Nowhere to Hide: How police in London and Moscow use face recognition
Tech & Society

Nowhere to Hide: How police in London and Moscow use face recognition

Real-time face recognition has become standard operating procedure for cops in a few cities, in both authoritarian and democratic countries. After years of trials, police departments in Moscow and London are using face recognition to scan the streets for suspected criminals.

February 5, 20201 min read
Bot Comic: How Google's Meena chatbot developed a sense of humor
Tech & Society

Bot Comic: How Google's Meena chatbot developed a sense of humor

Androids may not dream of electric sheep, but some crack jokes about horses and cows. Meena, a 2.6-billion parameter chatbot developed by Google Brain, showed impressive conversational ability, discussing a variety of topics.

February 5, 20202 min read
Nowhere to Hide: How police in London and Moscow use face recognition
Tech & Society

Nowhere to Hide: How police in London and Moscow use face recognition

Real-time face recognition has become standard operating procedure for cops in a few cities, in both authoritarian and democratic countries. After years of trials, police departments in Moscow and London are using face recognition to scan the streets for suspected criminals.

February 5, 20201 min read
Bot Comic: How Google's Meena chatbot developed a sense of humor
Tech & Society

Bot Comic: How Google's Meena chatbot developed a sense of humor

Androids may not dream of electric sheep, but some crack jokes about horses and cows. Meena, a 2.6-billion parameter chatbot developed by Google Brain, showed impressive conversational ability, discussing a variety of topics.

February 5, 20202 min read
Limits on AI Job Interviews: The AI video act sets limits on algorithmic hiring.
Tech & Society

Limits on AI Job Interviews: The AI video act sets limits on algorithmic hiring.

As employers turn to AI to evaluate job applicants, a U.S. state imposed limits on how such tools can be used. The Illinois legislature passed the AI Video Act, which gives candidates a measure of control over how hiring managers collect and store video interviews.

January 29, 20201 min read
Hunting Online Drug Dealers: AI identifies drug dealers on Instagram.
Tech & Society

Hunting Online Drug Dealers: AI identifies drug dealers on Instagram.

Can machine learning help address the scourge of opioid addiction? A public health researcher developed a neural network that spots sellers of opioids on social media, Recode reported.

January 29, 20201 min read
The Right Problem for Your Solution: GitHub's Good First Issues helps newbies get into open source.
Tech & Society

The Right Problem for Your Solution: GitHub's Good First Issues helps newbies get into open source.

A new tool connects novice programmers with projects that match their experience and interests. Github’s Good First Issues tool uses deep learning to find easy-to-fix issues among the collaborative software development platform’s multitude of open source projects.

January 29, 20201 min read
The Right Problem for Your Solution: GitHub's Good First Issues helps newbies get into open source.
Tech & Society

The Right Problem for Your Solution: GitHub's Good First Issues helps newbies get into open source.

A new tool connects novice programmers with projects that match their experience and interests. Github’s Good First Issues tool uses deep learning to find easy-to-fix issues among the collaborative software development platform’s multitude of open source projects.

January 29, 20201 min read
Limits on AI Job Interviews: The AI video act sets limits on alorithmic hiring.
Tech & Society

Limits on AI Job Interviews: The AI video act sets limits on alorithmic hiring.

As employers turn to AI to evaluate job applicants, a U.S. state imposed limits on how such tools can be used. The Illinois legislature passed the AI Video Act, which gives candidates a measure of control over how hiring managers collect and store video interviews.

January 29, 20201 min read
Hunting Online Drug Dealers: AI identifies drug dealers on Instagram.
Tech & Society

Hunting Online Drug Dealers: AI identifies drug dealers on Instagram.

Can machine learning help address the scourge of opioid addiction? A public health researcher developed a neural network that spots sellers of opioids on social media, Recode reported.

January 29, 20201 min read
Stopping Coronavirus: How Bluedot identified Covid-19 before health authorities
Tech & Society

Stopping Coronavirus: How Bluedot identified Covid-19 before health authorities

A company that analyzes online information to predict epidemics spotted the upsurge in coronavirus at least a week ahead of public-health authorities. Canadian startup BlueDot alerted customers to the outbreak in he Chinese city of Wuhan on New Year’s Eve.

January 29, 20202 min read
Stopping Coronavirus: How Bluedot identified Covid-19 before health authorities
Tech & Society

Stopping Coronavirus: How Bluedot identified Covid-19 before health authorities

A company that analyzes online information to predict epidemics spotted the upsurge in coronavirus at least a week ahead of public-health authorities. Canadian startup BlueDot alerted customers to the outbreak in he Chinese city of Wuhan on New Year’s Eve.

January 29, 20202 min read
HR’s Robot Helper: Colleges prepare students for AI hiring interviews.
Tech & Society

HR’s Robot Helper: Colleges prepare students for AI hiring interviews.

For some college graduates, landing a first job means making a good impression on a chatbot. University guidance counselors around the U.S. are preparing students for interviews with AI-powered screening algorithms.

January 22, 20201 min read
HR’s Robot Helper: Colleges prepare students for AI hiring interviews.
Tech & Society

HR’s Robot Helper: Colleges prepare students for AI hiring interviews.

For some college graduates, landing a first job means making a good impression on a chatbot. University guidance counselors around the U.S. are preparing students for interviews with AI-powered screening algorithms.

January 22, 20201 min read
The Problem With the EU’s Moratorium on Face Recognition
Tech & Society

The Problem With the EU’s Moratorium on Face Recognition

Last week brought reports that the European Union is considering a three- to five-year moratorium on face recognition in public places. Face recognition is a problematic technology with significant potential for misuse, and I celebrate the...

January 22, 20201 min read

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