Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Saudi Arabia Oil Facilities Ablaze After Drone Strikes
September 14th, 2019Via: BBC: Drone attacks have set alight two major oil facilities run by the state-owned company Aramco in Saudi Arabia, state media say. Footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco’s largest oil processing plant, while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield. The fires are now under control at […]
Google Collects Face Data Now
September 12th, 2019Via: Cnet: Google’s latest smart display brings with it a controversial new feature that’s always watching. Face Match, introduced on the Google Nest Hub Max, uses the smart display’s front-facing camera as a security feature and a way to participate in video calls. It also shows you your photos, texts, calendar details and so on […]
McDonald’s Acquires AI Company to Help Automate the Drive-Thru
September 10th, 2019In other AI news, 120 Million Workers May Need to be Reskilled or Retrained in the Next Three Years. Via: CNBC: McDonald’s said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire a company that is trying to automate the drive-thru. It’s the fast-food giant’s third tech-focused deal this year. Apprente, a Silicon Valley company founded in 2017, […]
IBM: 120 Million Workers May Need to be Reskilled or Retrained in the Next Three Years
September 9th, 2019Via: IBM: In the next three years, as many as 120 million workers in the world’s 12 largest economies may need to be retrained or reskilled as a result of AI and intelligent automation, according to a new IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value (IBV) study. In addition, only 41 percent of CEOs surveyed […]
‘The Neoliberal Takeover of the Human Body’
September 8th, 2019Via: MarketWatch: Biometric mobile wallets — payment technologies using our faces, fingerprints or retinas — already exist. Notable technology companies including Apple and Amazon await a day when a critical mass of consumers is sufficiently comfortable walking into a store and paying for goods without a card or device, according to Sinnreich, author of “The […]
America Needs a “Dead Hand”
September 4th, 2019Related: “There’s no way a human can keep up, so you’ve got to delegate to machines.” Via: War on the Rocks: America’s nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) system comprises many component systems that were designed and fielded during the Cold War — a period when nuclear missiles were set to launch from deep within […]
DARPA to Fight Fake News
September 3rd, 2019From my ancient post on the American Culture Bomb: In summary, the U.S. military is aware that “American Culture” is a strategic weapon that is capable of defeating an enemy, or entire populations, without necessarily having to kill them. The U.S. military, however, must and will kill in order to allow “American Culture” into a […]
Welcome to a New Era of Machine-Driven Warfare
September 3rd, 2019Via: The Atlantic: “There’s no way a human can keep up, so you’ve got to delegate to machines.”
Scammer Successfully Deepfaked CEO’s Voice To Fool Underling Into Transferring $243,000
September 3rd, 2019I don’t entirely believe this one, but it’s interesting if true. When I’ve been in a position to spend tens of thousands of dollars of a company’s money, it never happened based on just a phone call with the CEO. But, hey, these kids today… Via: Gizmodo: The CEO of an energy firm based in […]
Proposal to Use Tech Company Surveillance Platforms to Predict Mass Shooters
September 2nd, 2019Via: Vanity Fair: Donald Trump is finally considering taking action to prevent mass shootings—not by enacting gun-control measures, but with a creepy proposal to somehow identify the “neurobehavioral signs” of “someone headed toward a violent explosive act.” According to the Washington Post, which first reported on the secret project under White House consideration Thursday, the […]
