Why do people have such dramatically different experiences using AI?
For some people, it seems, AI is an amazing machine which - while fallible - represents an incredible leap forward in productivity. For other people, it seems, AI is wrong more often than right and - although occasionally useful - requires constant supervision. Who is right? I recently pointed out a few common problems with LLMs. I was discussing this with someone relatively senior who works…
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
Generative A.I. chatbots are going down conspiratorial rabbit holes and endorsing wild, mystical belief systems. For some people, conversations with the technology can deeply distort reality.
115 Years Ago, in ‘The Machine Stops,’ E. M. Forster Presented A Dark Potential Future for our Relationship to AI
We’re so busy absorbed in the hyper-speed cycle of press releases from the technoculture’s AI juggernaut that it's hard to take a moment to look into the past for insight. If we did, we might realise there was a piece of literature, published more than a century ago, paints a dark potential future o
Climate Justice and Labor Rights | Part I: AI Supply Chains and Workflows
Tamara Kneese, Data & Society Research Institute Download full report here. Introduction In the second half of 2023, generative AI is dominating headlines. Policymakers, technologists, and activists are all grappling with its potential implications for communities and the planet. Integrating LLMs (large language models) into search engines may multiply the carbon emissions associated with each […]
The AI gold rush has given rise to a new breed of prospector, self-anointed ‘AI experts’ who are well aware that expertise can be manufactured, performed and, most importantly, monetised.
US states sue 23andMe to protect customers’ private data | CNN Business
New York and more than two dozen other US states sued 23andMe to challenge the sale of its customers’ private information after the genetic testing company filed for bankruptcy in March.
On Generative AI in the Classroom: Give Up, Give In, or Stand Up
Edward Dunsworth Two approaches dominate discussion about how professors should handle generative “artificial intelligence” in the classroom: give up or give in. Give up. Faced with a powerful new …
Bartz v. Anthropic parties fight over production of datasets spreadsheet and books dataset outside of inspection environment. Anthropic reveals it spent tens of millions of dollars to compile its own scanned books dataset.
As Judge Alsup is deliberating over Anthropic’s motion for summary judgment on fair use, the parties continue to fight over discovery. One of the more fascinating discovery disputes relates t…
AI-Generated Passport Passed a KYC Check: A Real-World Failure of Compliance Systems
A Polish researcher used ChatGPT-4o to create a fake passport, which was approved by a platform that used standard ID and selfie-based verification. This might sound like the utopia everyone was afraid of, but it’s the reality as of today, and it exposes a serious gap in the way digital onboarding i