13 March 2023

Greetings, and happy Monday!

Loads of interesting stories today, kicking off with the publication of a long-term Lighthouse Reports investigation into government’s use of digital fraud detection systems. This was part of a collaboration with WIRED, and ‘This Algorithm Could Ruin Your Life‘ is the first article in the series. WIRED also has a really interesting story on the US Air Force’s development of AI powered fighter planes, which are intended – initially at least – to assist human pilots, in an AI wingman type set up. It also flags up an interesting element of the use of AI in military settings, where some of the tactics used are entirely new, as opposed to ‘merely’ doing human type tasks better.

Kashmir Hill has a piece in the New York Times looking at private uses of facial recognition (including to ban lawyers involved in law suits from Madison Square Gardens). It brings up the potentially pervasive impacts of facial recognition, and how it can have significant impacts on our day to day lives, without our knowledge. Its a good complement to the Al Jazeera piece on France’s proposed use of AI-enabled surveillance at the 2024 Olympics.

Towards Data Science also has a solid accessible primer on the draft AI Regulation Act. On the status and future of AI UC Berkeley has a really impressive looking series of talks lined up, if you’re in the area (its not clear whether they will be available online?).

For those interested in open source investigations, there’s also this example of an, eh, unethical approach

Hope you all have a great week, and thanks as ever to Sarah Zarmsky.

P.S. If you’re looking to introduce a bit of funk into your morning… probably best after coffee.


French plans for AI surveillance during Olympics are dangerous, Al Jazeera

This Algorithm Could Ruin Your Life, WIRED

The Path towards AI Regulation, Towards Data Science

Meet the AI expert who says we should stop using AI so much, MIT Technology Review

‘Pan-variant’ COVID vaccine could defang future strains thanks to machine learning, Tech Crunch

Does Artificial Intelligence advance gender equality?, UNESCO

Why addressing AI-driven discrimination is so important, ICO

Making Deepfakes Gets Cheaper and Easier Thanks to A.I., The New York Times

ChatGPT is the push higher education needs to rethink assessment, The Conversation

Thanks to generative AI, catching fraud science is going to be this much harder, The Register

How to Start an AI Panic, WIRED

AI Can Help the IRS Catch Wealthy Tax Cheats, The Washington Post

TikTok’s Bold Glamour Beauty Filter Worries AI Experts About Reality, The Washington Post

The US Air Force Is Moving Fast on AI-Piloted Fighter Jets, WIRED

The time to negotiate rules for AI in nuclear weapons is now, Financial Times

Darktrace warns of rise in AI-enhanced scams since ChatGPT release, The Guardian

Once AI can create endless viral videos, good luck switching off social media, The Register

Brit newspaper giant fills space with AI-assisted articles, The Register

Will Meta’s massive leak democratise AI – and at what cost?, The Guardian

SETI: How AI-boosted satellites, robots could help search for life on other planets, The Register

Can a machine be racist? Artificial Intelligence has shown troubling signs of bias, but there are reasons for optimism, The Conversation

Inside the Suspicion Machine, WIRED

‘Noah’ and ‘Daren’ report good news about Venezuela. They’re deepfakes., The Washington Post

Which Stores Are Scanning Your Face? No One Knows., The New York Times 

At US border, tech issues plague new migrant applications, BBC News

FBI, Pentagon helped research facial recognition for street cameras, drones, The Washington Post

Open Letter: The AI video surveillance measures in the Olympics Games 2024 law violate human rights, EDRi

When your ‘friends’ spy on you: The firm pitching Orwellian social media surveillance to militaries, Rappler

Journal Articles & Chapters

*Disclaimer: The selected articles and chapters were not evaluated for their research methods and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AI & Human Rights Blog

Defining the scope of AI regulations, Jonas Schuett, Law, Innovation and Technology

Autonomous Weapons Systems in Armed Conflicts: New Challenges for International Law, Verena Jackson, The Implications of Emerging Technologies in the Euro-Atlantic Space

Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Our World – Are We Ready?, Nikola Datzov, Dakota Digital Review 

Events

‘Fortifying the Truth: Human Rights, Generative AI, and Deepfakes’ (Webinar), Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, 30 March 2023 at 4:00-5:00pm EST

The Berkeley lectures on the status and future of AI (Multiple Dates and Times, Berkeley CA) 

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