Jack Dorsey tells Andrew Yang that AI is ‘coming for programming jobs’

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently told former 2020 US presidential candidate Andrew Yang that AI "is coming for programming jobs".

There is still fierce debate about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on jobs. Some believe that AI will replace many jobs and lead to the requirement of a Universal Basic Income (UBI), while others claim it will primarily offer assistance to help workers be more productive.

Dorsey is a respected technologist with a deep...

26 May 2020 | Adoption

Google pledges to no longer build AIs for the fossil fuel industry

Google has pledged to no longer build AIs for the fossil fuel industry as it further distances itself from controversial developments.

A report from Greenpeace earlier this month exposed Google as being one of the top three developers of AI tools for the fossil fuel industry. Greenpeace found AI technologies boost production levels by as much as five percent.

In an interview with CUBE’s John Furrier, the leader of Google’s CTO office, Will Grannis, said that Google...

22 May 2020 | Energy

Microsoft partners with OpenAI to build Azure supercomputer

Microsoft has partnered with OpenAI to build an Azure-hosted supercomputer for testing large-scale models.

The supercomputer will deliver eye-watering amounts of power from its 285,000 CPU cores and 10,000 GPUs (yes, it can probably even run Crysis.)

OpenAI is a non-profit that was founded by one Elon Musk to promote the ethical development of artificial intelligence technologies. Musk, however, departed OpenAI following disagreements over the company’s...

20 May 2020 | AGI

AI firm used by Vote Leave awarded seven contracts over 18 months

Controversial AI startup Faculty has been awarded seven contracts by the British government over the last 18 months.

Faculty gained notoriety for assisting the Vote Leave campaign during the UK's referendum on whether to leave the EU. While the Remain campaigns vastly outspent their Leave counterparts and had the backing of the former government; the use of innovative AI tools by the leave side helped to reduce those advantages of their opponents.

Reducing costs and...

4 May 2020 | Adoption

US Patent Office: AIs cannot be credited as inventors

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has ruled that an AI cannot be legally credited as an inventor.

AI will assist us mere humans in coming up with new innovations in the years to come. However, the USPTO will not let them take the credit.

The USPTO has rejected two early filings of inventions credited to an AI system called DABUS which was created by Stephen Thaler.

DABUS invented two devices; a shape-shifting food container, and a new type of emergency...

30 April 2020 | Policy

World’s oldest defence think tank concludes British spies need AI

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) says in an intelligence report that British spies will need to use AI to counter threats.

Based in Westminster, the RUSI is the world’s oldest think tank on international defence and security. Founded in 1831 by the first Duke of Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellesley, the RUSI remains a highly respected institution that’s as relevant today as ever.

AI is rapidly advancing the capabilities of adversaries. In its report, the RUSI...

28 April 2020 | Adoption

Leading AI researchers propose ‘toolbox’ for verifying ethics claims

Researchers from OpenAI, Google Brain, Intel, and 28 other leading organisations have published a paper which proposes a ‘toolbox’ for verifying AI ethics claims.

With concerns around AI spanning from dangerous indifference to innovation-halting scaremongering; it’s clear there’s a need for a system to achieve a healthy balance.

“AI systems have been developed in ways that are inconsistent with the stated values of those developing them,” the researchers...

20 April 2020 | Ethics

MIT’s AI paints a dire picture if social distancing is relaxed too soon

According to an AI system built by MIT to predict the spread of COVID-19, relaxing social distancing rules too early would be catastrophic.

Social distancing measures around the world appear to be having the desired effect. In many countries, the "curve" appears to be flattening with fewer deaths and hospital admissions per day.

No healthcare system in the world is prepared to handle a vast number of its population hospitalised at once. Even once relatively trivial...

17 April 2020 | Government

Google’s chatty Duplex AI expands to the UK, Canada, and Australia

Google’s conversational Duplex AI has begun expanding outside the US and New Zealand to the UK, Canada, and Australia.

Duplex probably needs little introduction as it caused a bit of a stir when it debuted at I/O in late 2018 (when conferences were things you could still physically attend.)

The human-sounding AI could perform actions like calling a business on a person’s behalf and booking in things such as hair appointments or table...

9 April 2020 | Google

Clearview AI has been found to have extensive far-right ties

Controversial facial recognition firm Clearview AI has been found to have extensive ties to far-right individuals and movements.

Clearview AI has come under scrutiny for scraping billions of photos from across the internet and storing them in a database for powerful facial recognition services. Privacy activists criticise the practice as the people in those images never gave their consent.

“Common law has never recognised a right to privacy for your face,” Clearview...

8 April 2020 | Ethics