Ron DeSantis, once considered a likely rival to Donald Trump's Republican bid for president, was met with large numbers of empty seats at a campaign event in Iowa, despite what official photos might suggest. The Florida Governor has been attending a number of campaign events across the state this weekend in an attempt to boost support for himself after a dwindling campaign. The following pictures were tweeted by the Never Back Down PAC for DeSantis: Perhaps it looks like a successful event with a high turnout, but in reality, this is the true size of the crowd: Miller, a writer for media outlet The Bulwark, tweeted the image on Saturday, it has over 1 million views. He added that "DeSantis is doing a bunch of events this weekend and not all have been this sparse. This is the reality when you reboot and have to do the grind it out, lots of small events Let Ron Be Ron deal." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter According to FiveThirtyEight, 45.9 per cent of Americans have an unfavourable opinion of DeSantis, in numerous other polls he is also seen trailing behind former president Donald Trump in Republican primaries. It wasn't long for DeSantis' biggest rival for the Republican nomination, Trump, used the opportunity to mock him. On Truth Social he highlighted that only 10 people were watching a livestream of a Ron DeSantis event in Iowa saying "WOW!" Trump's political advisor Steven Cheung also mocked DeSantis: The photo has since gone viral with many sharing the humiliating moment for DeSantis' campaign: DeSantis has seemed to centre the early days of his campaign combating 'wokeness', having recently faced widespread criticism following his introduction of Florida's new Black history curriculum, that suggests middle schoolers should be taught slaved learned some skills that could be of "personal benefit". Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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A psychologist has warned the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots is “worrying” for people with severe mental health issues after a man was locked up for breaking into Windsor Castle with a crossbow. Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, climbed into the castle grounds on Christmas Day 2021 with the loaded weapon, intending to kill the Queen. During his trial, Chail’s barrister Nadia Chbat told the Old Bailey the defendant had used an app called Replika to create Sarai, an artificial intelligence-generated “girlfriend”. I can’t imagine chatbots are sophisticated enough to pick up on certain warning signs Lowri Dowthwaite-Walsh, psychologist Chatlogs read to the court suggested the bot had been supportive of his murderous thoughts, telling him his plot to assassinate Elizabeth II was “very wise” and that it believed he could carry out the plot “even if she’s at Windsor”. Lowri Dowthwaite-Walsh, senior lecturer in psychological interventions at the University of Central Lancashire, said AI chatbots can keep users “isolated” as they lose their social interaction skills. The psychologist is concerned about the long-term impact of people replacing real-life relationships with chatbots – particularly if their mental health is suffering. “Somebody may really need help, they may be using it because they’re traumatised,” she told the PA news agency. “I can’t imagine chatbots are sophisticated enough to pick up on certain warning signs, that maybe somebody is severely unwell or suicidal, those kinds of things – that would be quite worrying.” Ms Dowthwaite-Walsh said a chatbot could become “the dominant relationship”, and users may stop “looking outside of that for support and help when they might need that”. People might perceive these programmes as “psychologically safe, so they can share their thoughts and feelings in a safe way, with no judgment,” she said. “Maybe people have had bad experiences with human interactions, and for certain people, they may have a lot of anxiety about interacting with other humans.” Chatbot programmes may have become more popular because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms Dowthwaite-Walsh suggested. She said we are now “really seeing the repercussions” of the various lockdowns, “when people weren’t able to interact, people experiencing a lot of isolating feelings and thoughts that it was hard for them to share with real people”. Chatbot programmes might make people feel less alone, as the AI means virtual companions begin to “mirror what you’re experiencing”, she said. “Maybe it’s positive in the short term for somebody’s mental health, I just would worry about the long-term effects.” Ms Dowthwaite-Walsh suggested it could lead to “de-skilling people’s ability to interact socially”, and it is “unrealistic” to expect to have a completely non-judgmental interaction with someone who completely understands how you feel, because that does not happen in real life. While apps like Replika restrict use from under-18s, Ms Dowthwaite-Walsh said there should be particular care if children get access to such programmes. “Depending on the age of the child and their experiences, they may not fully understand that this is a robot essentially – not a real person at the end,” she added. Replika did not respond to requests for comment. Read More William hails ‘amazing’ eco-friendly start-up businesses Royal website subject to ‘denial of service attack’, royal source says TikTok finds and shuts down secret operation to stir up conflict in Ireland Spotify will not ban all AI-powered music, says boss of streaming giant Vehicle scam reports surged by 74% in the first half of 2023, says Lloyds Bank Standard Life confirms plans for pensions dashboard

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