Flock Uses Overseas Gig Workers to Build its Surveillance AI

This article was produced with support from WIRED. Flock, the automatic license plate reader (ALPR) and AI-powered camera company, uses overseas workers from Upwork to train its machine learning algorithms, with training material telling workers how to review and categorize footage including images people and vehicles in the U.S., according to material reviewed by 404 Media that…

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Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”

A new paper from researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University finds that as humans increasingly rely on generative AI in their work, they use less critical thinking, which can “result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.” “[A] key irony of automation is that by mechanising routine tasks and leaving…

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HarperCollins Will Use AI to Translate Harlequin Romance Novels

Book publisher HarperCollins said it will start translating romance novels under its famous Harlequin label in France using AI, reducing or eliminating the pay for the team of human contract translators who previously did this work. Publisher’s Weekly broke the news in English after French outlets reported on the story in December. According to a…

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Waymo Pauses Service in Downtown LA Neighborhood Where They’re Getting Lit on Fire

Waymo told 404 Media that it is still operating in Los Angeles after several of its driverless cars were lit on fire during anti-ICE protests over the weekend, but that it has temporarily disabled the cars’ ability to drive into downtown Los Angeles, where the protests are happening.  A company spokesperson said it is working…

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