Greetings all, and happy Wednesday.
It is very autumnal in London. Significantly less so than it has been in Crete where i’ve been on leave the last couple of weeks. Prompting a very harsh return to reality this Monday. If you have been to Crete and the Palace of Knossos though, what about this Arthur Evans chap? Indiana Jones with a wrecking ball and a can of paint.
I do want to highlight two stories. The first, which has literally just popped up, is Surveillance Secrets by Lighthouse Reports. This looks to be a really incredible, in-depth investigation into mass surveillance, particularly phone tracking. The second, in facial recognition news, is the Labour government’s plan to dramatically expand the use of live facial recognition, after a consultation of course. It might just be me, but while consultation is always nice, deciding what you’re going to do before the consultation, kind of undermines the whole point just a little bit. Oh, if you have access, I also thought this New Yorker piece on the use of AI (by doctors, and others) for health diagnosis was really interesting.
In honour of his passing, i have to leave you this week with ‘Betray My Heart’ by D’Angelo. It took me a while to get into D’Angelo, but when i did. Oh. So good. Totally worth (a significant portion of) your time.
Stay well. Be lovely.
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Lighthouse Reports, Surveillance Secrets
Computer Weekly, Police facial recognition trials show little evidence of benefits
The Guardian, ‘I realised I’d been ChatGPT-ed into bed’: how ‘Chatfishing’ made finding love on dating apps even weirder
The Guardian, Labour plans to consult on use of live facial recognition before wider roll-out
The Gothamist, Dolan, MSG targeted transgender woman, sexual assault accuser according to federal lawsuit (facial recognition)
Schoolsweek, ‘Deepfake’ teacher avatar plan to help pupils catch up
Computer World, OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
Alan Turing Institute, LLMs may be more vulnerable to data poisoning than we thought
Skyline International, The Price of a Meal: Forced Biometric Surveillance and Military Control of Humanitarian Aid in Gaza
Financial Times, ‘Stargate of China’ plan emerges to challenge US as AI superpower
Inter Sec Lab, A Technical Analysis of How China Is Exporting the Great Firewall to Autocratic Regimes, (are you shocked? Im shocked)
The Guardian, Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
The Hill, Altman says ChatGPT will soon allow erotica for adult users
The Hill, Why experts are worried about an AI bubble in the stock market (this does seem problematic)
RUSI, UK National Security Advantage from Disruptive Technologies
Big Brother Watch Big Brother Watch response to proposed powers further restricting “repeat protests”
Business & Human Rights Centre, Clearview AI non-response re- unlawful use of facial recognition by police to identify pro-Palestinian protester
EFF, EFF and Five Human Rights Organizations Urge Action Around Microsoft’s Role in Israel’s War on Gaza
Washington Post, Police are drowning in data. Could a chatbot help?
BBC, Facial recognition technology to be introduced at Jersey Coop
BBC, Why AI is being trained in rural India
New York Times, The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World
Financial Times, The transformative potential of AI in healthcare
BBC, Fake videos of dead celebrities are going viral. Many of their families are horrified.
Financial Times, Regulating military use of AI is in everyone’s interest
New York TImes, The Rise of Social Medica and the Fall of Western Democracy
MIT Tech Review, AI is changing how we quantify pain
Blogs
Just Security, AI’s Hidden National Security Cost
Academic Literature
*Disclaimer: The following have not been evaluated for their methodology and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AI & Human Rights Blog
Karen Yeung & Wenlong Li, From ‘wild west’ to ‘responsible’ AI testing ‘in-the-wild’: lessons from live facial recognition testing by law enforcement authorities in Europe | Data & Policy