How Should We Manage AI threats?
Tech & Society

How Should We Manage AI threats?

Last week, I saw a lot of social media discussion about a paper using deep learning to generate artificial comments on news articles. I’m not sure why anyone thinks this is a good idea. At best, it adds noise to the media environment. At worst, it’s a tool for con artists and propagandists.

October 9, 20192 min read
Want Your Pension? Send a Selfie
Tech & Society

Want Your Pension? Send a Selfie

The French government plans to roll out a national identification service based on face recognition. Critics warn that the new system violates citizens’ privacy.

October 9, 20191 min read
Want Your Pension? Send a Selfie
Tech & Society

Want Your Pension? Send a Selfie

The French government plans to roll out a national identification service based on face recognition. Critics warn that the new system violates citizens’ privacy.

October 9, 20191 min read
Nothing but (Neural) Net
Tech & Society

Nothing but (Neural) Net

Basketball coaches sketch plays on a whiteboard to help players get the ball through the net. A new AI model predicts how opponents would respond to these tactics. A team of researchers in Taiwan trained a conditional generative adversarial network on data from National Basketball Association games.

October 2, 20191 min read
Amazon Prepares for a Crackdown
Tech & Society

Amazon Prepares for a Crackdown

Amazon is writing what it hopes will become U.S. law governing use of face recognition technology. At a press event, Jeff Bezos told that his company’s lawyers are drafting a statutory framework to guide what he views as an inevitable federal crackdown on face recognition.

October 2, 20191 min read
Nothing but (Neural) Net
Tech & Society

Nothing but (Neural) Net

Basketball coaches sketch plays on a whiteboard to help players get the ball through the net. A new AI model predicts how opponents would respond to these tactics. A team of researchers in Taiwan trained a conditional generative adversarial network on data from National Basketball Association games.

October 2, 20191 min read
Amazon Prepares for a Crackdown
Tech & Society

Amazon Prepares for a Crackdown

Amazon is writing what it hopes will become U.S. law governing use of face recognition technology. At a press event, Jeff Bezos told that his company’s lawyers are drafting a statutory framework to guide what he views as an inevitable federal crackdown on face recognition.

October 2, 20191 min read
Are Those Results Reproducible?
Tech & Society

Are Those Results Reproducible?

As deep learning becomes more resource-intensive, labs with better funding tend to achieve better results. One consequence is that less wealthy organizations often can’t replicate state-of-the-art successes. Some observers are calling it a crisis.

September 25, 20191 min read
Watching the Watchers
Tech & Society

Watching the Watchers

A growing number of nations use AI to track their citizens. A new report sheds light on who’s watching and how. “The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance” details which countries are buying surveillance gear, which companies are supplying it, and what technologies are most in-demand.

September 25, 20191 min read
Ready or Not
Tech & Society

Ready or Not

Independent research lab OpenAI designed virtual agents to play hide-and-seek. They evolved increasingly clever strategies, eventually hacking the game world’s physics to gain advantage.

September 25, 20192 min read
Watching the Watchers
Tech & Society

Watching the Watchers

A growing number of nations use AI to track their citizens. A new report sheds light on who’s watching and how. “The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance” details which countries are buying surveillance gear, which companies are supplying it, and what technologies are most in-demand.

September 25, 20191 min read
Are Those Results Reproducible?
Tech & Society

Are Those Results Reproducible?

As deep learning becomes more resource-intensive, labs with better funding tend to achieve better results. One consequence is that less wealthy organizations often can’t replicate state-of-the-art successes. Some observers are calling it a crisis.

September 25, 20191 min read
Ready or Not
Tech & Society

Ready or Not

Independent research lab OpenAI designed virtual agents to play hide-and-seek. They evolved increasingly clever strategies, eventually hacking the game world’s physics to gain advantage.

September 25, 20192 min read
Generative Models Rock
Tech & Society

Generative Models Rock

AI’s creative potential is becoming established in the visual arts. Now musicians are tapping neural networks for funkier grooves, tastier licks, and novel subject matter.

September 18, 20192 min read
Easing Cross-Border Collaboration
Tech & Society

Easing Cross-Border Collaboration

Tighter national borders impede progress in AI. So industry leaders are calling for a different kind of immigration reform. The Partnership on AI published a report calling out the corrosive effect of restrictive immigration policies and suggesting alternatives.

September 18, 20191 min read

Subscribe to The Batch

Stay updated with weekly AI News and Insights delivered to your inbox