IKEA launches home sensors, Amazon opens ‘second chance’ shop

IKEA wants to make your smart home even smarter with the addition of a trio of new sensors. Called the Parasoll, Vallhorn and Badring (which Ring is surely smarting about), the sensors are designed to detect motion and pick up on issues like water leaks… Parasoll (€9.99, around $11 / £9 / AU$17) is a sensor that’s mounted on a door or window to detect when it’s opened. Then there’s the Vallhorn (€7.99, around $9 / £7 / AU$13) which is a traditional (wireless) motion sensor. Finally, Badring (€9.99, around $11 / £9 / AU$17) is the water leakage sensor. Tech Radar 

Men of the cloth have persevered for millennia, surviving the separation of church and state, the industrial revolution and multiple world wars. Yet vicars and priests are now under threat from a very modern scourge: chatbots. Jobs in the clergy are among the most exposed to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a government report. A Department for Education study examining the impact of systems such as ChatGPT on the jobs market has concluded that the religiously ordained are in the top 20 professions most likely to be affected by AI. Telegraph 

Today sees Amazon open the Second Chance Store, giving festive shoppers the chance to buy quality returned products in-person, for the first time. Customers can shop more conscientiously while benefiting from up to 50% in savings compared to recommended retail prices, claims the retailer.  The new shop is located in Central London and features deals on a wide range of returned products.  The Second Chance Store by Amazon is open for the next two weeks in partnership with one of the UK’s leading children’s charities, Barnardo’s, with all proceeds supporting their work with children and young people. Tech Digest 

Elon Musk fears Tesla is ‘digging its own grave’ with polarizing pickup Cybertruck – with some experts claiming it would be cheaper for the company to cancel production of the stainless steel vehicle altogether. The first Cybertrucks are set to make their official launch next week, years after the unconventionally-shaped vehicle was unveiled in 2019 and initially scheduled to be delivered by 2021. CEO of Tesla, Musk, blamed production delays on the price of batteries and the decision to clad the futuristic looking truck in stainless steel alloy. Daily Mail 

A team of machine learning researchers from Google’s DeepMind claim to have demonstrated that AI can acquire skills in a process analogous to social learning in humans and other animals. Social learning, where one individual acquires skills and knowledge from another by copying, is vital to the process of development in humans and much of the animal kingdom. The Deepmind team claim to be the first to demonstrate the process in artificial intelligence. The Register 

Uber is opening up its ride-hailing app to black-cab drivers in the new year, in what it has dubbed a “partnership” with hackney carriage drivers. However, the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), which represents more than 10,000 members, said it was not consulted ahead of Uber’s “unilateral announcement”. The LTDA’s Steve McNamara said joining Uber would be “sullying” the trade. But Uber said a “small number” of cab drivers had already signed up. A spokesman for the US-based business added it hoped to recruit “several hundred” by January. BBC 

Critics of Serbia’s nationalist government who have documented the country’s endemic corruption were targeted with military-grade spyware earlier this year, according to new findings by security researchers. The attempted hacking of two Serbian pro-democracy activists – who have asked not to be named to protect their safety – was ultimately not successful because both individuals’ Apple iPhones had been updated with the latest iOS software, which the researchers said protected the devices from being infiltrated. The Guardian