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AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media

Hundreds of videos on TikTok and elsewhere impersonate experts to sell supplements with unproven effects TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation. The factchecking organisation Full Fact has uncovered hundreds of such videos featuring impersonated versions of doctors and influencers directing viewers to Wellness Nest, a US-based supplements firm. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Dec 5

HealthUK newsUS news

The AI boom is heralding a new gold rush in the American west

Once home to gold and prospectors, the Nevada desert is now the site of a new kind of expansion: tech datacenters Driving down the interstate through the dry Nevada desert, there are few signs that a vast expanse of new construction is hiding behind the sagebrush-covered hills. But just beyond a massive power plant and transmission towers that march up into the dusty brown mountains lies one of the world’s biggest buildouts of datacenters – miles of new concrete buildings that house millions of computer servers. This business park, called the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, has a sprawling landmass greater than the city of Denver . It is home to the largest datacenter in the US, built by the company Switch, and tech giants like Google and Microsoft have also bought land here and are constructing enormous facilities. A separate Apple datacenter complex is just down the road. A Tesla “gigafactory”, which builds electric vehicle batteries, is a resident too. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Dec 4

Artificial intelligence (AI)WaterTesla

More than 1,000 Amazon workers warn rapid AI rollout threatens jobs and climate

Workers say the firm’s ‘warp-speed’ approach fuels pressure, layoffs and rising emissions More than 1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter expressing “serious concerns” about AI development, saying that the company’s “all-costs justified, warp speed” approach to the powerful technology will cause damage to “democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth.” The letter, published on Wednesday, was signed by the Amazon workers anonymously, and comes a month after Amazon announced mass layoff plans as it increases adoption of AI in its operations. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Nov 28

AmazonArtificial intelligence (AI)E-commerce

After a teddy bear talked about kink, AI watchdogs are warning parents against smart toys

Advocates are fighting against the $16.7bn global smart-toy market, decrying surveillance and a lack of regulation As the holiday season looms into view with Black Friday , one category on people’s gift lists is causing increasing concern: products with artificial intelligence . The development has raised new concerns about the dangers smart toys could pose to children, as consumer advocacy groups say AI could harm kids’ safety and development. The trend has prompted calls for increased testing of such products and governmental oversight. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Nov 28

Artificial intelligence (AI)ToysUS news

‘A step-change’: tech firms battle for undersea dominance with submarine drones

As navies seek to counter submarines and protect cables, startups and big defence companies fight to lead market Flying drones used during the Ukraine war have changed land battle tactics for ever. Now the same thing appears to be happening under the sea. Navies around the world are racing to add autonomous submarines. The UK’s Royal Navy is planning a fleet of underwater uncrewed vehicles (UUVs) which will, for the first time, take a leading role in tracking submarines and protecting undersea cables and pipelines. Australia has committed to spending $1.7bn (£1.3bn) on “Ghost Shark” submarines to counter Chinese submarines. The huge US Navy is spending billions on several UUV projects, including one already in use that can be launched from nuclear submarines. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Nov 28

Technology sectorBusinessDefence policy

Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation

Study finds that a week of political content can bring about a shift in views that previously would have taken three years Small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found. A groundbreaking experiment to gauge the potency of Elon Musk’s social platform to increase political division found that when posts expressing anti-democratic attitudes and partisan animosity were boosted, even barely perceptibly, in the feeds of Democrat and Republican supporters there was a large change in their unfavourable feelings towards the other side. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Nov 27

XUS politicsInternet

Nvidia earnings: Wall Street sighs with relief after AI wave doesn’t crash

Amid a blackout of data due to the government shutdown, the $5tn chipmaker’s report took on wider significance Markets expectations around Wednesday’s quarterly earnings report by the most valuable publicly traded company in the world had risen to a fever pitch. Anxiety over billions in investment in artificial intelligence pervaded, in part because the US has been starved of reliable economic data by the recent government shutdown. Investors hoped that both questions would be in part answered by Nvidia’s earnings and by a jobs report due on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Nov 19

TechnologyArtificial intelligence (AI)Nvidia

‘Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk’ – why investors are happy to pay him $1tn

Making Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire appears to fit a US investment culture of backing high-flying innovators For all the headlines about an on-off relationship with Donald Trump, baiting liberals and erratic behaviour, Tesla shareholders are loath to part with Elon Musk. Investors in the electric vehicle maker voted on Thursday to put the world’s richest person on the path to become the world’s first trillionaire , despite the controversy that is now seemingly intrinsic to his public profile. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Nov 7

Elon MuskTeslaTechnology