内容摘要：This NTSB data shows a general fall in air accidents in the US from 2005 to 2024 despite a significant increase in the overall number of flights over this period. It also shows that the figure for January 2025 (52), was lower than it was in January last year (58) and January 2023 (70).

This NTSB data shows a general fall in air accidents in the US from 2005 to 2024 despite a significant increase in the overall number of flights over this period. It also shows that the figure for January 2025 (52), was lower than it was in January last year (58) and January 2023 (70).

Character.ai is currently the subject of legal action from a mother whose 14-year-old son took his own life after reportedly becoming obsessed with one of its AI characters. According to transcripts of their chats in court filings he discussed ending his life with the chatbot. In a final conversation he told the chatbot he was "coming home" - and it allegedly encouraged him to do so "as soon as possible".Character.ai has denied the suit's allegations.

And in 2023, the National Eating Disorder Association replaced its live helpline with a chatbot, but later had to suspend it over claims the bot was recommending calorie restriction.In April 2024 alone, nearly 426,000 mental health referrals were made in England - a rise of 40% in five years. An estimated one million people are also waiting to access mental health services, and private therapy can be prohibitively expensive (costs vary greatly, but the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy reports on average people spend £40 to £50 an hour).At the same time, AI has revolutionised healthcare in many ways, including helping to screen, diagnose and triage patients. There is a huge spectrum of chatbots, and about 30 local NHS services now use one called Wysa.

Experts express concerns about chatbots around potential biases and limitations, lack of safeguarding and the security of users' information. But some believe that if specialist human help is not easily available, chatbots can be a help. So with NHS mental health waitlists at record highs, are chatbots a possible solution?Character.ai and other bots such as Chat GPT are based on "large language models" of artificial intelligence. These are trained on vast amounts of data – whether that's websites, articles, books or blog posts - to predict the next word in a sequence. From here, they predict and generate human-like text and interactions.

The way mental health chatbots are created varies, but they can be trained in practices such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which helps users to explore how to reframe their thoughts and actions. They can also adapt to the end user's preferences and feedback.

Hamed Haddadi, professor of human-centred systems at Imperial College London, likens these chatbots to an "inexperienced therapist", and points out that humans with decades of experience will be able to engage and "read" their patient based on many things, while bots are forced to go on text alone."And with a way of life that we don't want the deep state looking over our shoulders or being scared of what we say," he said, referring to China.

On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hadand accused Beijing of becoming a "hegemonic power" in the region.

China has vigorously attacked Hegseth in two separate statements, with the latest posted on its Foreign Ministry website early on Sunday.It said that Hegseth had "vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a 'threat'.