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Weekly News: A Difficult Relationship With 5G

How is the relationship with 5G? Outlandish theories were spreading like wildfire across the U.K. at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

In a sudden burst of technological ignorance, a few conspiracy-lovers set out to destroy the country’s newly deployed 5G towers. The technology was, of course, behind the mysterious disease. 

Since then, the relationship with 5G is difficult, anti-5G sentiment has grown around the globe, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Only that the U.K. has another major problem with 5G: China. Following raising internal pressure and sanctions by Washington, the British government has banned sales of Huawei’s 5G kit starting January. Network providers will also have to abandon all already-purchased Huawei 5G tech by 2027.

Meant at addressing national security concerns, the decision is likely to delay the U.K.’s 5G rollout by 2 to 3 years. 

Big ‘oops’ from Twitter

No one is safe from cyberattacks. Not even Twitter. 

The company’s IT, PR and legal departments sure had one hell of a day yesterday after news emerged of a high-profile breach involving major firms and public figures. Apple, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Kanye West. 

It all started when their accounts starting posting invitations to participate in a lucrative Bitcoin scam with a simple message: send 1.000 dollars to this account, and you will get double in return. 

While Twitter blames the breach on a coordinated social engineering attack against its employees, other sources point at a rogue employee who might have helped hackers get inside access.

relationship with 5G

Remote work is here to stay

Newsflash — Gartner survey confirms the writing on the wall: remote work is part of the new normal. 

A sweeping 82% of business leaders are planning on allowing at least some level of remote work moving forward, even after the pandemic is over. 

\Nearly half of companies (47%) will allow employees to work remotely full time, while 43% of respondents are aiming for a flexible week schedule. 

This new set-up highlights the necessary transformation of the CIO role. IT leaders will now have a bigger role within organisations, leading the construction of stronger cloud collaboration environments and helping maintain a cohesive remote corporate culture.

relationship with 5G

The AI bandwagon

53% of global tech and business leaders invested more than $20 million in AI and related talent in the past year, according to a report by Deloitte.  

Although the majority of respondents believe AI will significantly transform their industry in the next 3 years, only 47% of them consider they have a sufficiently skilled AI workforce. 

Ethical concerns, data privacy/regulations and AI failure are among the top concerns keeping executives up at night. 

relationship with 5G

Also discover our weekly news: Eco data centers, a Microsoft hack and the EU’s digital sovereignty

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Weekly News: How Tech Is Rewiring our Brains

How Tech is rewiring our brains, a few bumps on the road for data science, new AI beats historic videogame trap; and the newest new Internet… Discover our weekly news about Tech & IT.

How Tech Is Rewiring our Brains – ‘We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.’

How Tech is rewiring our brains?

‘We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.’ Often mistakenly attributed to the philosopher Marshall McLuhan, this quote by John Culkin has become a symbol of the symbiotic relationship between humans and tech. 

Science writer Nicholas Carr took the concept to a new level in his 2010 book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to our Brains. It was not that well-received at the time. But with every new app that changes the way we communicate and consume information, it gets clearer how relevant Carr’s work was and remains. 

In the book, Carr leaves moral judgements aside and urges us to approach technology from a position of understanding. 

Our brain is being rewired, pushed towards shorter attention spans and shallower forms of reading by feeds and visuals. Only by being aware of these effects, we will be able to stay in control.

Ten years after the book’s publication, Vox’s Ezra Klein sits down with Carr to discuss where we stand today. 

An interview worth checking out.

A few bumps on the road for data science

A new report by software provider Aanaconda sheds some light on the current state of data science and its role in the enterprise. Far from being a consolidated part of today’s business world, the discipline has yet to overcome a few key challenges before reaching maturity. 

Problems demonstrating ROI across the organisation. Difficulty integrating open-source tools. Attracting and retaining top talent. Tackling AI bias and ethics — quite the line-up. 

Thankfully, the report also provides specific recommendations on how to overcome these challenges. Taking a look at them won’t hurt.

New AI beats historic videogame trap

First released in 1979, Zork set a new standard for interactive, story-driven videogames. Rich in storytelling and equipped with advanced language syntax recognition, this text-based adventure prompted players to input actions at every step. 

Now, a new AI built by Georgia Tech and Microsoft Research has become the first to overcome one of the game’s most iconic bottlenecks (i.e. times where players tend to get trapped and die).

Named Q*BERT, the AI leverages NLP and reinforcement learning to avoid getting eaten by a ‘Grue’ monster whenever it moves without any lights around the game’s dungeons.

Also read our article: The Task of Rebuilding AI Infrastructure: Machines and the New Reality

The newest new Internet

Blockchain-powered Dfinity proposes a decentralized and non-proprietary type of network that takes the power away from existing monopolies. 

It does this by allowing for apps to be built and run on the network itself, rather than exist in data centres that are increasingly controlled by large companies like Facebook and Amazon.

This so-called ‘Internet Computer’ is now open to third-party developers and entrepreneurs in a bid to spur a new era of connectivity and development. 

Dfinity launched a privacy-friendly version of TikTok named CanCan to illustrate the platform’s power. Thanks to its architecture, the app is said to do in 1,000 lines of code what Facebook does in 62 million.

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Weekly News: Robots take the streets

Robots take the streets; Contact tracing apps are here; The cloud’s about to burst; News from the frontlines… Discover Weekly Tech & IT News.

Robots take the streets & make their first en-masse appearance

A news article on pizza-delivering robots. Amazon and its flashy drones. That friendly robot shaking your hand at an industry conference. 

Robots had long appeared ready to make the jump to public life. But it took a pandemic to finally start turning the hype into reality. That is, of course, aside from industrial automation. 

As humans fled streets and public buildings seeking refuge from the virus, robots started pitching in and even replacing them. Grocery delivery, temperature screening, sanitation, information — you name it. 

However convenient robots might be, their growing presence has some people worried. One can understand why when learning about Singapore’s park-patrolling, robotic dogs, which kindly remind you of your social distancing obligations whenever you get to close to another person.

Here’s The Guardian’s look at that and other examples of this rise of the machines.

Contact tracing apps are here

After much debate and speculation around the viability and safety of relying on mobile apps to carry out large-scale contact tracing, the use of these apps is spreading. 

Germany launched this week its own version, which is based on the platform created by the Apple-Google partnership. Switzerland, Ireland and Austria are conducting testing, while Japan is expected to announce a Microsoft-powered solution later this week. 

Unfortunately, not everything is going well for all those in these arena. After starting testing in the Isle of Wight, the U.K. has gone quiet about its NHS-developed app. Experts in the matter point at the lack of adoption and Bluetooth problems as the most likely culprits behind the authorities’ silence.  

Meanwhile, Norway has put on hold its centralized app after a privacy watchdog denounced its unnecessary use of users’ GPS.

Contact tracing apps are here

The cloud’s about to burst

We recently discussed the cloud’s key role in a post-COVID business world. New developments and information keep highlighting the surge in cloud adoption. 

A new study by O’Reilly Media published this week revealed that over 88% of businesses are on the cloud, with most of them expecting to grow their usage in the upcoming months. Furthermore, a staggering 25% of respondents said their companies plan to move all their applications to the cloud in the near future. 

Beyond these headline findings, the survey confirms the popularity of the multi-cloud and of microservices. Amazon AWS reigns supreme, followed by Microsoft Azure. 

Just this week, Microsoft provided more details on how the increase in cloud demand is affecting its infrastructure, forcing the company to expand Azure capacity and implement smarter workload distribution.

Discover our article: Data security : Is your cloud data secure?

The cloud's about to burst

News from the frontlines…

A look at what how technology can help in the fight against the virus.  

AI can be used in a number of ways to limit the spread of infections, carry out faster diagnostics and provide better patient treatment. From optimizing the use of human resources at the hospital level to the triage of patients, here’s what AI can do.     

Amazon revealed a new AI-powered monitoring tool to help its warehouse employees maintain social distancing. The system, which gives live feedback via TV screens, has been met with backlash by workers and the public alike.

Discover our article about AI for recruitment: How AI will allow recruiters to focus on people

News from the frontlines...

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Weekly News: Artificial Stupidity and Racial Bias

Artificial Stupidity and Racial Bias: discover our Weekly News about Tech & IT.

Artificial Stupidity and Racial Bias

Microsoft’s AI news editor confuses mixed-race singers

Last week, The Guardian revealed Microsoft’s plans to fire the human editors in charge of its MSN.com news portal. Their replacement? A new artificial intelligence software. 

Unfortunately for the company, the decision took less than a week to backfire. Instead of delivering proof of Microsoft’s AI prowess, the move served as the perfect example of the dangers of AI’s racial bias.

In the midst of a global call for racial equality, Microsoft’s robot editor sparked public outrage when it illustrated a news story about racism with the picture of the wrong mixed-race member of the band Little Mix.

Lots to think about here.  

Oops

Microsoft’s demise might have provided the perfect opportunity for IBM to score major PR points against one of its main competitors.

The company had earlier announced it was halting its facial recognition initiatives, citing concerns around racial profiling and surveillance by law enforcement agencies. 

Unfortunately for IBM, only hours later, its cloud platform suffered a serious global outage, bringing down customer websites and other services. 

Back to square one.

Don’t neglect cyber security

Japanese car maker Honda was hit by a cyber attack that impacted worldwide operations. 

The attack, thought by security experts to have been caused by Ekans (or Snake) ransomware, spread quickly throughout the company’s network, allegedly affecting production, sales and development. 

Cyber attacks are on the rise since the start of the pandemic, highlighting the importance of having a proper risk management strategy in place. 

Worried about cyber security? Take these 10 simple steps to protect your organisation.

News from the frontlines…

Technology is playing an important role in the fight against the virus.  

The U.K.’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, praised tech’s COVID-19 response during his talk at CogX, an annual global leadership summit focused on artificial intelligence. Hancock declared tech the backbone of the country’s testing program and discussed its upcoming contact tracing app.     

A new study commissioned by Kaspersky Labs revealed how technology is helping people overcome loneliness by keeping them connected through the pandemic.

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Weekly News: How brain-like should AI be?

How brain-like should AI be? Cloud and clear, Microsoft… News from the frontlines… Discover our Tech & IT weekly news.

How brain-like should AI be?

What constitutes intelligence and how do we replicate it? Computer experts and neuroscientists have long been after a universal theory of intelligence. The idea is simple — the more we understand how the brain works, the better our AI will be.

Well, not exactly. 

Kelly Clancy, a neuroscientist working with Google’s DeepMind, delves deep into the issue in this WIRED article. Her main point? Two different roads often lead to the same place. 

AI developers should keep in mind that what works for our brain might not work in machines, and vice versa.

Not enough AI in your life? Here’s a list of books on artificial intelligence that you can read.

Learn more about Microsoft with our Microsoft Technologies Careers Guide

Cloud and clear, Microsoft

Speaking of AI – during its annual Built conference, Microsoft unveiled a new partnership with OpenAI to develop an Azure-hosted AI supercomputer.

The computer will be among the 5 most advanced supercomputers in the world. It will be deployed to test large-scale models and advance towards general artificial intelligence.

Microsoft also announced its first industry-specific cloud offering for the healthcare sector. The solution, which is now available in public preview, connects products like Microsoft 365 for marketing and customer service and Azure IoT. 

Use cases include the development of a “patient journey” that helps manage patient care and maximises positive outcomes.

News from the frontlines…

One more week means one less week until things start looking normal again. This is what the tech world is doing to help in the fight against COVID-19…

If the pandemic has taught us anything about retail IT is that, unlike larger companies, SMEs don’t always have the means to shift to digital operations when needed. In what is big news for e-commerce, Facebook has launched Shops, a new service that will allow companies to sell products on its platforms.

The debate over the effectiveness of contact tracing technology rages on. Industry competitors and researchers are teaming up against all odds to create apps that respect user privacy, but poor adoption could undermine all these efforts. Nature magazine takes an in-depth look at the issue

Plenty going on with tech these days. Even Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, used his keynote speech at this year’s Build to congratulate the tech industry’s response to the global crisis.

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The Task of Rebuilding AI Infrastructure: Machines and the New Reality

A lot of AI models were built for a world that no longer exists. We trained algorithms to interpret consumer behaviour and user patterns based on a certain notion of normality. But the status quo has changed with COVID-19. Let’s talk about the task of rebuilding AI infrastructure.

Online search terms, purchases, location data – every metric right now is suggestive of a society that has nothing to do with what our world looked like a few months ago.

What would you think of early-2020 humans if you were to just look at raw data? Sedentary creatures, obsessed with acquiring toilet paper and prompt to anger over social media.

That’s what Will Douglas Heaven, senior AI editor for MIT Technology Review, focuses on in his article this week.

We’re adapting to the new normal. The machine learning algorithms powering the modern enterprise will need to be revised as well.

Rebuilding AI Infrastructure

Customised Google search

Just like we resort to Google or any other search engine to unearth all the existing information on a certain topic, companies have for long struggled to make it easier for their employees and end-users to search for information across internal data silos.

This week, Amazon announced the general availability of Kendra, its own solution to this problem. The platform leverages natural language processing to let users search for anything they need through natural questions rather than keywords.

And so, automation keeps on permeating and refining enterprise systems.

News from the frontlines

Another week means a new host of tech initiatives meant to combat the spread and effects of the pandemic. 

Some weeks ago, Twitter announced a series of tools intended to dissuade users from posting harmful content. This week, Facebook made public early results outlining how its AI-based, hate-speech countermeasures are working. Promising, albeit still a ways to go.

Experts in every discipline are relying on tech to come up with ways of avoiding future catastrophes and carry better, collective lives. The Financial Times examines what one of these experts has to say about re-thinking cities for a better future.

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5G: From tech panacea to the cause of a pandemic

Things really escalate quickly sometimes. A few baseless claims here, some conspiracy theories there, and boom — people start burning 5G telecommunication towers.

Also explore: From Hacking NASA to Protecting Your Online Accounts: A Chat with Rickey Gevers

5G

At least that’s what’s happened in the UK in recent weeks. A perfect-storm combination of public disinformation and fake news has prompted some citizens to link 5G to COVID-19. 

The theories are as varied as they are full of nonsense.

Some say 5G is making the effects of the virus worse. Others believe that there is no coronavirus at all, that governments are making it all up to hide the real cause of the symptoms: 5G.   A good reminder of how important it is to communicate technological advances properly. 

News from the frontlines…

Another week has gone by, bringing with it new tech initiatives to fight the spread of COVID-19. Here are some of this week’s most note-worthy new developments: 

A team of researchers created an AI tool capable of predicting the chance of a patient developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This promising algorithm provided 80% accuracy during initial tests, opening new possibilities to identify potentially critical patients early on.

Other efforts are also leveraging data and computation to find a solution to our current situation. AI and public health researchers at MIT and Harvard have pointed at the importance of Big Data in the fight against the coronavirus.

Finally, the big names in tech keep announcing pandemic-related initiatives. 

Intel pledged $50 million to accelerate access to technology at the point of patient care.  Meanwhile, the CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey, offered $1 billion (roughly 28% of his wealth) to fund global COVID-19 relief efforts.

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Weekly News Digest #8

You heard it right, Timmy. No more “abc123.”

Scary news this week – and not only regarding COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) — the UK’s cyber-defence organ – warned the public about the ease with which baby monitors and other smart devices can be (and have been) hacked. 

The usual culprit? Weak default passwords.

In one of the creepiest reported episodes, the attacker spoke to a young girl in Tennessee pretending to be ‘Father Christmas.’

Terrifying. And a good reminder for security experts to take the dangers of human oversight seriously, both at home and at work. 

Meanwhile, tech conferences all over the world are being cancelled or going virtual over global infection fears. Oh, dear. This is shaping up to be another one of those coronavirus specials… 

Facebook’s F8, Microsoft’s MVP Global Summit and Google I/O are among the affected events. 

The latter two companies also announced that they’ll be making their professional conferencing tools available for free as a growing number of firms are encouraging their employees to work remotely.

You know what they say — If life gives you lemons, start promoting your products.

Still haven’t had enough coronavirus? Check out this story on how AI and robotics are helping fight the virus. 

Faith in humanity (and robots) restored ?

And, speaking of robots… 

Researchers at Google have created a robot that taught itself how to walk using reinforcement-learning algorithms.

It took the robot just a few hours to do what we humans need an average of a year to learn. A promising milestone for artificial intelligence. 

So cute. 

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Weekly News Digest #6

Join us as we bid farewell to one of the fathers of UI. Larry Tesler, the innovator behind “cut”, “copy” and “paste” passed away earlier this week. He was instrumental in making computers accessible to the general public, and we owe him much for that.

Tesler’s CV included Stanford, Xerox and Apple. His chief invention, cut and paste, is said to be based on the old editing technique of cutting portions of text and gluing them elsewhere. The feature debuted in Apple’s 1983 Lisa computer.

A week in retrospect…

Let’s start with AI.

Researchers from the ESPCI Paris and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology recently published a study which might explain why single-celled organism like viruses are so successful. The research shows that, under the right ecological conditions, groups of these organisms start behaving like a single one.

The computational models used to recreate said conditions can have a tremendous impact on AI research. By emulating the natural selection process, we could build rich neural networks that one day could rival even that of the human brain.

The Internet of (Wild) Things.

Both climate change and IoT are in everyone’s mouths these days. Not often in the same sentence, though.

We can’t recommend enough Charles McLellan’s piece on how IoT is helping organisations fight biodiversity loss and climate change. From camera-based anti-poaching systems, to listening networks that monitor for the sound of chainsaws, NGOs and charities are doing impressive things all over the world.

A truly refreshing perspective on the applications of emerging tech.

In mergers and acquisitions…

Google has acquired the Dutch company Cornerstone, which specializes in helping companies transition from on-premises to the public cloud. The move signals the push of big tech companies to deliver all-in-one cloud solutions and achieve market dominance.

Meanwhile, Dell is selling the cybersecurity leader RSA to a consortium of equity firms. The company said in a statement that the $2-billion deal will help simplify its business and product portfolio.

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AI for recruitment: How AI will allow recruiters to focus on people

AI for recruitment. AI penetrates all areas and promises tremendous gains in efficiency, speed and performance. There has been a lot of media buzz lately around its recruitment applications. What long-term impact will AI have on the staffing industry? Used well, these new technological tools will allow recruiters to focus on their added value and; paradoxically; make the recruitment of the future more human.

AI promises in automation

For the past twenty years, we have witnessed an ever more extensive and efficient automation of the recruitment processes. These developments are built upon extremely complex analytical models. Defining and anticipating the skills that the company needs, identifying the most suitable talent and ranking candidates based on precise job criteria are processes that require taking into account many variables.

Moreover, through its ability to consider contextual elements as rich as they are varied, artificial intelligence promises to make this level of automation a reality. In a field like IT recruitment, where time is of the essence, being able to quickly match candidate profile with company requirements is a decisive advantage.

Artificial intelligence in IT recruitment

In the recruitment of IT freelancers, for example, AI makes it possible to process very quickly huge volumes of data linked to the profiles of candidates. Previous gigs, areas of expertise and preferred sectors, years of experience… But also exogenous data such as the candidate’s place of residence and travel times. AI also makes it possible to analyze the quality and interest of the positions offered. Helping identify the types of projects that are most promising in terms of career development.

Furthermore, considering elements linked to quality of life or to the characteristics of the offer maximises the chances of success of an investment; by making it possible to identify profiles with high potential and that are likely to be interested in the mission.

AI for IT recruitment: Towards an uberisation of recruitment?

AI’s capabilities are making great strides in matching supply and demand. Hence the emergence of fully automated solutions, of players who “platformise” recruitment. Which bring about a vision of recruitment as an almost exact science.

This vision would like technology to replace human appreciation entirely; thus putting an end to the recruitment profession and replacing it with ever more sophisticated and intelligent algorithms.

But this vision is implausible. Recruiting is not just a science, it is also an art.

IT recruitment: the human touch

In recruitment more than in any other field, the human being occupies by definition a central role. Soft skills, matching the values ​​and culture of the company, and compatibility with other team members… They are all key factors for a successful placement. As much as the level of education, years of experience, references or results obtained in a technical test. And yet, these are all parameters that an artificial intelligence can never assess as well as a human.

Even more so when we talk about recruiting for high-level positions. It is hard to imagine choosing a CIO or an Innovation Director via a fully automated process. Neither the candidate nor the company would subscribe to it.


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From artificial intelligence to augmented intelligence

It is really a question of going beyond the dialectic “all digital vs. all human”. Recruitment professions must integrate AI and make the most of it as a tool for human decision-making. And thus allow the business to refocus on its true added value.

AI involves a real qualitative leap, reducing the risk of error and saving unprecedented amounts of time. AI will certainly replace humans on certain tasks, but mainly in repetitive and boring tasks. It increases the performance of the recruiter by allowing faster and more targeted searches. And thus optimizes time and communication with the candidate. Far from dehumanizing the relationship, AI, on the contrary, allows us to focus even more on humans.

Artificial intelligence for recruiter: the next level

This is good news for recruiters. These new tools will allow the profession to gain new levels of recognition, with richer and more interesting daily tasks. Also, it will give us the ability to understand the needs of the company in terms of skills. To create a stronger connection with the candidates. As well as to understand the aspirations and constraints of each party involved.

It is also and above all good news for candidates. Because recruiters will be able to devote more time to them and offer them a better experience. Firms will be able to enrich their service offer with more support. Especially in the key stages of onboarding and taking of office of the selected candidate.

It is, therefore, the human-machine association, the combination of artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence. That will revolutionise recruitment and put people back at the heart of the processes. We may no longer be talking about Artificial Intelligence, but augmented Intelligence.

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