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‘Wicked’s’ Color Grading Is Intended to ‘Immerse People Into Oz, to Make It a Real Place,’ Says Director Jon M. Chu: If It Was ‘Fake,’ Then the Relationships and Stakes ‘Wouldn’t Feel Real’ENVIRONMENTAL organization Greenpeace installed solar panels and charging stations in Bohol's "sinking" islands of Bilangbilangan and Batasan to strengthen the residents' climate response capabilities and transition away from fossil fuel dependence. It contracted the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology to acquire, engineer and install the stations, and conduct a solar training workshop for volunteers and community partners. According to a Greenpeace report, Bohol was among the areas worst hit by Super Typhoon Odette in 2021, suffering P41.6 billion in damages to infrastructure, the economy and other critical sectors, including development administration, social, environment and the private sector. Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.
Minnesotans’ generosity on this year’s Give to the Max Day surpassed the previous record by almost $3 million. It’s a pleasant surprise for Give MN’s executive director Jake Blumberg, who said he had concerns given the current divisive economic climate. “I think we all know right now that prices have been high at checkout lanes throughout our lives and nonprofits have been experiencing the same thing,” Blumberg said. “ And it seems to us that donors really recognized that and wanted to step up to help the organizations that help their neighbors.” ADVERTISEMENT In 2020, Give MN saw the state break $30 million in donations, and it’s been consistently increasing since then. Blumberg said this shows Minnesotans care deeply about one another and Give to the Max gives them a chance to find common ground. This year saw more donations than years before and in higher amounts. The average donation went from $117 over the last few years to $134. “Will that trend continue? We sure hope it does, because the need for support from donors is going to continue to be at historic levels,” he said. “We know the need has only grown since 2020 and it’s certainly anticipated to continue growing. So hopefully donors continue to meet that challenge.” Nationally, donation trends have plateaued, but Blumberg says Minnesota has been an outlier since the pandemic. “There have been multiple years now where other giving events, like Give to the Max Day and other giving trends around individual donors have showed declines, and Minnesota has bucked those national trends, and this is one of those years,” Blumberg said. Blumberg said people give based on their values. Compared to previous years, more contributions were made to organizations that prioritized direct and social services, in addition to hunger relief organizations and those supporting unsheltered people and animals.Terry Bradshaw's feelings 'hurt' by Michael Strahan just seconds into FOX NFL SundayLONDON—Apple complained that requests from Meta Platforms for access to its operating software threaten user privacy, in a spat fueled by the European Union’s intensifying efforts to get the iPhone maker to open up to products from tech rivals. The 27-nation EU’s executive Commission is drawing up “interoperability” guidelines for Apple under its new digital competition rulebook. The interoperability measures would ensure that devices like smartwatches or features like wireless file transfers work as smoothly with iPhones as do Apple Watches or AirDrop. The EU’s rulebook, known as the Digital Markets Act, aims to promote fair competition in digital markets and prevent Big Tech “gatekeeper” companies from cornering markets. The commission posted proposed measures late Wednesday on how Apple should make its iOS operating system work with other technology. In response, Apple said it’s “concerned that some companies—with data practices that do not meet the high standards of data protection law held by the EU and supported by Apple—may attempt to abuse the DMA’s interoperability provisions to access sensitive user data.” The company singled out Meta, saying it has made at least 15 requests “for potentially far-reaching access to Apple’s technology stack” that would reduce privacy protections for users. If those requests were granted, “Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user’s device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords,” the company said in a report. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, fought back. “Here’s what Apple is actually saying: they don’t believe in interoperability,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a post on X. “In fact, every time Apple is called out for anticompetitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality.” The Brussels-based European Commission’s proposed measures call for an approach based on Apple’s existing “request-based process,” in which developers ask for access to features and functions. Apple should provide a “dedicated contact” to handle requests and give updates and feedback, and there should be a “fair and impartial conciliation” process to settle disagreements on technical issues. The commission is now asking for feedback from the public by January 9 on the proposals, including from any companies that have made interoperability requests from Apple, or are thinking of doing so. AP
Chris Columbus reveals ‘bizarre’ story behind why he couldn’t work with Chevy Chase on ‘Christmas Vacation’HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans didn’t need to see what Baltimore’s Derrick Henry is doing this season to be reminded of just how dangerous he can be. He ran all over the Texans for years while playing in the AFC South for the Tennessee Titans. Henry and the Ravens (10-5) visit AFC South champion Houston (9-6) on Wednesday, looking for a win to keep their AFC North title chances alive. Baltimore has clinched a playoff berth for a third straight season but needs wins in its last two games and one loss by the Steelers to capture the division. Henry, who ranks second in the NFL with 1,636 yards rushing, has had some of his greatest success against the Texans. Four of the 30-year-old’s six career 200-yard rushing games have been against Houston, including a career-high 250 in the season finale in the 2020 season to surpass 2,000 yards. “You talk about fast, explosive, physical — he’s looking probably the best he’s looked in his career,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He’s found that fountain of youth ... he’s a great player. It’s fun to see guys rebound and bounce back the way that he’s done this year.” Dealing with Henry along with all the challenges that quarterback Lamar Jackson presents makes the top-ranked Ravens one of Houston’s more difficult matchups. “You talk about MVP, (Jackson’s) definitely the MVP in my mind just for what he’s doing not only in the run game but also throwing the football,” Ryans said. “The accuracy, the decision-making, like, he’s playing unbelievable ball right now, so it’s going to be a really tough challenge for us this week.” Another challenge for the Texans is moving on after Tank Dell sustained a season-ending knee injury in Saturday’s loss to Kansas City. His injury is another blow to a receiving group that already was without star Stefon Diggs, who tore his ACL in Week 8. “The position we’re in, it’s not a lot of times where you can sulk in your feelings for very long,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “You’ve got to just keep rolling. I think that’s a testament to just life in general. Everybody has stuff on their plate. Everybody is going through something. And just because we’re in this position, doesn’t mean you get to feel sorry for yourself.” Houston will rely on Stroud to keep the passing game rolling despite the loss of Dell, who ranks second on the team with 667 yards receiving. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh has been impressed with Stroud’s growth in Year 2 and knows that dealing with him will be difficult for his team, which ranks 31st in the NFL by allowing 254.9 yards passing a game. “He’s just a supertalented guy... he’s surrounded with some good weapons, and he gets the ball out quick,” Harbaugh said. “He handles pressure well, he can move, he’s athletic, scrambles and makes plays.” Jackson is a big fan of Beyoncé, though he didn’t know the title of his favorite song of hers, saying it was “To the left,” which is just the first lines of her hit “Irreplaceable.” And he doesn’t think playing in Wednesday’s game should stop him from seeing her halftime show on Christmas . “I’m going to go out there and watch,” he said. “First time seeing Beyoncé perform, and it’s at our game — that’s dope. I’m going to go out and watch. Sorry Harbaugh, sorry fellas." He later clarified that he was kidding about sneaking out at halftime to get a glimpse of Queen Bey. “I was just thinking about just seeing Beyoncé for the first time,” he said. “Not saying it like that; no disrespect, because I know how people can take things. Next question.” Houston receiver John Metchie could have a chance for a big game with Dell out. Metchie is playing in his second NFL season after missing his entire rookie year while undergoing cancer treatment. He has just 182 yards receiving this season, with his best game coming against Detroit, when he had a career-high 72 yards receiving and his only NFL TD. Stroud is looking for Metchie and fellow reserve Xavier Hutchinson to help make up for Dell’s absence against the Ravens. “Those guys have another opportunity to show who they are and I know that they can do it,” Stroud said. “I see them in practice do it every week. So, I’m excited for them and it’s a good opportunity for them to step up.” Jackson is up to 6,023 yards rushing for his career. The NFL record for a quarterback is 6,109 by Michael Vick, so Jackson could break it with a big game on Wednesday. Jackson also leads the NFL in passer rating and is in the conversation for his third MVP. Although it sounds like that’s a discussion he’d rather not get involved in. “No other choice but to hear it,” Jackson said. “They (are) tagging me in it. You don’t (have) to tag me. You can talk about it all you want, but you want to tag me to get like clickbait because you know sometimes I (will) say something back like, ‘That was stupid.’ It is what it is. I don’t care, though. I really don’t care about the talk.” AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Owings Mills, Maryland, contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflSome tech industry leaders are pushing the incoming Trump administration to increase visas for highly skilled workers from other nations. Related Articles National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns National Politics | Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen The heart of the argument is, for America to remain competitive, the country needs to expand the number of skilled visas it gives out. The previous Trump administration did not increase the skilled visa program, instead clamping down on visas for students and educated workers, increasing denial rates. Not everyone in corporate America thinks the skilled worker program is great. Former workers at IT company Cognizant recently won a federal class-action lawsuit that said the company favored Indian employees over Americans from 2013 to 2022. A Bloomberg investigation found Cognizant, and other similar outsourcing companies, mainly used its skilled work visas for lower-level positions. Workers alleged Cognizant preferred Indian workers because they could be paid less and were more willing to accept inconvenient or less-favorable assignments. Question: Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? Caroline Freund, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy YES: Innovation is our superpower and it relies on people. Sourcing talent from 8 billion people in the world instead of 330 million here makes sense. Nearly half our Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Growing them also relies on expanding our skilled workforce. The cap on skilled-worker visas has hardly changed since the computer age started. With AI on the horizon, attracting and building talent is more important than ever. Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research YES: After years of openly allowing millions of undocumented entrants into the country, why is there controversy over legally increasing somewhat the number having desirable skills? Undocumented immigration significantly impacts lower skill level jobs and wages competing with domestic workers at every skill level. Why should special cases be made against those having higher skills? Could they just not walk across the border anyway, why make it more inconvenient to those with desirable skills? James Hamilton, UC San Diego YES: Knowledge and technology are key drivers of the U.S. economy. Students come from all over the world to learn at U.S. universities, and their spending contributed $50 billion to U.S. exports last year. Technological advantage is what keeps us ahead of the rest of the world. Highly skilled immigrants contribute much more in taxes than they receive in public benefits. The skills immigrants bring to America can make us all better off. Norm Miller, University of San Diego YES: According to Forbes, the majority of billion-dollar startups were founded by foreigners. I’ve interviewed dozens of data analysts and programmers from Berkeley, UCSD, USD and a few other schools and 75% of them are foreign. There simply are not enough American graduates to fill the AI and data mining related jobs now exploding in the U.S. If we wish to remain a competitive economy, we need highly skilled and bright immigrants to come here and stay. David Ely, San Diego State University YES: Being able to employ highly skilled workers from a larger pool of candidates would strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. companies by increasing their capacity to perform research and innovate. This would boost the country’s economic output. Skilled workers from other nations that cannot remain in the U.S. will find jobs working for foreign rivals. The demand for H-1B visas far exceeds the current cap of 85,000, demonstrating a need to modify this program. Phil Blair, Manpower YES: Every country needs skilled workers, at all levels, to grow its economy. We should take advantage of the opportunity these workers provide our employers who need these skills. It should be blended into our immigration policies allowing for both short and long term visas. Gary London, London Moeder Advisors YES: San Diego is a premiere example of how highly skilled workers from around the globe enrich a community and its regional economy. Of course Visa levels need to be increased. But let’s go further. Tie visas and immigration with a provision that those who are admitted and educated at a U.S. university be incentivized, or even required, to be employed in the U.S. in exchange for their admittance. Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates NO: While attracting high-skilled immigrants can fill critical gaps in sectors like technology, health care and advanced manufacturing, increasing high-skilled immigration could displace American workers and drive down wages in certain industries. There are already many qualified American workers available for some of these jobs. We should balance the need for specialized skills with the impact on the domestic workforce. I believe we can begin to increase the number of visas after a careful review of abuse. Austin Neudecker, Weave Growth YES: We should expand skilled visas to drive innovation and economic growth. Individuals who perform high-skilled work in labor-restricted industries or graduate from respected colleges with relevant degrees should be prioritized for naturalization. We depend on immigration for GDP growth, tax revenue, research, and so much more. Despite the abhorrent rhetoric and curtailing of visas in the first term, I hope the incoming administration can be persuaded to enact positive changes to a clearly flawed system. Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: But it should be based upon need, not politics. There are several industries that have or could have skilled workforce shortages, especially if the next administration tightens immigration as promised and expected. Over the years, there have been nursing shortages that have been met partially by trained and skilled nurses from other countries. The physician shortage is expected to get worse in the years to come. So, this visa program may very well be needed. Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: While skilled immigration could boost our economy and competitiveness, the U.S. should prioritize developing our domestic workforce. Hiring foreign nationals in sensitive industries or government-related work, especially in advanced technology or defense, raises security concerns. A balanced approach could involve targeted increases in non-sensitive high-demand fields coupled with investment in domestic STEM education and training programs. This could address immediate needs while strengthening the long-term STEM capabilities of the American workforce. Not participating this week: Alan Gin, University of San DiegoHaney Hong, San Diego County Taxpayers AssociationRay Major, economist Have an idea for an Econometer question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com . Follow me on Threads: @phillip020
Achyuta Samanta, the founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), felicitated Sunelita Toppo with cash award for winning Gold medal with the Indian Women’s Hockey Team at the 8th Asian Champions Trophy 2024 recently. Achyuta Samanta felicitated Sunelita Toppo on the occasion of the 4th annual convocation of KISS Deemed to be University with a cash award of Rs 2 lakhs for her achievement. Samanta also assured to provide Rs 25,000 monthly scholarship to support Toppo’s nutritious diet and other requirements until she achieves her dream of 2028 Olympic success. Sunelita Toppo is a first-year BA student of KISS institute. She was the only player from Odisha to be included in the Indian Women’s Hockey Team to play the 8th edition of the Asian Champions Trophy. In the final, they defeated China1-0 to be crowned in the Champions Trophy held at Rajgir of Bihar from November 11 to 20. Hockey India also had declared a reward of Rs 3 Lakh each for all players and Rs 1.5 Lakh each for all support staff. As the only player from Odisha, she has made us all proud. Announced a cash award of ₹2 lakhs for this achievement and a ₹25,000 monthly scholarship to support her nutritious diet and other requirements until she achieves her dream of 2028 Olympic success. Best wishes to you! — Achyuta Samanta (@achyuta_samanta)Rich countries' promise of $300 billion a year in climate finance brought fury at talks in Baku from poor nations that found it too paltry, but it also shows a shift in global political realities. The two-week marathon COP29 climate conference opened days after the decisive victory in the US presidential election of Donald Trump, a sceptic both of climate change and foreign aid. In the new year, Germany, Canada and Australia all hold elections in which conservatives less supportive of green policies stand chances of victory. Britain is an exception, with the new Labour government putting climate high back on the agenda, but in much of the West, concerns about inflation and budgetary shocks from Russia's invasion of Ukraine have dented enthusiasm for aggressive climate measures. At COP29, Germany and the European Union maintained their roles championing climate but also advocated a noticeably practical approach on how much money historical polluters should give poorer countries. "We live in a time of truly challenging geopolitics, and we should simply not have the illusion" otherwise, European climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told bleary-eyed delegates at COP29's pre-dawn closing session Sunday, as activists in the back loudly coughed to drown him out. But he vowed leadership by Europe, hailing COP29 as "the start of a new era for climate finance". German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a Green party member and longtime climate advocate, called for flexibility on ways to provide funding. Europe should "live up to its responsibilities, but in a way that it doesn't make promises it can't keep", she said. Avinash Persaud, special advisor on climate change to the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, called the final deal "the boundary between what is politically achievable today in developed countries and what would make a difference in developing countries". Activists say that climate funding is a duty, not choice, for wealthy nations whose decades of greenhouse gas emissions most contributed to the crisis that most hits the poorest. This year is again set to be the hottest on record on the planet. Just since COP29, deadly storms have battered the Philippines and Honduras, and Ecuador declared a national emergency due to drought and forest fires. Wealthy historic emitters' promise of $300 billion a year by 2035 is a step up from an expiring commitment of $100 billion annually, but all sides acknowledge it is not enough. The COP29 agreement cites the need for $1.3 trillion per year, meaning a whopping $1 trillion a year needs to come from elsewhere. Even within the $300 billion commitment, some activists see too much wiggle room. "It is, to some extent, almost an empty promise," said Mariana Paoli, the global advocacy lead at London-based development group Christian Aid. She described the target as "creative accounting", saying there was not enough clarity on how much money would come from public funds and in grants rather than loans. She acknowledged the politics of the moment but said that wealthy nations had options such as taxation on fossil fuel companies. "There is a backlash because there is no political will," she said. In one closely scrutinised part of the Baku deal, countries will be able to count climate finance through international financial institutions toward the $300 billion goal. The text states that it is "voluntary" -- potentially opening the way to include China, which is the world's largest emitter but refuses to have requirements like long-developed countries. In a joint statement at COP29, multilateral development banks led by the Washington-based World Bank Group but also including the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank -- which has long faced US criticism -- expected that they together can provide $120 billion annually in climate financing and mobilise another $65 billion from the private sector by 2030. Melanie Robinson, director of the global climate program at the World Resources Institute, said there were good reasons to rely on multinational development banks, including how much capital they can leverage and their tools to advance green policies. "They are the most effective way to turn each dollar of finance into impact on the ground," she said. She agreed that the $300 billion was insufficient but added, "It's a down payment on what we need." Beyond the debate on dollar figures, she pointed to an initiative within the G20 by Brazil, which holds COP30 next year, to reform financial institutions so as to incorporate debtor nations as well as climate concerns. "There is really a much bigger opportunity for us -- which is shifting the whole financial system," she said. sct/giv
By LINDSEY BAHR Do you have a someone in your life who plays Vulture’s Cinematrix game every morning? Or maybe they have the kitchen television turned to Turner Classic Movies all day and make a point of organizing Oscar polls at work? Hate to break it to you: They might be a hard-to-please cinephile. But while you might not want to get into a winless debate over the “Juror No. 2” release or the merits of “Megalopolis” with said person, they don’t have to be hard to buy gifts for. The Associated Press has gathered up some of the best items out there to keep any movie lover stylish and informed. While Christopher Nolan dreams up his next film, fans can tide themselves over by revisiting his modern classic “Interstellar,” which will be back in IMAX theaters on the weekend of Dec. 6, followed by the home release of a new collector’s edition on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray ($59.95). A third disc in the set, available Dec. 10, contains more than two hours of bonus content, like a never-before-seen storyboard sequence, and new interviews with Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and famous fans Peter Jackson and Denis Villeneuve . Elaine May does not give interviews anymore. But thankfully that didn’t deter writer Carrie Courogen, who did a remarkable job stitching together the life of one of our culture’s most fascinating, and prickly, talents. “Miss May Does Not Exist” is full of delightful anecdotes about the sharp and satirical comedian who gained fame as one half of Nichols and May and went on to direct films like “The Heartbreak Kid” and “Mikey and Nicky.” Courogen writes about May’s successes, flops and her legendary scuffles with the Hollywood establishment. It’s a vital companion to Mark Harris’ biography of Mike Nichols . Macmillan. $30. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has an exclusive new “Matrix” sweatshirt for sale in conjunction with its Cyberpunk exhibition. Brain Dead Studios designed and created several items, including the black hoodie ($140), a white rabbit tee ($54) and a pint glass ($18). If you can’t make it to Los Angeles to check out the “Color in Motion” exhibit for yourself, the Academy Museum also has a beautiful new companion book for sale ($55) charting the development of color technology in film and its impact. It includes photos from films like “The Red Shoes,” “Vertigo,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and images of rare prints from the silent era. The Academy Museum Store is having a sale (20% off everything) from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2. Related Articles Things To Do | US airports with worst weather delays during holiday season Things To Do | The right book can inspire the young readers in your life, from picture books to YA novels Things To Do | These holiday gifts change the game when building fires, printing photos, watching birds and more Things To Do | ‘Gladiator II’ review: Are you not moderately entertained? Things To Do | Beer pairings for your holiday feasts Want to look like a real film festival warrior, the kind who sees five movies a day, files a review and still manages to make the late-night karaoke party? You’re going to need the ultimate status tote from the independent streaming service MUBI . Simple, to-the-point and only for people in the know. $25. Film magazines may be an endangered species, but print is not dead at The Metrograph . Manhattan’s coolest movie theater is starting a biannual print publication “for cinephiles and cultural connoisseurs alike.” The first issue’s cover art is by cinematographer Ed Lachman (“Carol”), and contributors include the likes of Daniel Clowes, Ari Aster, Steve Martin and Simon Rex. There’s also a conversation with Clint Eastwood. It’s currently available for pre-order and will be in bookstores Dec. 10 for $25 ($15 for Metrograph members). This is not a book about filmmaking styles, camera angles and leadership choices. It’s literally about what directors wear. “How Directors Dress: On Set, in the Edit, and Down the Red Carpet” ($40) has over 200 archival photos of filmmakers in action: Spike Lee in his basketball caps, Sofia Coppola in her Charvet button-ups, Steven Spielberg’s denim on denim and many more. With a forward by the always elegant Joanna Hogg and writing from some of the top fashion journalists, it’s a beautiful look at how filmmakers really dress for work — and might even be a source of inspiration.Climate finance's 'new era' shows new political realities
‘Merry MAGA Christmas’: Trump’s Incoming Press Secretary Shows Off Giant Seasonal ‘Ginger Donald’ Cookie
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I'm a computer scientist and a bad Christmas shopper. Over the weekend, I wondered whether AI systems might be able to help me out. Could I just prompt ChatGPT to pick a personalized for my cousin Johnny and have it shipped in time to reach him? Alas, the cheerful chatbot couldn't help, telling me it "can't make purchases or handle shipping directly." In the two years since ChatGPT launched, we have seen wave after wave of AI products and features promising to save us from mundane tasks. Yet so far, gift shopping is beyond them—apart from the odd built-in chatbot on a shopping site or app. However, things may be different by next Christmas. One thing many experts expect in 2025 is the rise of AI agents: bots that can take actions on your behalf in the real world. Agents are already here An AI agent can do more than just suggest where you can get a Santa suit. It can buy it for you and have it delivered to your door. And the vision for "agentic AI" is that teams of AI agents will work together. You would give your team of agents a prompt: "I'm cooking Christmas dinner this year. Find my closest Facebook friends, send them invites, make sure one of them is a chef and tell them to bring the turkey." The agents would sort it all, without you ever having to lift a finger. Crucially, AI agents should have the ability to coordinate across multiple websites. In fact, limited AI agents are already here. A by AI developer Langchain claims 51% of respondents to its survey already use AI agents in production. In 2024, venture funds invested in AI agent projects. Deloitte's latest argues 25% of companies that use generative AI will launch agentic AI projects in 2025. Research firm Gartner that by 2028, 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made by AI agents. Agents for everybody? We are also seeing agents for consumers beginning to emerge. These are systems that could potentially automate many browser-based tasks (including shopping). In October, Anthropic—the company behind the popular Claude generative AI bot—released a " " feature that allows the AI to take over a user's mouse and keyboard to browse and take actions on any website. Education expert Leon Furze created a to automatically browse to a learning management system, open the page for an assignment, create text for the assignment, and click the submit button. All done automatically from a single text prompt. More recently, Google Deepmind released its own version, , which similarly allows an AI to autonomously navigate and carry out actions in the Chrome browser. Both these systems are still early versions, with Project Mariner only available to a trusted set of testers. But they hint at what's to come. You can't use either of these tools today to automate your Christmas shopping—at least, not easily. So what would be needed to make a truly useful Christmas shopping AI agent? The technology exists The technology side of a shopping agent is relatively straightforward. As a user, I might want to give a prompt such as "Send photo gifts to my family in England. Select some fun family photos from my phone, search for a website that does photo gifts, order appropriate gifts for each family member, and send using my address book." Executing this would require multiple AI agents: one to find the photos, one to find the shopping sites, one to personalize the gifts, a credit card agent to buy them, and an address-finding agent. Whether through computer use, Project Mariner, or some other AI agent platform, there is no technological reason why this can't be done today. The trust problem However, there are two significant barriers to making AI agents useful. First, and most obvious, is trust. Would you trust an AI agent with your credit card details? Despite two years of advances in AI since ChatGPT, hallucinations—where the AI doesn't know an answer and so simply makes something up—are still a problem. A showed that even in AI programming—one of the most popular and valuable uses of AI—52% of AI-generated answers to coding questions contained errors. It only takes one error from the AI to send Aunty Molly's gift to Uncle Joe. And let's just hope it's a harmless error such as poor gift matching, not leaking your bank account details. What agents need to know The second and less obvious barrier is that for AI agents to be useful, they need to understand context. Even with something relatively simple like buying gifts, context is everything. I have years of knowledge about what my mother likes. I won't always get it right, but I'll do a lot better than a generic AI response. This knowledge is usually tacit and there's simply no way ChatGPT can have access to the rich history of human interactions that lead to that perfect gift. Having said that, AI bots are already recording information about their users. To prove this, just ask ChatGPT, "What do you know about me?" Depending on your settings, you might be surprised by the answer. Perhaps at some point the AI systems we use regularly will know enough about us and our family that Christmas shopping can be fully automated. This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .