Greetings all, and happy Friday!
Apologies, the UK bank holiday has slightly delayed this week’s newsletter, but thankfully its arriving right on time for some Friday afternoon slump/weekend reading.
There are really quite a few interesting stories this week, it seems like the news is waking up from the summer slump, slowly. Whether I am or not, remains to be seen.
I’ve pulled together a couple of stories that, while they are not strictly AI, do relate to disinformation, the digital space, and so on. There is this piece on Tommy Robinson’s (apparently really well-funded) plans to stoke Islamophobia in the UK. If you’re not from the UK i think its pretty safe to say that Tommy Robinson falls into the [insert multiple expletives here] category. There are quite a few pieces on the arrest of the Telegram CEO, including this one in Time. There is an interview with Meredith Whittaker (Signal CEO) in WIRED, and this really interesting piece on how Venezuelan journalists are using AI avatars as they do not want to appear on screen.
While in the tech and disinformation space, WITNESS have two job openings.
The EFF have an interesting read on the use of police drones for warrantless surveillance over people’s backyards. That’s a back garden to you and me. Clearly there are massive privacy issues, and its another example of how tech is bringing about a step change in surveillance capability, but it also references Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle v. Baltimore Police Department, which has to be one of the best applicant in a mass surveillance case names.
The AP have a piece on how police are using chatbots to write up crime reports. As someone who tried and failed to get ChatGPT to write this newsletter, intrigued to see how this plays out.
In this week’s propaganda corner, i’ll be speaking at the London Conference on International Law in October (on…. AI!) with a really great panel. Conference programme here. Also at ESIL in Vilnius, although really unfortunately (life!) I’m only there on the Friday.
Obviously, this week’s massive news over here – literally inescapable – has been the news that Oasis are reforming for a few live dates next year. And so, in that spirit, I leave you with … Common People by Pulp.
Websites
WIRED, Google, Apple, and Discord Let Harmful AI ‘Undress’ Websites Use Their Sign-On Systems
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Backyard Privacy in the Age of Drones
BBC, What all parents can learn from the troubled AI in Los Angeles schools
The Guardian, Improved version of ‘Robocrop’ only picks ripe raspberries
BBC, Essex Police uses live facial recognition CCTV at Clacton Airshow
AP News, Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court?
The Guardian, ‘Never summon a power you can’t control’: Yuval Noah Harari on how AI could threaten democracy and divide the world (surely we know this from the Lord of the Rings)
The Intercept, Homeland Security Still Dreams of Face Recognition at the Border
New York Times, Arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram Founder, Is Part of Broad Investigation in France
New York Times, When A.I.’s Output Is a Threat to A.I. Itself
Time, Why the Arrest of Telegram’s Pavel Durov Is Sparking Outrage
Blackbox Security, Microsoft bans US police departments from using enterprise AI tool for facial recognition
TechCrunch, Russian government hackers found using exploits made by spyware companies NSO and Intellexa
Defense One, A group of 20-somethings built a GPS-independent drone in 24 hours-and caught the eye of US special operations forces (unsurprisingly)
Algorithm Watch, Chatbots are still spreading falsehoods (naughty)
The Conversation, From thoughts to words: How AI deciphers neural signals to help a man with ALS speak
Financial Times, The trouble with deepfakes: Liar’s dividend
The Guardian, ‘Being on camera is no longer sensible’: persecuted Venezuelan journalists turn to AI
The Guardian, ‘Being on camera is no longer sensible’: persecuted Venezuelan journalists turn to AI (really interesting!)
Disinformation Tommy Robinson’s plan to use Sikhs, Jews and Hindus to turn people in UK against Islam
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Backyard Privacy in the Age of Drones – best anti surveillance case name
Washington Post, Think AI can’t make real music? Listen to this. (tl;dr it can, but its boring)
The Guardian, Sorry, Labour, but ChatGPTeachers are a lesson in how not to transform our schools
Blog Posts
Lawfare, A Global Treaty to Fight Cybercrime—Without Combating Mercenary SpywareJust Security, Don’t Downplay Risks of AI for Democracy