Greetings all, and happy Friday!
I’ve been off work with a divil of a cold, so zero chat from me. Finally, says you.
This week I will leave you with some Pulp. ‘Cocaine Socialism’ is a song Jarvis wrote following a very clumsy recruitment attempt by New Labour. Apparently he decided not to put it out, because he didn’t want to harm Labour’s chances in the election (1998), but it seems pretty appropriate given the absolute state of Labour today. Instead, he changed the song up a bit, and they released ‘Glory Days’. I think its incredible to listen to the two together. To be honest, Glory Days just seems so much more biting.
I’ve also been pressured by Gen Z to give an honourable mention to Harry Styles new song. Its quite good.
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The Guardian, Mandelson’s links with US tech firm Palantir must be exposed, campaigners warn
WIRED, ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are
The Guardian, ‘Orwellian’: Sainsbury’s staff using facial recognition tech eject innocent shopper
Politico, EU plan to share data with US border force sparks surveillance fears
The Washington Post, Google helped Israeli military contractor with AI, whistleblower alleges
404 Media, Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE
WIRED, HHS Is Using AI Tools From Palantir to Target ‘DEI’ and ‘Gender Ideology’ in Grants
The Hill, Most employees aren’t saving time with AI, even though CEOs think they are, report says
Rest of World, AI health care is taking off in China, led by Jack Ma’s Ant Group
Rest of World, The world is trying to log off U.S. tech
Open Rights Group, How do advertisers track you online?
EFF, Smart AI Policy Means Examining Its Real Harms and Benefits (preach)
Rest of World, The volunteer Wikipedia army protecting against AI slop (thank you for your service)
ICRC, “Cognitive warfare”: why the human brain should not become a battlefield
AP, DHS ramps up surveillance in immigration raids, sweeping in citizens
BBC, New BBC Studios podcast The Interface explores how tech is changing everything
BBC, Manchester police live facial recognition leads to rape arrest
BBC, Police to deploy more facial recognition vans in England, Wales (this is while the government are consulting on facial recognition)
The Conversation, Facial recognition technology used by police is now very accurate – but public understanding lags behind
The Washington Post, Israeli military tech start-ups cash in on two years of war
The Washington Post, A bots-only social network triggers fears of an AI uprising (this is a mad story)
The Register, UK names Barnsley as first Tech Town to see whether AI can fix… well, anything
The Register, AI agents can’t yet pull off fully autonomous cyberattacks – but they are already very helpful to crims
The Register, Robotics will break AI infrastructure: Here’s what comes next
Just Security, The Third Summit on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM)
Just Security, Artificial Guilt? A Practitioner’s Guide to Criminal Liability in the Age of GenAI