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A trade magazine https://www.automotivetestingtechnologyinternational.com/news/adas-cavs/mercedes-benz-granted-approval-to-test-l4-avs-in-china.html reports,

Mercedes-Benz has been approved to conduct Level 4 automated driving testing on designated roads and highways in Beijing, focusing on the research and development of multi-sensor perception and system performance for advanced autonomous driving systems. This initiative is part of the company's broader technology research efforts in the region, with the goal of exploring the integration of perception and control mechanisms in autonomous vehicles.
[...]
The company's L4 test vehicles are designed to handle most driving tasks independently, without the need for driver intervention. Equipped with an array of sensors and redundant systems for enhanced safety, the company says these vehicles are capable of executing maneuvers in busy urban environments, such as parking, making U-turns, navigating traffic circles and performing unprotected left turns.

On expressways, the vehicles can autonomously change lanes when the vehicle ahead slows down and can pass through toll stations. In extreme situations, the vehicles are programmed to follow a minimal risk strategy, safely stopping in a secure location, according to Mercedes.

For a refresher on the SAE self-driving level scheme, see the chart at https://www.sae.org/blog/sae-j3016-update

Kudos to Mercedes for jumping from Level 2 directly to L4. L3 requires that the driver stay alert and be prepared to take control at any time...something that humans are notoriously bad at doing.

One of my first reactions when I read the SAE scheme (years ago) was: while L3 is a logical development step (in terms of incremental technology improvements), in the real world it should never be allowed on public roads.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/08/new-ai-tool-enables-real-time-face-swapping-on-webcams-raising-fraud-concerns/

Over the past few days, a software package called Deep-Live-Cam has been going viral on social media because it can take the face of a person extracted from a single photo and apply it to a live webcam video source while following pose, lighting, and expressions performed by the person on the webcam. While the results aren't perfect, the software shows how quickly the tech is developing—and how the capability to deceive others remotely is getting dramatically easier over time.
[...]
The avalanche of attention briefly made the open source project leap to No. 1 on GitHub's trending repositories list (it's currently at No. 4 as of this writing), where it is available for download for free.

"Weird how all the major innovations coming out of tech lately are under the Fraud skill tree," wrote illustrator Corey Brickley in an X thread reacting to an example video of Deep-Live-Cam in action. In another post, he wrote, "Nice remember to establish code words with your parents everyone," referring to the potential for similar tools to be used for remote deception—and the concept of using a safe word, shared among friends and family, to establish your true identity.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

In the realm of messaging apps and services, it's pretty easy to get lost in a sea of the same. Just about every service claims to be the most secure, the most user-friendly, and the most private. But are they… really?

The team behind a new messaging app/service reached out to me to introduce their product called Session. According to the Session site, "Session is an end-to-end encrypted messenger that minimizes sensitive metadata, designed and built for people who want absolute privacy and freedom from any form of surveillance."

Of course, I was skeptical, but when I installed the app and set it up, I realized I was dealing with something different. With Session, there's no phone number, account name, or footprint to be had. Session uses an onion routing network to ensure you leave no trace, so it's simply impossible for anyone to create a profile based on metadata or account information. All accounts are completely anonymous, and zero data is collected, which means there's absolutely nothing to leak.

[...] When you install the app, you create an account; the only thing associated with that account is the Account ID. Copy that ID and share it with anyone you'd like to chat with and get to the communication, knowing everything is secured with end-to-end encryption, and none of your personal information is shared or saved.

[...] During account creation, you do have to enter a display name, but you're not required to use your real name. You can also choose between fast and slow notification modes. The fast mode uses Google's notification servers, and the slow mode means Session will occasionally check for new messages in the background. Session recommends using the fast mode, but if I had to guess, I would assume the slow mode to be the most private.

[...] Session is still in its infancy, and few people know about this app/service. For anyone trying to escape the usual concerns that their information will be leaked, you can trust that this is less likely to happen with Session than with many other options. Even if your information was leaked, the only thing hackers could get would be your Account ID, as there's no other information tied to your account. And with all communication secured with E2E, even your chats would be hard to view.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Canonical recently announced a significant policy change regarding Linux adoption in the Ubuntu operating system. The Canonical Kernel Team (CKT), responsible for handling kernel-related issues for any Ubuntu release, will soon begin integrating the latest version of the Linux kernel, even if there is no final stable build out in the wild yet.

As the British company explains, Ubuntu follows a strict, time-based release schedule. Release dates are set six months in advance, and only in "extreme" circumstances can a delay occur. The most recent long-term support version of Ubuntu, 24.04 "Noble Numbat," was released in April 2024.

Meanwhile, developers working on the Linux kernel follow a "loosely time-based release process," with a new major kernel release occurring every two to three months. The actual release date for each new version is described as "fluid," meaning that project leader Linus Torvalds may adjust the upstream development process if a significant bug is discovered.

A stable release cadence is crucial for maintaining a reliable operating system, explains Canonical's Brett Grandbois. Ubuntu isn't just your weird uncle's experimental Linux OS used by hobbyists; it is officially available in multiple editions, including desktop environments, servers, cloud data centers, and IoT devices.

[...] "To provide users with the absolute latest in features and hardware support, Ubuntu will now ship the latest available version of the upstream Linux kernel at the specified Ubuntu release freeze date," Canonical stated, even if that kernel is still in Release Candidate (RC) status and some bugs remain to be resolved before the final release.

This new "aggressive kernel version commitment policy" carries risks, as RC releases are not considered final by Torvalds and his team for a reason. However, Canonical will need to manage these risks by providing official support for the specific Linux release included in the new Ubuntu version. Updating the kernel after the release is done isn't feasible either, as the Linux edition shipped with Ubuntu is a largely optimized kernel with specific features, patches and hardware support provided by Canonical and its OEM partners.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Bacteria and fungi are evolving to eat plastic but their impact will likely be limited to specific applications, researchers say:

Scientists in Germany have identified a type of fungi that is capable of breaking down synthetic plastics, offering a potential new weapon in the global fight against plastic pollution.

A team at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin found that certain microfungi can survive exclusively on plastics, degrading them into simpler forms.

While this is a promising breakthrough, especially when it comes to tackling oceanic plastic pollution, experts cautioned that it is not a silver bullet.

Researchers observed that microfungi in Lake Stechlin in northeastern Germany can thrive on synthetic polymers without any other carbon source.

"The most surprising finding of our work is that our fungi could exclusively grow on some of the synthetic polymers and even form biomass," Hans-Peter Grossart, the lead researcher, told Reuters.

[...] Researchers said the fungi's ability to break down plastic may have evolved in response to the overwhelming presence of the synthetic material in their environment.

These fungi are particularly effective at breaking down polyurethane, a common material used in construction foam, among other products.

[...] While the discovery of plastic-eating fungi is a step forward, it is unlikely to solve the plastic pollution problem on its own.

Experts said the most effective way to tackle plastic pollution is to reduce the amount of material entering the environment.

[...] "Care must be taken with potential solutions of this sort, which could give the impression that we should worry less about plastic pollution because any plastic leaking into the environment will quickly, and ideally safely, degrade. Yet, for the vast majority of plastics, this is not the case," he said.

[...] The global production of plastic has skyrocketed from 1.7 million tonnes in 1950 to 400 million tonnes in 2022, according to Statista. And despite increased efforts, only nine per cent of plastic waste is recycled worldwide, reports the UN.

See also:
    •What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - TV Tropes
    •Etymology of "What could (possibly) go wrong?"

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Please don't, actually. But do update your Shimano Di2 shifters' software to prevent a new radio-based form of cycling sabotagers:

Professional cycling has, in its recent history, been prone to a shocking variety of cheating methods and dirty tricks. Performance-enhancing drugs. Tacks strewn on race courses. Even stealthy motors hidden inside of wheel hubs.

Now, for those who fail to download a software patch for their gear shifters—yes, bike components now get software updates—there may be hacker saboteurs to contend with, too.

At the Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies earlier this week, researchers from UC San Diego and Northeastern University revealed a technique that would allow anyone with a few hundred dollars of hardware to hack Shimano wireless gear-shifting systems of the kind used by many of the top cycling teams in the world, including in recent events like the Olympics and the Tour de France. Their relatively simple radio attack would allow cheaters or vandals to spoof signals from as far as 30 feet away that trigger a target bike to unexpectedly shift gears or to jam its shifters and lock the bike into the wrong gear.

The trick would, the researchers say, easily be enough to hamper a rival on a climb or, if timed to certain intense moments of a race, even cause dangerous instability. "The capability is full control of the gears. Imagine you're going uphill on a Tour de France stage: If someone shifts your bike from an easy gear to a hard one, you're going to lose time," says Earlence Fernandes, an assistant professor at UCSD's Computer Science and Engineering department. "Or if someone is sprinting in the big chain ring and you move it to the small one, you can totally crash a person's bike like that."

[...] To exploit those wireless components and sabotage a specific target bike, the researchers' technique does require that a hacker first intercept the target's gear-shift signals at some point before they carry out their attack. The hacker can then replay those signals—even months later—to cause the bike to shift at the hacker's command.

To carry out that eavesdrop-and-replay attack, the researchers used a $1500 USRP software-defined radio, an antenna, and a laptop. They say though that a $350 HackRF would work just as well, and point out that their hardware setup could be miniaturized to the degree that it could be hidden along the sidelines of a race, in a cycling team car, or even in the back pouch of a rider's jersey, such as by implementing it in a Raspberry Pi mini-computer.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Google announced Monday that it's shutting down all AdSense accounts in Russia due to "ongoing developments in Russia."

This effectively ends Russian content creators' ability to monetize their posts, including YouTube videos. The change impacts accounts monetizing content through AdSense, AdMob, and Ad Manager, the support page said.

While Google has declined requests to provide details on what prompted the change, it's the latest escalation of Google's ongoing battle with Russian officials working to control the narrative on Russia's war with Ukraine.

In February 2022, Google paused monetization of all state-funded media in Russia, then temporarily paused all ads in the country the very next month. That March, Google paused the creation of new Russia-based AdSense accounts and blocked ads globally that originated from Russia. In March 2022, Google also paused monetization of any content exploiting, condoning, or dismissing Russia's war with Ukraine. Seemingly as retaliation, Russia seized Google's bank account, causing Google Russia to shut down in May 2022.

Since then, Google has "blocked more than 1,000 YouTube channels, including state-sponsored news, and over 5.5 million videos," Reuters reported.

For Russian creators who have still found ways to monetize their content amid the chaos, Google's decision to abruptly shut down AdSense accounts comes as "a serious blow to their income," Bleeping Computer reported. Russia is second only to the US in terms of YouTube web traffic, Similarweb data shows, making it likely that Russia-based YouTubers earned "significant" revenues that will now be suddenly lost, Bleeping Computer reported.

Russia-based creators—including YouTubers, as well as bloggers and website owners—will receive their final payout this month, according to a message from Google to users reviewed by Reuters.

"Assuming you have no active payment holds and meet the minimum payment thresholds," payments will be disbursed between August 21 and 26, Google's message said.

Google's spokesperson offered little clarification to Reuters and Bleeping Computer, saying only that "we will no longer be able to make payments to Russia-based AdSense accounts that have been able to continue monetizing traffic outside of Russia. As a result, we will be deactivating these accounts effective August 2024."

It seems likely, though, that Russia passing a law in March—banning advertising on websites, blogs, social networks, or any other online sources published by a "foreign agent," as Reuters reported in February—perhaps influenced Google's update. The law also prohibited foreign agents from placing ads on sites, and under the law, foreign agents could include anti-Kremlin politicians, activists, and media. With new authority, Russia may have further retaliated against Google, potentially forcing Google to give up the last bit of monetization available to Russia-based creators increasingly censored online.

State assembly member and Putin ally Vyacheslav Volodin said that the law was needed to stop financing "scoundrels" allegedly "killing our soldiers, officers, and civilians," Reuters reported.

[...] As Google has tried to resist pressure from Russian lawmakers to censor content that officials deem illegal, such as content supporting Ukraine or condemning Russia, YouTube had become one of the last bastions of online free speech, Reuters reported. It's unclear how ending monetization in the region will impact access to anti-Kremlin reporting on YouTube or more broadly online in Russia. Last February, a popular journalist with 1.64 million subscribers on YouTube, Katerina Gordeeva, wrote on Telegram that "she was suspending her work due to the law," Reuters reported.

"We will no longer be able to work as before," Gordeeva said. "Of course, we will look for a way out."

Original Submission

AnonTechie writes:

The Conversation

In 2002, after a Pentagon news briefing, the then US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld was widely ridiculed for his thoughts about knowledge. Discussing the issue of whether Iraq was supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, he said:

As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.

Rumsfeld was describing a world characterised by uncertainty, insecurity and ambiguity. And he actually made a valid point about how leaders face situations where complete knowledge is not, and cannot be, available.

This awareness of a lack of knowledge is something we call a state of "unknowingness". And our research suggests , perhaps surprisingly, that it can be a good thing for leaders and the organisations they run.

[...] We also found that if "unknowingness" is recognised and accepted, it can lead to better decision making across an organisation – and improved leadership overall.

[...] But any organisation which has to deal with "unknowns" (whether they are known or unknown) would benefit from recognising and accepting these particular challenges.

There may be little they can do about the things they don't even know they don't know about yet. But when they are aware of the absence of knowledge, and accept an inability to know everything or always make the "right" decision, our research suggests that this can actually be a positive step.

[Also Covered By]: PHYS.ORG

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

University of Texas researchers have used AI to develop a safer, effective version of an antibiotic that shows promise in animal trials. This new method could accelerate the creation of treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Credit: The University of Texas at Austin

In a hopeful development for the demand for safer and more effective antibiotics, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have utilized artificial intelligence to create a new drug that is already demonstrating promise in animal trials.

Publishing their results in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the scientists describe using a large language model—an AI tool like the one that powers ChatGPT—to engineer a version of a bacteria-killing drug that was previously toxic in humans, so that it would be safe to use.

The prognosis for patients with dangerous bacterial infections has worsened in recent years as antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains spread and the development of new treatment options has stalled. However, UT researchers say AI tools are game-changing.

[...] Large language models, or LLMs, were originally designed to generate and explore sequences of text, but scientists are finding creative ways to apply these models to other domains. For example, just as sentences are made up of sequences of words, proteins are made up of sequences of amino acids. LLMs cluster together words that share common attributes (such as cat, dog, and hamster) in what’s known as an “embedding space” with thousands of dimensions. Similarly, proteins with similar functions, like the ability to fight off dangerous bacteria without hurting the people who host said bacteria, may cluster together in their own version of an AI embedding space.

“The space containing all molecules is enormous,” said Davies, co-senior author of the new paper. “Machine learning allows us to find the areas of chemical space that have the properties we’re interested in, and it can do it so much more quickly and thoroughly than standard one-at-a-time lab approaches.”

For this project, the researchers employed AI to identify ways to reengineer an existing antibiotic called Protegrin-1 that is great at killing bacteria, but toxic to people. Protegrin-1, which is naturally produced by pigs to combat infections, is part of a subtype of antibiotics called antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs generally kill bacteria directly by disrupting cell membranes, but many target both bacterial and human cell membranes.

First, the researchers used a high-throughput method they had previously developed to create more than 7,000 variations of Protegrin-1 and quickly identify areas of the AMP that could be modified without losing its antibiotic activity.

Next, they trained a protein LLM on these results so that the model could evaluate millions of possible variations for three features: selectively targeting bacterial membranes, potently killing bacteria and not harming human red blood cells to find those that fell in the sweet spot of all three. The model then helped guide the team to a safer, more effective version of Protegrin-1, which they dubbed bacterially selective Protegrin-1.2 (bsPG-1.2).

Mice infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria and treated with bsPG-1.2 were much less likely to have detectable bacteria in their organs six hours after infection, compared to untreated mice. If further testing offers similarly positive results, the researchers hope eventually to take a version of the AI-informed antibiotic drug into human trials.

“Machine learning’s impact is twofold,” Davies said. “It’s going to point out new molecules that could have the potential to help people, and it’s going to show us how we can take those existing antibiotic molecules and make them better and focus our work to more quickly get those to clinical practice.”

Reference: “Deep mutational scanning and machine learning for the analysis of antimicrobial-peptide features driving membrane selectivity” by Justin R. Randall, Luiz C. Vieira, Claus O. Wilke and Bryan W. Davies, 31 July 2024, Nature Biomedical Engineering.
  DOI: 10.1038/s41551-024-01243-1

Original Submission

"dalek" writes:

The Bell Riots are a unique event in Star Trek in that when Deep Space Nine showed them on screen, they were in the future, but that time period is now contemporary. Star Trek has shown time travel to events that were in the past or contemporary when the shows or movies aired, and they discussed future events like the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s but only showed their effects in the future with the original series episode Space Seed and the movie The Wrath of Khan.

The Bell Riots are shown in a two part episode called Past Tense (Part I, Script; Part II, Script) in which a transporter accident sends Commander Sisko, Lieutenant Dax, and Doctor Bashir back in time to August 30, 2024. They arrive in San Francisco, but over two centuries too early. Sisko and Bashir are found by security guards, and because of their lack of identification, they are sent to Sanctuary District A. However, Dax is found by a wealthy business owner named Chris Brynner, who provides her shelter.

There are sanctuary districts in nearly every city, places where people were promised food and shelter while employment was scarce, but quickly became overcrowded and with poor living conditions. The general public is mostly unaware of the conditions within the sanctuary districts, whose residents are prevented from leaving and have largely been forgotten. The residents are referred to by slang terms of gimmies (unemployed people), dims (mentally ill people), and ghosts (people who struggled to integrate and joined gangs). During the Bell Riots, some ghosts and other residents overpowered the guards, took hostages, and seized control of the sanctuary's processing center for incoming residents. Despite rumors that the hostages had been killed, Gabriel Bell prevented this from happening. Bell was able to broadcast from the district and inform the public of the living conditions within the district, which brought the living conditions to the general public's attention and spurred on reforms.

However, when Sisko is attacked on August 31 by a gang of ghosts, Gabriel Bell is killed by a ghost named B.C. while trying to help Sisko fend off off the attackers. This alters the timeline, and Sisko assumes the role of Bell to try to restore the proper course of history. There is no longer a Federation in the 24th century, no evidence of advanced technology on Earth, and there is a Romulan outpost at Alpha Centuary. Chief O'Brien and Major Kira use the transporters to travel back in time to a few points in history to try to find the missing crew members and restore the timeline. The episode's script includes this dialogue:

O'BRIEN: Well, we know one thing. They arrived before the year twenty forty eight.
ODO: How can you be sure?
O'BRIEN: Because we were just there. And that wasn't the mid-twenty first century I read about in school. It's been changed. I mean, Earth history has been through its rough patches, but never that rough.

In the Star Trek universe, 2048 occurs within World War III, which includes the use of strategic nuclear weapons by the United States, China, and Russia. This leads to a nuclear winter and the collapse of society. Past Tense was written to examine the issue of homelessness, specifically that homeless people are moved out of view of the general public and are forgotten about. There is a contrast of the extreme wealth of people like Chris Brynner and the destitution in the sanctuary districts. The story also serves as a warning that failing to address societal inequality may lead to more severe problems in the future, in this case making WWIII and the societal collapse far worse. One of the writers, Ira Steven Behr, commented that B.C. is not viewed as a murderer despite killing the real Gabriel Bell because society forced him into the situation, and he was just trying to survive the conditions in the sanctuary district. In 2021, writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe said about the episode:

"As a writer, all you can do is be a voice in the wilderness, sometimes. You can yell, 'Fire!' but you can't put it out. It's disappointing that we're still grappling with this problem. I certainly would have hoped it would be better by now, and people would be like, 'Ha! Remember that Deep Space Nine episode that said homelessness would still be a problem in the 2020s? They were so gloomy!' But one of the themes of the show is that paradise doesn't come for free. Even if it does get handed to you, you have to continually work to protect it and renew it and advance it."

Deep Space Nine is my favorite of all of the Star Trek series, and these are two of my favorite episodes. Although some people criticized the story for being too preachy and politicized, when it was wrapped up by Sisko, Bashir, and Dax restoring the timeline, I considered it a very memorable and compelling story. World War III, which begins in 2026, is mentioned in multiple series as a disastrous event for humanity, and although I'm not aware of this being shown on screen, this story does fill in some of the prelude up to the war. Have any readers seen this two-part episode? If so, what are your thoughts on this story and the themes it examines?

Original Submission

owl writes:

https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2024/08/14/so-the-department-of-energy-emailed-me/

In a perfect example of checkbox security in action:

I received an email today. What follows is a slightly edited version (for brevity).

From: DOE Attestation Subject: [ACTION REQUIRED] U.S. Department of Energy Secure Software Development Attestation Submission Request

OMB Control No. 1670-0052 Expires: 03/31/2027

Hello Haxx

** The following communication contains important DOE Secure Software Development Attestation Submission instructions. Please read this communication in its entirety. **

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has identified your company's software as affected by this request. The list of impacted software products and versions can be found below.

DOE Request:

In support of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirement to collect attestations per M-22-18, please complete the U.S. Department of Energy Secure Software Development Attestation Form (DOE Common Form). If you are unable to attest to all secure software development framework (SSDF) practices, please be sure to attach your Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M). The software listed below has been identified as being associated with your company and requires DOE to collect an attestation for the software.

Product Name Version Number

libcurl 8.3

hubie writes:

Disney has asked a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit citing an arbitration waiver in the terms and conditions for Disney+:

According to Newsday, Disney has asked a Florida court to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Piccolo, husband of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a doctor at NYU Langone in New York City, who passed away after eating a meal at Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs in October 2023.

Tangsuan had a severe dairy and nut allergy and informed the waitstaff at the restaurant of her dietary needs, and was "unequivocally assured" they could be accommodated. She ordered and ate the "Sure I'm Frittered" vegetarian broccoli and corn fritters, the "Scallop Forest" sea scallops appetizer, the "This Shepherd Went Vegan" entree, and a side of onion rings.

[...] In the latest update for the Disney Springs wrongful death lawsuit, Disney cited legal language within the terms and conditions for Disney+, which "requires users to arbitrate all disputes with the company." Disney claims Piccolo reportedly agreed to this in 2019 when signing up for a one-month free trial of the streaming service on his PlayStation console.

In the May 31 motion filed to move the wrongful death lawsuit to arbitration, Disney attorneys said that the Disney+ subscriber agreement states that any dispute, except for small claims, "must be resolved by individual binding arbitration." Disney says that similar language was agreed to by Piccolo when he used the My Disney Experience app to purchase tickets to visit EPCOT at Walt Disney World in September 2023. Tangsuan died before she and Piccolo could use the tickets.

[...] Attorneys for Piccolo called Disney's latest motion "preposterous," and that it's "'absurd' to believe that the 153 million subscribers to the popular streaming service have waived all claims against the company and its affiliates because of language 'buried' within the terms and conditions," according to Newsday.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

It was only in February when Cisco laid off 4,000 people, or 5% of its workforce, as it struggled with a challenging economy and weak demand.

According to Reuters, Cisco is preparing to announce a new round of job cuts, possibly alongside its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. The publication writes that the number of people being let go is likely to match or be higher than the 4,000 employees laid off in February. The company had nearly 85,000 workers at the end of fiscal 2023; this count does not include the effects of the previous round of layoffs.

Cisco spent $28 billion completing the acquisition of cybersecurity specialist Splunk in March, a purchase that Cisco hopes will reduce its reliance on one-time equipment sales by boosting its subscription offerings.

As with so many recent layoffs in the tech world, AI has once again played a part in people losing their jobs. Cisco launched a $1 billion fund to make investments in AI startups in June, and it has made 20 AI-focused acquisitions and investments in the last several years. Cost cutting helps offset these big investments, and fears that returns on AI spending won't match the money being poured into the industry isn't helping matters.

The company is also focusing on an AI partnership with Nvidia that will see Cisco and Team Green's purpose-built Ethernet networking-based solutions sold through the former's global channels.

[...] According to tracking website Layoffs.fyi, 397 tech companies have laid off 130,482 employees so far in 2024. Throughout all of 2023, 1,193 firms in the industry laid off 264,220 workers.

Original Submission

AnonTechie writes:

A recent study has found that 94% of spreadsheets used in business decision-making contain errors, posing serious risks for financial losses and operational mistakes. This finding highlights the need for better quality assurance practices.

The study, led by Prof. Pak-Lok Poon in collaboration with Central Queensland University, Swinburne University of Technology, City University of Hong Kong, and The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, shows that most spreadsheets used in important business applications have errors that can affect decision-making processes. "The high rate of errors in these spreadsheets is concerning," says Prof. Poon.

Errors in spreadsheets can lead to poor decisions, resulting in financial losses, pricing mistakes, and operational problems in fields like health care and nuclear operations. "These mistakes can cause major issues in various sectors," adds Prof. Poon.

More information:Pak-Lok Poon et al, Spreadsheet quality assurance: a literature review, Frontiers of Computer Science (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s11704-023-2384-6

PHYS.ORG

[Also Covered By]: news wise

Original Submission

fliptop writes:

A quote from Wyoming's governor and a local prosecutor were the first things that seemed slightly off to Powell Tribune reporter CJ Baker. Then, it was some of the phrases in the stories that struck him as nearly robotic:

The dead giveaway, though, that a reporter from a competing news outlet was using generative artificial intelligence to help write his stories came in a June 26 article about the comedian Larry the Cable Guy being chosen as the grand marshal of the Cody Stampede Parade.

[...] After doing some digging, Baker, who has been a reporter for more than 15 years, met with Aaron Pelczar, a 40-year-old who was new to journalism and who Baker says admitted that he had used AI in his stories before he resigned from the Enterprise.

[...] Journalists have derailed their careers by making up quotes or facts in stories long before AI came about. But this latest scandal illustrates the potential pitfalls and dangers that AI poses to many industries, including journalism, as chatbots can spit out spurious if somewhat plausible articles with only a few prompts.

[...] "In one case, (Pelczar) wrote a story about a new OSHA rule that included a quote from the Governor that was entirely fabricated," Michael Pearlman, a spokesperson for the governor, said in an email. "In a second case, he appeared to fabricate a portion of a quote, and then combined it with a portion of a quote that was included in a news release announcing the new director of our Wyoming Game and Fish Department."

Related:

• AI Threatens to Crush News Organizations. Lawmakers Signal Change Is Ahead
• New York Times Sues Microsoft, ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Over Copyright Infringement
• A Financial News Site Uses AI to Copy Competitors — Wholesale
• Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated Writers
• OpenAI Has Released the Largest Version Yet of its Fake-News-Spewing AI

Original Submission