this week, nick's getting into his trunks to find out what a phone can do for a forest. now i've just completed another survey injust under a minute. we'll find out what lara's thinking as she immerses herself in culture. i know what i'm looking at now, but how do i feel? and less than two years after ai took up art, is it ready for hollywood? spencer's getting his big trailer voice ready. the ai will listen to the audio... deep trailer voice: ..and generate me a new one. jazz music plays this is the tinpot jazz orchestra. it lasts less than a minute, but it is a charming, glitchy, cartoon—like production created using generative ai video tools. now, this means that the characters weren't designed by illustrators and animators. instead, they were described in english to an ai, which then created them itself. the film was made by william bartlett, who's a creative director from visual effects house framestore, and who, like a lot of generative ai creators at the moment, put it together in his spare time. it started off life as a test. and i wanted to do a test that was more elaborate than just a couple of shots. i wanted to try and string together something which had a bit of narrative to try and drive the kind of ambition of the shots. will actually had to use different generative ai tools for different parts of the process. first, he asked midjourney to come up with some still images of the kind of characters that he wanted. and so i might describe a sort of vintage tin robot playing a trumpet, for example, and then you get a kind of set of images to choose from that you might or might not like. and the great thing is that it takes about a minute to arrive. then he needed to get things moving, so will fed his chosen still images into another ai tool called pika and described the type of things that he wanted the characters to do. now, this sounds completely magical, doesn't it? it sounds like ai is ready to replace human illustrators and animators, but actually this seems to be a completely different creative workflow. the big advantage of the new ai tools is just the speed. it's incredibly quick to be able to build things and put scenes together. this little film took about a week to do, in and around doing some other kind of bits and pieces. the limitations are, of course, the control. and so of course it's very quick to kind of go, "oh, maybe i'll do it again and do it again." so you carry on looking. but if you get one and you go, "oh, i like everything about it, "but i just want to adjust this bit, or i'd just like the trumpet to be "a bit longer or i want it to be silver," it becomes difficult to control those kind of details. now, it's important to remember always when you're dealing with this kind of stuff, that the ai doesn't understand what it's drawing. and actually that's what gives it its unique, quirky animation style. you can see in that robot there, the controls on the front, all the buttons are rippling and glitching. yeah. it can't keep them consistent over the number of frames you've animated it. so thatjust seems to be part of the thing where it doesn't necessarily understand what needs to stay the same in the animation. funnily enough, actually, there's a moment where the girl robot spins her head around, and that was something that itjust did serendipitously. i didn't ask for that, and itjust did it. i mean, it's one of the interesting things about this, the sort of serendipitous nature of it giving you something unexpected, which is also part of the creative process. and actually, you don't ask actors to perform precisely as you want them to perform. you give them the context and then you let them bring something to it, and then you choose the take you like. and so, in a way, some of the ai tools, there's something similar about that. ringing right on cue. this field is evolving fast. i mean, really fast. and it is now possible to control the animation so you're notjust a slave to the random machinations of the machine. i understand. this is cold call, a short film made by ryan phillips in his spare time. would you believe his dayjob is directing bbc news programmes? he's showing me the latest features of midjourney and pika. "man on street... ..on windy day." here, he's bringing a still image to life by explaining to the ai that things should blow about in the wind and also highlighting more precisely how he wants the man's head to move. the results, i have to say, are very acceptable. you can also expand the scene simply by asking for more parts of the street, and you can even add some sunglasses just for good measure. i mean, to be honest, that could be a duran duran video. it could be. give me a couple of hours and i can make it a duran duran video. the real development here is the way that traditional movie—making skills like cgi and animation are being de—skilled. techniques that previously would've required lots of work can now be achieved simply by describing in english what you want to happen. if you wanted to change my voice the ai will listen to the audio... deep voice: ..and generate me a new one while matching the emotion. and if you wanted to change the look of the whole scene, simply describe what you want and the ai will recognise all the objects and people in the shot and work out what it can change them to. and of course, you can alsojust turn me into someone else. the fact that this is so much easier to do now is really important, because in 2024 so many countries around the world will be having elections. and that means we're all going to have to somehow try and work out which images we see are real and which ones are not. do you think we're going to see a lot of fake footage out there that might influence elections? yeah. i'm sure that there will be attempts to influence people. but i'd advise people at this stage to start using things like our own service, bbc verify, to check information and make sure it's correct. we are increasingly influenced by the videos of real events that we see online and on tv. we're moved to help those in need and we're angered by those who cause harm. but as the line between what's real and what's not blurs, will we become too sceptical or too gullible? will we care more or will we stop caring at all? that was incredible. and as you say, it's all about evoking a response. but how differently do you think people feel when they know something's been created by an ai rather than a person? it is a good question, because you would think people would feel differently when they knew they were looking at genuine events. but then, thinking about it, plenty of art makes us feel very strongly, doesn't it? and we know that that's fake imagery. yeah. so how about the idea of being able to measure how art makes us feel? the v&a, london — home to 145 galleries of works from across the globe, spanning 5,000 years of art. museums like this are always looking at new ways to engage audiences. one idea here — to see how our brains react to what we're seeing. we often talk about how art makes us feel or what it gets us thinking about. well, today it's time for a way of quantifying that. so, we'rejust going to put this on your head here. 0k. itjust goes behind your ears. this muse headset, which would more commonly be used as a meditation device, has been repurposed to translate brain activity into a real—time 3d visualisation. and this has four eeg sensors? that's right. four sensors that are on yourforehead picking up the electromagnetic activity off your brain. 0k. and what does that mean it's going to learn from me? it's going to take this raw data right off your headset. our set—up processes it in lots of different ways, which kind of indicate sort of what your brain's doing when you're looking at the art. when the brain recognises something in the visual input, for example, a face or an object like a tool or anything like that, there are certain signatures in the signal that we can pick up. and what art fund and the mill have done is use these signals, or recognise these signals in a dynamic way when the person's wearing the headset to display them in that visualisation, in 3d form, dynamically while the person is engaging with art. i've onlyjust identified that there's women dancing there. it aims to show that art isn't a passive experience. what we wanted to show people . was that, when you go to a gallery or a museum and you see things that you recognise or that _ are challenging or inspiring or create joy in you, - that actually it absolutely has an effect on your brain. - interesting. i know what i'm looking at now, but how do i feel? do i like it? does it make me feel happy? sad? i'm not sure that i feel that much, apart from satisfaction that i finally recognised that they're dancers. i guess i'll find out. let's move on to something livelier. how about this one? there's a lot of green. there's a lot to think about here, a lot of detail, looking at the painting of the hands. hands are definitely hard to do. and the book, with the writing that's blurred. the plants... there's a lot going on, but it's very clear what everything is. there's no great moment of revelation like there was in the last one. feels kind of more upbeat. in reality, when you look at the picture, you try and think of all the sensible things but then you get distracted. her nails look like they were painted, but they couldn't have been. how does that affect what this is reading? well, let's find out what it did discover. well, this all looks very pretty, but what does it actually represent? what you can see here is what we call corkscrewing. and you can see the ribbons are starting to kind of twist over each other and twist and bend. and that's due to sort of problem solving — you trying to make sense of what you're seeing. this was when i was looking at the degas. things seem to have got a little bit more excitable at this point. what does that mean? yeah, these golden highlights that are coming in are something that we've put into the system, and they're triggered by recognition, when you see something that you recognise. ah, that'll be the point that i saw the ladies for the first time, that looked like a blur initially. could be. and then some other things are happening. like we've isolated the beta range in your brainwave spectrum, and that's what's making the ribbons get fatter. and then we've got two... and what does that mean? he chuckles probably means you're concentrating. it's sort of... the beta range in your... ..in the brainwave spectrum is conscious thought. right, the second picture had a very different feel to it, but what i'm looking at here doesn't look that dissimilar. i can agree. it does look a little bit the same. but what we're not seeing is lots of weaving and sort of corkscrewing. what we're seeing is just nice up and down patterns. occasionally some gold highlights. i think in general what i'd say is you looked at this painting and it didn't feel unfamiliar to you or odd. you looked at it and you were quite comfortable with it. it was clear what it was of. yeah, exactly. you probably... you may have seen it before as well. what have you learned so far from people using this? the biggest variation is from one person to another — huge differences between the way one person takes in a piece of art and another, particularly people, um... ..neurodiverse people. people with things like adhd have a very different reaction to art. they spend a lot more time kind of reassessing the image and that stuff. we learned that as we were doing our tests. i suppose, as somebody who's not hugely into art, i was pleasantly surprised by how much i seemingly did feel. we know that all types of visual art, for example, will engage the brain in a very similar way, and that's to engage the visual sensory part of the brain. these are signals that the brain is experiencing pretty much the entire time when we're experiencing the world around us. but in the context of art experience, i would say it goes a little further, in the sense that we're also interested...in this context, in things like the emotional state of the person and maybe inducing some positive experience in the person. although it's early days, maybe this research could ultimately prove that art is actually good for you. i'm paul carter and it's time for a look at this week's tech news. nasa has streamed an ultra—hd video of a cat back to earth from deep space — some 19 million miles away. the 15—second clip of taters the cat was sent via laser and shows it chasing the beam. scientists hope the tech will improve communications with remote parts of the solar system. phone companies have stopped making elderly people switch to digital telephone line, over concerns that personal emergency alarms may stop working as a result. digital phone lines have been replacing copper wiring in the uk, but they're not always reliable during power cuts. google�*s parent company, alphabet, will pay $700 million and revamp its app store to allow for greater competition. it's part of an anti—trust settlement with us states and consumers. google was accused of overcharging customers for apps, but the company admitted no wrongdoing. and finally, streaming platform twitch has been forced to u—turn on its policy on sexual content because it led to a flood of ai—generated nudity. this week, it had announced that more adult content was to be allowed — as long as it was deemed artistic. 0k. we're going to talk trees now. not the one in me lounge covered in baubles. no, i mean the many millions of brilliant big old trees that have been around for longer than any of us. now, there are people who dedicate their lives to protecting them. it's not always easy to keep them healthy or unharmed. so nick kwek has been to oxfordshire to find out how technology may be able to help. the birthplace of sir winston churchill, blenheim palace has housed nobility and culturally important figures for centuries. but its sprawling grounds — some 12,000 acres — is also the address for other very special residents. and here in hyde park is home to the largest collection of ancient oaks in europe, and the estate managers are keen to conserve them. what can these old trees tell us about notjust the past, but the future? you are going to feel something from being in here today that i you'll never, ever forget. i've been granted rare unrestricted access to this unesco world heritage site to see the various technologies being developed as part of a state—of—the—art digital survey of trees, some as old as a millennium. i have a very weird and wonderful title, which is head of innovation, which is very unusual for a heritage site. i can take my technology experience and come out... ..yeah, and effectively play around in these spaces, which is really, really good. david and co have created an artificially intelligent mobile app to record the forest, which uses computer vision to automatically identify species. i can come over here and i take a picture. | it's, um. . .xylaria hypoxylon. ok, so i've got 98% probability. i have a date stamp on it, i it'll have the exact location of where we found it... because the phone knows that that's where we are? that's. .. yeah. that's where we are. and then i can also add further pictures into the database. - it becomes a legacy — - somebody can actually search for it and they can say, "ah, you know, nick. "was here, certain time..." they're recording climate data, too, like weather, precipitation and also soil information. so, here, what we're looking at is all of the biodiversity that's been recorded over a previous period, and it allows us to start monitoring biodiversity change. what we can learn from these ancient woodlands can actually pass down to new trees, new plantation. hopefully we can encourage more and more to survive. so the tree is very much alive and standing. - for filipe, it's been a game changer. i can come back at any point and i get... - my tree comes straight over here. i can then say, "ah, we found some more epiphytes, some dieback. - "ah, and we've discovered some bees living in here now?�* _ and now i've just completed another survey injust under a minute. - can i ask you a question? do you like trees? i love trees. i love nature. these are really rare. i mean, only 7% of the uk's13% woodland is in a good state. - the fact that we've actually got one or two, even three — _ these are diamonds. they're so precious. the estate serves as a living laboratory for academic researchers. there's three cameras on this device. you can see it there. hello! say hi to the camera. hi! they're digitally mapping the woods in 3d, using lidar scanners that they've placed on the back of legged robots and drones — and, today, on lintong's back. we want an overview of the whole forest because, say, you want your most prominent trees to grow better, so you might have to measure the diameter, right? that's what we need this 3d model of them for. and their system, they say, is pretty precise. let's say 100 metre, it will still give you sort of maybe a couple centimetre accuracy. yeah? to help forestry management to make decisions about... branch clacks on camera ..let�*s say... oop! careful! ijust got caught on a little bit of twig. yeah, it happens. of course, this isn'tjust about trees, but their vital role in our wider ecosystem. in here, you can have over 2,000 species dependent on an oak. - over 200 directly, specifically involved in an oak. _ time to see what all the fuss is about. oh, my goodness me. there it is! isn't that a beauty? nick gasps it really is such a magical, beautiful thing to be standing in the presence of something that's alive and over 1,000 years old. it makes you think about the importance that technology can play here in helping keep this thing for future generations to enjoy. that was nick, and that's nearly it from us and 2023 as a whole. yeah, what a year it's been. thank you so much for being with us over the last 12 months. we'll be back in the new year. but in the meantime, we thought we'd leave you with a quick whizz through our favourite bits from �*23. thanks for watching and we'll have more in 202a. british military training adapts to new threats all of the time. this might look like a mannequin that's been repurposed as a target, but this target shoots back. ugh, the stench! that is absolutely overwhelming. this might look like i your average cockpit. this is where the technology is all being tested to make l their flights safer. this is actually a floating solar farm, and it can generate enough electricity to power 1,500 homes. this is no ordinary ferry, because this ferry... ..can fly. there's one obstaclel almost all wheelchair users dread — the beach. it is the world's only hands—free self—balancing chair. lean in the direction that you choose, and that's the direction you'll go. nice! i've done something new today that i never thought that i would do. - put the camera on him. no, don't look at me! who's the cameraman going to listen to? you're listening to him? i'm going to stop talking! they laugh in this building, they are making the rarest and most expensive material in the known universe. anti—matter! now onto something heavier, just because i can. i feel like i'm half—robot. and now i'm going to pick up a robotic vacuum. oh, that's the future. this is sport, pushing innovation in electric vehicles to the limit. racing fast takes its toll on the drivers. with overcoming sleep deprivation and improving reaction times in mind, nissan have embarked on a two—year research project delving deep into their drivers' brains. pat your head, rub your stomach. 9-8-1-5-4-3. 3-4-5-1-8-9. fantastic! ah—ha—ha! any last—minute advice? drive fast. it is a fundamental law of the universe that nearly everything looks better in slow—mo. something that the slow mo guys have been proving since 2010. three, two, one, go! their 1a million youtube subscribers regularly watch gav and dan slow things down as they blow things up. sojust to be clear, _ this is an actual part of the craft that's going to space? exactly. this is real space hardware going to space end of next year. that's amazing. i won't touch it because i'm sure it's very expensive, _ but that is phenomenal. robotic voice: they say | the presenter of bbc click is an expert on all things tech and ai related. i can only assume they must be a robot like me. laughter happy christmas. hope you're having a jolly time with everyone, or you mightjust be relaxing on your own. the forecast, then, for the rest of christmas day and for boxing day. well, this evening, there's still some rain around, but later on tonight, the skies are expected to clear. and boxing day is looking promising with sunshine on the way. but it remains mild, and the mild air is as a result of this south—westerly air stream. here's that weather front, the conveyor belt of cloud that has been bringing all the wet weather. well, later tonight, that weather front moves away to the east. still some showers, though, left over in the north, but essentially speaking, it's mostly clear skies. now the temperatures, despite the clear skies, won't be all that low — around about three degrees in the lowlands of scotland, five for birmingham and about seven in plymouth. a little bit colder there in the highlands. so we start the day on a bright, if not sunny note, beautiful weather, perfect weather for a walk in the park. however, the skies will turn cloudy in the southwest of the country, in fact, very quickly from morning onwards, hazy skies for wales and the midlands, and then rain is expected early in the afternoon across the south—west, and it should reach the south of wales by the latter part of the afternoon, and certainly by the evening hours, moving further northwards. but to the north, it should stay clear. now the forecast, then, tuesday night into wednesday, shows the weather fronts sweeping across the uk. it's a large area of low pressure, with a broad band of rain, a broad band of gale force winds around southern coasts, west and east and northern coasts too. temporarily some transient snow there, perhaps across the pennines, but most certainly across the highlands. in fact, above 200 metres, we could see ten to 15 centimetres of snow. so a really rough day for some of us on wednesday, and quite a temperature contrast. around freezing also with that wintry weather in the highlands, at least for a time. to the south of that, temperatures are in double figures on wednesday. now the low pressure bringing this unsettled weather will continue into thursday. in fact, it's a very large area of low pressure, stretching from the north atlantic across the uk, all the way towards the baltic, and more weather fronts running along there, with strong winds. so here's the outlook, then, that takes us into 202a. it's an unsettled picture. briefly, a lull in the weather, with something a little bit colder on saturday, but then more wind and rain. live from london, this is bbc news. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu warns the fighting in gaza will deepen in the coming days. gaza's health ministry says over 250 people were killed in the last 2a hours, including 70 in a blast targeting the maghazi refugee camp. king charles uses his annual christmas broadcast to emphasise the importance of "universal" values shared between major religions, at what he calls a time of "increasingly tragic conflict around the world". russia's leading opposition figure, alexei navalny, has been found to be held in a penal colony in siberia. hello i'm lewis vaughanjones israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the military will "deepen" its fight against hamas in the coming days. these pictures released by the israeli government show him on a rare visit to israeli troops in gaza — he later told members of his party that israel's military campaign there was "not close to being over". his comments come days after the us secretary of state said israel should lower the intensity of its strikes. these images show the aftermath of an air strike on the al—maghazi refugee camp