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Daily Archives: May 13, 2019

United States Congress Creates AI Task Force

“Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced the creation of a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence chaired by Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL).  “I am excited to Chair the Financial Services Committee’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and I thank Chairwoman Waters for her foresight in creating this important Task Force,” Congressman Foster said. “Developments in AI are at the forefront of innovation that is changing the way Americans operate in the marketplace, how we think about identity security, and how we do business with financial institutions. It is affecting everything from how we access our money to how we apply for mortgages and make financial investments. AI has the potential to help break down barriers and make it easier for entrepreneurs, aspiring homeowners, and consumers to interact with banks and utilize financial services, but it is crucial that the application of AI to financial services contributes to an economy that is fair for all Americans. I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to better understand how we can utilize AI to maintain the competitiveness of our nation’s financial services sector and how it translates into building a financial system that works for everyone.” “As new technologies emerge and the financial services industry puts those technologies to use, Congress must make sure that responsible innovation is encouraged, and that regulators and the law are adapting to the changing landscape to best protect consumers, investors and small businesses,” said Chairwoman Waters. “The new task force on artificial intelligence, under the leadership of Congressman Foster, will help Congress to stay on top of new developments in this area so that we are well-positioned to make policy.”

The Task Force on Artificial Intelligence will examine issues including:

  •    Applications of machine learning in financial services and regulation
  •    Algorithms and Big Data: emerging risk management perspectives
  •    AI, Digital Identification Technologies and Combatting Fraud
  •    Automation and its impact on jobs in financial services and the overall economy.”

Accused of ‘Terrorism’ for Putting Legal Materials Online

The New York Times – “Carl Malamud believes in open access to government records, and he has spent more than a decade putting them online. You might think states would welcome the help. But when Mr. Malamud’s group posted the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the state sued for copyright infringement. Providing public access to… Continue Reading

Report: Dark Data Plagues Federal Organizations

NextGov: “While government leaders across the globe are excited about the unleashing artificial intelligence in their organizations, most are struggling with deploying it for their missions because they can’t wrangle their data, a new study suggests. In a survey released this week, Splunk and TRUE Global Intelligence polled 1,365 global business managers and IT leaders… Continue Reading

How to stop Google from keeping your voice recordings

The Verge -Keep your ‘Hey Google’ questions off the record (or isn’t it time you used DuckDuckGo) “Home assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant are becoming ubiquitous, and as that happens, more and more users are discovering how much of their data is actually being collected by these handy items. The Washington Post’s Geoffrey… Continue Reading

Yes, Americans can opt-out of airport facial recognition – and it is not easy

EFF – Skip the Surveillance By Opting Out of Face Recognition At Airports – “…It might sound trite, but right now, the key to opting out of face recognition is to be vigilant. There’s no single box you can check, and importantly, it may not be possible for non-U.S. persons to opt out of face recognition… Continue Reading

Jared Diamond: There’s a 49 Percent Chance the World As We Know It Will End by 2050

New York Magazine – Intelligencer: “Jared Diamond’s new book, Upheaval, addresses itself to a world very obviously in crisis, and tries to lift some lessons for what do about it from the distant past. In that way, it’s not so different from all the other books that have made the UCLA geographer a sort of… Continue Reading

What Democrats Can Learn About Impeachment From the Civil War

The New York Times Opinion – Lesson One: Don’t let Trump take the initiative. By Jamelle Bouie “…I have been revisiting a few popular histories of the Civil War, both for personal interest and future work. It’s almost impossible to count all of the connections to make between that period, Reconstruction and present-day political life.… Continue Reading