Spy connected with targets on LinkedIn using AI-generated pic

A spy used a profile pic generated by AI to connect with targets on LinkedIn, further showing how blurred the lines between real and fake are becoming.

Katie Jones was supposed to be a thirty-something redhead who worked at a leading think tank and had serious connections.

Connections included people with political weight like a deputy assistant secretary of state, to groups ranging from the centrist Brookings Institution to the right-wing Heritage Foundation. It’s the...

14 June 2019 | Society

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

Apple reportedly wants to ‘acqui-hire’ self-driving car startup Drive.ai

Apple is reportedly mulling a purchase of self-driving car startup Drive.ai in an ‘acqui-hire’ deal to grab its talent.

Drive.ai is full of skilled personnel after being founded in 2016 by a pioneering team of graduates from Stanford’s AI lab. With AI talent in short supply, it seems Apple is considering purchasing a whole company to get the skills on its side.

Apple would not get any of Drive.ai’s intellectual property as part of the deal, only the minds behind...

10 June 2019 | Apple

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

IBM Watson speeds up insurance claims by 70 percent

Turkey’s oldest insurance firm is using IBM Watson's AI-powered visual recognition to speed up automotive claims by 70 percent.

Anadolu Insurance is using IBM technology for assessing its auto claims – specifically, the IBM Watson Visual Recognition service.

On average, Anadolu reviews around 1200 vehicle damage files each day. Manually checking each file was a slow and tedious process, but – with 63 percent contradicting the amount of described damage – it’s a...

30 May 2019 | IBM