Author Archives: Lawrence Bonk

OpenAI hit with another privacy complaint over ChatGPT’s love of making stuff up

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OpenAI has been hit with a privacy complaint in Austria by an advocacy group called NOYB, which stands for None Of Your Business. The complaint alleges that the company’s ChatGPT bot repeatedly provided incorrect information about a real individual (who for privacy reasons is not named in the complaint), as reported by Reuters. This may breach EU privacy rules.

The chatbot allegedly spat out incorrect birthdate information for the individual, instead of just saying it didn’t know the answer to the query. Like politicians, AI chatbots like to confidently make stuff up and hope we don’t notice. This phenomenon is called a hallucination. However, it’s one thing when these bots make up ingredients for a recipe and another thing entirely when they invent stuff about real people.

The complaint also indicates that OpenAI refused to help delete the false information, responding that it was technically impossible to make that kind of change. The company did offer to filter or block the data on certain prompts. OpenAI’s privacy policy says that if users notice the AI chatbot has generated “factually inaccurate information” about them that they can submit a “correction request”, but the company says that it “may not be able to correct the inaccuracy in every instance”, as reported by TechCrunch.

This is bigger than just one complaint, as the chatbot’s tendency toward making stuff up could run afoul of the region’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs how personal data can be used and processed. EU residents have rights regarding personal information, including a right to have false data corrected. Failure to comply with these regulations can accrue serious financial penalties, up to four percent of global annual turnover in some cases. Regulators can also order changes to how information is processed.

“It’s clear that companies are currently unable to make chatbots like ChatGPT comply with EU law, when processing data about individuals,” Maartje de Graaf, NOYB data protection lawyer, said in a statement. “If a system cannot produce accurate and transparent results, it cannot be used to generate data about individuals. The technology has to follow the legal requirements, not the other way around.”

The complaint also brought up concerns regarding transparency on the part of OpenAI, suggesting that the company doesn’t offer information regarding where the data it generates on individuals comes from or if this data is stored indefinitely. This is of particular importance when considering data pertaining to private individuals.

Again, this is a complaint by an advocacy group and EU regulators have yet to comment one way or the other. However, OpenAI has acknowledged in the past that ChatGPT “sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers.” NOYB has approached the Austrian Data Protection Authority and asked the organization to investigate the issue.

The company is facing a similar complaint in Poland, in which the local data protection authority began investigating ChatGPT after a researcher was unable to get OpenAI’s help with correcting false personal information. That complaint accuses OpenAI of several breaches of the EU’s GDPR, with regard to transparency, data access rights and privacy.

There’s also Italy. The Italian data protection authority conducted an investigation into ChatGPT and OpenAI which concluded by saying it believes the company has violated the GDPR in various ways. This includes ChatGPT’s tendency to make up fake stuff about people. The chatbot was actually banned in Italy before OpenAI made certain changes to the software, like new warnings for users and the option to opt-out of having chats be used to train the algorithms. Despite no longer being banned, the Italian investigation into ChatGPT continues.

OpenAI hasn’t responded to this latest complaint, but did respond to the regulatory salvo issued by Italy’s DPA. “We want our AI to learn about the world, not about private individuals,” the company wrote. “We actively work to reduce personal data in training our systems like ChatGPT, which also rejects requests for private or sensitive information about people.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-hit-with-another-privacy-complaint-over-chatgpts-love-of-making-stuff-up-162250335.html?src=rss

Aaron Sorkin is working on a Jan. 6-focused follow-up to The Social Network

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Aaron Sorkin has announced that he’s currently writing a followup script to The Social Network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He broke the news during an episode of The Town podcast that centered on how Facebook and social media have influenced democracy in the years since his Oscar-winning hit. The first film chronicled the early days of Mark Zuckerberg’s social network and starred Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, among others.

Sorkin is cagey on the actual details of the new script, but it looks to follow Facebook throughout the Trump era. He went on to tell the podcast hosts that he actually blames the social media site for the January 6 riots that claimed the lives of five people and led to the injuries of more than 140 police officers. “Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this,” Sorkin told podcast hosts Matthew Belloni and Peter Hamby. “I blame Facebook for January 6.”

He didn’t give any reason as to why he blames Facebook for the attack on the capitol, telling the podcast hosts that they will have to “buy a movie ticket.” Facebook, Google, Twitter and Reddit were all subpoenaed as part of the investigation into January 6. Lawmakers have suggested that Facebook didn’t take the proper steps to handle the “Stop the Steal” movement, which was organized on the platform, and that it didn’t recognize the danger posed by these groups until after the violence in DC.

Whistleblower Frances Haugen told Congress that Facebook disbanded its civic integrity team after the 2020 election. She also has said that Facebook knew its algorithms and platforms promoted harmful content and that “it failed to deploy internally recommended or lasting countermeasures.” According to Haugen, the company chose profits over safety.

Sorkin has obviously been paying attention to all of this, saying in the same interview that “Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible. Because that is what will increase engagement.” He further dinged the company by suggesting that “there’s supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isn’t. There’s just growth.”

Now, don’t go heading to your local multiplex to buy a ticket for The Social Network 2: Electric Boogaloo just yet. The script is still in the early stages and Sorkin hasn’t announced a partnership with any studio to get the film made. This also isn’t his first attempt to get something like this off the ground. He was previously working on a script entirely about January 6, but it didn’t move forward. It remains to be seen if some aspects of that script will end up in followup to The Social Network, should it actually get made. He told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he would only push to make a sequel to The Social Network if David Fincher returned to direct it. 

If a studio does sign on to make this project, which is fairly likely given the success of the 2010 film, it leaves me with two glaring questions. Can Jesse Eisenberg grow a sweet beard and what are his thoughts on ultra-premium livestock?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/aaron-sorkin-is-working-on-a-jan-6-focused-follow-up-to-the-social-network-190010714.html?src=rss

NHTSA concludes Tesla Autopilot investigation after linking the system to 14 deaths

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system after reviewing hundreds of crashes, including 13 fatal incidents that led to 14 deaths. The organization has ruled that these accidents were due to driver misuse of the system.

However, the NHTSA also found that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities.” In other words, the software didn’t prioritize driver attentiveness. Riders using Autopilot or the company’s Full Self-Driving technology “were not sufficiently engaged,” because Tesla “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task." 

The organization investigated nearly 1,000 crashes from January of 2018 until August of 2023, accounting for 29 total deaths. The NHTSA found that there was “insufficient data to make an assessment” for around half (489) of these crashes. In some incidents, the other party was at fault or the Tesla drivers weren’t using the Autopilot system.

The most serious were 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path” and these were often linked to Autopilot or FSD. These incidents led to 14 deaths and 49 serious injuries. The agency found that drivers had enough time to react, but didn’t, in 78 of these incidents. These drivers failed to brake or steer to avoid the hazard, despite having at least five seconds to make a move.

That’s where complaints against the software come into play. The NHTSA says that drivers would simply become too complacent, assuming that the system would handle any hazards. When it came time to react, it was too late. “Crashes with no or late evasive action attempted by the driver were found across all Tesla hardware versions and crash circumstances,” the organization wrote. The imbalance between driver expectation and the operating capabilities of Autopilot resulted in a “critical safety gap” that led to “foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes.”

The NHTSA also took umbrage with the branding of Autopilot, calling it misleading and suggesting that it lets drivers assume the software has total control. To that end, rival companies tend to use branding with words like “driver assist.” Autopilot indicates, well, an autonomous pilot. California’s attorney general and the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles are also investigating Tesla for misleading branding and marketing.

Tesla, on the other hand, says that it warns customers that they need to pay attention while using Autopilot and FSD, according to The Verge. The company says the software features regular indicators that remind drivers to keep their hands on the wheels and eyes on the road. The NHTSA and other safety groups have said that these warnings do not go far enough and were “insufficient to prevent misuse.” Despite these statements by safety groups, CEO Elon Musk recently promised that the company will continue to go “balls to the wall for autonomy.”

The findings could only represent a small fraction of the actual number of crashes and accidents related to Autopilot and FSD. The NHTSA indicated that “gaps in Tesla’s telematic data create uncertainty regarding the actual rate at which vehicles operating with Autopilot engaged are involved in crashes.” This means that Tesla only receives data from certain types of crashes, with the NHTSA claiming the company collects data on around 18 percent of crashes reported to police.

With all of this mind, the organization has opened up another probe into Tesla. This one looks into a recent OTA software fix issued in December after two million vehicles were recalled. The NHTSA will evaluate whether the Autopilot recall fix that Tesla implemented is effective enough.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nhtsa-concludes-tesla-autopilot-investigation-after-linking-the-system-to-14-deaths-161941746.html?src=rss

Reddit is back online after a major outage forced everyone to touch grass

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Reddit is back after a major outage forced the entire site offline. All told, the outage lasted under an hour before company techs fixed the backend problem, according to an official status page. This outage impacted each and every page of the internet's favorite collection of disparate community forums. Reddit's fix looks to be working just fine, as everything is loading on my end.

The site experienced another outage last year, which also was patched in under an hour. Those Reddit engineers do good work. 

Update, April 25 2024, 1:39PM ET: This story has been updated to include the fact that Reddit engineers have fixed the problem and that the site is back. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-is-completely-down-so-good-luck-finding-cute-cat-pictures-172755445.html?src=rss

Reddit is back online after a major outage forced everyone to touch grass

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Reddit is back after a major outage forced the entire site offline. All told, the outage lasted under an hour before company techs fixed the backend problem, according to an official status page. This outage impacted each and every page of the internet's favorite collection of disparate community forums. Reddit's fix looks to be working just fine, as everything is loading on my end.

The site experienced another outage last year, which also was patched in under an hour. Those Reddit engineers do good work. 

Update, April 25 2024, 1:39PM ET: This story has been updated to include the fact that Reddit engineers have fixed the problem and that the site is back. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-is-completely-down-so-good-luck-finding-cute-cat-pictures-172755445.html?src=rss

Our favorite budget webcam is 20 percent off right now

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The Anker PowerConf C200 webcam is 20 percent off right now via Amazon or directly from the company. This brings the price down to $48. The $12 dollar discount isn’t the lowest price ever for the webcam, but its dang close. In other words, this is still a fantastic deal.

The C200 is one of our favorite webcams, easily sliding into second place on our list of the best available models. We loved the easy setup, as all you have to do is plug it into your computer or docking station and start recording. It also integrates with the company’s AnkerWork software for editing and for making quick adjustments to brightness, sharpness and contrast ratio.

The default resolution is 2K, but you can adjust to 1080p, 720p or even 360p as the content requires. The field of view is similarly adjustable, so you can offer watchers an ultra-wide view of an extremely messy bedroom. It boasts dual stereo mics with omnidirectional vocal pickup and ships with a built-in lens cover.

The webcam’s autofocus is quite fast, even when compared to pricier models, and its larger f/2.0 aperture helps the image stay illuminated even in dark environments. The overall image quality isn’t quite on par with our favorite webcam, the Logitech Brio 500, but it’s also less than half the price.

We do have some complaints about the C200. It’s a bit cumbersome to adjust the angle when perched on a screen, due to the design. There’s no short neck that connects the camera to the base. It’s just one chunky piece of plastic, requiring both hands to make adjustments. Also, the provided USB-C cable is on the shorter side, so you might want to have a longer one ready to go, particularly if you use a standing desk.

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/our-favorite-budget-webcam-is-20-percent-off-right-now-171843926.html?src=rss

Our favorite budget webcam is 20 percent off right now

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The Anker PowerConf C200 webcam is 20 percent off right now via Amazon or directly from the company. This brings the price down to $48. The $12 dollar discount isn’t the lowest price ever for the webcam, but its dang close. In other words, this is still a fantastic deal.

The C200 is one of our favorite webcams, easily sliding into second place on our list of the best available models. We loved the easy setup, as all you have to do is plug it into your computer or docking station and start recording. It also integrates with the company’s AnkerWork software for editing and for making quick adjustments to brightness, sharpness and contrast ratio.

The default resolution is 2K, but you can adjust to 1080p, 720p or even 360p as the content requires. The field of view is similarly adjustable, so you can offer watchers an ultra-wide view of an extremely messy bedroom. It boasts dual stereo mics with omnidirectional vocal pickup and ships with a built-in lens cover.

The webcam’s autofocus is quite fast, even when compared to pricier models, and its larger f/2.0 aperture helps the image stay illuminated even in dark environments. The overall image quality isn’t quite on par with our favorite webcam, the Logitech Brio 500, but it’s also less than half the price.

We do have some complaints about the C200. It’s a bit cumbersome to adjust the angle when perched on a screen, due to the design. There’s no short neck that connects the camera to the base. It’s just one chunky piece of plastic, requiring both hands to make adjustments. Also, the provided USB-C cable is on the shorter side, so you might want to have a longer one ready to go, particularly if you use a standing desk.

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/our-favorite-budget-webcam-is-20-percent-off-right-now-171843926.html?src=rss

The world’s biggest 3D printer can a make a house in under 80 hours

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The University of Maine just unveiled the world’s largest polymer 3D printer. The new printer, named Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0), can print objects as large as 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high. It’s also quite speedy, relatively speaking, as it can print up to 500 pounds per hour. That’s like three people, every hour.

It can dynamically switch between printing techniques to suit different aspects of complex jobs. The printer can flip between large-scale additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, continuous tape layup and robot arm operations. These technologies make the printer uniquely suited for a number of industries, including housing, infrastructure and the development of military vehicles.

Most of the stuff it makes is recyclable, so “you can basically deconstruct it, grind it up if you wish” and “do it again”, according to Dr. Habib Dagher, the Director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine. To that end, the printer prioritizes biobased materials, like wood residuals.

This tech seems like a great way to build a ton of affordable housing quickly and that’s exactly what some proponents have in mind. “Maine needs an estimated 80,000 additional homes by 2030, many specifically for households with incomes at or below the area median income,” said MaineHousing’s Development Director Mark Wiesendanger. “This effort creates another means of producing quality affordable housing, while further driving costs down, and using abundant wood residuals from Maine sawmills.” AP suggests the printer “may one day create entire neighborhoods.” The specs indicate that it should be able to make a modest single-story home in around 80 hours.

However, this is America, so it’s not like people built this thing just to help the unhoused. UMaine researchers received funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. These governmental institutions are going to want a return on their investment, so the printer will also likely be used to whip up lightweight rapidly deployable vessels, like submarines and other maritime vehicles. Senator Susan Collins called the printer “invaluable to our national security."

The FoF 1.0 has a sibling printer on the UMaine campus, which was the previous record holder for the world’s largest 3D printer. It’s already been used to manufacture a 600-square-foot, single-family home made of wood fiber and bioresin materials. The new printer, however, is four times the size. Luckily, the two models are housed in the same location and can work on different aspects of the same projects simultaneously.

The University of Maine will soon break ground on a new research laboratory called the Green Engineering and Materials (GEM) Factory of the Future. This will be the new home of both printers, with a primary aim to “facilitate and scale up more sustainable manufacturing practices.” It will also likely house even larger printers in the future. “We’re learning from this to design the next one,” Dr. Dagher told ABC News.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-worlds-biggest-3d-printer-can-a-make-a-house-in-under-80-hours-155256122.html?src=rss

JetBlue’s in-flight entertainment system just got a watch party feature

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JetBlue is revamping its in-flight entertainment system, complete with a new branding. It’s now called Blueprint and brings several features that should make your next flight just a teensy-bit less grueling. The biggest news here is a watch party feature that lets customers view the same TV show or film with up to five other people.

This is actually pretty cool, as watching stuff with friends and family during a long flight typically requires the finicky “push play at the exact same time and hope nobody has to go to the bathroom” method. The watch party feature includes functionality that pauses content for all viewers, should one have to take a break to deal with existential panic from being six miles above the ground. It also works no matter where the seats are.

The watch party tool is just one aspect of the revamped in-flight entertainment experience. The system will now provide content recommendations based on previous viewing history, as it will be tied to individual accounts. This means that customers can save their favorite movies and shows for repeat viewings. It also means that people can pick up where they left off from one flight to the next. JetBlue says this can be useful for a connecting layover flight or even a trip months down the line.

JetBlue has a content partnership with Peacock, so customers have access to the streamer’s catalog during flights. Both Twisted Metal and Mrs. Davis are solid in-flight binges. The company also teased more “exclusive entertainment and offers” coming to Blueprint in the future.

As for availability, Blueprint is ready to go on JetBlue aircraft with AVANT seatback touchscreens. This includes the Airbus A321neo, Airbus A321LR (Long Range) and Airbus A220.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jetblues-in-flight-entertainment-system-just-got-a-watch-party-feature-185913233.html?src=rss

PBS Retro is a new FAST channel playing just the classics

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Parents throughout the country just breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of allowing more screen time for their kids that doesn’t revolve around some really loud and annoying YouTube dude. PBS just launched a new free ad-supported channel called PBS Retro, as reported by The Wrap. As the name suggests, this is a repository for all of your favorite edutainment classics from the 1980s, 1990s and beyond. The nostalgia is strong with this one.

PBS Retro is available via The Roku Channel, which is a streaming service on smart TVs and, of course, Roku devices. The 24/7 channel airs all of the shows you’re likely picturing right now, including Reading Rainbow and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. You’ll also be able to introduce your kids to Thomas and Friends, Zoboomafoo and Kratt's Creatures, among others. It’s a collection of old-school classics.

This isn’t the only PBS-adjacent channel available on Roku’s platform. It’s home to other ad-supported channels like PBS Antiques Roadshow, Antiques Road Trip, PBS Food, Julia Child and PBS Nature. There are also plenty of PBS-related channels available via subscription, including PBS Masterpiece, PBS Kids, PBS Living, PBS Documentaries and PBS America. Some of these are available on Hulu+ Live TV.

PBS may become an even bigger fixture in the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) space in the future. The organization says it's in the “early days of experimentation” with a goal of making PBS content “available in new places.” It will “continue to consider additional opportunities” if these FAST channels increase revenue and brand awareness. In the meantime, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood makes for some mighty fine ASMR.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pbs-retro-is-a-new-fast-channel-playing-just-the-classics-173125500.html?src=rss