Greetings all, and happy Wednesday.
Apologies for the lack of a newsletter last week, i’m in the midst of a sea of deadlines, and all attention is focused on remaining afloat. It does mean we have quite a hefty newsletter this week, so now may be an opportune moment to put the kettle on.
If you’re in the UK you may be interested in the launch event for the Woomera Manual, a guide to the laws governing militaries in space. I’ll also re-up our call for papers for a special issue i’m co-editing on AI and State Crime (broadly construed).
The New York Times has an interesting story on China’s development of an AI surveillance tool, to monitor for ‘anti-Chinese posts’ in real time. What’s interesting, I think, is not only that the tool itself was developed, but that OpenAI found out about it – because the Chinese developers used OpenAI to help with debugging. This suggests that the surveillance was perhaps going both ways, and also indicates a level of surveillance of OpenAI user activity that I hadn’t anticipated. What was it about this act of debugging that wanted further attention? Speaking of surveillance… the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a piece on the latest (and so ridiculous) efforts to install backdoors on encryption. This time the UK government’s requests on Apple. Its really surprising that the ‘backdoors can be used by anyone’ argument doesn’t seem to hit more effectively. Anyways, in totally unrelated news, Open Rights Group make the case for encryption.
Big Brother Watch have a story on the next phase of live facial recognition in the UK. South Wales Police is deploying LFR across Cardiff’s surveillance camera network, currently for the Six Nations games. This is a massive extension of surveillance capability. And it is hard to see how it is justified, or human rights compliant. The alternative measures question always comes up. Is existing policing of Six Nations rugby games deficient? The AP has a video on the use of facial recognition drones at assemblies in India.
This week – as if the State of the world wasn’t depressing enough – i’m going to leave you with Lisa O’Neill, and ‘Homeless in the Thousands (Dublin in the Digital Age)’.
Stay well, stay warm, stay safe.
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TASS, Russia develops neural network for guiding kamikaze drones
Hindustan Times, Bizarre AI-generated video of Donald Trump sucking Elon Musk’s toes hacked onto TVs, goes viral; ‘bad day to have eyes’
Michigan Public, Lawsuit alleges incorrect facial recognition led to woman’s arrest in Detroit
The New York Times, OpenAI Uncovers Evidence of A.I.-Powered Chinese Surveillance Tool
The Conversation, Nobody wants to talk about AI safety. Instead they cling to 5 comforting myths
The Guardian, Google defends scrapping AI pledges and DEI goals in all-staff meeting
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google is on the Wrong Side of History
The Guardian, Rogue states could use AI to do ‘real harm’, warns ex-Google CEO
The Guardian, US and UK out of step with rest of the world on AI
Asia Times, From chatbot to sexbot: lessons from Korea’s AI hate-speech fiasco
Nikkei Asia, DeepSeek reveals loophole in Japan’s personal data safeguards
The Japan Time, How to tell if what you’re hearing is true (or just sounds like it is)
The Guardian, I was a content moderator for Facebook. I saw the real cost of outsourcing digital labour
BBC, Six-hour facial recognition trial in Ipswich leads to arrests
The Guardian, I met the ‘godfathers of AI’ in Paris – here’s what they told me to really worry about
Financial Times, Keir Starmer chooses AI security over ‘woke’ safety concerns to align with Trump
The Times, AI safety institute gets new name and drops bias research
The Korea Times, Gov’t suspends new downloads of DeepSeek over privacy concerns
Verdict, AI impact on privacy a growing global concern
Euractiv, Civil society threatens to withdraw from GPAI Code of Practice
Big Brother Watch, Big Brother Watch condemns UK’s first use of city-wide facial recognition in Cardiff
Financial Times, Google builds AI ‘co-scientist’ tool to speed up research
EDRi, Protect Not Surveil position paper: Stop Europol’s expanding digital surveillance against migrants!
The Register, We meet the protesters who want to ban Artificial General Intelligence before it even exists
Wired, I’m Not Convinced Ethical Generative AI Currently Exists
Balkan Insight, Internet Freedoms ‘Deteriorated Again in Southeast Europe in 2024’
The Conversation, Deepfakes can ruin lives and livelihoods – would owning the ‘rights’ to our own faces and voices help?
The Japan Times, Japan may ease privacy rules to aid AI development
The New Arab, How US tech giants supplied Israel with AI models, raising questions about tech’s role in warfare
EFF, Utah Bill Aims to Make Officers Disclose AI-Written Police Reports
Algorithm Watch, The Musk Effect: X’s impact on Germany’s election
The Conversation, Erotica, gore and racism: how America’s war on ‘ideological bias’ is letting AI off the leash
RUSI, AI and Cyber: Could the War of the Robots be the Next War in the Wires?
Smithsonian, Researchers Use A.I. to Find an Elusive and ‘Odd’ Australian Bird. It Hadn’t Been Recorded in the Area Since 1989
New York Times, She Fell in Love With ChatGPT. Like, Actual Love. With Sex.
The Guardian, UK universities warned to ‘stress-test’ assessments as 92% of students use AI
TASS, AI already being integrated into Russian equipment — First Deputy PM
AI and Human Rights Policy News
Global Affairs Canada, Canada signs the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law
UK Gov, Tackling AI security risks to unleash growth and deliver Plan for Change
Blogs
Opinio Juris, Artificial Sanctions: Potential Implications of US Sanctions on the ICC’s use of AI and Digital Evidence
CPI, EU Commission Drops Tech Patent, AI, and Privacy Regulations Amid Legislative Deadlock
Ejil:Talk!, ChatGPT in the Classroom: Creating Spaces for Critical Reflection
Medium, The Intersection of AI and Privacy: Challenges and Opportunities in Data Management
Montreal AI Ethics Institute, The Paris AI Summit: Deregulation, Fear, and Surveillance
The Carr Center, Misinformation and Disinformation as “Soviet-Era Words:” How JD Vance is Gaslighting the World
EFF, Saving the Internet in Europe: Defending Privacy and Fighting Surveillance
Humanitarian Law & Policy, AI, war and (in)humanity: the role of human emotions in military decision-making
RAILS, The Cost of a Hacker’s Attack: Grounding a Medical Robot as a Threat to Life
The Canadian Bar Association, Privacy experts grappling with automated AI decision-making
Articles of War, Ukraine Symposium – The Continuing Autonomous Arms Race (neglecting to note, however, that there are long established bodies of law that do apply, in the form of IHL and IHRL)
JustSecurity, The Munich Security Conference Provides an Opportunity to Improve on the AI Elections Accord
Podcast:
The New York Times, A.I. Accelerates in Paris + Can A.I. Fix Your Love Life?
The OII Podcast, How AI is being regulated: Professors Sandra Wachter and Brent Mittelstadt
Berkeley Technology Law Journal Podcast, Tech Courts, Judicial Education, and Post-Chevron Regulation: Exploring Solutions with Professor Michele Neitz
Video:
Al Jazeera English, Can simplifying AI rules in Europe create competition for US and China? | Inside Story
France 24, Europe and the artificial intelligence revolution: Key provisions of AI Act take effect
APA News, Indian authorities use AI, drones and facial recognition for security at Maha Kumbh festival
Al Jazeera English, AI: who’s responsible for children’s safety?
Al Jazeera English, Counting the climate cost of AI | Digital Dilemma
Big Brother Watch, The UK is in the ranks with China & Russia