San Francisco hopes AI will prevent bias in prosecutions

San Francisco will soon implement AI in a bid to prevent bias when prosecuting a potential criminal.

Even subconscious human biases can impact courtroom decisions. Racial bias in the legal system is particularly well-documented (PDF) and often leads to individuals with darker skin being prosecuted more, or with tougher sentencing, than people with lighter skin tones accused of similar crimes.

Speaking during a press briefing today, SF District Attorney George Gascón...

13 June 2019 | Law Enforcement

Zuckerberg is deepfaked a month after Facebook refused to remove others

A deepfake of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making the rounds a month after his company refused to remove similar videos.

Last month, Facebook refused to remove a deepfake video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Rather than making Pelosi appear to say things she never did, the video aimed to portray her as being intoxicated.

Deepfakes have the potential to spread misinformation and damage the reputation of individuals. Particularly in the world of politics and...

12 June 2019 | Society

Research: AI is a ‘welcome boost’ that could add millions to GDP

New research from McKinsey and Quantumblack suggests UK businesses adopting AI could see their value increase by 120 percent within a decade.

AI overall could provide a 22 percent GDP boost worth millions to the UK economy, according to the research.

However, the report warns that firms which do not integrate AI into their day-to-day business risk around 20 percent of their cash flow today.

In separate research last year, McKinsey wrote:

“By 2030,...

11 June 2019 | Europe

Hospitals embracing AI will receive extra cash to incentivise adoption

The chief executive of the NHS in the UK has said hospitals will receive extra cash for replacing clinicians and embracing new technologies such as AI.

Simon Stevens says the plans are part of an initiative to improve patient outcomes and deliver savings. Stevens admits some jobs are at risk, as roles such as radiographers are replaced to achieve productivity targets set in return for the NHS' £20 billion funding boost it was given last year.

“We are seeing an...

6 June 2019 | Healthcare

Robert Downey Jr. pledges to use robotics and AI to clean the Earth

Hollywood legend Robert Downey Jr. is putting down his Iron Man suit and taking up the bigger challenge of cleaning up the Earth.

Iron Man’s on-screen nemesis Thanos had a radical way of reducing humanity’s impact on the Earth, but Downey Jr. hopes to use a more humane solution.

Appearing on-stage at Amazon’s new re:MARS (Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space) conference in Las Vegas, Downey Jr. launched an initiative called Footprint...

5 June 2019 | Robotics

Twitter’s latest acquisition tackles fake news using AI

Twitter has acquired Fabula AI, a UK-based startup employing artificial intelligence for tackling fake news.

Fake news is among the most difficult challenges of our time. Aside from real stories often being called it by certain politicians, actual fake news is used to coerce people into making decisions.

Governments have been putting increasing pressure on sites like Twitter and Facebook to take more responsibility for the content shared on them.

With billions...

4 June 2019 | Social Media

Putin outlines Russia’s national AI strategy priorities

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered the best insight yet at what shape the country’s AI strategy will take.

Putin ordered his government apparatus on February 27th to formulate a national artificial intelligence strategy by June 25th. With that date quickly approaching, the world is waiting to see Russia’s AI plans.

Back in September 2017, Putin famously said the nation which leads in AI “will become the ruler of the world.” Understandably, Putin’s...

31 May 2019 | Government

Amazon patent envisions Alexa listening to everything 24/7

A patent filed by Amazon envisions a future where Alexa listens to users 24/7 without the need for a wakeword.

Current digital assistants listen for a wakeword such as “Ok, Google” or “Alexa,” before recording speech for processing. Especially for companies such as Google and Amazon which thrive on knowing everything about users, this helps to quell privacy concerns.

There are some drawbacks from this approach, mainly context. Future AI assistants will be able to...

29 May 2019 | Amazon

Babylon Health’s GP at Hand causes £21.6m funding gap

Babylon Health's AI-powered healthcare service GP at Hand has caused a funding gap in excess of £21 million just as further cuts are being made.

Health secretary Matt Hancock has championed GP at Hand since 2017. The digital service has come into question for providing unsafe recommendations, and for taking money away from surgeries already struggling with cuts.

The service has operated through the Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) across London....

24 May 2019 | Healthcare

Google’s Duplex booking AI often relies on humans for backup

Google Duplex often calls on humans for backup when making reservations on behalf of users, and that should be welcomed.

Duplex caused a stir when it debuted at Google’s I/O developer conference last year. The AI was shown calling a hair salon to make a booking and did so complete with human-like “ums” and “ahs”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qCanuYrR0g

The use of such human mannerisms goes to show Google’s intention was for the human to be unaware...

23 May 2019 | Bots