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Daily Archives: September 17, 2019

AI 50: America’s Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies

Forbes – “Artificial intelligence is infiltrating every industry, allowing vehicles to navigate without drivers, assisting doctors with medical diagnoses, and mimicking the way humans speak. But for all the authentic and exciting ways it’s transforming the tasks computers can perform, there’s a lot of hype, too.  As Jeremy Achin, CEO of newly minted unicorn DataRobot, puts it: “Everyone knows you have to have machine learning in your story or you’re not sexy.” The inherently broad term gets bandied about so often that it can start to feel meaningless and can be trotted out by companies to gussy up even simple data analysis. To help cut through the noise, Forbes and data partner Meritech Capital put together a list of private, U.S.-based companies that are wielding some subset of artificial intelligence in a meaningful way and demonstrating real business potential from doing so. One makes robots that can whir around shoppers to help workers restock shelves. Another scans recruiting pitches for unconscious bias. A third analyzes massive data sets to make street-by-street weather predictions.

To be included on the list, companies needed to show that techniques like machine learning (where systems learn from data to improve on tasks), natural language processing (which enables programs to “understand” written or spoken language), or computer vision (which relates to how machines “see”) are a core part of their business model and future success. Find all the details on our methodology here…”

How Filter Bubbles, Dark Patterns, and Algorithms Propagating Bias Impede the Spread of Knowledge

Medium – The Discovery Dark Ages: How Filter Bubbles, Dark Patterns, and Algorithms Propagating Bias Impede the Spread of Knowledge – “… Change can be a good thing. Now, that said, there are ways in which search engines are being used to deliver results nowadays, regardless of whether people want them or not, and even if… Continue Reading

The Internet Relies on People Working for Free

Medium – Who should be responsible for maintaining and troubleshooting open-source projects? – “…It’s hard to demand that programmers who are working for free troubleshoot problems or continue to maintain software that they’ve lost interest in for whatever reason — though some companies certainly try. Not adequately maintaining these projects, on the other hand, makes the… Continue Reading

United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

DOJ: “The United States today filed a lawsuit against Edward Snowden, a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), who published a book entitled Permanent Record in violation of the non-disclosure agreements he signed with both CIA and NSA. The lawsuit alleges that Snowden published his… Continue Reading

Key facts about U.S. Hispanics and their diverse heritage

Pew – “The U.S. Hispanic population is diverse. These nearly 60 million individuals trace their heritage to Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America and to Spain, each with distinct demographic and economic profiles. But as migration patterns from Latin America change, the origins of U.S. Hispanics are beginning to shift. Here are key facts about how… Continue Reading

How Legal Professionals Must Lead in the Age of Machines

Law Technology Today – “…Today, legal professionals, of course, spend much of their day interacting with computers. A desktop or laptop computer is the hearth of our workspace, where we do simple tasks like email, as well as complex tasks like using sophisticated systems to analyze data collections. We use our mobile phones, tablets, and ever-present… Continue Reading

Bipartisan Report Shows Recent Government Shutdowns Cost Taxpayers Nearly $4 Billion, 56,938 Years of Lost Productivity

“U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tom Carper (D-DE), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), today unveiled a new bipartisan report that documents the cost to American taxpayers of the last three government shutdowns and the impacts they had on the economy and core government functions.  The largest direct… Continue Reading

How the Internet Archive is waging war on misinformation

FT.com [this may be paywalled] – “…The archive hopes its repository will help others identify false information and fact-check suspicious content. The emergence of deepfakes — videos that appear to show someone doing or saying something they did not do or say — is a “monster problem”, said Roger Macdonald, director of the organisation’s TV… Continue Reading

New Federal Administrative Adjudication Outside the Administrative Procedure Act Sourcebook

Administrative Conference of the United States: “ACUS is pleased to announce the publication of its newest sourcebook, Federal Administrative Adjudication Outside the Administrative Procedure Act. The sourcebook provides agencies, Congress, the federal judiciary, and the public a comprehensive overview and cross-cutting analysis of federal administrative adjudication that is not subject to the APA’s main adjudicatory… Continue Reading