If you think you might or if you think you never have…

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-tell-if-you-re-chatting-with-a-bot-1848733021

How to Tell if You’re Chatting with a Bot

… From chatbots to Tinder bots (yes, really ), bots are pretending to be human and having conversations with us—often without identifying themselves.

Luckily, conversational AI hasn’t yet reached perfection, and it’s possible to detect a bot—though that may change soon enough as technology advances. For the time being, if you want to know if you’re dealing with a bot, there are a few strategies that should reveal the truth.

Somewhere in there may be a crook, if we assume all crooks own cell phones and take them with them when committing crimes.

https://www.pogowasright.org/ma-cell-tower-dumps-require-search-warrant-based-on-probable-cause/

MA: Cell “tower dumps” require search warrant based on probable cause

John Wesley Hall writes:

Cell “tower dump” of all numbers connected to it requires a search warrant issued on probable cause. Here it was lacking. Commonwealth v. Perry, 2022 Mass. LEXIS 151 (Apr. 1, 2022):

As law enforcement capabilities continue to develop in the wake of advancing technology, so too must our constitutional jurisprudence. To this end, we must grapple with the constitutional implications of “tower dumps,” a relatively novel law enforcement tool that provides investigators with the cell site location information (CSLI) for all devices that connected to specific cell towers during a particular time frame.

Read more from the opinion at FourthAmendment.com.

This was obvious from the beginning.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-business-europe-national-governments-4a4db5b7340792f8a8b08c41c4653f5a

Face scanner Clearview AI aims to branch out beyond police

A controversial face recognition company that’s built a massive photographic dossier of the world’s people for use by police, national governments and — most recently — the Ukrainian military is now planning to offer its technology to banks and other private businesses.

Clearview AI co-founder and CEO Hoan Ton-That disclosed the plans Friday to The Associated Press in order to clarify a recent federal court filing that suggested the company was up for sale.

“We don’t have any plans to sell the company,” he said. Instead, he said the New York startup is looking to launch a new business venture to compete with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft in verifying people’s identity using facial recognition.

The new “consent-based” product would use Clearview’s algorithms to verify a person’s face, but would not involve its ever-growing trove of some 20 billion images, which Ton-That said is reserved for law enforcement use. Such ID checks that can be used to validate bank transactions or for other commercial purposes are the “least controversial use case” of facial recognition, he said.

Programmed in bias. Implications for facial recognition?

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/ut-austin-researchers-tackle-ai-that-produced-white-obama-image/

UT Austin researchers tackle AI that produced ‘White Obama’ image

… Researchers with the lab’s Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning (IFML) have been working to improve the algorithm that in 2020 produced an internet-famous image of former President Barack Obama, dubbed “White Obama.”

AI that was meant to enhance a pixelated, low-resolution photo of the 44th president instead transformed him into a white man.

… They dug into the initial data used to train the algorithm (made up of mostly white celebrities) but found that wasn’t the issue. The issue was the way the algorithm was built.

“The obsession with getting the right answer, it tends to amplify even a small bias in the data set,” Dimakis told KXAN.

Should we panic now? If I have a messaging App, am I required to program interoperability for my competitors? Must I become interoperable with ALL my competitors or can I pick and choose?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/eu-digital-markets-act-is-gdpr-like-in-scope-focuses-on-big-tech-gatekeeper-platforms-and-messaging-interoperability/

EU Digital Markets Act Is GDPR-like in Scope, Focuses on Big Tech “Gatekeeper” Platforms and Messaging Interoperability

… The Digital Markets Act focuses on the biggest of the social media and e-commerce companies, and its requirements would force message interoperability among other terms that Facebook and similar services are unlikely to be happy about.

… The big changes that the Digital Markets Act mandates would be backed up by maximum fines that are substantially larger than those allowed by the GDPR. The current GDPR maximum fine is 4% of a company’s global turnover, and no fine yet issued has even come close to that amount. The Digital Markets Act allows for penalties of up to 20% of annual turnover for repeat offenses committed by the Big Tech platforms it applies to.

Smart people with transferable skills.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-immigration-kazakhstan-technology-c041eb0b7472668087bb94207de2f71d

As Russia sees tech brain drain, other nations hope to gain

Russia’s tech workers are looking for safer and more secure professional pastures.

By one estimate, up to 70,000 computer specialists, spooked by a sudden frost in the business and political climate, have bolted the country since Russia invaded Ukraine five weeks ago. Many more are expected to follow.

For some countries, Russia’s loss is being seen as their potential gain and an opportunity to bring fresh expertise to their own high-tech industries.

AI as an excuse? What would the mine look for?

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2314453-russia-claims-smart-landmines-used-in-ukraine-only-target-soldiers/

Russia claims 'smart' landmines used in Ukraine only target soldiers

Russia says its POM-3 landmines use artificial intelligence to distinguish between soldiers and civilians, though arms experts doubt if it really works

Russia appears to be using anti-personnel mines in Ukraine that are equipped with artificial intelligence that is claimed to be able to distinguish between soldiers and civilians. While the mines supposedly comply with international law, experts doubt whether they are any less dangerous to civilians.

A voice from the past.

https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/local/2022/03/31/apple-computer-steve-wozniak-usi-innovative-speaker-series/7209469001/

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spoke to a packed crowd at USI. Here are 5 takeaways.

Apple Inc. cofounder Steve Wozniak presented the contrarian ideas he’s well known for to a packed house at the University of Southern Indiana Wednesday night.

… Here are five takeaways from Wozniak's speech and the subsequent discussion:

Two AIs walk into a bar...

https://bigthink.com/the-future/artificial-general-intelligence-impossible/

The subtle art of language: why artificial general intelligence might be impossible

Until robots understand jokes and sarcasm, artificial general intelligence will remain in the realm of science fiction.

Tools for eliminating lawyers!

https://thenextweb.com/news/can-chatrooms-replace-courtrooms

Can chatrooms replace courtrooms?

Driven to cyberspace by the pandemic, courts across the country purchased chatroom-like tools designed to help people resolve disagreements without the need for a full-on lawsuit, judge, or hearing.

Online dispute resolution, as it’s known, had already been growing in popularity as a means to make often costly, slow-moving court processes more efficient. The tools, pioneered by eBay and PayPal, were designed to settle millions of disputes in their own businesses quickly and with as little need for human oversight as possible.

But, it turns out, taking an e-commerce dispute platform and imbuing it with legal authority over everything from small claims cases to medical debt suits, child custody negotiations and eviction proceedings has its downsides. A lot of people either don’t understand the systems or don’t want to use them. Legal aid advocates also worry that the systems deepen imbalances of power between some parties.

Not sure I agree. Seems like removing facts won’t make writing clearer?

https://pudding.cool/2022/02/plain/

What makes writing more readable?

Writing text that can be understood by as many people as possible seems like an obvious best practice. But from news media to legal guidance to academic research, the way we write often creates barriers to who can read it. Plain language—a style of writing that uses simplified sentences, everyday vocabulary, and clear structure—aims to remove those barriers.

… Let’s walk through how Rebecca, an expert in plain language, translates a text to be more readable. We'll use an excerpt from her translation of a ProPublica article by Amy Silverman in the following example.

Perhaps surveillance IS the disease?

https://www.the74million.org/article/from-face-mask-detection-to-temperature-checks-districts-bought-ai-surveillance-cameras-to-fight-covid-why-critics-call-them-smoke-and-mirrors/

From Face Mask Detection to Temperature Checks, Districts Bought AI-Surveillance Cameras to Fight COVID. Why Critics Call Them ‘Smoke and Mirrors’

… In Rockland Maine’s Regional School Unit 13, officials used federal pandemic relief money to procure a network of cameras with “Face Match” technology for contact tracing. Through advanced surveillance, the cameras by California-based security company Verkada allow the 1,600-student district to identify students who came in close contact with classmates who tested positive for COVID-19. In its marketing materials, Verkada explains how districts could use federal funds tied to the public health crisis to buy its cameras for contact tracing and crowd control.

At a district in suburban Houston, officials spent nearly $75,000 on AI-enabled cameras from Hikvision, a surveillance company owned in part by the Chinese government, and deployed thermal imaging and facial detection to identify students with elevated temperatures and those without masks.

… Security hardware for the sake of public perception, the industry expert said, is simply “smoke and mirrors.”

“It’s creating a façade,” he said. “Parents think that all the bells and whistles are going to keep their kids safer and that’s not necessarily the case. With cameras, in the vast majority of schools, nobody is monitoring them.”

A new diligence?

https://www.law.com/corpcounsel/2022/03/30/dont-blindly-rely-on-the-algorithms-how-firms-can-limit-liability-amid-ai-explosion/

'Don't Blindly Rely on the Algorithms': How Firms Can Limit Liability Amid AI Explosion

The explosion in popularity of artificial intelligence tools is opening up companies and their legal departments to a range of new legal risks, experts say, some of which are not yet clearly understood.

The problems stem from the reality that companies employing artificial intelligence often don’t fully understand how they work, or whether their decision-making processes might be discriminatory or expose the company to other risks.

“The minute you hear the phrase ‘AI’ or ‘algorithms,’ as in-house counsel, that is a signal to you that that is a product or tool that requires further scrutiny,” said Kristin Madigan, a former Federal Trade Commission attorney who’s now a partner at the San Francisco office of Crowell & Moring.

… It’s not always clear, however, whether companies inadvertently misusing AI tools will be the only one subject to enforcement actions or lawsuits, lawyers say. After all, didn’t another company create that tool in the first place? Couldn’t the AI tool also be on the hook? The answer is not always straightforward.

We can’t get there from here?

https://www.brookings.edu/research/six-steps-to-responsible-ai-in-the-federal-government/

Six Steps to Responsible AI in the Federal Government

Editor's Note: This report from The Brookings Institution’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology (AIET) Initiative is part of “AI Governance,” a series that identifies key governance and norm issues related to AI and proposes policy remedies to address the complex challenges associated with emerging technologies.

… In the criminal justice area, for example, Richard Berk and colleagues argue that there are many kinds of fairness and it is “impossible to maximize accuracy and fairness at the same time, and impossible simultaneously to satisfy all kinds of fairness.”[4] While sobering, that assessment likely is on the mark and therefore must be part of our thinking on ways to resolve these tensions.

Tiny Terminators riding in tiny drones?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-influenced-weapons-need-better-regulation/

AI-Influenced Weapons Need Better Regulation

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the backdrop, the United Nations recently held a meeting to discuss the use of autonomous weapons systems, commonly referred to as killer robots. These are essentially weapons that are programmed to find a class of targets, then select and attack a specific person or object within that class, with little human control over the decisions that are made.

Russia took center stage in this discussion, in part because of its potential capabilities in this space, but also because its diplomats thwarted the effort to discuss these weapons, saying sanctions made it impossible to properly participate.

… when military operations are proceeding poorly countries might be tempted to use new technologies to gain an advantage. An example of this is Russia’s KUB-BLA loitering munition, which has the ability to identify targets using AI.

The legal field can’t afford to be left behind.

https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2022/03/29/ai-reflections-5-artificial-intelligence-related-themes-of-legalweek-2022/

AI Reflections: 5 Artificial Intelligence-Related Themes of Legalweek 2022

… The application of artificial intelligence and analytics to the practice of law was a hot button topic and at the forefront of people’s minds this year. The conference was a perfect setting to cultivate new ideas on this topic since it brought together attorneys, industry experts and legal business leaders who are pushing the envelope in terms of adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning to legal practice. After several days of reflection from a jam-packed three-day conference earlier this month, I have synthesized five AI-related themes coming out of Legalweek 2022.

An Economics question: Could any US city handle an immediate 2X (let alone a 10X) increase in public transportation usage?

https://thenextweb.com/news/berlin-introduces-9-euro-monthly-public-transport-ticket

Berlin sticks it to Russia by offering a €9 monthly public transport ticket

In summer 2022, people living in Berlin can get a monthly public transport ticket for only €9 euros per month — a tenth of its usual price.

… It’s unclear how much impact the subsidized public transport will have on car ownership or usage.

It’s likely to lead to more people purchasing the low-cost tickets. But this doesn’t necessarily translate to more people abandoning their cars for a trip by train, tram, or bus.

Or that people will continue using public transport once the summer ends — no one likes waiting in the cold for a bus.

Bold, aren’t they? (Hey, if it’s good enough for the cops…) This should be easily defeated – send data only to established links...

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/03/hackers-gaining-power-of-subpoena-via-fake-emergency-data-requests/

Hackers Gaining Power of Subpoena Via Fake “Emergency Data Requests”

There is a terrifying and highly effective “method” that criminal hackers are now using to harvest sensitive customer data from Internet service providers, phone companies and social media firms. It involves compromising email accounts and websites tied to police departments and government agencies, and then sending unauthorized demands for subscriber data while claiming the information being requested can’t wait for a court order because it relates to an urgent matter of life and death.

“Acts of war” apparently includes war-like acts, “cyber operations” attributed to another state. No one “declares” war any more.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/cyber-insurance-wont-cover-acts-of-war/

Cyber Insurance Won’t Cover Acts of War

Lloyd’s of London recently released four new Cyber War and Cyber Operation Exclusion Clauses.

… Many of the events between nation states don’t qualify as “war”. We are not quite in a cyber-cold war, but there’s certainly a cold-skirmish or two happening and plenty of cold-jostling. The consequence of this is organisations like Mondelez getting caught in the cyber crossfire and looking to claim on their insurance.

These new clauses go beyond ‘acts of war’ to include “cyber operations” attributed to a state or “those acting on its behalf”. The parameters for a payout are narrowing, shifting the onus for protecting data onto the victims.

It’s often difficult to attribute responsibility for a cyberattack. These clauses place emphasis on the government of the claimant to attribute responsibility

(Related)

https://theintercept.com/2022/03/28/google-russia-ukraine-war-censorship/

GOOGLE ORDERED RUSSIAN TRANSLATORS NOT TO CALL WAR IN UKRAINE A WAR

IN EARLY MARCH, contractors working for Google to translate company text for the Russian market received an update from their client: Effective immediately, the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine could no longer be referred to as a war but rather only vaguely as “extraordinary circumstances.”

Facial “recognition” as a diagnostic tool? (As in recognizing the signs of rare diseases?)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ganeskesari/2022/03/29/how-ai-is-using-facial-detection-to-spot-rare-diseases-in-children/?sh=4429441f581c

How AI Is Using Facial Detection To Spot Rare Diseases In Children

… In addition to conventional procedures, she ran a quick diagnosis on Face2Gene, a computer vision-powered app that looks for indications of rare diseases. The facial picture uploaded to the app showed a strong match for Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLO), a rare disease that affects about 1 in 40,000 children.

“The family was under the impression that this condition had been ruled out,” says Dr. Gripp. Subsequent tests confirmed the genetic diagnosis. Andrew’s facial features suggested a mild form of SLO.

Keeping up...

https://www.bespacific.com/another-state-adopts-duty-of-technology-competence-for-lawyers/

Another State Adopts Duty of Technology Competence for Lawyers

LawSites: “It has been a year since I have reported on a state adopting the duty of technology competence for lawyers, but now there is another: Hawaiʻi, bringing the total number of states that have adopted the duty to 40…”

Colorado, approved April 6, 2016, effective immediately. (More details.)

Free is good, so is SciFi.

https://www.makeuseof.com/sites-read-free-science-fiction-short-stories-series/

5 Spectacular Sites to Read Free Science Fiction Short Stories and Series

From short stories by amateurs to award-winning literature by famous writers, you can read some stellar science fiction on the internet for free.

The Russian military is clearly not what it once was. Soldiers walking away from their equipment? That must have come as a real shock to Putin.

https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-hi-tech-warfare-system-seized-ukraine-hold-military-secrets-2022-3

Ukraine captures one of Russia's most advanced electronic warfare systems, which could reveal military secrets, reports say

… The Krasukha-4 command module was found abandoned on the outskirts of Kyiv partly damaged but otherwise intact, The Times of London reported.

… The system is designed to jam low-orbit satellites, drones, and missiles, but it is also believed to be able to track NATO aircraft, The Times said.

… It is believed that a Krasukha-4 system was used against Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in Syria, interfering with their control signal and causing them to crash, according to The Telegraph.

,,, Examining the unit could reveal secrets of how it works, which could help Ukraine and Western allies render it useless on the battlefield.

(Related)

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-found-dart-like-mystery-warheads-theyre-russias-new-weapon-2022-3

Ukrainians have found mystery warheads that look like darts. They're Russia's new weapon.

… The munitions are decoys meant to trick air-defense radars and heat-seeking missiles, the New York Times reported, and are released from Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles. They are each about a foot long and shaped like a dart with an orange tail, American intelligence officials say.

The devices produce radio signals to confuse enemy radars attempting to locate the missiles, and they also contain a heat source to attract other missiles.

… "Decoys like this can be effective in terms of fooling radars or infrared seekers on kill vehicles, but they need to be kept secret," Lewis told Insider. "Because if your adversary or if the defender has access to the countermeasures, then they can adapt their missile defense systems so that they're not fooled."

To Lewis, it's a puzzle why Russia would use these decoys against Ukraine, which he says does not have the military capabilities to successfully shoot down Iskander missiles.

"It's a very curious decision by the Russians," he said. "In using missiles with these decoys, they're really compromising their own ability to defeat much more sophisticated missile defenses that the United States and other NATO countries might use."

(Related)

https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-troops-have-punched-holes-their-own-gas-tanks-2022-3

Pentagon official says Russian troops have 'deliberately punched holes' in their own gas tanks in apparent attempts to avoid combat as morale declines: report

A good service for consultants to offer?

https://fpf.org/blog/measuring-privacy-programs/

MEASURING PRIVACY PROGRAMS

The risks of falling short on privacy compliance are greater than they have ever been. New laws are going into effect around the world and in the states, enforcement agencies are exercising their authority and media organizations have teams devoted to identifying data protection failures. Legal judgments can run into the billions. And most important, consumers are increasingly empowered and active in responding when they believe their rights are trampled. Companies are hiring compliance staff and investing in privacy management tools and trying to become more sophisticated about measuring performance.

Businesses are increasingly monitoring quantitative and qualitative metrics to track, measure, and improve existing privacy programs. According to a Privacy Benchmark Study by Cisco, 93% of organizations currently track and provide analysis on at least one privacy metric, and 14% use five or more. These privacy metrics provide businesses and other organizations with key information that allows them to enhance trust and relationships with customers, ensure that personal data remains safe in data transfers, and confirm legal and regulatory privacy compliance.

Maybe we can reduce the legal profession to a single phone app...

https://www.bespacific.com/intelligent-legal-tech-to-empower-self-represented-litigants/

Intelligent Legal Tech to Empower Self-Represented Litigants

Schmitz, Amy J. and Zeleznikow, John, Intelligent Legal Tech to Empower Self-Represented Litigants (March 2, 2022). Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 688, 23 COLUMBIA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LAW REVIEW 142-190 (2022) at https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/stlr/article/view/9391/4800, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4048335 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4048335

“Legal technologies, or “legal tech,” are disrupting the practice of law and providing efficiencies for businesses around the globe. Indeed, legal tech often conjures up notions around billion-dollar businesses and highly sophisticated parties. However, one branch of legal tech that holds particular promise for less sophisticated parties is expanding access to justice (A2J) through the use of online dispute resolution (ODR). This is because ODR uses technology to allow for online claim diagnosis, negotiation, and mediation without the time, money, and stress of traditional court processes. Indeed, courts are now moving traffic ticket, condominium, landlord/tenant, personal injury, debt collection, and even divorce claims online. The hope is that legal tech such as online triage and dispute resolution systems will provide means for obtaining remedies for self-represented litigants (SRLs) and those who cannot otherwise afford traditional litigation. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of online processes, including court and administrative processes that traditionally occurred in person. Nonetheless, these online processes seem focused on mainly case management and communication, neglecting the need for more imaginative and innovative uses of technology. Accordingly, this Article proposes a six-module process framework for ODR programs and identify gaps in development – where new technologies are needed to advance A2J. Indeed, there is great room for development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics to assist SRLs and others in pursuit of remedies, and justice.”

Select your tools carefully when using the wrong one could make you a target.

https://thenextweb.com/news/ukrainians-turning-to-telegram-during-war

Why Ukrainians are turning to Telegram during the war

My GDPR compliant face…

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600834.2022.2054076

(Do not) remember my face: uses of facial recognition technology in light of the general data protection regulation

Facial recognition technology is a state-of-the-art digital tool widely used by private and public entities. Its benefits are notable, but the challenges that it presents cannot be overlooked, as this paper will expose. In Europe, a major challenge is ensuring compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, starting with the search of a proper legal ground for data processing and the identification of an adequate exception to allow the processing of biometric data. The implementation of security measures and the risks associated with data transfer to third countries must also be considered. A further issue is the reliability of facial recognition technology, which relates to data accuracy. These challenges are substantial, but they are not insurmountable. More comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the legal intricacies of the General Data Protection Regulation, more secure and transparent data-processing procedures, and full acknowledgement of the technology’s limitations might provide a liability shield.

(Related) Could be very useful!

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003278290-11/facial-recognition-website-turn-anyone-cop%E2%80%94or-stalker-drew-harwell

This Facial Recognition Website Can Turn Anyone into a Cop—or a Stalker

PimEyes has become a hit among digital “creeps” and others eager to investigate strangers. Researchers fear there's no way to prevent it from being abused.

May explain why police (and intelligence) organizations love facial recognition.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003278290-24/surveillance-power-kirsten-martin

Surveillance and Power

New forms of data collection—online and offline—make surveillance more common and even its own industry. Surveillance can be by a single actor, such as an employer or government agency. However, surveillance is also the byproduct of the systematic collection, aggregation and use of individual data. Companies that buy and sell consumer data create a destructive demand where their thirst for consumer data pressures consumer-facing firms to collect and sell increasing amounts of information without regard to how the collection breaches privacy expectations. Surveillance is important for the ethics of data and analytics since companies collecting, aggregating, selling, and using consumer data create a negative externality when they contribute to a larger system of surveillance. As our readings will illustrate, surveillance is all about power. Surveillance is the persistent tracking of individuals—tracking that cannot be avoided—to control the surveilled. The readings include David Lyon on surveillance and the panopticon and Julie Cohen on surveillance as different than privacy. The two related cases provided are on location data aggregators and Clearview AI, a facial recognition company.

Seems wrong is a red flag.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003278290-15/privacy-data-shared-responsibility-kirsten-martin

Privacy, Data, and Shared Responsibility

How we define privacy is important to the ethics of data and analytics because both the data being analyzed and the possible categorization of subjects can have privacy expectations. The summary gives an overview of the traditional control version and restricted access version of privacy. Both versions of privacy—the restricted access and control view of privacy—place an enormous focus on the handoff of information to others. In other words, when information is turned over to a person or company, access to that information is no longer restricted and the individual no longer has control of that information. For most of us, that just seems wrong. We regularly disclose information to people and companies with strong expectations as to how it would be used or further shared. The summary covers the privacy paradox and the idea of privacy in public. The readings include Helen Nissenbaum on privacy as contextual integrity, Kirsten Martin on privacy as a social contract, and Clarissa Wilbur Berger on US privacy law. The related case is a new case on ad tech, “Finding Consumers, No Matter Where They Hide,” and an article on Walgreens selling access to customer data. A second reading is by Timnit Gebru et al. on “Datasheets for Datasets” with the related case on a wrongful arrest using facial recognition.

(Related) Is there a valid use?

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003278290-30/quiet-growth-race-detection-software-sparks-concerns-bias-parmy-olson

The Quiet Growth of Race-Detection Software Sparks Concerns over Bias

More than a dozen companies offer artificial intelligence programs that promise to identify a person's race, but researchers and even some vendors worry it will fuel discrimination.

I thought we only interacted with clowns during election campaigns.

https://www.psfk.com/2022/03/animatico-is-improving-customer-interactions-with-ai-based-avatars.html

Animatico Is Improving Customer Interactions With AI-based Avatars

By combining artificial intelligence and voice control technology with fun, engaging and customizable avatars, Animatico creates seamless interactions for store and brand customers and visitors.

Avatars are increasingly taking center stage as retailers and brands look to improve their customer experience offerings and drive more engaging shopper interactions. While not necessarily a new technology, for years most of the backend engineering and tech underpinning avatars has been clunky with poor conversational capability and a lack of effective voice control. Swiss company Animatico is looking to change that with its voice-enabled, human-like interface avatar platform. Taking cues from Disney’s popular character designs, where Animatico poached some of its team members, the company is hoping to power the next generation of avatar deployments and make the technology known as less of a gimmick and more of a valuable business tool.

Murderbot: AI angst as told by an AI.

https://www.tor.com/2022/03/25/for-murderbot-fans-who-want-more-five-books-by-martha-wells/

For Murderbot Fans Who Want More: Five Books by Martha Wells

… If you are only familiar with Well’s Murderbot books, know that there are plenty more Wells books to read. Allow me to suggest five Martha Wells books that Murderbot fans might like.