Ian Bogost and Alexis C. Madrigal wrote a fantastic piece at The Atlantic, “How Facebook Works for Trump”. In this article they explain how the systems developed by Facebook to optimise advertising campaigns based on machine learning and with little human interaction are effectively exploited by the Trump campaign. They are very right in their conclusion that in this way Facebook systems are taking over some of the work of the campaign.
Caught this post on Hacker News by chance on how “With questionable copyright claim, Jay-Z orders deepfake audio parodies off YouTube”. The article discusses a controversy regarding copyright of deepfake audio that are created by a Youtube channel. The videos itself are absolutely fascinating, a technological showcase mixed with humour and creativity.
All videos can also be seen here.
Just two things I noticed/read this week. Some of the most advanced humanoid robots and get a lot of attention are modelled as women (e.g. Sophia or Jia Jia). Tech shows such as CES where technology such as robots are showcased such as CES show a history of being linked with the sex industry and a lack of women in the industry.
Scary TedEd talk on fake videos of real people, but the last part of the title seems to be missing from the talk. “And how to spot them” = install the browser extension?
Not every robot needs an AI, they can also be used for inclusive reasons. Check out this article: “Pop-Up Café In Tokyo Will Allow Severely Disabled to Work Using Robotic Avatars”.
A look at voice-activated speakers powered by “intelligent assistants” and news consumption(/coercion?). Read more in the industry report from Reuters.
TIL : there is an Alexa microwave, and it can reorder your popcorn when you run low. What? 😩
Via @kottke: “How AI Agents Cheat” - There’s some funny ones. 🤡
Wired article on a new tool so see “bots drive conversation during news events”.
Amazing work on showing what labour, resources, etc. really go into artificial intelligence!: “An AI system as an anatomical map of human labor, data and planetary resource” Check it out!