Even the very best radio DJ can be annoying. It’s the nature of the role. No matter how smooth their voice is, they still break in between songs—or worse, talk over them. Their little interruptions, popping into your life at unexpected and often inopportune times, remind you they’re there. They can be annoying, sure, but… Continue reading Spotify’s AI DJ Has No Soul
Author: Wired Magazine
Security News This Week: Sensitive US Military Emails Exposed
US Special Operations Command’s spokesperson Ken McGraw told TechCrunch that an investigation is underway. “We can confirm at this point [that] no one hacked US Special Operations Command’s information systems,” said McGraw. In an investigation published Tuesday, CNN pinpointed the locations of more than three dozen black sites across Iran where protesters were brutally tortured.… Continue reading Security News This Week: Sensitive US Military Emails Exposed
‘Cocaine Bear’ Is a Buzz Kill
Cocaine Bear, a film that sounds like it was dreamed up between bong hits, arrives in theaters today. Like Eight Legged Freaks, Snakes on a Plane, and Sharknado before it, the premise fits squarely into the “animals behaving badly” subgenre of elevator-pitch movies. Based on the title and the tagline—“Apex predator, high on cocaine, out of its mind”—you know what you’re… Continue reading ‘Cocaine Bear’ Is a Buzz Kill
Who Should You Believe When Chatbots Go Wild?
In 1987, then-CEO of Apple Computer, John Sculley, unveiled a vision that he hoped would cement his legacy as more than just a former purveyor of soft drinks. Keynoting at the EDUCOM conference, he presented a 5-minute, 45-second video of a product that built upon some ideas he had presented in his autobiography the previous year.… Continue reading Who Should You Believe When Chatbots Go Wild?
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa Dive Watch Gets a 3-Hour Makeover
Nevertheless, the iconic rotating bezel in its traditional format allows for just up to an hour’s timing at depth. Today’s technical divers can spend far longer than that underwater thanks to closed circuit rebreather technology, the evolved SCUBA format that recycles breathing gases instead of dispersing them. For divers who insist on the worth of… Continue reading Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa Dive Watch Gets a 3-Hour Makeover
You Can’t Trust App Developers’ Privacy Claims on Google Play
It’s basically impossible to keep track of what all your mobile apps are doing and what data they share with whom and when. So over the past couple of years, Apple and Google have both added mechanisms to their app stores meant to act as a sort of privacy nutrition label, giving users some insight… Continue reading You Can’t Trust App Developers’ Privacy Claims on Google Play
Should Algorithms Control Nuclear Weapons Launch Codes? The US Says No
Last Thursday, the US State Department outlined a new vision for developing, testing, and verifying military systems—including weapons—that make use of AI. The Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy represents an attempt by the US to guide the development of military AI at a crucial time for the technology. The document… Continue reading Should Algorithms Control Nuclear Weapons Launch Codes? The US Says No
Alphabet Layoffs Hit Trash-Sorting Robots
Teach a robot to open a door, and it ought to unlock a lifetime of opportunities. Not so for one of Alphabet’s youngest subsidiaries, Everyday Robots. Just over a year after graduating from Alphabet’s X moonshot lab, the team that trained over a hundred wheeled, one-armed robots to squeegee cafeteria tables, separate trash and recycling, and yes,… Continue reading Alphabet Layoffs Hit Trash-Sorting Robots
The US Supreme Court Doesn’t Understand the Internet
Recent laws in both Texas and Florida have sought to impose greater restrictions on the way platforms can and cannot police content. Gonzalez v. Google takes a different track, focusing on platforms’ failure to deal with extremist content. Social media platforms have been accused of facilitating hate speech and calls to violence that have resulted in real-world harm,… Continue reading The US Supreme Court Doesn’t Understand the Internet
In Ukraine, Identifying the Dead Comes at a Human Rights Cost
Five days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a year ago this week, US-based facial recognition company Clearview AI offered the Ukrainian government free access to its technology, suggesting that it could be used to reunite families, identify Russian operatives, and fight misinformation. Soon afterward, the Ukraine government revealed it was using the… Continue reading In Ukraine, Identifying the Dead Comes at a Human Rights Cost