Google is telling its scientists to give AI a ‘positive’ spin

Google has reportedly been telling its scientists to give AI a “positive” spin in research papers.

Documents obtained by Reuters suggest that, in at least three cases, Google’s researchers were requested to refrain from being critical of AI technology.

A “sensitive topics” review was established by Google earlier this year to catch papers which cast a negative light on AI ahead of their publication.

Google asks its scientists to consult with legal,...

24 December 2020 | Ethics

University College London: Deepfakes are the ‘most serious’ AI crime threat

Researchers from University College London have released a ranking of what experts believe to be the most serious AI crime threats.

The researchers first created a list of 20 expected ways AI will be used by criminals within the next 15 years. 31 experts were then asked to rank them by potential severity.

Deepfakes – AI-generated images, videos, and articles – ranked top of the list as the most serious threat.

New and dangerous territory

It’s of little...

6 August 2020 | Deepfakes

Researchers create AI bot to protect the identities of BLM protesters

Researchers from Stanford have created an AI-powered bot to automatically cover up the faces of Black Lives Matter protesters in photos.

Everyone should have the right to protest. And, if done legally, to do so without fear of having things like their future job prospects ruined because they've been snapped at a demonstration – from which a select few may have gone on to do criminal acts such as arson and looting.

With images from the protests being widely shared on...

29 July 2020 | Bots

UK and Australia launch joint probe into Clearview AI’s mass data scraping

The UK and Australia have launched a joint probe into the controversial “data scraping” practices of Clearview AI.

Clearview AI has repeatedly made headlines, and rarely for good reason. The company’s facial recognition technology is impressive but relies on scraping billions of people’s data from across the web.

“Common law has never recognised a right to privacy for your face,” Clearview AI lawyer Tor Ekeland argued recently.

Regulators in the UK...

10 July 2020 | Ethics

The ACLU uncovers the first known wrongful arrest due to AI error

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) has forced the police to acknowledge a wrongful arrest due to an erroneous algorithm.

While it’s been suspected that documented racial bias with facial recognition algorithms has led to false arrests, it’s been difficult to prove.

On Wednesday, the ACLU lodged a complaint against the Detroit police after black male Robert Williams was arrested on his front lawn “as his wife Melissa looked on and as his daughters wept from...

25 June 2020 | Face Recognition

Amazon uses AI-powered displays to enforce social distancing in warehouses

Amazon has turned to an AI-powered solution to help maintain social distancing in its vast warehouses.

Companies around the world are having to look at new ways of safely continuing business as we adapt to the "new normal" of life with the coronavirus.

Amazon has used its AI expertise to create what it calls the Distance Assistant. Using a time-of-flight sensor, often found in modern smartphones, the AI measures the distance between...

17 June 2020 | Amazon

The EU’s privacy watchdog takes aim at Clearview AI’s facial recognition

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) believes use of Clearview AI’s controversial facial recognition system would be illegal.

Clearview AI’s facial recognition system is used by over 2,200 law enforcement agencies around the world and even commercial businesses like Best Buy and Macy’s, according to a recent leak.

The EDPB has now ruled that any use of the service by law enforcement in Europe would “likely not be consistent with the EU data protection...

11 June 2020 | Europe

ACLU sues Clearview AI calling it a ‘nightmare scenario’ for privacy

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing controversial facial recognition provider Clearview AI over privacy concerns.

“Companies like Clearview will end privacy as we know it, and must be stopped,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

“The ACLU is taking its fight to defend privacy rights against the growing threat of this unregulated surveillance technology to the courts, even as we...

29 May 2020 | Adoption

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

Met Police commissioner dismisses critics of facial recognition systems

uk metropolitan police facial recognition surveillance privacy uk tech ai artificial intelligence face

The chief commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has dismissed critics of law enforcement using facial recognition systems.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick was speaking at the Royal United Services Institute think tank on Monday. Much of Dick’s speech was spent on making the case for British police to use modern technologies to tackle crime.

https://youtu.be/8lv7qw6X_rs?t=1848

Dick accused critics of police facial recognition technology as being “highly...

25 February 2020 | Face Recognition