Month: October 2023
The Talk Show: ‘What the Actual’
Christina Warren joins the show to talk about Apple’s “Scary Fast” event, introducing the new M3 MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMac.
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Christina Warren joins the show to talk about Apple’s “Scary Fast” event, introducing the new M3 MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMac.
Sponsored by:
Nuts.com: The world’s best snacks, delivered fast and fresh.
Squarespace: Make your next move. Use code talkshow for 10% off your first order.
Sam Bankman-Fried pressed in court over past comments
As inconsistencies were put to him, the former crypto boss tried to distance himself from some decisions.
As inconsistencies were put to him, the former crypto boss tried to distance himself from some decisions.
YouTube Is Getting Serious About Blocking Ad Blockers
Emma Roth reports via The Verge: YouTube is broadening its efforts to crack down on ad blockers. The platform has “launched a global effort” to encourage users to allow ads or try YouTube Premium, YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton says in a statement provided to The Verge. If you run into YouTube’s block, you may see a notice that says “video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled.” It also includes a prompt to allow ads or try YouTube Premium. You may get prompts about YouTube’s stance on ad blockers but still be able to watch a video, though, for one Verge staffer, YouTube now fully blocks them nearly every time.
YouTube confirmed that it was disabling videos for users with ad blockers in June, but Lawton described it as only a “small experiment globally” at the time. Now, YouTube has expanded this effort. Over the past several weeks, more users with ad blockers installed have found themselves unable to watch YouTube videos, with a post from Android Authority highlighting the increase in reports. Lawton maintains that the “use of ad blockers” violates the platform’s terms of service, adding that “ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Emma Roth reports via The Verge: YouTube is broadening its efforts to crack down on ad blockers. The platform has “launched a global effort” to encourage users to allow ads or try YouTube Premium, YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton says in a statement provided to The Verge. If you run into YouTube’s block, you may see a notice that says “video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled.” It also includes a prompt to allow ads or try YouTube Premium. You may get prompts about YouTube’s stance on ad blockers but still be able to watch a video, though, for one Verge staffer, YouTube now fully blocks them nearly every time.
YouTube confirmed that it was disabling videos for users with ad blockers in June, but Lawton described it as only a “small experiment globally” at the time. Now, YouTube has expanded this effort. Over the past several weeks, more users with ad blockers installed have found themselves unable to watch YouTube videos, with a post from Android Authority highlighting the increase in reports. Lawton maintains that the “use of ad blockers” violates the platform’s terms of service, adding that “ads support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google Brain founder: AI firms use extinction fears for regulation
Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain and former chief scientist at Baidu, has accused large tech companies of spreading fear
The post Google Brain founder: AI firms use extinction fears for regulation appeared first on ReadWrite.
Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain and former chief scientist at Baidu, has accused large tech companies of spreading fear about artificial intelligence leading to human extinction as part of a “regulatory capture campaign” to shut down competition from open source AI.
In an Oct. 30 interview with The Australian Financial Review, Professor Ng said the idea that AI could make humans go extinct is a “massively, colossally dumb idea” used by lobbyists to argue for heavy regulation that would crush innovation in the AI industry.
Ng called out OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, one of his former students at Stanford, for signing a letter in May warning that “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority.” Professor Ng suggested OpenAI is incentivized to limit open-source AI that could compete with its proprietary models.
“There are definitely large tech companies that would rather not have to try to compete with open source [AI], so they’re creating fear of AI leading to human extinction.”
While acknowledging AI has caused harm, including deaths from self-driving cars, Professor Ng argued onerous regulation could do more damage than leaving AI unchecked. “I don’t think no regulation is the right answer, but with the direction regulation is headed in many countries, I think we’d be better off with no regulation than what we’re getting,” he said.
However, he believes thoughtful transparency requirements on tech companies could have prevented past disasters like the social media crisis of the early 2000s. Greater transparency will also help avert future AI mishaps, he said. Professor Ng warned against regulations imposing licensing burdens on the AI industry, saying it would “crush innovation.”
The scathing comments from one of the world’s pioneering AI experts suggest large tech firms are exploiting extinction fears to maintain their dominance at the expense of open-source developers. Professor Ng’s remarks lend credence to suspicions that anti-competitive interests have co-opted the AI safety movement.
Featured Image Credit: Illustration by Google DeepMind; Pexels; Thank you!
The post Google Brain founder: AI firms use extinction fears for regulation appeared first on ReadWrite.