20 March 2023

Greetings!

A bit of a bumper edition to the newsletter this week. There’s a really good Dazed story on the role of deepfakes in future conflict, and quite a lot of deepfake related content in general. You’ll all be relieved to know though that there is a potential AI-based solution to the sushi belt scandal that has been rocking Japan.

There is also the quite worrying news that Microsoft has laid off its ethics team, which seems to be part of an unfortunate broader trend in tech. This is coupled with an AI News story that ‘developers believe AI will have a positive impact’ – might need to put some work into that lads 🙂 To balance things out though, there’s a more good news story on the use of AI to help detect breast cancer.

It’s not really AI-related, but there is also an open letter from, eh, open rights group, about the Manchester 10, and allegedly discriminatory policing practices related to gang matrix-style shenanigans. It does highlight the link between underlying practices and technical approaches.

I’m also hiring a postdoc in sociology (or related) to look at the chilling effect of surveillance (and more) so if you know anyone, please do let them know, or share. The salary is around £45k, and visa applications are supported.

Thanks, as ever, to Sarah Zarmsky, and hope ye all have a good week

AI Newsletter – 20 March 2023

Websites

Deepfake ‘news’ videos ramp up misinformation in Venezuela, Financial Times

Facial recognition technology used at New York supermarkets raises some questions about privacy, CBS News

What Have Humans Just Unleashed?, The Atlantic

‘Digital wildfire’: how deepfakes became a new frontier for global conflict, Dazed

The Promise and Peril of AI Legal Services to Equalize Justice, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Digest 

AI Camera Helps Sushi Restaurant Catch Pranksters, Reuters

Scientists develop mobile system for object detection, image analysis in disaster response, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Microsoft lays off AI ethics team, AI News

Developers believe AI will have a positive world impact, AI News

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

Using A.I. to Detect Breast Cancer That Doctors Miss, The New York Times

Wedding platform Joy will let you outsource your vows to OpenAI, Tech Crunch

GPT-4’s new capabilities power a ‘virtual volunteer’ for the visually impaired, Tech Crunch

How AI could write our laws, MIT Technology Review

A Face Recognition Site Crawled the Web for Dead People’s Photos, WIRED

Latin America and Caribbean Nations Rally Against Autonomous Weapons Systems, Just Security

Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Courts, and Real Harms, Lawfare Blog

AI makes plagiarism harder to detect, argue academics – in paper written by chatbot, The Guardian

‘ChatGPT said I did not exist’: how artists and writers are fighting back against AI, The Guardian

Justice Dept. Investigates Tik Tok Parent Over Potential Data-Gathering Issues, The Washington Post

‘We are a little bit scared’: OpenAI CEO warns of risks of artificial intelligence, The Guardian

Voice deepfakes are calling – here’s what they are and how to avoid getting scammed, The Conversation

You Don’t Have to Be a Jerk to Resist the Bots, WIRED

We read OpenAI’s risk study. GPT-4 is not toxic … if you add enough bleach, The Register

Inside a Misfiring Government Data Machine, WIRED

UK to invest £900m in supercomputer in bid to build own ‘BritGPT’, The Guardian

An AI Told Me I Had Cancer, WIRED

British industry calls for regulation of autonomous vehicles, The Register

Lawsuit argues Amazon illegally surveilled NYC customers including tracking their body size. Here’s why Amazon Go stores are watching you., Business Insider

New study on AI in the workplace: Workers need control options to ensure co-determination, Algorithm Watch

Manchester 10: Open Letter Asks Andy Burnham to Tackle Discriminatory ‘Gang’ Surveillance, Open Rights Group

Risky business: How do we get a grip on social media algorithms?, Algorithm Watch

Devalue or Defend: Generative AI, Artists, and the Law, Berkman Klein Center Collection

Reports

AI, human rights, democracy and the rule of law: A primer prepared for the Council of Europe, David Leslie, Christopher Burr, Mhairi Aitken, Josh Cowls, Mike Katell and Morgan Briggs, The Alan Turing Institute 

Journal Articles

*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

Human dignity and AI: mapping the contours and utility of human dignity in addressing challenges presented by AI, Sue Anne Teo, Law, Innovation & Technology

Liability Regimes in the Age of AI: a Use-Case Driven Analysis of the Burden of Proof, David Fernández Llorca, Vicky Charisi, Ronan Hamon, Ignacio Sánchez and Emilia Gómez, Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research 

Ethical use of artificial intelligence in health professions education, Ken Masters, Medical Teacher

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