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

Elon Musk wants more stringent AI regulation, including for Tesla

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Elon Musk has once again called for more stringent regulations around the development of AI technologies.

The founder of Tesla and SpaceX has been one of the most vocal prominent figures in expressing concerns about AI – going as far as to call it humanity’s “biggest existential threat” if left unchecked.

Of course, given the nature of the companies Musk has founded, he is also well aware of AI’s potential.

Back in 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI – an...

19 February 2020 | Ethics

Google CEO: We need sensible AI regulation that does not limit its potential

sundar pichai google ceo ai artificial intelligence sensible regulation uk usa eu europe

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has called for sensible AI regulation that does not limit the huge potential benefits to society.

Writing in a FT editorial, Pichai said: “...there is no question in my mind that artificial intelligence needs to be regulated. It is too important not to.”

Few people debate the need for AI regulation but there are differing opinions when it comes to how much. Overregulation limits innovation while lack of regulation can pose serious dangers –...

21 January 2020 | Ethics

The White House warns European allies not to overregulate AI

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The White House has urged its European allies to avoid overregulation of AI to prevent Western innovation from being hindered.

While the news has gone somewhat under the radar given recent events, the Americans are concerned that overregulation may cause Western nations to fall behind the rest of the world.

In a statement released by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House wrote:

“Europe and our allies should avoid heavy handed...

7 January 2020 | Ethics

CBI: UK tech dominance is ‘at risk’ due to public mistrust of AI

cbi uk ai distrust artificial intelligence report

Business industry group the CBI has warned that UK tech dominance is 'at risk' due to public mistrust of AI.

In a report today, the CBI warns artificial intelligence companies of the need to ensure they're approaching the technology in an ethical manner to help build trust.

Among the measures suggested to achieve trust include ensuring customers know how their data is being used by AI, what decisions are being taken, and challenging unfair biases.

Overall, the...

9 August 2019 | Ethics

AI Expo Global: Fairness and safety in artificial intelligence

AI News sat down with Faculty's head of research Ilya Feige to discuss safe and fair practices in artificial intelligence development.

Feige had just finished giving a talk entitled ‘Fairness in AI: Latest developments in AI safety’ at this year's AI Expo Global. We managed to grab him to get more of his thoughts on the issue.

Rightfully, people are becoming increasingly concerned about unfair and unsafe AIs. Human biases are seeping into algorithms which poses a...

1 May 2019 | Ethics

EU AI Expert Group: Ethical risks are ‘unimaginable’

The EU Commission’s AI expert group has published its assessment of the rapidly-advancing technology and warned it has “unimaginable” ethical risks.

Some of the highlighted risks includes lethal autonomous systems, tracking individuals, and ‘scoring’ people in society.

On the subject of lethal autonomous systems, the experts warn machines with cognitive skills could “decide whom, when and where to fight without human intervention”.

When it comes...

11 April 2019 | Ethics

Report: 94 percent of IT leaders want greater focus on AI ethics

A study from SnapLogic has found that 94 percent of IT decision makers across the UK and US want a greater focus on ethical AI development.

Bias in algorithms continues to be a problem and is among the biggest barriers to societal adoption. Facial recognition algorithms, for example, have been found to be far less accurate for some parts of society than others.

Without addressing these issues, we’re in danger of automating problems such as racial profiling. Public...

26 March 2019 | Ethics

Musk warns ‘it begins’ as Putin claims the AI-leading nation rules the world

Elon Musk has issued a warning as Russian president Vladimir Putin claims the nation which leads in AI “will become the ruler of the world.” Musk, co-chairman of OpenAI, has long warned of dire consequences for mishandling AI development. OpenAI itself is a non-profit research company that aims to champion promoting and developing friendly AI in a way to benefit humanity. As with any major technology advancement, however, there will undoubtedly be those which aim to weaponise it and...

4 September 2017 | Regulation