No good way?
https://www.ft.com/content/e2fa34b2-6987-494d-a81a-1bdb6693671f
The legal battle against explicit AI deepfakes
It is easier than ever to forge graphic videos and images. But campaigners hope that new laws could offer a template for controlling artificial intelligence
Deliberate dishonesty? How disturbing…
UK Man Uses ChatGPT to Eat Free at McDonald’s for Months with a Simple Yet Effective Trick
… The man, a creative young Brit, managed to exploit a system designed to gather customer feedback at McDonald’s. Most people likely toss their receipt surveys aside without a second thought, but he saw an opportunity where others didn’t. Every McDonald’s receipt includes a unique code that can be used to access a customer satisfaction survey. The more complaints, the more likely you are to receive compensation, usually in the form of vouchers for free food.
Here’s where the magic happened: instead of simply completing the survey himself, this enterprising customer turned to ChatGPT for help. He would ask the AI to draft a complaint about his experience—specifically about receiving a subpar sandwich. The request was simple: “Write a complaint about a bad experience with a sandwich, under 12,000 characters.”
With a few clicks, he had a complaint letter that sounded genuine enough to warrant a response. He would then copy and paste this text into the survey, submitting it under the unique code on his receipt. McDonald‘s, eager to resolve any negative feedback, would contact him with vouchers for free meals as compensation.
If the complaint wasn’t detailed or convincing enough, he could always ask ChatGPT for a little rewrite to spice it up. A few small tweaks and the complaint was ready to go again. Over time, this clever strategy allowed him to rack up dozens of free meals.
Ready, fire, aim?
https://www.bespacific.com/senators-say-tsas-facial-recognition-program-is-out-of-control/
Senators Say TSA’s Facial Recognition Program Is Out of Control
Gizmodo: “A bipartisan group of 12 senators has urged the Transportation Security Administration’s inspector general to investigate the agency’s use of facial recognition, saying it poses a significant threat to privacy and civil liberties. Their letter comes just before one of the busiest travel periods of the year when millions of Americans are expected to pass through the nation’s airports. “This technology will soon be in use at hundreds of major and mid-size airports without an independent evaluation of the technology’s precision or an audit of whether there are sufficient safeguards in place to protect passenger privacy,” the senators wrote. The letter was signed by Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Ron Wyden (D-OR),Steve Daines (R-MT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Peter Welch (D-VT). While the TSA’s facial recognition program is currently optional and only in a few dozen airports, the agency announced in June that it plans to expand the technology to more than 430 airports. And the senators’ letter quotes a talk given by TSA Administrator David Pekoske in 2023 in which he said “we will get to the point where we require biometrics across the board.”
Perspective.
https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/about/press-room/deloitte-globals-2025-predictions-report.html
Deloitte Global’s 2025 Predictions Report: Generative AI: Paving the Way for a transformative future in Technology, Media, and Telecommunications
Deloitte Global today released its “Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) 2025 Predictions” report, forecasting a pivotal gap year for Generative AI (GenAI) and the TMT sector—spanning from technical challenges for the industry to societal imperatives. By addressing challenges in infrastructure, gender equity, energy consumption, trust, and capabilities, the industry could be poised for a significant leap forward and is well positioned to determine the future of Al’s legacy. Key takeaways:
(Related)
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4740920-artificial-intelligence-5-trends-to-watch-in-2025
Artificial Intelligence: 5 Trends To Watch In 2025
Insured property surveillance…
Insurers in the US to benefit from Near Space Labs’ enhanced aerial imagery
Near Space Labs, an aerial imagery provider for insurance applications among others, has announced the deployment of stratospheric robots across the United States, which will contribute to delivering improved aerial imagery throughout the country.
With enhanced 7cm resolution capabilities that match or exceed conventional aerial survey quality, this achievement marks the establishment of the first network of stratospheric robots in the continental US, delivering ultra-high-resolution aerial imagery across the country, the firm stated.
Do they understand how this happened? Is TikTok that powerful?
Romania regulator calls for TikTok suspension amid vote interference fears
Far-right, pro-Moscow candidate Călin Georgescu came from 5% in polls to win presidential election’s first round
Romania’s telecoms regulator is asking for TikTok to be suspended as the country’s defence council prepares to discuss cyber risks to its elections, after a little-known ultranationalist came from nowhere to win the first round of the presidential vote.
The country’s constitutional court will also examine two allegations of electoral fraud after Călin Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly, EU-sceptic and anti-Nato independent, topped the ballot in a result that upended Romanian politics.
Georgescu was polling at barely 5% days before Sunday’s vote but surged to a shock victory with a campaign heavily based on viral TikTok videos that were reportedly boosted by bot-like activity, raising fears of possible external interference.
Why?
A social media ban for under-16s passes the Australian Senate and will soon be a world-first law
A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Senate Thursday and will soon become a world-first law.
The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.
… The platforms will have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.
The amendments bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
Impossible law?
https://www.bespacific.com/the-law-of-digital-resurrection/
The Law of Digital Resurrection
Haneman, Victoria J., The Law of Digital Resurrection (July 17, 2024). __ B.C. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2025)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4899324 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4899324
The digital right to be dead has yet to be recognized as an important legal right. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and nanotechnology have progressed to the point that personal data can be used to resurrect the deceased in digital form with appearance, voice, emotion, and memory recreated to allow interaction with a digital app, chat bot, or avatar that may be indistinguishable from that with a living person. Users may now have a completely immersive experience simply by loading the personal data of the deceased into a neural network to create a chatbot that inherits features and idiosyncrasies of the deceased and dynamically learns with increased communication. There is no legal or regulatory landscape against which to estate plan to protect those who would avoid digital resurrection, and few privacy rights for the deceased. This is an intersection of death, technology, and privacy law that has remained relatively ignored until recently. This Article is the first to respect death as an important and distinguishing part of the conversation about regulating digital resurrection. Death has long had a strained relationship with the law, giving rise to dramatically different needs and idiosyncratic legal rules. The law of the dead reflects the careful balance between the power of the state and an individual’s wishes, and it may be the only doctrinal space in which we legally protect remembrance. This Article frames the importance of almost half of a millennium of policy undergirding the law of the deceased, and proposes a paradigm focused upon a right of deletion for the deceased over source material (data), rather than testamentary control over the outcome (digital resurrection), with the suggestion that existing protections are likely sufficient to protect against unauthorized commercial resurrections.
Resistance is futile?
https://www.bespacific.com/surveillance-self-defense-tips-tools/
Surveillance Self-Defense Tips, Tools and How-tos for Safer Online Communications
We’re the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an independent non-profit working to protect online privacy for over thirty years. This is Surveillance Self-Defense: our expert guide to protecting you and your friends from online spying. Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) is a guide to protecting yourself from electronic surveillance for people all over the world. Some aspects of this guide will be useful to people with very little technical knowledge, while others are aimed at an audience with considerable technical expertise and privacy/security trainers. We believe that everyone’s threat model is unique.
Read the BASICS to find out how online surveillance works.
Dive into our TOOL GUIDES for instructions to installing our pick of the best, most secure applications.
We have more detailed information in our FURTHER LEARNING sections.
If you’d like a guided tour, look for our list of common SECURITY SCENARIOS.
(Related)
https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/podcast-the-ai-risks-your-business-should-avoid
Podcast: The AI Risks Your Business Should Avoid
Depending on the generative AI model you use, a simple prompt could be enough to jeopardize sensitive company data.
But that’s not the only harm AI stands to impose on businesses that aren’t careful, says Kristian Hammond, a computer science professor at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and director of the school’s Center for Advancing Safety of Machine Intelligence (CASMI). Hammond also helped start Kellogg’s MBAi program.
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: What leaders need to know.
Perspective.
We need to start wrestling with the ethics of AI agents
… If such tools become cheap and easy to build, it will raise lots of new ethical concerns, but two in particular stand out. The first is that these agents could create even more personal, and even more harmful, deepfakes. Image generation tools have already made it simple to create nonconsensual pornography using a single image of a person, but this crisis will only deepen if it’s easy to replicate someone’s voice, preferences, and personality as well. (Park told me he and his team spent more than a year wrestling with ethical issues like this in their latest research project, engaging in many conversations with Stanford’s ethics board and drafting policies on how the participants could withdraw their data and contributions.)
The second is the fundamental question of whether we deserve to know whether we’re talking to an agent or a human. If you complete an interview with an AI and submit samples of your voice to create an agent that sounds and responds like you, are your friends or coworkers entitled to know when they’re talking to it and not to you? On the other side, if you ring your cell service provider or doctor’s office and a cheery customer service agent answers the line, are you entitled to know whether you’re talking to an AI?
(Related)
https://www.wired.com/story/linkedin-ai-generated-influencers/
Yes, That Viral LinkedIn Post You Read Was Probably AI-Generated
A new analysis estimates that over half of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are AI-generated, indicating the platform’s embrace of AI tools has been a success.
An interest of mine.
https://www.bespacific.com/research-methodology-students-guide/
Research Methodology: Students’ Guide
Policy Research, Institute of Legal and, Research Methodology: Students’ Guide (August 24, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4935909 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4935909
Research is a complex process that involves systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data to advance knowledge. It requires meticulous planning, methodological rigor, and critical thinking. Effective reporting of findings is essential for knowledge dissemination. Research is a continuous inquiry, involving ongoing questioning and refinement of methods. The paper aims to equip researchers with the knowledge, skills, and tools for meaningful research. It emphasizes the importance of aligning research interests with inquiry approaches. The paper highlights that research is not just about collecting data but also about how that data is collected, interpreted, and communicated. Researchers must actively engage in various steps, including identifying research areas, formulating questions, conducting literature reviews, designing studies, and reflecting critically. Reflective thinking in research involves adopting a critical perspective, challenging assumptions, and exploring alternative viewpoints. The paper also discusses research as writing, emphasizing the importance of clear and persuasive communication of findings. The review of literature and collection of data are crucial steps in research, requiring careful selection and evaluation of sources. An annotated bibliography is a valuable tool for summarizing and evaluating sources, helping researchers understand their relevance and contribution to the field.
Because I might need one from time to time…
I tested 9 AI content detectors - and these 2 correctly identified AI text every time
Two of the seven AI detectors I tested correctly identified AI-generated content 100% of the time. This is up from zero during my early rounds, but down from my last round of tests.
The age of AI has arrived?
https://qz.com/google-workspace-poll-ai-workplace-gen-z-millennials-1851707141
A Google poll says pretty much all of Gen Z is using AI for work
Some 82% of young adults in leadership positions at work said they leverage AI in their work, according to a Google Workspace survey released Monday. With that, 93% Gen Z and 79% of millennials surveyed said they use two or more tools on a weekly basis.
… Most respondents said they use AI to start a task that feels overwhelming, improve their writing, and take notes, allowing them to join meetings on the go, Google Workspace said. A majority (86%) believe that AI can help leaders become better managers.
(Related)
https://www.bespacific.com/act-fast-to-snuff-out-employee-curiosity-over-free-ai-apps/
Act fast to snuff out employee curiosity over ‘free’ AI apps
CSO – “The word “free” has always tempted employees who are looking for an app or template to make their work easier. These days, combine “free” with “AI” and the lure is almost irresistible. Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, free AI-themed apps have exploded. Unfortunately, some are created by threat actors. One of the latest examples, reported this week by Malwarebyes, claims to be an AI video editor, but really installs the Lumma Stealer malware. Victims were lured by promises like “Create breathtaking videos in minutes,” “No special skills required – anyone can do it,” and “On September 1 we’re giving away 50 lifetime licenses to our AI editor!” According to a report released last month by Slack, AI use in the enterprise is growing. Among those employees who are using AI applications, 81% said it has improved their productivity. That’s why some may be curious – or eager – to try a free AI app. However, that same report notes that nearly 40% of respondents said their company has no AI usage guidelines. One result: Shadow AI, defined as the unapproved use of artificial intelligence-based applications. CISOs need a strategy to cope. It starts with management deciding if it wants to allow the use of AI in the workplace at all…”
Creepy?
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3608973/ai-agents-are-unlike-any-technology-ever.html
AI agents are unlike any technology ever
Until now, software was used by a user. With AI agents, the software is the user.
The agents are coming, and they represent a fundamental shift in the role artificial intelligence plays in businesses, governments, and our lives.
The biggest news in agentic AI happened this month when we learned that OpenAI’s agent, Operator, is expected to launch in January.
OpenAI Operator will function as a personal assistant that can take multi-step actions on its own. We can expect Operator to be put to work writing code, booking travel, and managing daily schedules. It will do all this by using the applications already installed on your PC and by using cloud services.
It joins Anthropic, which recently unveiled a feature for its AI models called “Computer Use.” This allows Claude 3.5 Sonnet to perform complex tasks on computers autonomously. The AI can now move the mouse, click on specific areas, and type commands to complete intricate tasks without constant human intervention.
Perspetive.
https://www.ben-evans.com/presentations
AI eats the world
Every year, I produce a big presentation exploring macro and strategic trends in the tech industry.
Look at your own data to see what an hallucination looks like?
https://rlr.iup.rs/archives/year-2024/stjepanovic/
LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDISCOVERY: ENHANCING EFFICIENCY, ACCURACY, AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Developments in digital technologies over the past few decades have profoundly affected every area of law, from the practice of individual lawyers to court procedures. Today, systems can draft documents, conduct legal research, disclose documents in litigation, conduct due diligence, provide legal guidance, and even resolve litigation online. The traditionally conservative legal profession is now compelled to embrace these changes to stay relevant in the changing world. Discovery is a crucial part of court procedure in common law jurisdictions. It allows each party to obtain the information needed to prepare for trial, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their case, and develop strategies for success. As more information is stored electronically, the need for an electronic form of this litigation phase emerged. Since 2006, electronic discovery (eDiscovery) has been officially recognized. Electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, refers to the process of identifying, collecting, and producing electronically stored information (ESI) in response to a request for production in a lawsuit or investigation. ESI encompasses a wide range of digital data, including emails, online documents, spreadsheets, databases, digital images, presentations, audio and video files, social media posts, and websites. The primary purpose of eDiscovery is to support litigation, but the processes of identifying, preserving, collecting, and analyzing ESI are applicable to any organization facing legal or regulatory compliance requirements. Companies in EMEA and APAC regions, even without formal eDiscovery rules, use the technology in anticipation of litigation or regulatory action, to redact sensitive information, conduct internal investigations, perform fact-finding audits, and manage company data. In this article we are going to analyze the eDiscovery process in general, including its phases, advantages, and disadvantages. It will also examine the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on eDiscovery. Given that both AI and eDiscovery are highly complex and rapidly evolving fields, the aim of this article is to provide a preliminary overview of AI’s use in eDiscovery and to explore potential future developments.
The future of AI?
https://philpapers.org/rec/FLOAIO
Artificial Intelligence 2024 - 2034: What to expect in the next ten years
In this public communication, AI policy theorist Demetrius Floudas introduces a novel era classification for the AI epoch and reveals the hidden dangers of AGI, predicting the potential obsolescence of humanity. In retort, he proposes a provocative International Control Treaty. According to this scheme, the age of AI will unfold in three distinct phases, introduced here for the first time. An AGI Control & non-Proliferation Treaty may be humanity’s only safeguard. This piece aims to provide a publicly accessible exposé of the most pertinent current issues in the governance, ethics and social impact of Artificial Intelligence.
https://philpapers.org/archive/FLOAIO.pdf
Perspective. Can AI resolve the argument?
AI could cause ‘social ruptures’ between people who disagree on its sentience
Significant “social ruptures” between people who think artificial intelligence systems are conscious and those who insist the technology feels nothing are looming, a leading philosopher has said.
The comments, from Jonathan Birch, a professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics, come as governments prepare to gather this week in San Francisco to accelerate the creation of guardrails to tackle the most severe risks of AI.
Last week, a transatlantic group of academics predicted that the dawn of consciousness in AI systems is likely by 2035 and one has now said this could result in “subcultures that view each other as making huge mistakes” about whether computer programmes are owed similar welfare rights as humans or animals.
… “I’m quite worried about major societal splits over this,” Birch said. “We’re going to have subcultures that view each other as making huge mistakes … [there could be] huge social ruptures where one side sees the other as very cruelly exploiting AI while the other side sees the first as deluding itself into thinking there’s sentience there.”
(Related)
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/am-i-alone-in-thinking/
Am I alone in thinking?
… Tom quotes Robert Long, executive director of the research organisation Eleos AI: ‘Evolution was not trying to build conscious creatures, it was trying to make creatures that would survive and reproduce. In the course of navigating the world and thinking about the world, that resulted in consciousness.’ What, he asks, if AI reaches the same destination?
In case of war, turn off the enemy’s lights. (and heat and water etc.)
Chinese hackers preparing for conflict, US cyber official says
… Officials have warned that China-linked hackers have compromised IT networks and taken steps to carrying out disruptive attacks in the event of a conflict. Their activities include gaining access to key networks to enable potential disruptions such as manipulating heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in server rooms, or disrupting critical energy and water controls, U.S. officials said earlier this year.
Perhaps AI has just become a better hallucinator?
AI isn't hitting a wall, it's just getting too smart for benchmarks, says Anthropic
As their self-correction and self-reasoning improve, the latest LLMs find new capabilities at a rate that makes it harder to measure everything they can do.
Perspective.
The $3.8 Trillion Opportunity: Unlocking the Economic Potential of the US Generative AI Ecosystem
… To better understand this transformational potential, Microsoft and Accenture partnered to conduct an analysis of the AI opportunity in the US. Today, we are releasing a new paper that provides an overview of the current state of gen AI, its economic potential in the US, and the contours of its ecosystem, including the role that partnerships play in driving growth, innovation, and, ultimately, the broader adoption and diffusion of gen AI technology. The AI landscape is evolving so rapidly that we do not expect this paper to provide all the answers, but rather we see it as a catalyst and contribution to the dialogue as we move forward.
I resemble that remark.
Shaping artificial intelligence: Penn expert calls for values-driven technology
The artificial intelligence of tomorrow depends on what we put into it today: our values, our priorities, our humanity. A researcher at the University of Pennsylvania says we should take deliberate action to ensure AI serves society — not just the bottom line.
Think about phone numbers. You remember your own. Probably the number to your parents’ house. But how many more of your family and close friends can you dial by heart? And how many digits will forever be known only to your phone’s contacts app?
"That is one illustration of the fact that we voluntarily delegate ever more to our devices in whichever form they may come," says Dr. Cornelia Walther, senior fellow at Penn.
She's making the point that — well, I’ll let her finish the thought.
"Let’s face it: The human being is lazy," she says.
Perspective.
https://fpf.org/blog/fpf-unveils-report-on-the-anatomy-of-state-comprehensive-privacy-law/
FPF Unveils Report on the Anatomy of State Comprehensive Privacy Law
Today, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) launched a new report—Anatomy of State Comprehensive Privacy Law: Surveying the State Privacy Law Landscape and Recent Legislative Trends.
https://fpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/REPORT-Anatomy-of-State-Comprehensive-Privacy-Law.pdf
Interesting.
https://hai.stanford.edu/news/global-ai-power-rankings-stanford-hai-tool-ranks-36-countries-ai
Global AI Power Rankings: Stanford HAI Tool Ranks 36 Countries in AI
… The U.S. has the world’s most robust AI ecosystem and outperforms every other country by significant margins.
… In recent years, there has been much focus on how the U.S. compares to China in AI. This tool indicates that while the two superpowers used to be competitors, the U.S. is quickly pulling away.
Follow-up. We don’t need AI rules?
Massachusetts student's punishment for AI use can stand, US judge rules
A federal judge has rejected a bid by the parents of a Massachusetts high school senior to force his school to expunge his disciplinary record and raise his history class grade after officials accused him of using an artificial intelligence program to cheat on a class assignment.
, opens new tab
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Levenson in Boston on Wednesday ruled that officials at Hingham High School reasonably concluded that the use of the AI tool by Jennifer and Dale Harris' son to complete a class project violated academic integrity rules.
Is this an argument that AI would use?
AI could soon be making major scientific discoveries. A machine could even win a Nobel Prize one day
It may sound strange, but future Nobel Prizes, and other scientific achievement awards, one day might well be given out to intelligent machines. It could come down just to technicalities and legalities.
… What should we draw from the use of the term “person” in Alfred Nobel’s will? The Nobel peace prize can be awarded to institutions and associations, so could it include other non-human entities, such as an AI system?
Whether an AI is entitled to legal personhood is one important question in all this. Another is whether intelligent machines can make scientific contributions worthy of one of Nobel’s prestigious prizes.
I do not consider either condition to be impossible and I am not alone. A group of scientists at the UK’s Alan Turing Institute has already set this as a grand challenge for AI. They have said: “We invite the community to join us in… developing AI systems capable of making Nobel quality scientific discoveries.” According to the challenge, these advances by an AI would be made “highly autonomously at a level comparable, and possibly superior, to the best human scientists by 2050”.
Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.
A Timeless Guide to Subverting Any Organization with “Purposeful Stupidity”
Open Culture – Discover the CIA’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual: A Timeless Guide to Subverting Any Organization with “Purposeful Stupidity” (1944): “…Now declassified and freely available on the CIA website, the manual that the agency describes as “surprisingly relevant” was once distributed to OSS officers abroad to assist them in training “citizen-saboteurs” in occupied countries like Norway and France. Such people, writes Rebecca Onion at Slate, “might already be sabotaging materials, machinery, or operations of their own initiative,” but may have lacked the devious talent for sowing chaos that only an intelligence agency can properly master. Genuine laziness, arrogance, and mindlessness may surely be endemic. But the Field Manual asserts that “purposeful stupidity is contrary to human nature” and requires a particular set of skills. The citizen-saboteur “frequently needs pressure, stimulation or assurance, and information and suggestions regarding feasible methods of simple sabotage.” You can read the full document here. Or find an easy-to-read version on Project Gutenberg here. To get a sense of just how “timeless”—according to the CIA itself—such instructions remain, see the abridged list below, courtesy of Business Insider. You will laugh ruefully, then maybe shudder a little as you recognize how much your own workplace, and many others, resemble the kind of dysfunctional mess the OSS meticulously planned during World War II…
Organizations and Conferences
Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.
When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.
Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
Advocate “caution.” Be “reasonable” and urge your fellow-conferees to be “reasonable” and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on...”
I thought we were past this stupidity.
Misinformation expert cites non-existent sources in Minnesota deep fake case
A leading misinformation expert is being accused of citing non-existent sources to defend Minnesota’s new law banning election misinformation.
Professor Jeff Hancock, founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, is “well-known for his research on how people use deception with technology,” according to his Stanford biography.
At the behest of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Hancock recently submitted an affidavit supporting new legislation that bans the use of so-called “deep fake” technology to influence an election. The law is being challenged in federal court by a conservative YouTuber and Republican state Rep. Mary Franson of Alexandria for violating First Amendment free speech protections.
Hancock’s expert declaration in support of the deep fake law cites numerous academic works. But several of those sources do not appear to exist, and the lawyers challenging the law say they appear to have been made up by artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT.
Something else to worry about…
The Technology the Trump Administration Could Use to Hack Your Phone
In September, the Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.) signed a two-million-dollar contract with Paragon, an Israeli firm whose spyware product Graphite focusses on breaching encrypted-messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal. Wired first reported that the technology was acquired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—an agency within D.H.S. that will soon be involved in executing the Trump Administration’s promises of mass deportations and crackdowns on border crossings. A source at Paragon told me that the deal followed a vetting process, during which the company was able to demonstrate that it had robust tools to prevent other countries that purchase its spyware from hacking Americans—but that wouldn’t limit the U.S. government’s ability to target its own citizens. The technology is part of a booming multibillion-dollar market for intrusive phone-hacking software that is making government surveillance increasingly cheap and accessible. In recent years, a number of Western democracies have been roiled by controversies in which spyware has been used, apparently by defense and intelligence agencies, to target opposition politicians, journalists, and apolitical civilians caught up in Orwellian surveillance dragnets. Now Donald Trump and incoming members of his Administration will decide whether to curtail or expand the U.S. government’s use of this kind of technology. Privacy advocates have been in a state of high alarm about the colliding political and technological trend lines. “It’s just so evident—the impending disaster,” Emily Tucker, the executive director at the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law, told me. “You may believe yourself not to be in one of the vulnerable categories, but you won’t know if you’ve ended up on a list for some reason or your loved ones have. Every single person should be worried.”
(Related)
Secret Service Tracking People’s Locations without Warrant
This feels important:
The Secret Service has used a technology called Locate X which uses location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on phones. Because users agreed to an opaque terms of service page, the Secret Service believes it doesn’t need a warrant.
Could be useful.
OpenScholar: The open-source A.I. that’s outperforming GPT-4o in scientific research
Scientists are drowning in data. With millions of research papers published every year, even the most dedicated experts struggle to stay updated on the latest findings in their fields.
A new artificial intelligence system, called OpenScholar, is promising to rewrite the rules for how researchers access, evaluate, and synthesize scientific literature. Built by the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) and the University of Washington, OpenScholar combines cutting-edge retrieval systems with a fine-tuned language model to deliver citation-backed, comprehensive answers to complex research questions.
“Scientific progress depends on researchers’ ability to synthesize the growing body of literature,” the OpenScholar researchers wrote in their paper. But that ability is increasingly constrained by the sheer volume of information. OpenScholar, they argue, offers a path forward—one that not only helps researchers navigate the deluge of papers but also challenges the dominance of proprietary AI systems like OpenAI’s GPT-4o.
