controversial

AI Models Have Conflicting Opinions on Contentious Topics, Study Reveals

Robot Blinders
Not all generative AI models are created equal, particularly when it comes to how they treat polarizing subject matter. They found that the models tended to answer questions inconsistently, which reflects biases embedded in the data used to train the models, they say. “Our research shows significant variation in the values conveyed by model responses, depending on culture and language.”Text-analyzing models, like all generative AI models, are statistical probability machines. Instrumental to an AI model’s training data are annotations, or labels that enable the model to associate specific concepts with specific data (e.g. Other studies have examined the deeply ingrained political, racial, ethnic, gender and ableist biases in generative AI models — many of which cut across languages, countries and dialects.

Google Terminates 28 Employees for Participating in Sit-In Against Contract with Israel’s Project Nimbus

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Google has terminated the employment of 28 employees following a prolonged sit-in protest at the company’s Sunnyvale and New York offices. The protests were in response to Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract inked by Google and Amazon with the Israeli government and its military three years ago. So many workers don’t know that Google has this contract with the IOF [Israel Offensive Forces]. Those of us sitting in Thomas Kurian’s office repeatedly requested to speak with the Google Cloud CEO, but our requests were denied. Hundreds and thousands of Google workers have joined No Tech for Apartheid’s call for the company to Drop Project Nimbus.

European Privacy Group Takes Stance on Meta’s Controversial ‘Consent or Pay’ Strategy

Mark Zuckerberg Meta Facebook Snapchat Project Ghostbusters
Yet a binary choice (aka “consent or pay”) is exactly what Meta is currently forcing on users in the region. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has been meeting this week to discuss adopting an opinion on so-called “consent or pay”, following a request made back in February by a trio of concerned data protection authorities. A spokeswoman for the EDPB confirmed to TechCrunch that it adopted an opinion on “consent or pay” on Wednesday morning, saying it will be published later today. However the choice Meta gives EU users is a binary one: Either consent to its use of personal data for targeted advertisng or pay a monthly fee to access ad-free versions of its social networks. But on the core issue of whether Meta’s mechanism complies with the EU’s long-standing data protection framework the Board’s opinion is key.

Snapchat Disables Controversial ‘Solar System’ Function in Response to Negative Publicity

Evan Spiegel Snapdsc04002
Less than a week after The Wall St. Journal reported on how a Snapchat feature dubbed “solar system” was adding to teens’ anxiety, the company has responded by adjusting how the feature works. The ranking system for paid subscribers today shows you how close you are to your Snapchat friends by displaying your position in their solar system. However, instead of removing the feature, as it did with the dangerous and controversial speed filter, which it was sued over for “negligent design,” Snap is simply turning the Solar System feature off by default. A more relevant stat would be how many Snapchat+ users have used Solar System or viewed the feature. The Solar System feature was only one of Snapchat’s friend ranking systems.

Senate’s Obstacle Course: Controversial Legislation Seeks to Outlaw TikTok

Tiktok Logo Neon
A bill threatening to ban an app beloved by half of the American population just rocketed through the House of Representatives in a week’s time. TikTok the company and TikTok the chaotic community of creators and their followers are rightfully freaking out right now. TikTok successfully fought back against a state-level ban on the app in Montana last year, arguing that the law was unconstitutional. Missouri Republican Josh Hawley, who frequently sows concern about China, registered his support for a Senate version of the TikTok bill following the vote. Senator Marsha Blackburn, another Senate Republican hawkish on China, also expressed her support for pushing a version of the House TikTok bill through.

Setapp by MacPaw Among First Companies to Embrace Apple’s Controversial DMA Policies

Setapp Mobile
The move is notable given the pushback Apple has received on its compliance with the new EU regulation so far. Though others have fought against Apple’s DMA rules, MacPaw has chosen to opt in — a one-way conversion that offers no ability, at present, to return to Apple’s existing rules. The current version of Setapp offers dozens of apps for $9.99 per month and up, depending on the platform and number of devices. While the service is being likened to an alternative app store, to be clear, it will involve a subscription for all-you-can access to its apps, which is not Apple’s App Store model. As for developers looking for additional distribution, however, another channel for reaching iOS users could be beneficial if MacPaw’s terms are agreeable.