AI PROBLEMS
Reuters: Russia cracks down on AI bears as real attacks spread fear. “A woman in Russia’s Far East was fined this week after an AI-generated image of a bear, created to prank a friend, went viral and triggered a real-life hunt, the regional courts said. Russian authorities are on high alert this year due to a spate of deadly attacks in several regions, where growing bear populations and a poor crop of berries and pine nuts have increased the chances of encounters with humans, experts say.”
Mashable: AI did not delete Swedish reality TV series, broadcaster says. “Swedish television channel TV4 has refuted reports that an AI agent deleted an entire season of a television show mere weeks before it was scheduled to air. Instead, the problem was allegedly caused by human error.”
ANTI-AI SENTIMENT
Orlando Sentinel: ‘They utterly hate them’: Florida candidates, counties face data center debate. “Data center fervor is sweeping Central Florida, as voters pressure political leaders to keep the massive hubs of network infrastructure out of their cities and counties for fear they’ll gobble up local water resources and lead to higher electricity prices. And whether it’s in Florida’s governor race or local contests, candidates are being pinned down in forums and interviews for their positions on so-called hyper-scale data centers that polling shows voters loathe.”
DATA CENTERS
New Jersey Globe: Data centers in Jersey? Fuhgeddaboudit. “Nearly three-quarters of New Jersey adults oppose building a data center in their hometown, and a substantial majority don’t want them built anywhere in the state, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Friday. The poll found that 72% oppose a data center in their town or city, including 54% who strongly oppose it, while only 21% support one.”
Oklahoma Watch: More Data Centers, More Coal Emissions — and an OU Researcher Watching Atlantic Storms. “Air quality alerts that popped up on Oklahomans’ phones over the weekend reflected Professor Xiao-Ming Hu’s research findings in real time. Hu is an air quality researcher at the National Weather Center at the University of Oklahoma. His work focuses on ozone pollutants from fossil fuel-burning power plants and how tropical storms in the Atlantic can push those pollutants across the state.”
AI AGENTS
Gizmodo: Four AI Agents Have Slain Minecraft’s Ender Dragon. “Today in news about stuff that AI agents have done that is relatively benign and/or at least does not involve hacking the government-funded healthcare system in my home country: beating Minecraft! And look, I’ll be honest: as someone who hasn’t allowed Minecraft into my life, I can’t say I was entirely aware that ‘beating’ it was something that one could do. Isn’t it a voxelized sandbox in which one can do cool things like building hard drives and giant temples and whatnot?”
AI IN GOVERNANCE
Politico: Wanted: Tech experts to help Congress regulate AI. “Lawmakers are under pressure to pass legislation to address the threats from advanced artificial intelligence, but many have serious doubts they have the capacity to regulate the technology’s explosive growth. Few are expecting lawmakers themselves — some of whom still proudly use flip phones — to become AI experts overnight. But while even congressional Luddites acknowledge there is urgency for Capitol Hill to quickly expand its expertise in tech policy to help with legislating, regulating and conducting effective oversight, there’s no consensus yet on how to achieve it.”
Idaho Education News: Idaho politicians are using AI to write for them. “The next time you come across an op-ed by an Idaho politician, think twice about the source. It may not be human. Op-eds and other online posts from some of Idaho’s most powerful elected officials contain heavy doses of artificial intelligence, according to AI detectors, tools that distinguish between writing by humans and writing that comes from machines like ChatGPT.”
AROUND THE AI WORLD
Kotaku: MrBeast Joins Shark Tank, Invests Quarter Million In AI-Powered ‘Ball 2’. “James Stephen Donaldson, the algorithm ruling, product hustling, normal smile having YouTube superstar better known as MrBeast recently made his debut on Shark Tank. During his first episode on the show where celebrity investors put ‘idea people’ through a humiliation ritual, Donaldson cut from the pack to back an AI-powered ball. It rolls. You can throw it. It’s, y’know, got AI in there. Donaldson opted to invest a quarter million into the product.”
Associated Press: Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools. “Digital price tags are rapidly replacing paper ones in grocery aisles. Artificial intelligence tools help businesses decide what to charge by predicting how customers might respond. Terms like ‘dynamic pricing’ and ‘surveillance pricing’ are stirring anxiety on social media, where users wonder if different people are getting different prices for the same product.”
KQED: Too Many Bots in the Kitchen? Williams Sonoma Bans AI Shoppers. “San Francisco-based Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn sent emails to customers this week, updating terms of service to bar customer AI agents from shopping on their websites without the company’s written permission.”
SECURITY & LEGAL
Engadget: Homeland Security bans DeepSeek use in federal civilian agencies . “The Department of Homeland Security has issued a sweeping restriction to remove DeepSeek use across all federal civilian agencies and their IT systems. In a notice published with the Federal Register, DHS characterized the risks of DeepSeek use as potentially resulting in the “transfer of sensitive data” of US government employees and vendors to the Chinese government.”
RESEARCH & OPINION
Pew (PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW!): The Gender Gap in AI. “Men report using chatbots more regularly than women and are more likely to turn to them for a variety of things, including work. Women, on the other hand, are more skeptical about AI, including how it will impact their own lives.”
New Jersey Monitor: NJ picks Rutgers to lead social media research center. “Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Monday that Rutgers was selected through a competitive grant process that will provide the state university $500,000 to assess the impact of social media on New Jersey teens, identify specific measures that can be used to mitigate the damage it causes, and promote healthy and responsible use of social media apps.”
Mashable: A new mission to find Amelia Earhart’s plane turns to AI for help. “In all seriousness, generative AI models like ChatGPT were prompted to analyze historical theories and place a digital pin where Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E might be resting. Ironically, the algorithm pointed to the same visual anomaly that human scientists had spotted on satellite imagery years earlier.” Good afternoon, Internet…
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Categories: AI Roundup