Showing 1 - 10 of 192
Can you trust search engines?
Life, James Hein, Published on 14/08/2024
» So how do conspiracy theories start and how does the internet and major search engine players contribute to them? As I type this, depending on where you are in the world, if you type "assassination attempt" in your search engine, and in particular one associated with Alphabet, the autofill options will have everything except "Trump" in the result set. You can get Kennedy, Hitler, Putin and George Wallace, but not the most prominent one so far this year that was one of those "where were you when you heard" events that some people saw in real time on their TV. The reason Alphabet offered for not giving the result was something along the lines that their policy is not to show political violence. You can of course find a plethora of political violence videos and examples from their search results, just not for this particular instance. Another example if you type "President Donald", the autofill adds Duck and Reagan but not Trump. Or if you Google Donald Trump you get a bunch of Kamala Harris results.
'Google is a monopolist,' judge rules in landmark case
New York Times, Published on 06/08/2024
» WASHINGTON — Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, a federal judge in the United States ruled Monday, a landmark decision that strikes at the power of tech giants in the modern internet era and that may fundamentally alter the way they do business.
Indonesia bans search engine DuckDuckGo on gambling, pornography concerns
Reuters, Published on 02/08/2024
» JAKARTA - Indonesia said it has banned the privacy-oriented search engine DuckDuckGo, citing concerns that it could be used to access pornography and online gambling websites which are illegal in the country, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics said on Friday.
China's next-gen sexbots powered by AI to hit the shelves
South China Morning Post, Published on 18/06/2024
» BEIJING - Chinese scientists and engineers are applying ChatGPT-like technology to sex robots, aiming to create interactive, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered companions in the face of technical and ethical challenges.
Intel plans to produce 100m AI-enabled PCs
Business, Suchit Leesa-nguansuk, Published on 29/05/2024
» Intel Corporation views artificial intelligence (AI) as a key driver for the burgeoning semiconductor industry, projected to be worth US$1 trillion by 2030, as the company plans to produce up to 100 million AI-enabled PCs by 2025.
EU rolls out stricter rules for online platforms
AFP, Published on 25/04/2023
» BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday designated 19 online platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, as having user numbers so big they will come under stricter regulatory rules for content.
AI 'is no more of an inventor than your cat'
Business, Published on 04/03/2023
» If an artificial intelligence (AI) machine can be named as an inventor for a patent, pet cats could be next, lawyers said at the United Kingdom's top court, arguing only humans can be inventors in law.
Users say Microsoft's Bing chatbot gets defensive and testy
AFP, Published on 16/02/2023
» SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft's fledgling Bing chatbot can go off the rails at times, denying obvious facts and chiding users, according to exchanges being shared online by developers testing the AI creation.
Reddit trumps Google search
Life, James Hein, Published on 15/02/2023
» Since my last column Twitter has had a number of technical issues, but I also found out that many of the problems I wrote about last time stem from the Content Management Head, not from Elon himself. Musk is putting in some very long days to try and get things sorted out at Twitter so it looks like he is nothing like the old boss in that respect. There remain a lot of traps in the code he inherited that will take time to sort out and may need a complete rewrite to address.
Is the new Twitter just like the old?
Life, James Hein, Published on 01/02/2023
» The Twitter situation is complex and somewhat confusing. On the one hand, all kinds of people from The Babylon Bee satirical website to former US president Donald Trump have been allowed back on the platform. The stated aim is to allow freedom of speech to be supported by Twitter once again. On the other hand, you can be banned by linking to a public photo of a public person on a public platform. The rule for the latter appears to only be for friends of Elon Musk. A YouTube channel I enjoy watching, The Quartering, did this after someone else had been banned and was also almost instantly banned himself. This is of course wrong in every respect especially given the individual in question, apparently now hypocritically, is always banging on about freedom of speech. Update, the ban is permanent.