Comment How about we do the opposite? (Score 2, Insightful) 89
Ban the dumb, lying, hallucinating, sycophantic, power-hungry insanity we have now and bring AI online only after it's proven to be reliable.
Comment Re:Apple, obsolete your own products (Score 1) 28
Huawei’s newest phone has three screens that unfold into a tablet, the OS does everything a desktop OS does, and it has AI integrated throughout. But we can’t have them in the USA because our government shut Huawei out of the market to protect the jobs of Apple’s loser designers and engineers who can’t innovate anymore.
Comment Re:eyebrow-raising (Score 2) 32
If you're afraid of spreadsheets in the financial industry, you should probably just keep your eyes closed. The entire industry is built on them to a very large degree. I've been in IT for almost 30 years, and over most of that, I've seen Excel spreadsheets used throughout the various accounting departments of companies ranging from small operations of a couple of dozen people up to multinationals with tens of thousands of employees, with some banks in there. Some of those spreadsheets are enormous and are doing complex calculations across sometimes a couple dozen worksheets, where changing one number can take several seconds to recalculate everything even on a reasonably modern computer.
Comment Incognito windows in an AI browser (Score 4, Insightful) 24
Your privacy will be violated any which way, but you won't feel it.
Comment Re:Said another way (Score 1) 66
It's even worse: the encrypted SD card can be decrypted by anybody who owns the same device. Meaning practically, it's not encrypted at all.
Comment Said another way (Score 3, Insightful) 66
After determining the data wasn't encrypted beyond the file system level, they successfully accessed the SD card contents using the manufacturer's proprietary equipment and procedures.
the manufacturer had the decryption key.
Why does this story not make me feel all warm and fuzzy?
Comment Is this a question? (Score 5, Informative) 185
Have you seen who's in the White House? Remember: he was voted in. Twice. That only happens in a nation with a widespread case of mental retardation.
Comment What good is a 3x less expensive AI workforce (Score 1) 12
if all your customers hate it 10x more than humans?
India should protect its pool of human workers: when the backlash against AI hits full force, they'll be well-positioned to retake the market.
I never thought I'd say I find calling customer support and being greeted by this unmistakable heavy Bangalore accent refreshing and reassuring: at least I know I'm talking to someone who understands my question and not something that serves me the nearest matching boilerplate answer from the support knowledgebase in a sycophantic transatlantic accented tone.
Comment Re:Not cheap enough yet (Score 1) 253
Batteries are about to get significantly less expensive. CATL’s new sodium ion batteries are going into production next year. BDY’s Seagull is already about $11,000 in most of the world. Soon it will be less than $10,000. Huawei and Xiaomi cars won’t be far behind. Of course the USA will keep raising tariffs to protect the losers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis. But in the rest of the world Chinese EVs are going to dominate the market by some time in the 2030s.
Comment Yeah but it's so worth it (Score 1) 31
How else will I be able to feel that deep sense of dread when I call any company's customer support and I'm greeted by an overly polite chatbot that's so syrupy it gives me type-2, that doesn't understand my problem and refuses to let me talk to a real person?
Comment Because Big Tech has principles, yessiree (Score 2) 48
Censorship is a big no-no for tech companies. Particularly when it doesn't make then any money.
Submission + - Big Tech Sues Texas, Says Age-Verification Law Is 'Broad Censorship Regime' (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Texas is being sued by a Big Tech lobby group over the state’s new law that will require app stores to verify users’ ages and impose restrictions on users under 18. “The Texas App Store Accountability Act imposes a broad censorship regime on the entire universe of mobile apps,” the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said yesterday in a lawsuit (PDF). “In a misguided attempt to protect minors, Texas has decided to require proof of age before anyone with a smartphone or tablet can download an app. Anyone under 18 must obtain parental consent for every app and in-app purchase they try to download—from ebooks to email to entertainment.”
The CCIA said in a press release that the law violates the First Amendment by imposing “a sweeping age-verification, parental consent, and compelled speech regime on both app stores and app developers.” When app stores determine that a user is under 18, “the law prohibits them from downloading virtually all apps and software programs and from making any in-app purchases unless their parent consents and is given control over the minor’s account,” the CCIA said. “Minors who are unable to link their accounts with a parent’s or guardian’s, or who do not receive permission, would be prohibited from accessing app store content.”
The law requires app developers “to ‘age-rate’ their content into several subcategories and explain their decision in detail,” and “notify app stores in writing every time they improve or modify the functions, features, or user experience of their apps,” the group said. The lawsuit says the age-rating system relies on a “vague and unworkable set of age categories.” “Our Constitution forbids this,” the lawsuit said. “None of our laws require businesses to ‘card’ people before they can enter bookstores and shopping malls. The First Amendment prohibits such oppressive laws as much in cyberspace as it does in the physical world.” The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the Western District of Texas. CCIA members include Apple and Google, which have both said the law would reduce privacy for app users. The companies recently described their plans to comply, saying they would take steps to minimize the privacy risks.
The CCIA said in a press release that the law violates the First Amendment by imposing “a sweeping age-verification, parental consent, and compelled speech regime on both app stores and app developers.” When app stores determine that a user is under 18, “the law prohibits them from downloading virtually all apps and software programs and from making any in-app purchases unless their parent consents and is given control over the minor’s account,” the CCIA said. “Minors who are unable to link their accounts with a parent’s or guardian’s, or who do not receive permission, would be prohibited from accessing app store content.”
The law requires app developers “to ‘age-rate’ their content into several subcategories and explain their decision in detail,” and “notify app stores in writing every time they improve or modify the functions, features, or user experience of their apps,” the group said. The lawsuit says the age-rating system relies on a “vague and unworkable set of age categories.” “Our Constitution forbids this,” the lawsuit said. “None of our laws require businesses to ‘card’ people before they can enter bookstores and shopping malls. The First Amendment prohibits such oppressive laws as much in cyberspace as it does in the physical world.” The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the Western District of Texas. CCIA members include Apple and Google, which have both said the law would reduce privacy for app users. The companies recently described their plans to comply, saying they would take steps to minimize the privacy risks.
Comment Re:Twice as much electricity? (Score 1) 167
China’s energy advantage is huge. All the big tech companies propping up the US stock market need more data centers. Data centers use massive amounts of energy. The US cannot provide that energy. The government won’t let anybody add large scale solar or wind projects. There is a years long wait for the turbines needed in natural gas plants. Nobody even knows how long it will take to build a new nuclear plant in the USA because it hasn’t been done in decades. This means that all those AI companies that need more data centers, all the cloud hosting companies, the social media companies, they’re all going to be unable to grow quickly in the near future because the US cannot provide power. But China has excess capacity, has been bringing new nuclear plants online every eight months for the last decade, will soon be deploying small nuclear reactors that are still years away in the US, and is deploying huge solar projects at a rapid pace. And Chinese companies are even building nuclear plants in other countries. This will allow Chinese tech companies to dominate AI, and other internet services, in all of the BRICS countries, the entire global south, and probably even Europe at some point. By the time the US tech industry finally has the power it needs China will be so far ahead that American business will never catch up.
Comment Good! (Score 2) 34
This is the future of film making. No more $250 million budgets to hire 20 FX houses in 12 countries to make a movie based on tired IP. AI is going to let small budget movies made all over the world compete with the biggest movies from Disney and Warner. This is going to be great in the long run. You know all those sci-fi and fantasy novels that you wished would be a movie but they just never made it past the Hollywood gatekeepers? AI is how those movies will be made.
Comment Good work! (Score 5, Insightful) 70
Congratulations to the DOJ for doing serious damage to one of the most vile criminal enterprises of our time. They hit slavery, fraud, and graft in one fell swoop. At a time when the DOJ is being abused for shameless political vendettas it’s nice to see real good work being done.
Slashdot Top Deals
Think lucky. If you fall in a pond, check your pockets for fish. -- Darrell Royal
