Facebook uses AI to counter distress caused by profiles of the deceased

Facebook wants to harness AI to prevent distressing occurrences where a deceased loved one's profile is shown as if alive on the platform.

Many of us have been there, we've logged in to Facebook to find a notification alerting us to say “Happy birthday!” to a loved one who's no longer with us. Or, sometimes, they can appear as a suggestion to invite to an event.

These are distressing moments for people, and short of ‘unfriending’ or blocking the profile they can...

10 April 2019 | Facebook

Qualcomm boosts Snapdragon AI performance with new chips for high and mid-tier devices

Qualcomm has announced new Snapdragon chips for high and mid-tier devices which benefit from a big jump in AI performance.

There are two new chips in the 7-series – the Snapdragon 730 and 730G – along with one in the 6-series, the Snapdragon 665.

Kedar Kondap, VP of Product Management at Qualcomm, says:

“With the introduction of the Snapdragon 730, 730G and 665 Mobile Platforms, we are bringing features such as sophisticated AI, exceptional gaming and...

9 April 2019 | Hardware

EU Commission advances work on AI ethical guidelines

The EU Commission is advancing work on the establishment of AI ethical guidelines to ensure they can be put into practice.

A group of industry experts were appointed in 2016 to establish guidelines which ensure that AI is developed sensibly.

There are seven key pillars to the EU's ethical AI strategy:

Human agency and oversightRobustness and safetyPrivacy and data governanceTransparencyDiversity, non-discrimination, and fairnessSocietal and environmental...

8 April 2019 | Ethics

Google axes its AI ethics board after less than a week

Google has axed its troubled AI ethics board less than a week after it had been created.

The board appeared fairly representative of society from the outset, although perhaps too much so. Some views shouldn't be represented.

In a statement, Google wrote:

"It's become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can't function as we wanted. So we're ending the council and going back to the drawing board.

We'll continue to be responsible in our work on the...

5 April 2019 | Ethics

AI Experts: Dear Amazon, stop selling facial recognition to law enforcement

A group of AI experts have signed an open letter to Amazon demanding the company stops selling facial recognition to law enforcement following bias findings.

Back in January, AI News reported on findings by Algorithmic Justice League founder Joy Buolamwini who researched some of the world's most popular facial recognition algorithms.

Buolamwini found most of the algorithms were biased and misidentified subjects with darker skin colours and/or females more...

4 April 2019 | Amazon

Pardeep Bassi, LV=: On data science best practices and AI for insurance

It is no misnomer to say that every business is becoming data-driven – but of course it is what you do with it that counts. To get a truly effective data science team firing on all aces, your organisation needs to be able to offer various comparisons, gauging the ‘insights within the insights.’

The insurance sector is therefore one which is tailor-made for this mission. Last April, Raconteur summed up this rising trend. “What is new is that data has grown in volume,...

3 April 2019 | Insurance

Google’s AI ethics panel is already receiving backlash

Google is already facing criticism of its AI ethics panel over featuring a conservative figure with some controversial views.

Kay Editor is the president of conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. The foundation has a history of opposing LGBTQ and immigrant rights which many Googlers feel should not be promoted.

A group of Google employees which calls itself ‘Googlers Against Transphobia’ wrote a post criticising Mountain View’s appointment of the Heritage...

2 April 2019 | Ethics

DeepMind’s first commercial product diagnoses eye diseases

DeepMind is preparing to launch its first commercial product and it aims to aid the diagnosis of complex eye diseases.

The renowned Cambridge-based artificial intelligence experts hope their product will become parent company Alphabet’s first medical device.

In a live demonstration, a patient had a retinal scan performed on her eye. DeepMind’s system was able to provide a diagnosis and ‘urgency score’ in just 30 seconds.

The ability to perform such a...

1 April 2019 | DeepMind

Huawei P30 Pro: AI turns anyone into a skilled photographer

We’ve gone hands-on with Huawei’s P30 Pro to review its AI capabilities and determine whether it’s a gimmick or a useful implementation.

The company’s flagship P-series of smartphones focuses on camera innovations. With this latest device, we’re seeing that trend continue. There are clear enhancements to existing features in addition to a few new things for us to play with.

In the Mate 20, Huawei’s previous flagship, the company expanded the number of scenes...

29 March 2019 | Hardware

Don’t be evil: Google is creating a dedicated AI ethics panel

Google is aiming to prevent societal disasters caused by its AI technology with the creation of a dedicated ethics panel.

The panel is called the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) and features a range of academics and experts from around the world.

Eight people are currently on the panel, with some from as far as Hong Kong and South Africa. Among the roster is former US deputy secretary of state William Joseph Burns and University of Bath associate...

27 March 2019 | Ethics