In the previous few years, a number of researchers declare to have proven that enormous language fashions can cross cognitive exams designed for people, from working by means of issues step-by-step, to guessing what different persons are considering.
These varieties of outcomes are feeding a hype machine predicting that these machines will quickly come for white-collar jobs; that they might change lecturers, medical doctors, journalists, and legal professionals. Geoffrey Hinton has known as out GPT-4’s obvious means to string collectively ideas as one purpose he’s now scared of the expertise he helped create.
But there’s an issue. There’s little settlement on what these outcomes actually imply. Some persons are dazzled by what they see as glimmers of human-like intelligence, whereas others aren’t satisfied one bit. And the need to anthropomorphize such fashions is complicated folks about what they’ll and can’t do. Read the full story.
—William Douglas Heaven
The involuntary criminals behind pig-butchering scams
Pig-butchering scams are all over the place. The scams, the time period for which refers to the prolonged, trust-building course of of elevating a pig for slaughter, have extorted victims out of tens of millions, if not billions, of {dollars}.
But in current weeks, rising consideration has been granted to the scammers behind these crimes, who are sometimes victims themselves. A brand new guide in English, a film in Chinese, and a slew of media stories are shining a lightweight on the fascinating (and horrifying) facets of a scary pattern in human trafficking, the place victims depart their properties in the hope of gaining secure employment, however find yourself held captive and unable to depart. Read the full story.
—Zeyi Yang
Zeyi’s story first appeared in China Report, his weekly e-newsletter supplying you with the inside monitor on all issues tech in China. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to discover you right now’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 The FBI has dismantled a colossal malware botnet
It had contaminated greater than 700,000 computer systems throughout the world. (The Verge)
+ It’s the most subtle botnet the authorities have ever encountered. (The Register)
+ Russian cybercrime boards are providing massive money prizes for rip-off tutorials. (Wired $)
2 Big Tech is propping up deepfake porn
Its internet hosting infrastructure spreads non-consensual materials to vast audiences. (Bloomberg $)
+ A horrifying AI app swaps ladies into porn movies with a click on. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Google has unveiled a set of new company AI instruments
The purpose is to put its AI-powered workplace software program in the palms of as many purchasers as doable. (WSJ $)
4 Amazon is going through authorized motion over the gross sales of unapproved medication
It’s been warned a number of instances in the previous yr to cease promoting unproven medicines. (FT $)
5 A brand new nuclear arms race is beckoning
Relations between the US, Russia, and more and more China, are rising more and more fraught. (Economist $)
6 Arizona’s chip manufacturing facility is struggling to get on-line
+ The $100 billion guess {that a} postindustrial US metropolis can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Alternative meats are sizzling proper now 🍗
Governments have sunk $1 billion into no-kill meat. But will we eat it? (Vox)
+ Will lab-grown meat attain our plates? (MIT Technology Review)
8 How to speak to whales—utilizing AI 🐋
Scientists are deciphering the mammals’ speech patterns, and creating their very own alongside the method. (Wired $)
+ Under-represented languages pose a serious impediment for AI fashions. (Rest of World)
9 These supplies are getting used to construct the cities of the future
Greener wooden, cement, and glass is on the horizon. (Bloomberg $)
+ How inexperienced metal may clear up a grimy business. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Robotaxis are bizarre now
Just ask the individuals who stay in the cities they’re clogging up. (The Atlantic $)
+ Robotaxis are right here. It’s time to determine what to do about them. (MIT Technology Review)
Despite a long time of warnings and more and more devastating disasters, we’ve made little progress in slowing local weather change.
Given the lack of momentum, how can we make quicker, extra important progress? We requested 10 specialists a single query: “If you could invent, invest in, or implement one thing that you believe would do the most to reduce the risks of climate change, what would it be and why?” Read the full story.
—James Temple
We can nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ If you’re fortunate sufficient to see the tremendous blue moon this week, right here’s how to maximize your probabilities of taking the greatest photograph doable.
+ What did druids actually rise up to?
+ McDonald’s McFlurry machines are all the time damaged simply whenever you want them. Here’s why.
+ The making of Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity music video is definitely insanely cool.
+ Congratulations to Python, which has been named this yr’s high programming language.
…. to be continued
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