Briefs

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Briefs
Crashes caused by Tesla Autopilot are piling up, and there are consequences
/ Elon Musk, self-driving,

Crashes caused by Tesla Autopilot are piling up, and there are consequences

Will current investigations make automated driving systems safer or slow down the dream of self-driving cars?
February 11, 2022
Police Misuse of Facial Recognition - Three Wrongful Arrests and Counting
/ bias, surveillance, facial recognition,

Police Misuse of Facial Recognition - Three Wrongful Arrests and Counting

An overview of how multiple individuals have already been harmed by facial recognition algorithms, with more likely to follow.
August 12, 2021
DeepMind’s AlphaFold 2—An Impressive Advance With Hyperbolic Coverage
/ Healthcare, DeepMind, hype,

DeepMind’s AlphaFold 2—An Impressive Advance With Hyperbolic Coverage

The results are encouraging, but journalist ebullience belies the difficulties ahead.
December 9, 2020
GPT-3: An AI Breakthrough, but not Coming for Your Job
/ NLP, OpenAI, hype,

GPT-3: An AI Breakthrough, but not Coming for Your Job

GPT-3 still has a range of limitations which must be noted before worrying that it will cost anyone their livelihood.
August 5, 2020
IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon Halt Sales of Facial Recognition to Police, Call for Regulations
/ computer vision, bias, ethics, surveillance, regulation,

IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon Halt Sales of Facial Recognition to Police, Call for Regulations

Movements against unregulated police use of facial recognition, which compound its many ethical issues, are gaining speed
June 21, 2020
OpenAI's Dexterous Robotic Hand — Separating Progress from PR
/ OpenAI, robotics, hype, RL,

OpenAI's Dexterous Robotic Hand — Separating Progress from PR

The Rubik’s cube solving hand is representative of a true research contribution, but its many caveats do not merit the PR hype
October 21, 2019
1,000,000 Robotaxis by 2020? Most agree: not happening
/ self-driving, computer vision, Elon Musk,

1,000,000 Robotaxis by 2020? Most agree: not happening

Elon Musk’s stated goals for Tesla are as unrealistic as they are ambitious
June 4, 2019
Boston Dynamics' robots — impressive, but far from the Terminator
/ hype, robotics,

Boston Dynamics' robots — impressive, but far from the Terminator

For these robots, there remains a discrepancy between staged demonstrations and real world performance
April 8, 2019
OpenAI’s GPT2 - Food to Media hype or Wake Up Call?
/ OpenAI, hype, NLP,

OpenAI’s GPT2 - Food to Media hype or Wake Up Call?

An effort to encourage the AI research community to talk about responsible disclosure of technology was met by strong criticism
March 10, 2019
Sophia the Robot, More Marketing Machine Than AI Marvel
/ robotics, hype,

Sophia the Robot, More Marketing Machine Than AI Marvel

First robot to be granted a citizenship and a visa, Sophia does not have much to offer in terms of technology
November 20, 2018
Google's LYmph Node Assistant - a Boost, not Replacement, for Doctors
/ medicine, Google, hype,

Google's LYmph Node Assistant - a Boost, not Replacement, for Doctors

A new tool from Google promises 99 percent accuracy in identifying cancer in lymph nodes - but it's too early to claim it surpasses humans
November 1, 2018
Examining Henry Kissinger's Uninformed Comments on AI
/ panic, DeepMind, RL,

Examining Henry Kissinger's Uninformed Comments on AI

Another public figure with no expertise on AI issues sweeping, unfounded statements about it threatening humanity
September 6, 2018
Amazon Rekognition Mistook Congressmen for Criminals? A Closer Look
/ surveillance, Amazon, ethics, computer vision,

Amazon Rekognition Mistook Congressmen for Criminals? A Closer Look

Examining ACLU’s claims of racial bias in face recognition technology as surveillance risk
September 2, 2018
Google Translate's 'Sinister Religious Prophecies', Demystified
/ panic, NLP, Google,

Google Translate's 'Sinister Religious Prophecies', Demystified

Yet again, an unremarkable and well understood aspect of an AI system has been made out to be creepy and hard to explain
August 14, 2018
Evil Software Du Jour: Google's Cocktail Party Algorithm
/ Google, computer vision,

Evil Software Du Jour: Google's Cocktail Party Algorithm

Recent privacy concerns over work from Google showcased how easy it is for media to immediately jump to unlikely worst-case outcomes
May 29, 2018
'Do You Trust This Computer’ Gets a Whole Lot Wrong About AI Risks
/ Elon Musk, singularity, AGI,

'Do You Trust This Computer’ Gets a Whole Lot Wrong About AI Risks

A Chris Paine documentary about AI promoted by Elon Musk conflates real AI risks with imaginary ones
May 14, 2018
Biased Facial Recognition - a Problem of Data and Diversity
/ computer vision, bias, ethics,

Biased Facial Recognition - a Problem of Data and Diversity

Flashy headlines often hijack meaningful and important conversations on this topic, even when the articles are solid - as was the case here
May 8, 2018
So What Was Up With Alexa's Creepy Laughter Anyway?
/ Amazon, panic,

So What Was Up With Alexa's Creepy Laughter Anyway?

A funny viral event talks to our ever increasing anxiety about AI and pervasive technology
April 23, 2018
Tesla's Lethal Autopilot Crash — A Failing of UI as Much as AI
/ Elon Musk, self-driving,

Tesla's Lethal Autopilot Crash — A Failing of UI as Much as AI

The tragedy might have been avoided if the limitations of the Autopilot were communicated more clearly
April 19, 2018
Is Data-Driven AI Brainwashing us all, or is it Just the Same as Good ol' Marketing?
/ Facebook, privacy,

Is Data-Driven AI Brainwashing us all, or is it Just the Same as Good ol' Marketing?

The many claims made as part of the recent Cambridge Analytica & Facebook scandal, reviewed
April 15, 2018
Can a 'Google AI' Build Your Genome Sequence?
/ medicine, Google, hype,

Can a 'Google AI' Build Your Genome Sequence?

A new AI-powered tool from Google promises more-accurate genome sequences, but its impact on genomics research remains to be seen
March 31, 2018
Deepfakes - Is Seeing Still Believing?
/ panic, DeepFakes,

Deepfakes - Is Seeing Still Believing?

Has widespread misuse of AI arrived? Not quite yet...
March 29, 2018
OpenAI's Not So Open DotA AI
/ OpenAI, hype, RL,

OpenAI's Not So Open DotA AI

An impressive demo by OpenAI leaves many questions unanswered
February 10, 2018
The Crazy Coverage of Facebook's Unremarkable 'AI Invented Language'
/ Facebook, NLP, panic,

The Crazy Coverage of Facebook's Unremarkable 'AI Invented Language'

Sometimes the narratives media conjures up just serve to make real life seem boring
August 12, 2017
The Curious Case of OpenAI's Unsupervised Sentiment Neuron
/ OpenAI, NLP, hype,

The Curious Case of OpenAI's Unsupervised Sentiment Neuron

A nifty thing happened unintentionally, and some people overreacted
April 18, 2017
AlphaGo - so is Human Intelligence Obsolete?
/ DeepMind, RL, hype,

AlphaGo - so is Human Intelligence Obsolete?

Breaking down the significance of the biggest AI story of the decade
February 22, 2017
Featured
AI in Art, Music and Expressionism
editorials / art,
AI in Art, Music and Expressionism
Can We Use AI to Communicate With Animals?
editorials / language, animals,
Can We Use AI to Communicate With Animals?
The AI Scaling Hypothesis
editorials / language, scaling,
The AI Scaling Hypothesis
Russia May Have Used Autonomous Drones. Now What?
editorials / military, drones,
Russia May Have Used Autonomous Drones. Now What?
Neural nets are not
editorials / hype,
Neural nets are not "slightly conscious," and AI PR can do with less hype
The State of Deepfakes in 2020
overviews / DeepFakes,
The State of Deepfakes in 2020
A Brief History of Neural Nets and Deep Learning
overviews / deep learning,
A Brief History of Neural Nets and Deep Learning
The Rise of “Killer Robots” and the Race to Restrain Them
overviews / hype, robotics, regulation,
The Rise of “Killer Robots” and the Race to Restrain Them
Bots, Lies, and DeepFakes — Online Misinformation and AI's Role in it
overviews / hype, panic, DeepFakes,
Bots, Lies, and DeepFakes — Online Misinformation and AI's Role in it
The Past, Present, and Future of AI Art
editorials / overview, art,
The Past, Present, and Future of AI Art
Boston Dynamics' robots — impressive, but far from the Terminator
briefs / hype, robotics,
Boston Dynamics' robots — impressive, but far from the Terminator
Job Loss Due To AI — How Bad Is It Going To Be?
editorials / jobs, overview,
Job Loss Due To AI — How Bad Is It Going To Be?
Sophia the Robot, More Marketing Machine Than AI Marvel
briefs / robotics, hype,
Sophia the Robot, More Marketing Machine Than AI Marvel
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