NEWS YOU CAN’T MISS

MIT’s New Students: The Navy ⚓

MIT is launching a new program with a clear mission: train the next generation of US Navy leaders to understand and use AI in real military operations.

Modern militaries already rely on AI - during missions, officers must sort through huge amounts of data and make critical decisions in seconds. Navies use AI to spot threats at sea, guide autonomous drones, predict equipment failures, and support high-pressure decision-making.

The challenge now is making sure leaders understand how these systems work, where they help, and where they can create risk. MIT’s new program (called Applied AI for Naval Officers) is designed to do exactly that.

Here’s how it works:

• Officers spend two years earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering

• At the same time, they complete an MIT-issued certificate in applied AI

• Their coursework covers real Navy problems: analyzing patterns on the battlefield, coordinating autonomous vessels, and using AI to support split-second decisions.

MIT is a natural home for this. The Navy’s ship-design program at MIT is more than 120 years old, and the Institute has long been a hub for marine robotics, sensing systems, and fluid mechanics. The new curriculum builds on that legacy.

The program was created after a visit from Admiral Samuel Paparo, who saw MIT’s AI research and asked for something focused on the Navy’s emerging needs.

Falling for the “Hello?” Scam?

Malaysia’s police are warning about the new “silent call” scam.

Scammers say absolutely nothing, wait for you to give your best confused “hellooo??” performance, and use those few seconds to build an AI clone of your voice.

With that clone, they can call your parents, fake an emergency, and convince them you’re trapped somewhere. 😬

Most of us pick unknown calls with a friendly greeting or a suspicious “who’s this?” Police suggest treating unknown calls like a mystery scene - stay quiet, listen closely, and let the real humans reveal themselves first.

Meet Eline van der Velden, Creator of Tilly Norwood

Celebrating this week’s Woman in Tech 🥳: Meet Eline van der Velden - the creator behind Tilly Norwood, an AI “actress” that’s shaking up film and TV.

Tilly Norwood walks red carpets, stars in campaigns, and looks like a rising young actor - except she isn’t real. She’s an AI character designed to act in films without ever stepping on set, and she’s one of the most talked-about experiments in entertainment right now.

Eline van der Velden grew up in Curaçao, studied musical theatre in the UK, then earned a physics degree from Imperial College London.

She first broke through with “Miss Holland,” a satirical character that went viral. Working inside traditional TV, Eline saw how rigid and expensive production had become.

So she founded Particle6, an AI production company that builds shows, digital series, and campaigns by combining human creativity with AI tools. Tilly Norwood is one of its boldest ideas: a fully synthetic “actress” with a backstory, personality, and screen presence.

Tilly’s launch sparked fierce debate - for Eline, that tension is the point. She says she’s trying to force the industry to confront how storytelling, tech, and power are changing.