Christian Ilbury, senior lecturer in sociolinguistics at the University of Edinburgh, said many of the new words are tied to social media platforms like TikTok because that is how most young people communicate. (Doye, AP News)
Read MoreChatbot psychosis is a new and poorly understood phenomenon. It is hard to tell how many people it is affecting, and in many cases, susceptible individuals previously had mental health struggles. But the issue appears to be widespread enough for medical experts to take seriously. (Titcomb & Field, The Telegraph)
Read MoreAmerica’s seniors, who have lived through leaps in technology like the advent of personal computers and the internet, are now confronting the dizzying advance of generative artificial intelligence. Some are just catching up to the smartphone era. Now they must also learn to navigate an online world increasingly shaped by AI. (Wu, The Washington Post)
Read MoreAbout two-thirds of American adults – 64 percent – say they are Christian, but of those only 55 percent attend church, ABS said Aug. 14 in releasing its fifth chapter of the study. In its fifth chapter, ABS polled church attendees to determine levels of church engagement, viewed as involvement in the life, mission and community of a local church. (Chandler, Baptist Press)
Read MoreA belief in God has doubled among young people in the past four years.
More than one third of 18 to 24-year-olds now believe in a supernatural deity, up from just 16 per cent in 2021. The YouGov survey findings also reveal that atheism – the belief of no God – has fallen in the same age group from 49 per cent in August 2021 to 32 per cent. (Sigsworth, The Telegraph)
Read MoreWHILE young people may demonstrate high levels of interest and openness to spirituality, those working with them advise against assuming that this will map easily on to Christian teaching. While some insist that young people are longing for a “full-fat”, demanding faith, research conducted among those not currently in church paints a more complex picture. (Davies, Church Times)
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