Tag: Facebook

Apple’s Latest AI Acquisition Is A Glimpse Into Future Devices

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

  • “Apple has reportedly paid $200 million to acquire Seattle-based artificial intelligence company Xnor.ai, which specialises in edge-based AI.
  • Whilst Siri has fallen behind Amazon’s Alexa and, in particular, Google’s Assistant – Apple might have its sights on an entirely different goal with this acquisition: giving users control of extremely personal data. 
  • If concerns around data privacy become a key – or core – factor in purchasing smart devices, then Apple is likely best placed to satisfy those buyers because of acquisitions like Xnor.ai.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2020/01/18/apples-latest-ai-acquisition-is-a-glimpse-into-future-devices/amp/

A sobering message about the future at AI’s biggest party

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

  • “More than 13,000 artificial intelligence mavens flocked to Vancouver this week for the world’s leading academic AI conference, NeurIPS.
  • “All of the models that we have learned how to train are about passing a test or winning a game with a score, [but] so many things that intelligences do aren’t covered by that rubric at all,” said Aguera y Arcas.
  • emerging field called metalearning concerned with crafting learning algorithms that can devise their own learning algorithms.”

PHOTOGRAPH: RENAUD PHILIPPE/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/story/sobering-message-future-ai-party/amp

India’s financial services firm Paytm raises $1B

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

  • “According to Credit Suisse, the digital payments market in India will be worth $1 trillion in the next four years, up from about $200 billion currently.
  • According to industry estimates, more than 100 million people in India today use mobile payments services.
  • Amazon, Google, and Samsung entered the payments market in India, leveraging an open payments infrastructure called UPI (Unified Payments Interface) built by a coalition of banks and backed by the government.
  • Google Pay has amassed over 67 million monthly active users, the company revealed earlier this year.
  • If those challenges weren’t enough, WhatsApp, which has amassed more users than any other service in India, is expected to roll out its payments service to all of its 400 million users in the country in the coming weeks.”

https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/24/paytm-1-billion/amp/

No, AI is not for social good

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

  • “These realities of AI seem at odds with it being a tool for social good.
  • So, when working for “the good,” we must ask a few questions: Which good and for whom? Is it only AI that can do this good?
  • That said, the solution is not to avoid the inherently political discussion of how to define “good” but to embrace these discussions and to have a say in how technology and large corporations impact our lives.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/venturebeat.com/2019/11/23/no-ai-is-not-for-social-good/amp/

Jared Moore is an ethics advisor and lecturer at the University of Washington (UW) School of Computer Science and technical program manager at Xnor.ai. 

http://linkedin.com/in/jlcmoore

Would you trust Google with your money? The search giant may offer checking accounts

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

  • “In a move that would give Google greater access to consumer data, the search behemoth is reportedly partnering with banks to offer checking accounts as early as 2020. 
  • Earlier this year, Apple partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch Apple Card, a branded, digital card that’s managed through the Wallet app on iPhones.
  • Facebook has designed a cryptocurrency, Libra, to allow people to move money around the world with ease. “

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/4176660002