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dr tech

The world is not quite ready for 'digital workers' | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The... - 1 views

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    "Seeing an opportunity, Franklin decided to take advantage. On 9 July, the company said that it would begin to support digital employees as part of its platform and treat them like any other employee. "Today Lattice is making AI history," Franklin pronounced. "We will be the first to give digital workers official employee records in Lattice. Digital workers will be securely onboarded, trained and assigned goals, performance metrics, appropriate systems access and even a manager. Just as any person would be." The pushback was swift - and, in many cases, brutal, particularly on LinkedIn, which is generally not known for its savage engagement like X (formerly known as Twitter). "This strategy and messaging misses the mark in a big way, and I say that as someone building an AI company," said Sawyer Middeleer, an executive at a firm that uses AI to help with sales research, on LinkedIn. "Treating AI agents as employees disrespects the humanity of your real employees. Worse, it implies that you view humans simply as 'resources' to be optimized and measured against machines. It's the exact opposite of a work environment designed to elevate the people who contribute to it.""
dr tech

Should social media have a warning label? - 0 views

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    "Let's return to my favorite analogy for thinking about issues surrounding youth and social media: cars. Cars can be incredibly dangerous! There's a reason we don't let kids drive them until a certain age, and even then, put all sorts of safety measures in place. Now, let's imagine every time you got into a car, you got a warning saying "This car might crash and kill you." This would certainly raise your awareness that cars are dangerous. It would scare you. But would it change your behavior? Now, let's say you added an "action" to the end: "This car might crash and kill you…but putting on your seatbelt right now will reduce the risk of death by 500%."   It's long been known that fear-based public health messaging cannot simply describe a threat-it also needs to recommend an action to be effective. First you learn what could go wrong, then you learn what to do to avoid it.  So, will warning parents that social media use "is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents" actually change their behavior? Will it lead to them more effectively limiting, monitoring, and/or managing their kids' social media use? "
dr tech

Meta's crackdown on adult content fails to stop AI nudify apps from flourishing - Tech - 0 views

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    "According to a new report from 404Media, as originally reported in Alexios Mantzarlis' Faked Up newsletter, the Crush AI modifier app receives the vast majority of its traffic from Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. According to Similarweb's data, last month Crush AI received more than a quarter of a million visits to its service - and roughly 90 percent of that traffic was from Meta's platforms. Crush AI makes it quite clear what the purpose of its service is in its advertisements. The company's ads include photos of real-life individuals like Instagram influencer and model Mikayla Demaiter and OnlyFans creator Sophie Rain. The ads boast that users can "upload a photo" and "erase anyone's clothes.""
dr tech

The trouble with AI art isn't just lack of originality. It's something far bigger | Eri... - 0 views

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    "It is not simply that AI lacks originality; after all, so too does most human art. The problem runs far deeper: the essence of art is lost in the process of its machinic invention and, with it, the very possibility of a democratic society is put under threat. Art is a defining human endeavor, not just for those formally called "artists" but for everyone. It is not merely about arranging colors, forms, sounds or words into pleasing products. The essence of art inheres in its making: the belief that, in the act of creating art, one imbues an object with something ineffable from within one's own being. This belief, in turn, allows for another person to project their own sense of themselves onto the work and, in doing so, to commune with the artist at a level words cannot access."
dr tech

Amid Backlash, Duolingo Backtracks on Plans for AI Pivot | PCMag - 0 views

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    "But Duolingo now seems to have changed its tune, at least in terms of hiring. CEO Luis von Ahn wrote in a LinkedIn post earlier this week: "To be clear: I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do (we are, in fact, continuing to hire at the same speed as before). I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality. And the sooner we learn how to use it-and use it responsibly-the better off we will be in the long run." Though many language learners obviously appreciate the human touch on their materials, Duolingo isn't the only one leaning toward AI for language education. Last month, Google applied its flagship Google Gemini AI model to create three new tools, dubbed Little Language Lessons, accessible via the Google Labs page. However, Google did dub the new set of tools as "just an early exploration.""
dr tech

Facebook isn't looking out for your privacy. It wants your data for itself | Technology... - 0 views

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    "If Facebook cared about unfair profiling and privacy abuse, for instance, it would probably not have started grouping its users together based on their "Ethnic Affinity". It wouldn't then allow that ethnic affinity to be used as a basis for excluding users from advertisements, and it certainly wouldn't allows that ethnic affinity to be used as a basis for potentially illegal discrimination in real estate advertising."
anonymous

BBC News - NatWest online services hit by cyber attack - 0 views

  • ails safe On Friday, a number of customers reported problems getting on to the bank's website, from which they normally access their accounts online. The RBS Group - which includes RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank - said that NatWest was worst affected by the "deliberate" disruption. "Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, customers experienced difficulties accessing some of our customer websites today," a spokeswoman for RBS said. "This deliberate surge of traffic is commonly known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. We have taken the appropriate action to restore the affected websites. At no time was there any risk to customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused." She stressed that the latest incident was not connected to Monday's IT failure and no customer information was compromised at any time. The incident on Monday also affected cash machines and card payments and prompted an apology from the boss of the RBS group, Ross McEwan. More on This Story Big Banking Latest news EU fines banks over rate-rigging We've kept businesses alive - RBS Cable hands RBS file to watchdog Parties row over Co-op 'smears' JP Morgan in record $13bn settlement Police search home of Paul Flowers Barclays plans to cut 1,700 jobs $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-1"); Basics Funding for Lending: How does it work? Q&A: Standard Chartered allegations HSBC report: Key findings Q&A: Basel rules on bank capital $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-2"); Guides and analysis Shock: A banker can live on £1m salary RBS's new boss, Ross McEwan, will not receive any bonus for his first 15 months in the job, and won't pocket any bonus payments till at least 2017. When will banking ever change? Q&A: Banker bonus cap plan What has changed since the crisis? Explaining the Libor scandal Timeline: Libor-fixing scandal $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-6");
  • Details safe On Friday, a number of customers reported problems getting on to the bank's website, from which they normally access their accounts online. The RBS Group - which includes RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank - said that NatWest was worst affected by the "deliberate" disruption. "Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, customers experienced difficulties accessing some of our customer websites today," a spokeswoman for RBS said. "This deliberate surge of traffic is commonly known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. We have taken the appropriate action to restore the affected websites. At no time was there any risk to customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused." She stressed that the latest incident was not connected to Monday's IT failure and no customer information was compromised at any time. The incident on Monday also affected cash machines and card payments and prompted an apology from the boss of the RBS group, Ross McEwan. More on This Story Big Banking Latest news EU fines banks over rate-rigging We've kept businesses alive - RBS Cable hands RBS file to watchdog Parties row over Co-op 'smears' JP Morgan in record $13bn settlement Police search home of Paul Flowers Barclays plans to cut 1,700 jobs $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-1"); Basics Funding for Lending: How does it work? Q&A: Standard Chartered allegations HSBC report: Key findings Q&A: Basel rules on bank capital $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-2"); Guides and analysis Shock: A banker can live on £1m salary RBS's new boss, Ross McEwan, will not receive any bonus for his first 15 months in the job, and won't pocket any bonus payments till at least 2017. When will banking ever change? Q&A: Banker bonus cap plan What has changed since the crisis? Explaining the Libor scandal Timeline: Libor-fixing scandal $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-6"); hyper-depth-st
  • 's website, from which they normally access their accounts online. The RBS Group - which includes RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank - said that NatWest was worst affected by the "deliberate" disruption. "Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, customers experienced difficulties accessing some of our customer websites today," a spokeswoman for RBS said. "This deliberate surge of traffic is commonly known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. We have taken the appropriate action to restore the affected websites. At no time was there any risk to customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused." She stressed that the latest incident was not connected to Monday's IT failure and no customer information was compromised at any time. The incident on Monday also affected cash machines and card payments and prompted an apology from the boss of the RBS group, Ross McEwan. More on This Story Big Banking Latest news EU fines banks over rate-rigging We've kept businesses alive - RBS Cable hands RBS file to watchdog Parties row over Co-op 'smears' JP Morgan in record $13bn settlement Police search home of Paul Flowers Barclays plans to cut 1,700 jobs $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-1"); Basics Funding for Lending: How does it work? Q&A: Standard Chartered allegations HSBC report: Key findings Q&A: Basel rules on bank capital $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-2"); Guides and analysis Shock: A banker can live on £1m salary RBS's new boss, Ross McEwan, will not receive any bonus for his first 15 months in the job, and won't pocket any bonus payments till at least 2017. When will banking ever change? Q&A: Banker bonus cap plan What has changed since the crisis? Explaining the Libor scandal Timeline: Libor-fixing scandal $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-6"); Your Savings
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  • and cash machines. Details safe On Friday, a number of customers reported problems getting on to the bank's website, from which they normally access their accounts online. The RBS Group - which includes RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank - said that NatWest was worst affected by the "deliberate" disruption. "Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, customers experienced difficulties accessing some of our customer websites today," a spokeswoman for RBS said. "This deliberate surge of traffic is commonly known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. We have taken the appropriate action to restore the affected websites. At no time was there any risk to customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused." She stressed that the latest incident was not connected to Monday's IT failure and no customer information was compromised at any time. The incident on Monday also affected cash machines and card payments and prompted an apology from the boss of the RBS group, Ross McEwan. More on This Story Big Banking Latest news EU fines banks over rate-rigging We've kept businesses alive - RBS Cable hands RBS file to watchdog Parties row over Co-op 'smears' JP Morgan in record $13bn settlement Police search home of Paul Flowers Barclays plans to cut 1,700 jobs $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-1"); Basics Funding for Lending: How does it work? Q&amp;A: Standard Chartered allegations HSBC report: Key findings Q&amp;A: Basel rules on bank capital $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-2"); Guides and analysis Shock: A banker can live on £1m salary RBS's new boss, Ross McEwan, will not receive any bonus for his first 15 months in the job, and won't pocket any bonus payments till at least 2017. When will banking ever change? Q&amp;A: Banker bonus cap plan What has changed since the crisis? Explaining the Libor scandal Timeline: Libor-fixing scandal $render("hyper-related-assets","group-title-6"); <h4 cla
  • It came less than a week after a major computer failure left some customers unable to use cards and cash machines.
  • On Friday, a number of customers reported problems getting on to the bank's website
  • Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, customers experienced difficulties accessing some of our customer websites today,
dr tech

The debate over Facebook's political ads ignores 90% of its global users | Julia Carrie... - 0 views

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    "The paradox here is that Facebook is more accountable to US lawmakers and reporters than it is to any other country's. It is incumbent on American politicians and the American press to keep this in mind - and push Facebook to answer questions about how its policies will apply to the vast majority of its users."
dr tech

When it comes to creative thinking, it's clear that AI systems mean business | John Nau... - 0 views

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    "Ah, but isn't creativity a slippery concept - something that's hard to define but that we nevertheless recognise when we see it? That hasn't stopped psychologists from trying to measure it, though, via tools such as the alternative uses test and the similar Torrance test. And it turns out that one LLM - GPT-4 - beats 91% of humans on the former and 99% of them on the latter. So as the inveterate artificial intelligence user Ethan Mollick puts it: "We are running out of creativity tests that AIs cannot ace.""
dr tech

Facebook asked for nudes to help stop revenge porn and it worked. Can our culture chang... - 0 views

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    "Here's how the program, which has been developed in partnership with SWGfL, a UK-based non-profit behind the Revenge Porn Helpline, works. If you've shared an intimate image with someone and are worried that that person might do something nefarious with it, you can send the images to content moderators at Facebook to be "hashed"- essentially the image is assigned a digital fingerprint. If someone then tries to upload that image to Facebook it can be quickly identified and blocked. It's obviously not a silver bullet for stopping revenge porn, and it requires putting a lot of trust in Facebook and accepting that a random content moderator is going to be looking at your naked photos, but it gives people a little bit of control over their images."
dr tech

It's the End of the Web as We Know It - 0 views

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    "It is too late to stop the emergence of AI. Instead, we need to think about what we want next, how to design and nurture spaces of knowledge creation and communication for a human-centric world. Search engines need to act as publishers instead of usurpers, and recognize the importance of connecting creators and audiences. Google is testing AI-generated content summaries that appear directly in its search results, encouraging users to stay on its page rather than to visit the source. Long term, this will be destructive."
dr tech

'You get desensitised to it': how social media fuels fear of violence | Social media | ... - 0 views

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    ""People glamourise them types of things and the smallest thing can be escalated on social media," he said. "A fight can happen between two people and they can squash it [reach a truce], but because the video's out there on social media and it looks from a different perspective like one is losing, pride is going to be hurt so you might go out there and get some sort of revenge and let people know, you're not going to mess with me." It all created anxiety, explained St Clair-Hughes. "The fearmongering on social media puts you in a fight or flight state so when you leave the house now you are either on the front foot or on the back foot. So you step outside ready to do whatever you need to do … It's the subliminals - no one's telling you to pick up a knife and commit violence, it's just the more that you see it …""
dr tech

Security Expert Bruce Schneier On Passwords, Privacy and Trust - 0 views

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    "They aren't limited by human notions of attention; they can watch everyone at the same time. So while it may be true that using encryption is something the NSA takes special note of, not using it doesn't mean you'll be noticed less. The best defense is to use secure services, even if it might be a red flag. Think of it this way: you're providing cover for those who need encryption to stay alive."
dr tech

SociBot: the 'social robot' that knows how you feel | Art and design | theguardian.com - 0 views

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    "While capable of mimicking others, the SociBot's slightly sinister side comes from the fact that it is also watching you. Equipped with two cameras in its head and a depth sensor in its chest, it can detect gestures and movements, as well as judge your emotions by mapping the position of your features over a series of internal templates."
dr tech

Facebook considers adding profile photos to facial recognition database | Technology | ... - 0 views

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    "Facebook is considering incorporating most of its 1 billion-plus members' profile photos into its growing facial recognition database, expanding the scope of the social network's controversial technology. The possible move, which Facebook revealed in an update to its data use policy on Thursday, is intended to improve the performance of its "tag suggest" feature. The feature uses facial recognition technology to speed up the process of labelling or "tagging" friends and acquaintances who appear in photos posted on the network"
amenosolja

An Android Porn App Takes Your Photo and Holds It to Ransom - 0 views

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    "The Register reports that security firm Zscaler was first to spot the app, which presents itself as a normal video playing app, albeit for playing videos of an adult nature. Apparently once it has silently snapped photos of its victim it will display a message on screen demanding that they pay $500 . Otherwise, well... do you want people knowing you've used the app?"
dr tech

Is your smartphone listening to you? - BBC News - 0 views

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    "Google said it "categorically" does not use what it calls "utterances" - the background sounds before a person says, "OK Google" to activate the voice recognition - for advertising or any other purpose. It also said it does not share audio acquired in that way with third parties."
dr tech

Science relies on computer modelling, but what happens when it goes wrong? -- Science &... - 0 views

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    Much of current science deals with even more complicated systems, and similarly lacks exact solutions. Such models have to be "computational" - describing how a system changes from one instant to the next. But there is no way to determine the exact state at some time in the future other than by "simulating" its evolution in this way. Weather forecasting is a familiar example; until the advent of computers in the 1950s, it was impossible to predict future weather faster than it actually happened.
dr tech

"Privacy Not Included": Mozilla's guide to insecure, surveillant gadgets to avoid / Boi... - 0 views

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    ""Privacy Not Included" is Mozilla's Christmas shopping (anti)-guide to toys and gadgets that spy on you and/or make stupid security blunders, rated by relative "creepiness," from the Nintendo Switch (a little creepy) to the Fredi Baby monitor (very creepy!). Mozilla's reviews include a detailed rationale for each ranking, including whether the product includes encryption, whether it forces a default password change, how easy to understand the documentation is, whether it shares your data for "unexpected reasons," whether it has known security vulnerabilities, whether it has parental controls and more."
dr tech

In the age of the algorithm, the human gatekeeper is back | Technology | The Guardian - 0 views

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    "Facebook is mired in a series of controversies about the curation of its news feed, from its broadcasting live killings, to editing out an iconic photo of the Vietnam war, to accusations of political bias. It recently tried to smooth the process out by firing its human editors … only to find the news feed degenerated into a mass of fake and controversial news stories."
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