Former Generations star Sophie Ndaba was overcome with emotion as she revealed how her children played a crucial role in saving her life.

In a heartfelt interview on Metro, she opened up about her deep connection with her kids. Sophie, known for her roles in popular TV shows, has been open about her struggles, from battling a chronic illness to surviving an abusive relationship.

During the interview, tears filled Sophie Ndaba’s eyes as she spoke about the immense importance of her children in her life. She urged parents to treasure their children, calling them “so precious.” She expressed profound gratitude for her kids, saying, “My kids saved my life. Besides God and my friends, it’s my kids.”

She even singled out her child Lwandle, highlighting the unwavering support she received during her darkest moments. Sophie Ndaba shared, “If that child could bathe me, he would have bathed me.”

Sophie Ndaba’s emotional story was a heartfelt plea to all parents. She urged them to listen to their children, emphasizing that they could be a source of strength and salvation in difficult times. “Parents, pay attention to your children. They will save your life one day. I am telling you, I am living proof today,” she passionately advised.

In response to Sophie Ndaba’s powerful words, fellow actress Connie Chiume expressed her admiration and gratitude, commending Ndaba for sharing her story and highlighting its impact on others. She said, “You are healing so many right now, my dear, through your testimony. We thank God for your life, my dear. May God uplift you as you fulfill His divine mandate.”

Candy Crush tech guru on how ‘really exciting’ AI is supercharging work on one of world’s most popular games

Few games are as synonymous with the modern smartphone as Candy Crush, and more than a decade after its debut it remains an industry juggernaut.

The Candy Crush Phenomenon
Never mind typing on WhatsApp, swiping on Tinder, or scrolling on TikTok; even after all these years, few apps are able to turn you into a phone-obsessed zombie quite like Candy Crush.

A Decade of Addiction
More than a decade since it debuted on Apple and Google’s app stores, the colourful tile-matching puzzle game remains an entertaining time sink for 238 million people worldwide.

Changing the Gamer Identity
It’s in many ways helped redefine what it means to be a “gamer”, now someone perhaps just as likely to be a commuting mother as a pasty teenager in a blacked-out bedroom.

The Gender Divide
Indeed, most Candy Crush players are women, and its huge player base has helped it make north of $1bn (£800m) in annual revenue for years.

Endless Levels and Devoted Fans
Developer King has delivered more than 14,000 levels and thousands of hardcore fans have finished every one, no doubt melting away many bus and train journeys in the process.

The Wait for New Stages
Each time they polish off the latest new stages they’re made to wait a few weeks for the next batch, hopefully not enduring some kind of existential “what do I do now?” crisis during the downtime.

The Role of AI in Game Development
But those already pretty short gaps between level releases could well get shorter before too long, as every tech executive’s favourite buzz term – generative AI – makes its mark on game development.

A Quote from Steve Collins, King’s CTO
“They are undoubtedly changing the way people work,” says Steve Collins, King’s chief technology officer. “We have great talented artists, designers, and developers and these tools enable our teams to do more.

It’s really exciting for us – we are really only able to deliver to our players a small fraction of what’s in our head, so anything that removes barriers is a fantastic thing.”

Generative AI and Creativity
From writing novels to recording music, generative AI that can produce human-like content on a whim is arguably threatening the norms of the creative industries more than any others.

AI Enhancing Creativity
Collins insists AI cannot replace the work of his London-based team, but rather enhance it. “This is about putting tools in the hands of really creative and skilled people and letting them do more,” he says. “Generative AI and large language models are really great at solving some repetitive and rule-based tasks, and that frees people up to be even more creative and focus on the skills they enjoy using.”

AI in Gaming and Beyond
Just as this year has seen the likes of Google and Microsoft move to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, gaming companies will be keen to make the most of the power of AI so not to risk being left behind.

AI’s Influence in Gaming
Some games, like the Xbox title High On Life, used the technology to generate art and voice-overs. And Call Of Duty, which is owned by King’s parent company Activision Blizzard, is using it to listen out for hate speech during matches.

King’s Forward-Thinking Purchase
King’s own purchase of Peltarion, a Swedish AI company, last year looks particularly prescient.

The Intersection of Art and Technology
Of course, gaming has always been at the forefront of where art meets technological innovation, and AI has been a buzzword within the industry for far longer than ChatGPT has been around.

AI in Game Testing
At King, bots are being used to test levels – playing through them as if they were humans to help hone the challenge.

Personalized Gaming Experiences
Collins says: “We have 238 million players – and we can’t think of all of them as being an average player. Some want to be super competitive, some want to make a lot of progress quickly, some want a challenge, so we develop bots to play our games with different personas.” This, he says, is the kind of utilisation of AI that frees up artists and designers to concentrate on making more and better levels.