with others about the difficulties I may____________. With some effort on both sides, language barriers need not be____________.