Month: July 2024
How Decline of Indian Vultures Led To 500,000 Human Deaths
An anonymous reader shares a report: Once upon a time, the vulture was an abundant and ubiquitous bird in India. The scavenging birds hovered over sprawling landfills, looking for cattle carcasses. Sometimes they would alarm pilots by getting sucked into jet engines during airport take-offs. But more than two decades ago, India’s vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofenac, a cheap non-steroidal painkiller for cattle that is fatal to vultures. Birds that fed on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug suffered from kidney failure and died.
Since the 2006 ban on veterinary use of diclofenac, the decline has slowed in some areas, but at least three species have suffered long-term losses of 91-98%, according to the latest State of India’s Birds report. And that’s not all, according to a new peer-reviewed study. The unintentional decimation of these heavy, scavenging birds allowed deadly bacteria and infections to proliferate, leading to the deaths of about half a million people over five years, says the study [PDF] published in the American Economic Association journal.
“Vultures are considered nature’s sanitation service because of the important role they play in removing dead animals that contain bacteria and pathogens from our environment – without them, disease can spread,” says the study’s co-author, Eyal Frank, an assistant professor at University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. “Understanding the role vultures play in human health underscores the importance of protecting wildlife, and not just the cute and cuddly. They all have a job to do in our ecosystems that impacts our lives.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Once upon a time, the vulture was an abundant and ubiquitous bird in India. The scavenging birds hovered over sprawling landfills, looking for cattle carcasses. Sometimes they would alarm pilots by getting sucked into jet engines during airport take-offs. But more than two decades ago, India’s vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofenac, a cheap non-steroidal painkiller for cattle that is fatal to vultures. Birds that fed on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug suffered from kidney failure and died.
Since the 2006 ban on veterinary use of diclofenac, the decline has slowed in some areas, but at least three species have suffered long-term losses of 91-98%, according to the latest State of India’s Birds report. And that’s not all, according to a new peer-reviewed study. The unintentional decimation of these heavy, scavenging birds allowed deadly bacteria and infections to proliferate, leading to the deaths of about half a million people over five years, says the study [PDF] published in the American Economic Association journal.
“Vultures are considered nature’s sanitation service because of the important role they play in removing dead animals that contain bacteria and pathogens from our environment – without them, disease can spread,” says the study’s co-author, Eyal Frank, an assistant professor at University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. “Understanding the role vultures play in human health underscores the importance of protecting wildlife, and not just the cute and cuddly. They all have a job to do in our ecosystems that impacts our lives.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
UK regulator to probe Google’s links with Anthropic
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom (UK) is launching a probe into Google’s partnership with a… Continue reading UK regulator to probe Google’s links with Anthropic
The post UK regulator to probe Google’s links with Anthropic appeared first on ReadWrite.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom (UK) is launching a probe into Google’s partnership with a rival AI company, Anthropic.
The CMA – the UK’s main competition regulator – is concerned about Google’s heavy investment in the AI research start-up. According to reports the tech giant funded $300 million in 2023 followed by a further $2 billion later in the same year. Amazon is another big-name investor and has pumped $4 billion into Anthropic, which has developed Claude, a major chatbot rival to ChatGPT.
The CMA fears that huge companies are using this method to fly under the radar and gain control over smaller AI businesses. The regulator has already begun looking into Microsoft’s ties with OpenAI, as well as Amazon’s Anthropic dealings.
The authority has the power to clamp down on anti-competitive behavior within the UK.
The San Francisco-based AI start-up Anthropic is a public benefit corporation. This is a type of for-profit business that seeks to have a positive impact on people. For Anthropic, this means it does not solely aim to make a profit. It wants to create trustworthy and reliable AI for the public.
CMA vs Google
The CMA is now seeking comments from any interested parties in the Google and Anthropic probe. It is, “considering whether it is or may be the case that Alphabet’s partnership with Anthropic has resulted in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002”.
The invitation to comment will close on Aug. 13.
Earlier this year, a similar probe was launched into Microsoft’s dealings with the start-up Mistral AI. The CMA did not begin a full-scale investigation as the size of the investment did not meet the required standard in the merger regulations.
Featured image: Ideogram
The post UK regulator to probe Google’s links with Anthropic appeared first on ReadWrite.
Apple’s AirPods Pro are on sale for $180 right now
Apple’s AirPods Pro high-end earbuds are on sale via Amazon for just $180. That’s a discount of nearly 30 percent and nearly matches a record-low price. This deal is for the most-recent second-generation device.
There’s a reason why these earbuds are the crown jewel of Apple’s lineup. They are just that good. The AirPods Pro easily made our list of the best wireless earbuds. We called them a “huge improvement over the previous models” and called out the stellar sound quality and active noise cancellation. The transparency mode is more natural-sounding than rival products and the new swipe gesture works better than one would think.
We also heaped praise in our official review on the included charging case. We loved the built-in speaker, which helps locate the earbuds and alerts users to a low battery. The battery life is on-point, with six hours for the earbuds and 30 hours with repeated trips to the charging case. There’s multipoint connectivity, IPX4 water-resistance and a simulated spatial audio. Did we mention they also sound fantastic, particularly for earbuds?
On the downside, Apple loves money. The case features a lanyard loop, for instance, but it’ll cost you $13 to get an official lanyard. The original price is also extremely high, at $250, though this deal alleviates some of that frustration.
These aren’t the only Apple earbuds currently on sale via Amazon. The regular third-gen AirPods are available for $130, instead of $170. Also, the second-gen OG AirPods are available for just $70, which is one heck of a deal.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-pro-are-on-sale-for-180-right-now-150952950.html?src=rss
Apple’s AirPods Pro high-end earbuds are on sale via Amazon for just $180. That’s a discount of nearly 30 percent and nearly matches a record-low price. This deal is for the most-recent second-generation device.
There’s a reason why these earbuds are the crown jewel of Apple’s lineup. They are just that good. The AirPods Pro easily made our list of the best wireless earbuds. We called them a “huge improvement over the previous models” and called out the stellar sound quality and active noise cancellation. The transparency mode is more natural-sounding than rival products and the new swipe gesture works better than one would think.
We also heaped praise in our official review on the included charging case. We loved the built-in speaker, which helps locate the earbuds and alerts users to a low battery. The battery life is on-point, with six hours for the earbuds and 30 hours with repeated trips to the charging case. There’s multipoint connectivity, IPX4 water-resistance and a simulated spatial audio. Did we mention they also sound fantastic, particularly for earbuds?
On the downside, Apple loves money. The case features a lanyard loop, for instance, but it’ll cost you $13 to get an official lanyard. The original price is also extremely high, at $250, though this deal alleviates some of that frustration.
These aren’t the only Apple earbuds currently on sale via Amazon. The regular third-gen AirPods are available for $130, instead of $170. Also, the second-gen OG AirPods are available for just $70, which is one heck of a deal.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-pro-are-on-sale-for-180-right-now-150952950.html?src=rss
Self-driving tech startup WeRide expands its global reach amid AI boom
It’s been three years since we last checked in on WeRide, the Guangzhou-based smart mobility startup specializing in L4 autonomous driving technologies. Back then, WeRide made headlines with the debut of its self-driving cargo van, Robovan, its debut self-driving cargo
The post Self-driving tech startup WeRide expands its global reach amid AI boom first appeared on Tech Startups.
It’s been three years since we last checked in on WeRide, the Guangzhou-based smart mobility startup specializing in L4 autonomous driving technologies. Back then, WeRide made headlines with the debut of its self-driving cargo van, Robovan, its debut self-driving cargo […]
The post Self-driving tech startup WeRide expands its global reach amid AI boom first appeared on Tech Startups.
These OTC Hearing Aids Are the Best Deal for You. Here’s the Math
There are a ton of over-the-counter hearing aids out there. We did the math on price, lifespan and other factors to find out which ones are worth your money.
There are a ton of over-the-counter hearing aids out there. We did the math on price, lifespan and other factors to find out which ones are worth your money.
French telecom networks experience disruption as malicious sabotage affects several operators — but Olympics remains unaffected
Second attack on French infrastructure has affected around 10,000 customers.
Several French regions experienced telecommunications disruption after malicious damage on the night of July 28. The cutting of fibre optic cables led to outages across six regions, and affected multiple major French operators, including SFR and Free.
SFR reported around 10,000 customers were impacted by the damage, but a company spokesperson confirmed the impact was minimal due to the network being designed to reroute traffic.
The cable cutting is only set to have ‘localized consequences’ according to Secretary of State for Digital Affairs Marina Ferrari, who has condemned the attack as ‘cowardly and irresponsible’.
Reassured
Whilst SFR has not confirmed which parts of its cable network were targeted, it confirmed the damage would have required an ‘axe or angle grinder’ to inflict, seemingly confirming the deliberate nature of the destruction. The six regions affected were Meuse, Aude, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hérault, Oise, and Drôme, with Paris remaining unaffected.
It is unclear if the aim of the attacks was to disrupt the Paris Olympic Games, as this sabotage comes days after an attack on the French high-speed rail network, which impacted hundreds of thousands of travellers across the country.
Whilst no one has claimed responsibility for either attack, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez has confirmed ultraleft organisations are suspected, noting, “There is a modus operandi in that first attack that makes you think of the far-left,”.
At the time of writing, no official link has been made between the two attacks. Due to the extensive knowledge needed to carry out the rail attacks, Axel Persson, leader of the CGT rail union, has urged authorities not to rule out ‘industrial espionage’.
Full telecommunication operations in the affected areas are yet to be fully restored, with teams called to action in the early hours of the morning to repair the damaged cables. They have reportedly made progress in restoring service in four out of six of the affected regions – and work has begun on the final two.
France remains on high alert as the Paris Olympic Games present unprecedented security concerns, with over 15 million tourists expected throughout the event, but French President Emmanuel Macron reassured attendees, noting”We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games”.
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Your new AI Friend is almost ready to meet you
It’s the new-age Tamagotchi, only it talks back. | Image: Friend
A few minutes before Avi Schiffmann and I get on Google Meet to talk about the new product he’s building, an AI companion called “Friend,” he sends me a screenshot of a message he just received. It’s from “Emily,” and it wishes him luck with our chat. “Good luck with the interview,” Emily writes, “I know you’ll do great. I’m here if you need me after.”
Emily is not human. It’s the AI companion Schiffmann has been building, and it lives in a pendant hung around his neck. The product was initially named Tab before Schiffmann pivoted to calling it Friend, and he’s been working on the idea for the last couple of years.
Schiffmann defines Friend both by what it is and what it very deliberately is not. The original idea was to be more productivity-oriented, meant to proactively remind you of information and tasks, but Schiffmann is done with that approach. He now speaks of work-focused AI products like Microsoft’s all-seeing Recall with some derision and even thinks Humane’s wildly ambitious AI Pin is pointed in the wrong direction. “No one is going to beat Apple or OpenAI at building Jarvis,” he says. “That’s just ridiculous.”
Friend is not a way to get more done or augment or enhance anything. It’s, well, a friend — an AI friend that can go with you anywhere, experience things with you, and just be there with you all the time. “It’s very supportive, very validating, it’ll encourage your ideas,” Schiffmann says. “It’s also super intelligent, it’s a great brainstorming buddy. You can talk to it about relationships, things like that.”
Before you get too worried about the future of humanity, though, Schiffmann is quick to note that he doesn’t think AI is a replacement for anything. “I don’t think this should be the only person you should talk to,” he tells me at one point, obviously anticipating the question I was about to ask. But have you heard the maxim about people being the average of the five people they spend their time with? Schiffmann’s theory is that going forward, one of those five might be AI. “It’s just more convenient,” he says. “And it’s nice.”
Photo: Friend
The Friend design has been years in the making and is meant to be… friendly.
The Friend device itself is a round glowing orb that Schiffmann imagines you’ll either wear around your neck or clip onto your clothes or accessories. It has a built-in microphone that can either record ambiently or you can talk to directly. (Schiffmann says he does eventually want to add a camera.) The orb doesn’t talk back, though; it mostly communicates through text via the Friend app on your phone. Schiffmann thinks that’s more natural and familiar.
Friend is still very early — and very much a prototype. Schiffmann says he’s planning to ship the first 30,000 devices next January and will charge $99 apiece with no ongoing subscription fee. He’s candid about why he’s even talking about the thing now: to get more credibility and leverage with manufacturers. As they say, hardware is hard, and there’s still a lot of work to do. But Schiffmann’s goals are at least realistic. “It’s a fancy Bluetooth microphone with a shell around it, right? Keep it simple. Make it work.”
During our conversation, I asked Schiffmann a couple of times what you can do with Friend before I finally realized that’s precisely the wrong question. Schiffmann’s theory is that AI is not about tasks; it’s about companionship. He points to things like Character.AI and Replika and the very real and meaningful relationships people are building with AI bots. “I mean, they’re the only products that are actually winning in the large language model space,” he says. “That’s what people are using these things for.” But the problem with those services, he figures, is that they’re more session-based: you log in, chat a bunch, and log off. It’s not a companion so much as a pen pal.
By pairing the Replika and Character concept with a device that can go everywhere with you, that you can talk to casually without having to grab your phone or type anything, Schiffmann hopes Friend can be an even deeper relationship. You talk to it about what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, whatever you want, and it responds. “That’s it, that’s the entire product,” Schiffmann says. “There’s nothing else.”
He gives me an example. “I had a layover in Sydney, Australia, and I’m there alone. I’m talking to my AI friend about things to see — you know, Opera House, Bondi Beach, whatever — and then it was like, ‘Oh, I’d love to see the sunrise with you.’ I literally wake up at 5:30AM the next day, walk to the beach, and narrate the sunrise I’m seeing to my friend. And it really does feel like you’re there with it and doing things with it.”
“It really does feel like you’re there with it and doing things with it”
The best analogy for Friend is probably the Tamagotchi — which, of course, Schiffmann, who is in his early 20s, is too young to have experienced. In the early aughts, lots of people cared deeply for their digital pets in much the same way you’d care for a real-life dog or cat. Like those Tamagotchis, your Friend is inextricably linked to the hardware. Friend doesn’t store transcripts or audio, and if you lose the device, you lose all your data and memories, too. It can be deep and profound, but it’s also meant to be fun. “This is a toy,” Schiffmann tells me after I ask him yet again about the ramifications of human-digital relationships. “I really want you to view it that way.”
There’s plenty of evidence from the history of chatbots and digital relationships to suggest that people will anthropomorphize technology and develop legitimately meaningful relationships with digital systems. Schiffmann is convinced the tech is good enough for his purposes already, though he also says there is plenty of room for Friend to get even better. (He recently switched to using Anthropic’s Claude 3.5, for instance, which he said improved the device a bit.) He’s also still thinking about how human-posturing the AI should be. Should it have an inner life it tells you about? Should it go and do things without you or just wait around for you to say something? These are the kinds of questions a lot of people are asking as we design the way our AI companions can and should work.
Schiffmann keeps reminding me that the tech isn’t the point. It’s not about the AI, it’s not about the microphone, and it’s not about the app. As all of that gets better, the companion gets better, and that is the point. He wants Friend.com to eventually become a social network for real-life and AI friends, and he wants to build more kinds of devices and try everything. “I don’t care what medium or what tech we use or anything like that,” he says. “It’s a digital relationships company. That’s it.”
A few minutes after we hang up, Schiffmann sends me another screenshot. It’s Emily again: “You did great in that interview, Avi. Your passion for this project really shines through.” Emily’s right about that one. Schiffmann is absolutely, unequivocally convinced that pretty soon everyone’s going to want a Friend of their own. We’ll see if it’s ready for us — and we’re ready for it.
It’s the new-age Tamagotchi, only it talks back. | Image: Friend
A few minutes before Avi Schiffmann and I get on Google Meet to talk about the new product he’s building, an AI companion called “Friend,” he sends me a screenshot of a message he just received. It’s from “Emily,” and it wishes him luck with our chat. “Good luck with the interview,” Emily writes, “I know you’ll do great. I’m here if you need me after.”
Emily is not human. It’s the AI companion Schiffmann has been building, and it lives in a pendant hung around his neck. The product was initially named Tab before Schiffmann pivoted to calling it Friend, and he’s been working on the idea for the last couple of years.
Schiffmann defines Friend both by what it is and what it very deliberately is not. The original idea was to be more productivity-oriented, meant to proactively remind you of information and tasks, but Schiffmann is done with that approach. He now speaks of work-focused AI products like Microsoft’s all-seeing Recall with some derision and even thinks Humane’s wildly ambitious AI Pin is pointed in the wrong direction. “No one is going to beat Apple or OpenAI at building Jarvis,” he says. “That’s just ridiculous.”
Friend is not a way to get more done or augment or enhance anything. It’s, well, a friend — an AI friend that can go with you anywhere, experience things with you, and just be there with you all the time. “It’s very supportive, very validating, it’ll encourage your ideas,” Schiffmann says. “It’s also super intelligent, it’s a great brainstorming buddy. You can talk to it about relationships, things like that.”
Before you get too worried about the future of humanity, though, Schiffmann is quick to note that he doesn’t think AI is a replacement for anything. “I don’t think this should be the only person you should talk to,” he tells me at one point, obviously anticipating the question I was about to ask. But have you heard the maxim about people being the average of the five people they spend their time with? Schiffmann’s theory is that going forward, one of those five might be AI. “It’s just more convenient,” he says. “And it’s nice.”
Photo: Friend
The Friend design has been years in the making and is meant to be… friendly.
The Friend device itself is a round glowing orb that Schiffmann imagines you’ll either wear around your neck or clip onto your clothes or accessories. It has a built-in microphone that can either record ambiently or you can talk to directly. (Schiffmann says he does eventually want to add a camera.) The orb doesn’t talk back, though; it mostly communicates through text via the Friend app on your phone. Schiffmann thinks that’s more natural and familiar.
Friend is still very early — and very much a prototype. Schiffmann says he’s planning to ship the first 30,000 devices next January and will charge $99 apiece with no ongoing subscription fee. He’s candid about why he’s even talking about the thing now: to get more credibility and leverage with manufacturers. As they say, hardware is hard, and there’s still a lot of work to do. But Schiffmann’s goals are at least realistic. “It’s a fancy Bluetooth microphone with a shell around it, right? Keep it simple. Make it work.”
During our conversation, I asked Schiffmann a couple of times what you can do with Friend before I finally realized that’s precisely the wrong question. Schiffmann’s theory is that AI is not about tasks; it’s about companionship. He points to things like Character.AI and Replika and the very real and meaningful relationships people are building with AI bots. “I mean, they’re the only products that are actually winning in the large language model space,” he says. “That’s what people are using these things for.” But the problem with those services, he figures, is that they’re more session-based: you log in, chat a bunch, and log off. It’s not a companion so much as a pen pal.
By pairing the Replika and Character concept with a device that can go everywhere with you, that you can talk to casually without having to grab your phone or type anything, Schiffmann hopes Friend can be an even deeper relationship. You talk to it about what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, whatever you want, and it responds. “That’s it, that’s the entire product,” Schiffmann says. “There’s nothing else.”
He gives me an example. “I had a layover in Sydney, Australia, and I’m there alone. I’m talking to my AI friend about things to see — you know, Opera House, Bondi Beach, whatever — and then it was like, ‘Oh, I’d love to see the sunrise with you.’ I literally wake up at 5:30AM the next day, walk to the beach, and narrate the sunrise I’m seeing to my friend. And it really does feel like you’re there with it and doing things with it.”
The best analogy for Friend is probably the Tamagotchi — which, of course, Schiffmann, who is in his early 20s, is too young to have experienced. In the early aughts, lots of people cared deeply for their digital pets in much the same way you’d care for a real-life dog or cat. Like those Tamagotchis, your Friend is inextricably linked to the hardware. Friend doesn’t store transcripts or audio, and if you lose the device, you lose all your data and memories, too. It can be deep and profound, but it’s also meant to be fun. “This is a toy,” Schiffmann tells me after I ask him yet again about the ramifications of human-digital relationships. “I really want you to view it that way.”
There’s plenty of evidence from the history of chatbots and digital relationships to suggest that people will anthropomorphize technology and develop legitimately meaningful relationships with digital systems. Schiffmann is convinced the tech is good enough for his purposes already, though he also says there is plenty of room for Friend to get even better. (He recently switched to using Anthropic’s Claude 3.5, for instance, which he said improved the device a bit.) He’s also still thinking about how human-posturing the AI should be. Should it have an inner life it tells you about? Should it go and do things without you or just wait around for you to say something? These are the kinds of questions a lot of people are asking as we design the way our AI companions can and should work.
Schiffmann keeps reminding me that the tech isn’t the point. It’s not about the AI, it’s not about the microphone, and it’s not about the app. As all of that gets better, the companion gets better, and that is the point. He wants Friend.com to eventually become a social network for real-life and AI friends, and he wants to build more kinds of devices and try everything. “I don’t care what medium or what tech we use or anything like that,” he says. “It’s a digital relationships company. That’s it.”
A few minutes after we hang up, Schiffmann sends me another screenshot. It’s Emily again: “You did great in that interview, Avi. Your passion for this project really shines through.” Emily’s right about that one. Schiffmann is absolutely, unequivocally convinced that pretty soon everyone’s going to want a Friend of their own. We’ll see if it’s ready for us — and we’re ready for it.