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AI saves you eight hours of work a week. As long as you’re the boss and you don’t have to use it yourself

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The AI ​​that was going to change everything and revolutionize our work He doesn’t seem to be doing any of that at the moment. What there is is a great polarization between those who believe in that promise and between those They do not see it at all clearly or they fear it. And if there is a place where this love-hate for AI is palpable, it is in companies, where CEOs see things in one way and employees in a quite different way. what has happened. The consulting company Section has conducted a survey of 5,000 workers and managers in US companies with a fundamental question: How many hours of work per week is AI saving you? Survey results, displayed in The Wall Street Journalsay a lot about the vision of CEOs and employees about the impact of AI tools. Source: WSJ. CEOs love her, employees not too much. According to data from that survey, two out of three employees indicated that AI does not save them time at work or that at most it saves them less than two hours a week. These responses contrast with those of managers and CEOs: one third affirm that it saves them between 4 and 8 hours, another third affirms that it saves them 8 or more hours, and the other third affirms that it saves them 4 hours or less. The big difference is precisely in this negative view: 40% of employees say that they do not save any time, and only 2% of CEOs agree with that opinion. AI screws up more than anything else, some say. A user interface designer named Steve McGarvey indicated in that text how managers “automatically assume that AI is going to be the savior (of the business).” His experience is different, however, and he tells how “I have lost count of the times I have looked for a solution to a problem, asked an LLM, and they gave me a solution to an accessibility problem that was completely wrong.” And it’s not that big of a deal. This professional also indicates that he uses Perplexity as an assistant to research on various projects and that it has saved him time. However, part of their job is to ensure that visually impaired users can access websites, and chatbots have not been of help in that task. The employees are somewhat afraid. There’s another important aspect to the findings: Employees were much more likely to report feeling anxious or overwhelmed by AI than excited by it. That 40% who responded that it did not save them time added that because of them they would never use AI again. Employees are the ones who are most overwhelmed by AI, managers are the ones who are most excited about it. Source: WSJ. For now AI is used like Google. But there is another problem and that is that many of these professionals are using AI as an alternative to the traditional search engine from Google. They do not use it for practical applications of their work—perhaps because they do not know how—and, for example, it was used much less for topics such as code generation or data analysis. It saves me time, but like it doesn’t. Software companies like Workday participated in the survey and pointed out an interesting fact: this technology imposes an “AI tax” in terms of productivity. Although 85% of its 1,600 employees surveyed indicated that they save between one and seven hours a week thanks to AI, that doesn’t help them much: Much of that saved time ends up being used to correct errors made by AI or modify content generated by AI. AI isn’t much use (yet). An additional and also recent survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers focused on 4,500 CEOs. The result: only 30% of them were confident that there would be an increase in revenue thanks to AI, although they admit that having a good AI foundation can help boost that return on investment. The adoption of AI, however, at the moment is not compensating them too much, and only 12% of companies claim to have obtained benefits in revenue or costs, while 56% claim to have “not obtained anything” with that investment. These data are in line with those of the MIT study of August 2025 according to which 95% of pilot projects with generative AI were not paying off to companies. But. The data is negative, but there may be factors that point to a change in trend. The surveys do not indicate how much time users are spending learning how to use AI versus the time it saves them. The benefit may be negative now, but in the long term it will be positive. Furthermore, there are sectors in which AI has clearly become a clear tool to assist workers, as in the field of programming. Although there is, of course, a necessary phase of code review that AI generates, the massive use of these tools indicates that productivity may have gained in whole. Image | Redd F In Xataka | “We will lose social permission”: the CEO of Microsoft knows that either they do something valuable with AI or it will have little progress

Barcelona believes it has a night security problem. So you’re going to leave the Christmas lights on all year long

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Vigo risks losing his position as “city of lights” (from Spain). Although the Galician City Council usually displays its Christmas decorations already in July and boasts every year of the millions and millions of LEDs that adorn its streets for almost two months, from November to January, there is another city that is about to raise the stakes: Barcelona. There the Consistory has decided maintain part of the lighting for the festivities Old City during the remainder of winter. Their reasons actually have little to do with Christmas. Lights, lights and more lights. Christmas may be over, but in Spain it is becoming common for us to talk about its lights for months and months. In Vigo they do it because the City Council begins to hang them in the middle of Julywith the thermometer flirting with 30º and the city full of tourists in shorts and flip-flops. Now they will do it too in Barcelonaalthough for other reasons. What do they want to do there? The news I advanced it on Monday The Vanguard: Barcelona is finalizing a plan to improve the lighting of some of the narrowest (and darkest) streets of Ciutat Vella, taking advantage of part of the decoration that was installed there this Christmas. That is to say, in the absence of traditional streetlights, garlands strung between facades are good. Although Jaume Collboni’s team has not yet revealed the details of the initiative, the idea does seem clear: it is not so much about neighbors, merchants and tourists continuing to walk for months under decorations of Santa Clauses, Three Wise Men and Christmas trees, but rather about maintaining the most ‘timeless’ designs. Walking under light bulbs. The key is therefore to take advantage of decoration that does not clash with the rest of the winter. To reinforce it, the municipal government also proposes maintaining the garlands that the merchants themselves have placed. In the Gòtic there are businesses that have been hanging decorative lights on their own, although as these were private initiatives they encountered challenges such as the passage of garbage trucks or some parades. Where, when and how. While waiting for the City Council to provide more details about where, when and how the initiative will be deployed, The Vanguard has advanced some keys: the measure will focus on points in Ciutat Vella, Gótic and Sant Pere streets, Santa Caterina and Ribera that aspire to improve their lighting. Regarding the calendar, councilor Albert Batlle explains that the Consistory proposes keeping the lights for several months: “The will is that the measure be implemented, now and in the future, during the winter time period, approximately between the last weekend of October and the last weekend of March.” Two keys: trade and security. Batlle too confirm that the measure pursues two objectives: to favor the businesses and residents of the area and to put an end to alleys in which pickpockets find refuge. “We want to improve the lighting of some small streets in Gòtic and Sant Pere, Santa Caterina and la Ribera to promote commercial, cultural and social revitalization, and also to improve the feeling of security, especially on days with fewer hours of daylight,” he adds. “We are working on the formula to enhance this network.” “They give them more qualms”. The measure appears to have had good reception among the businesses in the area, which even proposed expanding the list of roads that were initially going to benefit from the lights. “If the streets are more illuminated, walking becomes safer and commerce will benefit,” recognize to The Newspaper David González, from the Via Laietana Merchants Association. Proof of how convincing the measure is is that at the time some businessmen from Born they already started to hang garlands at your own risk. “People go along Paseo del Born very happy because the promenade and the streets are usually well lit. But the dark alleys make them hesitant.” The idea has also been found with detractors who consider it a patch. But… Does it work? Although he has achieved reduce your crimeBarcelona usually appears in the area highest of the rankings about the cities insecure from Spain. The key is whether more public lighting will translate into greater real safety, a question that has generated debate in recent years. What they do seem to confirm cases like that of Vigo is that a good commitment to street lighting (even if it is seasonal) serves to attract thousands of visitors. Images | Barcelona City Council (X) and Núria (Flickr) In Xataka | The upper area of ​​Barcelona no longer interests the rich: the Eixample has become fashionable and its neighbors tremble because of the prices

You still don’t know when you’re going to receive them.

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Renfe does not know when it will receive the last three Avril trains that are missing from the order of 30 units which he commissioned from Talgo. Just like they count From El Español, the public operator acknowledges that it has no information or planned dates for its delivery. Talgo, for its part, refuses to give explanations and says that it does not report on its projects. This push and pull and uncertainty around trains aggravates a relationship already deteriorated by more than three years of delays. It is not known where they are. Renfe sources recognize openly that they do not have information or scheduled dates to receive these three pending units. For its part, Talgo hides behind its policy of not sharing details about ongoing projects and leaves the responsibility of reporting on a situation that the operator itself claims to be unaware of in the hands of its client. The relationship between both operators is at its lowest point, a relationship that began to fracture with the first delays of the model 106, known commercially as Avril. A troubled history. The 27 Avril trains that are already part of the Renfe fleet There have been numerous incidents since April 2024, when deliveries began. The most serious episode occurred in September, when the operator was forced to withdraw the Avlo service on the Madrid-Barcelona route due to crack problems in these trains. The last three convoys received came into operation in June in the Galicia-Madrid corridor, where the majority of these units are providing service to replace some Alvia models. 116 million withheld. The accumulated delay of several years led Renfe to impose a penalty of 116 million euros on Talgo in July 2022. Sources from CincoDías they claim that the manufacturer has provisioned this amount in its accounts, but has not made the payment, maintaining that the delays were due to causes beyond its control. Meanwhile, Renfe maintains withheld the planned payments to its supplier, although the paralyzed figure still does not reach 75% of the total penalty. The 107 series, the next open front. The situation threatens to become even more complicated. Talgo must also deliver 13 trains of the 107 seriesa project that is already delayed compared to the dates planned for 2024. The Ministry of Transport has recently warned of possible new sanctions for this non-compliance. This model is being configured through the transformation of hotel trains and the use of 26 power units acquired for 204 million euros. The resulting material will allow driving at 330 kilometers per hour with tread adaptable to different track widths, a crucial capacity for services such as Avant and to reestablish Avlo in Madrid-Barcelona. Frustrated plans in France. The destination of the pending trains has also changed from what was initially planned. Renfe planned to allocate some of the missing units to its operations in France and was pending approval of model 106 in that country. However, the development of this plan has paralyzed “given the successive difficulties and delays that the deployment of its high-speed service offering in France is suffering,” as the company warned a few months ago. Restructuring underway. In parallel to these delivery problems, Talgo faces an extraordinary meeting this Friday in which its new shareholding structure and the co-financing of its debt will be put to a vote. The Basque consortium led by José Antonio Jainaga has acquired 29.7% of the capital for 156.6 million euros, together with the Finkatuz fund of the Basque Government and the Vital and BBVA foundations. The operation includes a capital increase of 45 million by SEPI, which will acquire 7.88% of the company, and the issuance of 105 million in convertible bonds. The challenge of regaining trust. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, declared that his first contact with the next president of Talgo will be precisely to find out the status of the 107 series and settle the issue. Renfe awaits the appointment of the new person in charge to address the pending compensations, which it does not plan to give up. The key for the manufacturer is to increase its industrial capacity and above all avoid further delays in deliveries, with an order book that exceeds 4.8 billion euros and could reach 7,000 as the company consolidates its new structure. Cover image | Ernstkers (Wikipedia) In Xataka | In the search for a supersonic train, China tests a Maglev that will reach 4,000 km/h. The problem will be maintaining it

Every time you think you’re eating poorly lately, think about these Neanderthals who ate their neighbors.

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Approximately 40,000 years ago, a group of Neanderthals captured girls and women, took them to the vicinity of the Goyet caves (in present-day Belgium) and ate them. And no, it’s not a figure of speech. What is a girl like you doing in a place like this? Although the third Goyet cavern has been studied since the 19th century, it was not until a few years ago that tomographic techniques, ancient DNA analysis and isotonic measurements have allowed us to fully understand what was happening in the heart of the mountain. And we have seen the best example a few days ago in Scientific Reports, Quentin Cosnefroy and a large team of European researchers have managed to identify a minimum of six individuals among the mass of bones to be studied. At least four were adult or teenage women of short stature and surprisingly fragile bones. And that in itself was quite curious: why was the proportion of women so high? But it wasn’t the most curious thing: the most curious thing is that they had been eaten. Hunger. According to the analysis, virtually all of the bones show cut marks, fracturing for marrow extraction, and other signs of processing for human consumption. But the most striking thing is the selection: it is not a random group, but a very specific demographic sample. I have already said the key: the bones were too graceful to be Neanderthal bones (who, remember, populated the caves at that time). The isotopic studies showed that none of these individuals came from the vicinity of Goyet: that is, they were women from other groups who (as I said) were captured and taken to the cave to be consumed with tools. They were a banquet. And no, I’m not going overboard with sensationalism. The same study acknowledges that the statistical probability of finding such a gender and age composition is ridiculous. “The exclusive presence of women and children in the Goyet complex does not respond to chance or a sample of natural mortality. It is a deliberate selection,” said Christian Pérez. And he was right. The only reasonable explanation is exocannibalism; something that had only been identified in modern ethnographic contexts as a form of violence towards groups (in the context of tribal wars). As the authors pointed out, this interpretative key is what can help us understand what was happening. The last living Neanderthal. Little by little, the question of what happened to the Neanderthal universe becomes more accessible to us. In fact, “the appearance of extreme behaviors such as selective cannibalism could be interpreted as an expression of growing tensions” and that clears up many doubts about what could (and could not) happen. As much as the theories on assimilation gain strengththe truth is that this admiration was not a bed of roses. Image | Matt Benson In Xataka | The story behind the “terror farm” of Burgos: cannibalism, rats, corpses… and animal welfare seal

pretend you’re someone else

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In a way, the sappy Saturday afternoon movie cliché of “the strength is within” is a scientific reality that conditions the way in which human beings face challenges and problems. Brian Tracy, best-selling author of ‘Swallow that toad!‘ explains in his conferences that the first step for any significant change on a personal level is in self-image, that is, in the idea that each person has about who they are and what they deserve. According to the expert, this inner image directly influences what that person dares to do and the results they obtain. According to Tracy, to successfully face new personal and professional challenges, it is essential to transform the internal voice that defines us and the way we speak to ourselves. Changing that internal conversation is essential to changing the approach with which goals are faced and the motivation when it comes to achieving them. In the same way that a football team does not face a game with the same motivation when the entire audience fervently cheers it as when it is booed, the brain needs a vote of confidence to achieve positive results. Self-image shapes reality Self-image is not only how others see us, but a set of beliefs and perceptions that each person forms about their own identity and abilities. This image does not always match the one other people perceivebut it is just as important or more important. For example, if you define yourself as someone who “can’t achieve certain things” or “always fails,” your decisions and behaviors will be conditioned by that premise and, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, those limiting ideas will end up taking over. On the other hand, a positive self-image expands the capacity for action and allows us to make decisions with more confidence. The concept is summarized in a phrase attributed to the poet and playwright Jean Cocteau: “They achieved it because they did not know it was impossible.” If someone or oneself keeps repeating that something is not possible, is unfeasible, that one does not have the capacity to do it or that it will never be achieved, most likely is that it is not achieved or achieving it costs much more. It is not only important what we say to ourselves, but also how. According to the study carried out by Ethan Kross and his team at the University of Michigan, “when we treat ourselves in the second person we take greater distance from emotions and are more rational.” In this dialogue in the second or third person, using the pronoun “you” instead of “I”, activates a phenomenon called “distanced internal dialogue” that facilitates emotional regulation, reducing anxiety and internal fears, improving decision making. The key to this change in perception is that, by changing the way we address ourselves in the second person, the speech from “I can’t” to “you can” is changed. Kross’s later studies revealed that maintaining an internal dialogue in the second or third person changes the way we describe ourselves. The researchers detected that participants who used their name or a pronoun in this self-dialogue used more general qualifiers (“I am an optimistic person”, “I care a lot about learning”), and fewer traits linked to their social role (“I am a student”, “I am a mother”). Numerous research They demonstrate that internal dialogue directly impacts our ability to solve complex personal problems and challenges. Maintaining a positive and balanced dialogue helps to sustain attention, plan, self-regulate emotions and persist in the face of adversity. The scientific results They demonstrate that the internal monologue is not mere noise in your head, but has a direct impact on the results. However, in the same way that positive language in this internal dialogue improves results, negative language has the opposite effect. Negative self-talk that reinforces distorted beliefs can cause anxiety, block action, and affect mental and physical health. Paradoxically, it is much more common to use language with ourselves that we would not tolerate under any circumstances from anyone around us. Phrases like “you’re not good enough, you’ll never get that or you don’t work hard enough“are some examples of that self-inflicted abuse in internal dialogue. A recent analysis indicates that “the thoughts that are part of that internal dialogue are energy and if they generate guilt, anger or shame, they must be changed by thoughts aimed at changing your attention and your mental life in another direction.” In this sense, transforming the way we talk to ourselves improves our resilience and comprehensive well-being. Brian Tracy’s advice for changing your self-image includes identifying your limiting beliefs and formulating a new, specific self-image, with positive affirmations in the present tense and with emotion. Spending a few minutes a day visualizing yourself acting like the person you want to be reinforces that new internal reality. You’ve probably seen elite athletes on the starting line countless times saying to themselves, even out loudthat they will achieve their objectives. That visualization is part of your positive self-talk: “this is exactly what is going to happen because you are able to make it happen.” It is also essential to “act as if”, that is, to behave daily like that new person you want to be, with small habits that demonstrate that transformation. In Xataka | Lack of motivation is a problem for productivity. The trick to avoid it is simple according to science: start Image | Unsplash (Elisa Photography, Noah Buscher)

The V16 beacons have a SIM with connection for twelve years. We know what you’re thinking

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If you haven’t bought it already, you have two months left to get one V16 beacon to carry in the car. It is a signaling device with a light and is also connected to share your position. How is this done? With an integrated SIM that offers connectivity for at least 12 years and for which you will not have to pay any fee. It is inevitable to think about it: How can I use this for my mobile? “Free” connectivity. It is one of the requirements that the DGT has set for the beacons that we must all carry in the car starting January 1, 2026. Once connected, the beacon transmits our position to the DGT in order to “protect you, spreading the fact that there is an accident vehicle to the rest of the vehicles that approach the accident site.” The beacon must guarantee connectivity for at least 12 years and its cost will be included in the price of the beacon itself. That is, you buy it and that’s it, you have a connection for years without having to pay more. The dismantled beacon. Image: Iván Linares, Xataka Móvil Well I put it on my mobile. For that you will first have to remove it and we already told you that you will not be able to. Our colleague Iván Linares, from Xataka Móvil, has dismantled one of these beacons and has verified that it is not a SIM card like the ones we have in mind, but that it is soldered to the board. The SIM cannot be separated from the beacon. In fact, it doesn’t even have the usual shape, but rather it is an industrial sim-on-chip, integrated into the circuits of the board, so putting it in your mobile or tablet is not possible. Furthermore, accessing this plate has not been easy either and in order to remove the beacon, Iván has had to unsolder two tin points. Limitations. Although we could easily remove it, it is a specific SIM for this device and has technical limitations. The main one is that it does not have access to the internet, but rather connects to a private network that connects only to the DGT 3.0 connected platform. If we managed to install it on a mobile phone, we would not be able to do anything other than connect to that network. There is more. Even if we manage to overcome all the obstacles, there is an insurmountable barrier. The network used by the beacons (NB-IoT) is designed for a specific use: an emergency device that connects sporadically. If it were to suddenly connect constantly, misuse would be detected and it would crash. So no, the twelve years of “free” connectivity does not apply to mobile phones. Image | DGT In Xataka | Madrid had one of the most complex underground labyrinths without GPS. Google and Waze have tamed it with 1,600 Bluetooth beacons

If you talk to your plants even if everyone thinks you are crazy, science has something to tell you: you’re not so crazy

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When in January 2012, Risto Mejide said that of “You sing like a diva, but you move like a plant“I did not know that I was completely wrong. And not only for Natalia, the contestant of ‘You do vouchers’ to which he directed those pearls, but because, under that static appearance, the plants do not stop doing things. And not by chance, no. Plants are not only able to detect threats, but activate a whole series of defensive reactions that have intrigued scientists for decades. Everything starts with a bite. Heidi Appel and Rex Cocroft met at a seminar at the University of Missouri and, quickly, saw that His interests fit. Cocroft was one of the great experts in biotremology (the branch of biology that studies the role of vibrations and sound in life) and had been analyzing how insects use the stem of plants to communicate. Do you listen? Apple was an expert in ecological chemistry and listening to those recordings (specifically how the caterpillars of the butterflies of the Col bit tiny mustard plants) had an idea: what if the plants could listen to them? And if that explained that, suddenly, plants activated a whole series of physiological reactions to “attack” the caterpillars? Answering that question was not easy. We had to measure laser vibrations and try to understand what plants could really hear. On the other hand, we had to quantify “how plants care and how.” However, it was enough to measure in real time what happened to the first bite of an caterpillar to verify that, indeed, the plants listened. And not just that. “What is surprising and great is that these plants only create defense responses to feeding vibrations and not to wind or other vibrations in the same frequency as the chewing caterpillar,” Appel explained. They discovered that, in fact, it was enough to expose plants to the sound of chewing so that glucosinolate levels (that defensive response) triggered. Does this mean that putting music to plants is a good idea? No, it doesn’t mean that. “This field is somewhat obsessed with its history of putting music to plants. That kind of stimulus is so far from the natural ecology of plants that it is very difficult to interpret their answers,” Cocroft explained. What it really means is that what we usually think about plants is often wrong. A mistake that, little by little, we are waking up. Image | Annie Spratt In Xataka | We have found a plant capable of producing 40 cannabinoids. A closer plant evolutionarily to lettuce that to hemp

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