Yoshua Bengio, considered one of the “Godfathers of AI,” warns that the threat of job displacement by AI is no longer a distant future but a present reality, with even trade jobs at risk as the technology becomes more sophisticated.
“AI – Artificial Intelligence”
Coffee shops, retail stores, even hotels are ditching humans to serve you better
Vandhana Mohanraj and her partner Faisal Fakhani had just finished their regular grocery run when the couple decided to stop for coffee.
At the storefront for the fledgling Caffeo shop in downtown Toronto, Mohanraj punched in her choice – a vanilla latte – and tapped her card on the payment pad. Then the café’s “barista” went to work.
Waymo robotaxis stop in the streets during San Francisco power outage
A massive power outage in San Francisco over the weekend led Waymo self-driving taxis to stop working around the city.
“Significant and extensive” damage from a fire in a substation caused the Saturday afternoon outage that left more than 100,000 customers without power, utility provider PG&E said in a statement.
Videos posted to social media showed Waymo robotaxis halted in the middle of city streets and intersections with their hazard lights flashing, as traffic jams grew and drivers zigzagged around the stopped cars.
New study finds AI chatbots can influence some Canadians to change their vote
Study found Canadians were more likely to be swayed than Americans
Talking with an AI chatbot can successfully convince people to change their votes and could affect the outcome of future elections, according to a new study.
The study, which included 1,530 Canadians, also found that the chatbots had more success convincing Canadians to switch their votes than it did with Americans.
Gordon Pennycook, a Canadian and associate professor at Cornell University, said the study set out to discover how persuasive generative AI could be when it comes to politics.
Why is the Right Promoting Idleness?
We need to discuss why Zack Polanski and Elon Musk are both selling essentially the same dangerously utopian dream. Call these fantasies what you like: universal basic income (UBI), hyperabundance, MMT (unlimited borrowing), work as merely an option – they all boil down to the same idea, that there’s a magic wand available that will wish all our problems away.
For those of you not familiar with UBI I suggest a visit to UBI.org where you can watch interesting videos from Barack Obama, Yanis Varoufakis John McDonnell, Ed Miliband and many others talking about its merits. The site even links to an Economist article by Nicola Sturgeon encouraging us all to take a second look at UBI. And, for those of you not familiar with Elon Musk’s claim that robots and AI will render human work an option, this link is just one of many that will take you to where he makes out the case.
Europe faces Robocop-style dystopia by 2035, EU police claim
From rioting ‘displaced workers’ to hacked social-care machines, Europol sketches risks that come with automation
Angry mobs of unemployed citizens riot in the streets against the hordes of service robots that have stolen their jobs. Police officers armed with “robo freezer guns” and “nano net grenades” shoot down swarms of drones deployed by terrorists to attack electricity and water supplies.
This is not the plot of a new Robocop sci-fi film but what may await Europe in the next 10 years, according to a report from the EU’s police agency.
The 48-page Europol document details how law enforcement will need to tackle robots and unmanned systems (drones, satellites and remote-controlled boats) in a dystopian vision of the future.
Hegseth: AI Autonomous Warfighting Systems Are The Future, And They’ll Be Made In America
OINT MUGU, CALIF. — Artificial intelligence-powered, autonomous, and unmanned warfighting systems are a major focus of the Trump administration’s new military build-up, likened the “arsenal of freedom” by War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The Federalist traveled with Hegseth to California over the weekend where he delivered the keynote address outlining the forthcoming National Defense Strategy (NDS) at the Reagan National Defense Forum. But before he gave that speech, the secretary was briefed on the latest in military technological innovation and toured some industrial facilities.
Contestants fight polar bears and snakes in new AI reality show
The stakes in reality television are about to be raised. The latest series, described by its creators as a cross between The Hunger Games, Traitors and The Truman Show, features six super-fit contestants parachuted into remote locations for a fight to the death and a huge cash prize.
In one shocking scene, a contestant toys with another by peppering them with gunshots, while others fend off a venomous snake and a polar bear.
Inside the Creation of Tilly Norwood, the AI Actress Freaking Out Hollywood
Tilly Norwood, an “actress” built with artificial intelligence, comes from humble beginnings, popping into the mind of Eline Van der Velden while the producer was in the restroom at London’s private Groucho Club. By the time Van der Velden got home, her mind was made up:
She was going to make the first AI movie star.
Van der Velden shared her vision with ChatGPT, typing out a short description of her ideal candidate: “A stunning female celebrity with global appeal. She has symmetrical facial features, clear radiant skin, and captivating green eyes. Her hair is long.”
Waymo has its sights set on Toronto for driverless cars. The city’s history with Big Tech suggests that’s cause for alarm
The question of how to deal with an incoming wave of advanced robots might seem like a sci-fi hypothetical from a far-flung future, but, for Toronto city hall, the future isn’t so far away.
Last month saw a notable debut on the city’s lobbyist registry: Waymo, operator of fleets of autonomous taxis in several cities in the United States. The Silicon Valley company is owned by
Alphabet, making it a corporate sibling to tech giant Google. They’re one of the premier players in the burgeoning self-driving car market, offering a real service where people ride in taxis with no human driver present.
And now it appears they are looking at driving their driverless cars north of the border.
So some bad actor in theory could order dozens of Waymo vehicles to wherever the mohammedans are desecrating public space with their cult rituals.
AI hoax broadcast and a chilling glimpse of the deepfake future
I REGULARLY watch the excellent conservative commentator Victor Davis Hanson (VDH) on YouTube. Last Sunday, November 23, I clicked on what I assumed was his channel and watched what appeared to be his latest video. It covered the case of Mark Kelly, the Democratic Senator from Arizona and retired military officer who has recently been accused of sedition.
Everything seemed normal. The video looked and sounded exactly like VDH – the cadence, the tone, the presentation style. But after several minutes, I began to suspect something was seriously wrong.
AI could replace half of American jobs, says report
About half of American jobs could be replaced by artificial intelligence, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute.
The American consultancy’s analysis found that robots and AI agents could automate more than half of US work hours, both mental and cognitive, using technology that is available today, if companies redesigned how they did things.
Most of the roles at risk — about 40 per cent — involve the kinds of drafting, processing information and routine reasoning that AI agents can do. Hiring is slowing in some such jobs, such as among paralegals, administrative and office support workers and programmers, the research found.
Engineer Accuses Firm of Firing Him for Warning of AI Robot’s ‘Superhuman Speed’ and Ability To Inflict ‘Severe Permanent Injury’ on Humans
A fired safety engineer is suing his former employer, Figure AI, alleging he was retaliated against for warning that the company is rushing to produce AI-powered robots with “superhuman speed” and the ability to inflict “severe” injuries on humans.
Say hello to your AI granny
Doing the rounds on social media is the most disturbing advert I’ve ever seen. And I’m telling you about it because you need to be forewarned, just in case this Christmas a child or a grandchild happens to mention that it might be an idea to record a video for posterity, and opens the 2wai app.
2wai is the company responsible for the ad, and the service it offers is the creation of AI versions of family members so that relatives can talk to them after they’re dead. Catch ’em while they’re still alive, says 2wai; film a three-minute interview and Bob’s your AI uncle. ‘Loved ones we’ve lost can be part of our future.’ That’s its catchphrase.
Finally, a totally useful reason for AI!
This AI granny wastes the time of and annoys scammers! pic.twitter.com/DFYhdDZMOD
— Hollywood Horror Museum (@horrormuseum) December 9, 2024
Children’s AI Teddy Bear gave advice on sex and where to find knives
The gift of a teddy bear has always been thought a safe option for children. But parents could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps nothing is sacred after an AI-powered bear was only too happy to provide tips on where knives were kept and explain various sexual positions.
A group of researchers in the US and Canada tested three of the toys, including Curio’s Grok and Miko’s Miko 3. But it was the answers given by the Chinese-made Kumma teddy, retailing at $99, which provided the most worrying answers.