Earlier this month, Ed Felten — a Princeton professor and former adviser to President Obama — chided an international audience of artificial intelligence experts packing a cavernous Montreal convention center.
What he's saying: For too long, AI hands have been hiding in their basements, in effect playing God by deciding which technology is ultimately released to the masses, Felten said. Stop assuming that you know what's best for people, he admonished his listeners, and instead dive into the already-raging public debate of what happens next with AI.
In the latest barrage of Facebook privacy news, a fresh report from the New York Times on Tuesday night suggested that Facebook gave its partners even wider access to more user data (including private messages) for a longer time than previously known — and then, Wednesday, the District of Columbia’s attorney general sued Facebook over a slew of privacy complaints.
Why it matters: Silicon Valley insiders have a pretty thick skin when it comes to how much tech companies know about their users and how much they share with partners. Even still, Tuesday's revelations were a shock.
The District of Columbia’s attorney general sued Facebook Wednesday for allegedly letting outside companies, including the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, improperly access user data and for failing to properly disclose that fact.
Why it matters: The regulatory action comes as the Federal Trade Commission is also investigating Facebook over the privacy scandal, which sparked greater scrutiny of the way Silicon Valley has vacuumed up consumer data.
A fresh report from the New York Times on Tuesday night suggests that Facebook gave its partners even wider access to more user data (including private messages) for a longer time than previously known.
Why it matters: Silicon Valley insiders have a pretty thick skin when it comes to how much tech companies know about their users and how much they share with partners. Even still, Tuesday's revelations were a shock.
For all the talk of cars without drivers, the deployment of autonomous vehicles might still require humans controlling them from a distance. Most major AV companies are testing or planning to incorporate remote control — or teleoperations — in their robot-driven cars.
The big picture: Automated vehicles need help making decisions in complex situations, which is why the hype about fully self-driving cars remains unfulfilled. With humans taking the wheel via remote control, some companies hope to speed AV deployment, but questions remain about safety.
The big picture: AV developers have focused on improving how their cars respond to pedestrians, bicyclists and other cars on the road, but they must also address the challenges presented by infrastructure. Using AI and advanced image stabilization, AV companies are building better tools to map and assess road conditions.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has approved Uber’s request to resume testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads in the Pittsburgh area, reports the AP's Tom Krisher.
The big picture: The decision comes about nine months after testing was suspended following a crash in Tempe, Arizona, in which an autonomous test vehicle operated by Uber struck and killed a pedestrian.
Facebook gave technology companies more access to personal user data than was previously made public, according to "hundreds of pages of Facebook documents" obtained by the New York Times.
Why it matters: Facebook's privacy practices are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. Per the Times, the new records portray the "most complete picture yet" of Facebook's practices of sharing its users' data. Facebook has been under intense scrutiny in recent months after it disclosed a major security breach that could have left as many as 50 million users' accounts vulnerable.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said Tuesday that the company needed to do better to protect civil rights on its platforms.
Why it matters: Civil rights groups have pushed the social network for years to better tackle harassment. This year — after a consulting firm hired by Facebook tried to link some of its critics to liberal billionaire George Soros — activists were able to get Facebook to agree to update the public on a civil rights audit into its platform.
