The Week That Was: IT and Media news week 10

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 09/03/2025

Using artificial intelligence in health care and mental wellbeing can be positive but greater transparency is needed. AI can translate complex medical information into patient friendly language. Used for mental healthcare, AI companions may offer temporary relief but could deepen feelings of isolation if they replace human-to-human interactions, according to a report published by The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI).

Only 27% of the 171 top editors across 240 online news brands are women despite that, on average, 40% of journalists in the 12 markets are women. This is a small increase from 2024, when the figure was 24% across the same markets, according to a survey released prior to International Women’s Day by Reuters Institute. Among 32 new top editors appointed this year and last, 11 (34%) are women.

Among YouTube news influencers, 68% are men and only 28% are women. And a slightly larger share explicitly express a right-leaning political orientation (28%) than a left-leaning one (21%). Another 46% don’t express any clear political orientation, according to data from Pew Research Centre. And the news consumption differs by gender. News consumers on YouTube are more likely to be men than women (57% versus. 42%).

“By bridging the gender gap in accessing and shaping science and technology, we clear the remaining bottlenecks to equal opportunities and create technology that serves more people and the planet”, UN Women says prior to International Women’s Day celebrated on March 8. But background to the celebrations could have been more optimistic. With current rate of development, global gender balance will be reached in 2158, according to World Economic Forum. One of Donald Trump’s first actions back in the US presidential office was to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion policies and a number of big companies have followed his guideline downgrading DEI ambitions.