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Daily Archives: September 7, 2023

Your Gmail and Instagram are training AI

Washington Post: “There’s little you can do about it. Some of the ways Big Tech companies are feeding your personal data to AI feels like a privacy violation — or even theft – It’s your Gmail. It’s also Google’s artificial intelligence factory. Unless you turn it off, Google uses your Gmail to train an AI to finish other people’s sentences. It does that by gobbling up your words so it can spot patterns in them. And if you use a new “experimental” Gmail function called Duet AI, Google uses what you type to make it a better writing coach, too. You can’t say no.  Your email is just the start. Meta, owner of Facebook, took a billion Instagram posts from public accounts to train an AI, and didn’t ask permission. Microsoft uses your chats with Bing to coach the AI bot to better answer questions, and you can’t stop it. Increasingly, tech companies are taking your conversations, photos and documents to teach their AI how to write, paint and pretend to be human. You might be accustomed to them using your data to target you with ads. But now they’re using it to create lucrative new technologies that could upend the economy — and make Big Tech even bigger…”

The Lies in Your Grocery Store

The New Yorker [free link]: “…Spencer Sheehan Sheehan, forty-four, specializes in consumer-protection class-action suits. Specifically, he focusses on packaged foods, and on the authenticity of their ingredients and flavors. Sheehan has sued the makers of frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts (dearth of real strawberries), Hint of Lime Tostitos (absence of lime), Snapple “all natural” fruit drinks (absence… Continue Reading

Artificial Intelligence’s Use and Rapid Growth Highlight Its Possibilities and Perils

GAO, September 6, 2023: “The rise of artificial intelligence has created growing excitement and much debate about its potential to revolutionize entire industries. At its best, AI could improve medical diagnosis, identify potential national security threats more quickly, and solve crimes. But there are also significant concerns—in areas including education, intellectual property, and privacy. Today’s… Continue Reading

Trends and Disparities in Firearm Deaths Among Children

Pediatrics (2023) 152 (3): e2023061296. September 2023 – BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES – In 2020, firearm injuries became the leading cause of death among US children and adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate new 2021 data on US pediatric firearm deaths and disparities to understand trends compared with previous years. METHODS – Centers for Disease Control… Continue Reading

Mozilla Multi-Account Containers

Mozilla Support: “Multi-Account Containers is an extension developed by Mozilla that allows you to separate your browsing experience into different color-coded tabs, to help protect your privacy. By using these containers, you can categorize their browsing based on purpose and create tabs for Work, Banking, Shopping and Personal browsing. For an extra layer of privacy,… Continue Reading

The Great Gloom: In 2023, Employees Are Unhappier Than Ever. Why?

BambooHR’s Employee Happiness Index Benchmarks Employee Satisfaction Across 8 Key Industries Table of Contents Key Takeaways for Human Resources Professionals Employee Happiness Index Benchmarks (2020–Present) What Is the Happiest Sector of the Workforce? 8 Major Industries, Ranked Happiest Industry: Construction Plummeting Happiness: Technology Steadily Declining Happiness: Finance Increasing Happiness: Nonprofit Slowing Unhappiness: Restaurants, Food and… Continue Reading

Morgan Stanley to launch AI chatbot to woo wealthy

Reuters: “Wealthy clients going to a Morgan Stanley financial adviser to discuss their investments may have a different sort of experience in the future: having a chatbot listen to their conversation. After testing it with 1,000 financial advisers for some months, the bank will roll out a generative artificial intelligence bot this month, developed with… Continue Reading

Google’s Cookie Killing Tech Is Now on Almost Every Chrome Browser

Gizmodo: “Google’s Privacy Sandbox, a controversial set of tools and settings meant to replace third-party cookies, is now on almost every single Chrome browser, according to a company blog post published Thursday. Google says Privacy Sandbox is now available to around 97% of Chrome users, and that number will reach 100% in the next few… Continue Reading