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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.