Crypto Startup Led by Former Andreessen Executives Raises Cash
An Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup bent on bringing blockchain technology to the corporate world has managed to raise new
2023-09-18 21:54
UK competition regulator proposes guiding principles to make AI market safe
The expanding artificial intelligence (AI) market, including chatbots such as ChatGPT, can help boost productivity and economic growth across the UK if developed responsibly, the competition watchdog has said. In a new report, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set out a list of guiding principles for the AI market to ensure consumers are protected. They include ensuring the AI developers are accountable for their output, while access to services, diversity within the market, choice and flexibility are also key focuses alongside a push for fair dealing and transparency. The CMA’s report comes amid growing concerns over the rapid development of generative AI – accessible technology that can create text, images and video barely distinguishable from humans’ output. Regulators worldwide are stepping up their scrutiny of AI, given its explosion into general use worldwide and fears over its impact on jobs, industry, copyright, the education sector and privacy – among many other areas. The speed at which AI is becoming part of everyday life for people and businesses is dramatic. There is real potential for this technology to turbo charge productivity and make millions of everyday tasks easier – but we can’t take a positive future for granted Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive In its report, the CMA said competitive, responsible AI markets could see the creation of new and better products and services, as well as easier access to information, scientific and health breakthroughs and lower prices. But the watchdog warned that if competition is weak or developers fail to adhere to consumer protection law, people and businesses could be harmed through exposure to significant levels of misinformation and AI-enabled fraud. It also said that without proper principles, a handful of companies could use AI to gain or entrench positions of market power. Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive, said: “The speed at which AI is becoming part of everyday life for people and businesses is dramatic. There is real potential for this technology to turbo charge productivity and make millions of everyday tasks easier – but we can’t take a positive future for granted. “There remains a real risk that the use of AI develops in a way that undermines consumer trust or is dominated by a few players who exert market power that prevents the full benefits being felt across the economy. While I hope that our collaborative approach will help realise the maximum potential of this new technology, we are ready to intervene where necessary Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive “The CMA’s role is to help shape these markets in ways that foster strong competition and effective consumer protection, delivering the best outcomes for people and businesses across the UK. “In rapidly developing markets like these, it’s critical we put ourselves at the forefront of that thinking, rather than waiting for problems to emerge and only then stepping in with corrective measures. “That’s why we have today proposed these new principles and launched a broad programme of engagement to help ensure the development and use of foundation models evolves in a way that promotes competition and protects consumers. “While I hope that our collaborative approach will help realise the maximum potential of this new technology, we are ready to intervene where necessary.” As part of its engagement programme, the CMA said it will begin discussions with AI stakeholders in the UK and globally around developing its principles further and working with those groups on developing AI markets further. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live ‘Shocking’ rise in number of children falling victim to sextortion, charity says BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 announce smart TV platform Father of Molly Russell calls on Ofcom to ‘boldly’ enforce new online safety law
2023-09-18 20:50
GE HealthCare gets $44 million grant to develop AI-assisted ultrasound tech
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc has received a grant of more than $44 million from the Bill & Melinda
2023-09-18 20:45
Cyberattack at Clorox is disrupting production
A cyberattack at Clorox is causing wide-scale disruption of the company's operations, hampering its ability to make its cleaning materials, Clorox said Monday.
2023-09-18 20:15
Europe's Battle Against Chinese EVs Isn't a Repeat of 2000s Solar Flood
European Union leaders say their investigation into whether Chinese subsidies are giving its companies an unfair advantage in
2023-09-18 19:59
SocGen Plans to Halt New Oil, Gas Loans in Strategy Update
Societe Generale SA is planning to halt lending to some new oil and gas projects, as part of
2023-09-18 19:55
ChatGPT AI is about to be eclipsed by ‘interactive AI’, DeepMind founder says
The current wave of generative AI tools like ChatGPT will soon be surpassed by “interactive artificial intelligence”, according to AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman. The co-founder of DeepMind, which was acquired by Google for $500 million in 2014, said the next generation of AI tools will be “a step change in the history of our species”, allowing people to not just obtain information but also order tasks and services to be carried out on their behalf. “The first wave of AI was about classification. Deep learning showed that we can train a computer to classify various types of input data: images, video, audio, language. Now we’re in the generative wave, where you take that input data and produce new data,” Mr Suleyman told MIT Technology Review. “The third wave will be the interactive phase. That’s why I’ve bet for a long time that conversation is the future interface. You know, instead of just clicking on buttons and typing, you’re going to talk to your AI.” This will allow users to ask these AI to perform tasks for them, which they will carry out by talking with other people and interacting with other AIs. “That’s a huge shift in what technology can do. It’s a very, very profound moment in the history of technology that I think many people underestimate,” he said. “Technology today is static. It does, roughly speaking, what you tell it to do. But now technology is going to be animated. It’s going to have the potential freedom, if you give it, to take actions. It’s truly a step change in the history of our species that we’re creating tools that have this kind of, you know, agency.” When questioned about the potential risks of giving artificial intelligence autonomy, Mr Suleyman said it was important to set boundaries for the technology and make sure that it is aligned with human interests. When Mr Suleyman was still working at DeepMind, his colleagues helped develop what became known as a “big red button” that would effectively serve as an off switch for rogue AI. A research paper titled ‘Safely Interruptible Agents’ described how any misbehaving robot could be shut down or overriden by a human operator in order to avoid “irreversible consequences”. Read More 10 ways AI will change the world – from curing cancer to wiping out humanity
2023-09-18 19:50
Scientists have discovered a new fly that fails its one job
Scientist have discovered a fly that... can't fly. In December 2021, the John Midgley and Burgert Muller from the Diversity of Pollinating Diptera in South African Biodiversity Hotspots project went to Lesotho, the only country in the world that has its entire territory located at an altitude of 1,000 metres and higher to see what they could find. At the Afriski mountain resort, they found 51 male specimens of Atherimorpha latipennis (a species discovered in 1956 but whose female had never been described) and a for the first time a female belonging to the same species which couldn't get off the ground. “It’s not unheard of for only the female of a species to be flightless,” says Midgley. “But there were no examples in this fly’s family, let alone its genus.” Martin Hauser, a senior dipterologist at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, who was not involved in the research, told the Guardian: “Active flight has only originated four times in the last three billion years, so it’s always interesting when a species loses the ability to fly. It isn’t super surprising to find flightless species. But it is remarkable when the first case of flightlessness is reported in a family.” Scientists could only make educated guesses about why the female had lost the ability to fly. Despite it being much faster than walking, allowing flies to escape predators. “flight is also costly,” said Midgley. “You have to grow wings, and it uses a lot more energy than walking.” “For the males it is worth flying around and being able to search a larger area for females,” said Hauser. “Even if, while flying, they are exposed to birds and other predators, and risk being blown off the mountain and ending up in a hot valley with no females.” Meanwhile, there are other species that can't fly like ostriches, kiwi and emus. It is thought they evolved to lose flight after the dinosaurs became extinct because there were no predators big enough to hunt them. Fly - you had one job... Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-09-18 19:28
Big Emissions Bills Are Coming for Ships Sailing in Europe
Ships carrying everything from consumer goods to food and fuel in and out of the European Union will
2023-09-18 19:27
UK focuses on transparency and access with new AI principles
By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -Britain set out principles designed to prevent generative AI models like ChatGPT from being dominated
2023-09-18 19:23
Influencer responds to criticism for demanding commuters wait for her when filming on tube
An influencer has been criticised for complaining about commuters getting in her way as she posed for photos in front of a tube on the London Underground. In the viral video from last year, TikToker Antonia Freya Lydia (@turnttoni) attempted to show off her black feather strapless dress in a clip but this proved to be challenging as people were walking along the platform. "Taking an aesthetic video in London Underground be like," she wrote in the on-screen text as people walked past and blocked her shot. She added in the caption: "Like can yoh wait just one sec,sir." @turnttoni like can yoh wait just one sec,sir? #fy #foryou #london #underground Since sharing the video, it went with 8.9m views where people took to the comment section and didn't hold back on their thoughts. One person said: "Some people actually use the station to get to places instead of taking insta photos crazy right?!?" "GIRL IT’S A TRAIN STATION—" another person wrote. A third person added: "You know people have to go to work and they're not going to stop their lives for you. Don't want people around, go someplace private." "If you were in a wide open space this would make sense but… in a TRAIN STATION?!" a fourth commented. Someone else replied: "Imagine doing this at Oxford Circus and expecting people to get out of your way." While a few defended the influencer too "Don’t think she knew it was gonna be that busy and she is probably joking lol," one person wrote. Someone else replied: "Idk about y’all but i understand her completely." But this wasn't the end of the matter... The debate was reignited when Twitter user @schizarella (not Antonia in the original video) weighed in with their thoughts after the clip was reposted on the platform on Sunday. "When you see someone recording just walk behind the camera or wait literally ten seconds, if you can't do this then you don't deserve to be part of a civilized society," they wrote in a post that has since become unavailable to view. It prompted many people to disagree and criticise the influencer for her actions - here are some of the comments. In a recent TikTok, Antonia aka the influencer in the original video responded to a critical comment saying they couldn't believe she was complaining about people getting in her shot, and called her content "lame." @turnttoni Replying to @sop excuse me, what do you mean? #fy #foryou #subway To which Antonia replied with a video filled with different snaps of herself all over the world and in different outfits where she seemed to be unbothered as she wrote: "wait.... lame?" Then, she wrote in the caption: "excuse me, what do you mean?" Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-09-18 18:18
Tim Cook insists Vision Pro on track for release: ‘I watched all of Ted Lasso Season 3 on it’
Tim Cook has seen “the entire third season of Ted Lasso” on the Apple Vision Pro headset as he confirmed the company’s new and highly anticipated product is set to release on schedule. The headset, announced in June this year, is a virtual reality tool that allows people to see apps projected on top of the room around them. Apple said it allows apps to be “freed from the confines of a display” and mark a shift towards “spatial computing”. During the launch event in June, the tech giant said the headset would cost a whopping $3,499 and be available early next year in the US. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the tech giant’s boss emphatically said the headset, deemed one of Apple’s most important products since the iPhone, is on track for release. Mr Cook was asked whether the product was still set for release in early 2024. The Apple boss replied saying “it is on track”, and added that he was “using it on a regular basis”. “I watched the entire third season of Ted lasso on the Vision Pro,” he said. “And of course there’s some things that I have access to that other people don’t have. “It is more complex and requires innovation not only in development but also in the manufacturing,” he said. Mr Cook also discussed Apple’s environmental initiatives, including plans to power 100,000 homes in Brown County, Texas with clean energy. While announcing the Vision Pro headset, Apple had said the device is the “most ambitious” product it has ever created. The headset has glass on the front and inside and an aluminium frame and a soft band that raps around the head. Apple said during the product’s announcement that its ambitious display is detailed enough to show 4K video natively. With the headset, Mr Cook said users will be able to “interact with digital content just like it’s in your physical space”, and will no longer be “limited by the display”. Apple also announced the new Apple watch last week – its first “totally carbon neutral” product. Read More iPhone 15 and Pro: Apple opens pre-orders for new handset What is USB-C, the charging socket that replaced Apple's Lightning cable? Apple unveils Watch Series 9 with new processor and hands-free features Apple Store goes offline as Apple opens pre-orders for iPhone 15 Apple to update iPhone 12 after fears over radiation iPhone 12 is not emitting dangerous radiation, Apple says, amid fears of Europe ban
2023-09-18 15:55