algorithms: ai, ar, vr, crypto
YouTube’s secret algorithm continues to push misinformation on users, from false election fraud claims to conspiracy theories
YouTube’s suggestion algorithm continues to promote videos with misinformation, according to a new study. YouTube keeps the suggestion algorithm a secret, preventing researchers from studying how it works.
Grubhub is rolling out 6-wheeled autonomous robots developed in Russia to deliver takeout on 250 US college campuses
Grubhub’s autonomous robots will deliver takeout to college campuses across the US Yandex Grubhub and Russian tech firm Yandex are launching food-delivery robots across US college campuses. The six-wheeled robots are autonomous and can navigate in dark, wet, and snowy conditions, Grubhub said.
A Global Smart-City Competition Highlights China’s Rise in AI
Chinese entrants swept all five categories, featuring technologies to improve civic life. But the advances could also be tools for surveillance.
Source: A Global Smart-City Competition Highlights China’s Rise in AI
9 devastating takeaways from NYT’s massive report on Amazon workers during the pandemic
Pandemic Amazon ran on automated human resources systems, confusing policies, murky COVID-positive worker numbers, and improbable productivity standards. Those pee-bottle stories were just a whiff of how Amazon workers are treated.
Source: 9 devastating takeaways from NYT’s massive report on Amazon workers during the pandemic
Five new bills aim to break up Big Tech platforms, force them to play nice
Legislators in the US House of Representatives introduced five new bills Friday afternoon that promise the biggest overhaul of antitrust law since the trust-busting era of the early 1900s.
Source: Five new bills aim to break up Big Tech platforms, force them to play nice
It’s not just you—the Apple podcast app is a disaster
Apple’s latest update completely ruined the app’s UX and destroyed my painstakingly curated podcast library. Never before has a phone update felt more like a blatant act of hostility.
Source: It’s not just you—the Apple podcast app is a disaster
Google Chat is back for real, and Google’s going to need it to win the future of work
Google’s messaging strategy has gone haywire. Now it’s coming back into focus.
Source: Google Chat is back for real, and Google’s going to need it to win the future of work
How beauty filters took over social media
The most widespread use of augmented reality isn’t in gaming: it’s the face filters on social media. The result? A mass experiment on girls and young women.
Dubai is a paradise for “digital nomads”— and hell for low-wage gig workers
The UAE has eased visa requirements for white-collar freelancers, but migrant gig workers struggle.
Source: Dubai is a paradise for “digital nomads”— and hell for low-wage gig workers
Google is using AI to design its next generation of AI chips more quickly than humans can
Google is using machine learning to help design its next generation of machine learning chips. The algorithm’s designs are “comparable or superior” to those created by humans, say Google’s engineers, but can be generated much, much faster.
Source: Google is using AI to design its next generation of AI chips more quickly than humans can
Crypto Isn’t About Money. It’s About Fandom
And that’s why we will fight about it forever.
What Really Happened When Google Ousted Timnit Gebru
She was a star engineer who warned that messy AI can spread racism. Google brought her in. Then it forced her out. Can Big Tech take criticism from within?
The Dark, Democratizing Power of the Social-Media Stock Market
In early March, about fifty investors received links to an anonymously created, password-protected Web site. On the site was a seven-page white paper, which opened with the question “What Is BitClout?” BitClout, the paper explained, is a social network that runs on blockchain technology, allowing users to “speculate on people and posts with real money.” Every user is given a public price, which is the amount of money that it costs to buy his or her “creator coin.” With the platform’s native cryptocurrency (also called bitclout), users could buy the coin of any other user on the site.
Source: The Dark, Democratizing Power of the Social-Media Stock Market
Your Echo is now sharing your internet with your neighbors. Here’s how to opt out.
Whether you want it or not, Amazon’s new Sidewalk service is here. Starting today, Amazon’s internet-sharing network has been activated on millions of Amazon Echo and Tile devices. But if you don’t want it, there is a way to opt out.
Source: Your Echo is now sharing your internet with your neighbors. Here’s how to opt out.
Is big tech now just too big to stomach?
The coronavirus pandemic has wrought economic disruption on a global scale, but one sector has marched on throughout the chaos: big tech. Further evidence of the industry’s relentless progress has come in recent weeks with the news that Apple and Amazon both raked in sales of $100bn (£72bn) over the past three months – 25% more than Tesco brings in over a full year.
How software got so noisy, and why it’s probably going to stay that way
- Facebook, Google Microsoft and other technology companies employ sound designers who specialize in developing distinct sounds that meet product needs and reflect well on their brands.
- During the Covid pandemic, emails and meetings have proliferated, and so their corresponding sounds have been going off more often.
- Sound designers listen extensively to sounds before deploying them in products, but they can still be jarring to some people.
Source: How software got so noisy, and why it’s probably going to stay that way
It’s time to ditch Chrome
Despite a poor reputation for privacy, Google’s Chrome browser continues to dominate. The web browser has around 65 per cent market share and two billion people are regularly using it. Its closest competitor, Apple’s Safari, lags far behind with under 20 per cent market share.
Source: It’s time to ditch Chrome
‘Nothing can be taken at face value’: should we ever trust the recorded image?
In Sundance-wowing documentary All Light, Everywhere, the biases and dangers involved with surveillance and body cams are investigated.
Source: ‘Nothing can be taken at face value’: should we ever trust the recorded image?
McDonald’s is testing Siri-style AI technology at drive-thrus
The human-like interaction, voiced by an AI interface on the other end of the McDonald’s screen, might sound like something from a dystopian future.
Source: Watch: McDonald’s is testing Siri-style AI technology at drive-thrus
Why the ransomware crisis suddenly feels so relentless
Just weeks after a major American oil pipeline was struck by hackers , a cyberattack hit the world’s largest meat supplier. What next? Will these criminals target hospitals and schools? Will they start going after US cities, governments—and even the military?
Source: Why the ransomware crisis suddenly feels so relentless