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A Dictator Took To Twitter Looking For His Friend Trump. Whos Going To Tell Him? – HuffPost

A budding dictator has just signed up for Twitter and already is complaining about why he cant tweet at one of his autocratic homeboys.

Viktor Orbn, the prime minister of Hungary, joined the social media site Monday, and like many on the platform, he is tweeting out bullshit into the ether, with the intent to rile the people up.

For starters, Orbns bio describes him as Freedom fighter, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Prime Minister of Hungary.

Ill give him three, and one more on a technicality, but I call foul on a key noun.

Orbn, who is in his fourth term, has been called the ultimate twenty-first-century dictator. He is a hero to the American right for providing a template on how to methodically flip a government from a democracy to one under singular rule.

When he spoke at this years Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas back in August, he told the crowd: Play by your own rules. ... We must take back the institutions in Washington and in Brussels, where the European Union is based.

That sort of language doesnt translate to freedom fighter.

Nor does what he said in his fourth tweet this week, seeking to stir up an argument by asking about the account of former President Donald Trump. After my first day on Twitter, theres one question on my mind. Where is my good friend, @realDonaldTrump? he asked.

David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, wrote in response, While you look around for your friend, perhaps another friend to follow: the President of the United States, @POTUS but as the Hungarian media might say: no pressure.

Based on what Ive read about the way Orbn treats Hungarian media, one imagines he prefers they not speak at all unless theyre serving as stenographers for his talking points.

But considering the racists, fascists and aspiring dictators Orbn follows politicians like Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Recep Tayyip Erdoan and Jair Bolsonaro, as well as media figures like Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson the nature of his inquiry is transparent, and it is very much intentional.

Still, his question further reignites the lingering issue of when Trump might be allowed back on Twitter to terrorize the masses especially with the prospect of a change in ownership.

Twitter made the choice to permanently ban Trump after he used the platform to help stoke violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But billionaire Elon Musk has renewed his effort to buy the company and has already stated that he would reverse the decision were he in charge.

Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved ... for accounts that are bots, or spam/scam accounts, Musk explained at FT Lives Future of the Car conference in May. I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake, because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.

He added: I would reverse the permaban. ... I dont own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I dont own Twitter?

Musk is arguably only trying to own Twitter now because a contract he signed a month before making these comments still leaves him with little choice but to commit to his original offer to buy the platform for $54.20 a share.

None of us can say with certainty how this will end, but in all likelihood, Musk will eventually take over the site. So I do think its important to consider that the likely new owner of Twitter genuinely believes that banning Trump for stoking violence was a morally bad decision ... and foolish in the extreme.

That said, Trump claims he wont return even if allowed.

No, I wont be going back on Twitter, he told CNBC in April, adding that he prefers his own social media platform.

I will be on Truth Social within the week. ... We have a lot of people signed up, he said at the time. We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House. I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I wont be going back on Twitter.

A lot has happened to Truth Social since those comments, but to put it succinctly: The app is a flop, and its future is uncertain due to a lack of money and an investigation by the feds.

All hope may not be lost Truth Socials stock jumped after Google decided Wednesday to add the platform to its app store but for a man obsessed with big crowds and large audiences, Twitter must tempt Trump and his likely reelection campaign. Even if Musk doesnt take control of Twitter, its this potential campaign that makes me question just how long most social media platforms will keep Trump banned.

After all, its not like we can often depend on higher-ups at the social media companies to put safety over profit. In July, a former Twitter employee testified to a House committee that the company had allowed Trump to break its rules for years because executives knew their service was his favorite and most-used and enjoyed having that sort of power.

Speaking to The Washington Post last month, the whistleblower, Anika Collier Navaroli, said that while fearful of the consequences of stepping forward, she strongly believes extremism and political disinformation on social media pose an imminent threat not just to American democracy, but to the societal fabric of our planet.

I wouldnt be doing this if I didnt believe the truth matters, she told the paper.

Just as I dont think most executives in publishing and news care enough about threats posed by Trump and the Republican Party (since theyre too busy profiting from coverage of their antics), I believe the heads of various social media platforms care even less.

I would love to believe that testimonies from people like Navaroli have changed their minds. But look how long it took Instagram and Twitter to do something about inflammatory behavior by Kanye West and all he does is make beats, rap and design shoes.

In the coming months, Trump might be indicted, but he is certainly expected to run for president again and that alone will give him an argument for reinstatement. Its an argument that many platforms are likely to accept in a bid to make money, while Trump sets everything on fire again the way he used to.

Musk might just be one of the few willing to admit it, but either way, Id rather know sooner than later if and when Trump will be allowed to tweet again. I want to have my block button and filters as ready as possible.

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A Dictator Took To Twitter Looking For His Friend Trump. Whos Going To Tell Him? - HuffPost

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The Rise And Impacts Of Artificial Intelligence – Rail, Road & Cycling – United States – Mondaq

Today, it seems like everything in our lives has gone digital.Let's look at what WIT affiliate expert Scott Steinberg feelsis propelling technological change forward in the world ofartificial intelligence (AI).

Today, it seems like everything in our lives has gone digital;the pandemic pause created a need for innovations to support theshift and ignited a wave of innovation unlike any other. Thatpaired with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and elevatedmachine learning capabilities are two of the main drivers that WITaffiliate expert and noted technology analyst Scott Steinberg feels are propellingtechnological change forward. During a recent WIT webinar, he explained that"more and more tasks will be outsourced to self-awaretechnology. More and more devices will communicate with one anotherand use it as an opportunity to learn from what they see in theenvironment to make decisions in real-time." As theseactivities are contracted out to increasingly more intelligent AIs,the market will begin pushing for more advanced technologicalstructures to support this integration.

With the development of improved artificial intelligence comeshigher levels of deployment. For example, one of the main ways manyof us currently interact with AI is in the form of chatbots; theseconnections typically occur in online environments and thepersonalities are smart enough to solve human problems with 90-100%accuracy. Going forward, Steinberg sees artificial intelligenceoperating in every environment from factory floors to offices andchemical plants. But he also acknowledges the fact that AI is onlyas capable and fallible as its creators are, and it will be subjectto subconscious bias. To mitigate this, AI needs to be trained withmillions of situational examples as the technology gets smarterwith the more data it can examine.

But no matter how much information you feed it, artificialintelligence is still just like humans; it's never going to beable to account for every situational variable. Training withhistorical data makes the technology predisposed to certainproblems, but going forward, this technology is going to bepowerful enough to create its own AI routines. And because AI canmore rapidly spot patterns and process information faster than thehuman eye, we're only going to outsource more tasks.

Since we are going to be trusting artificial intelligence withmore important tasks, it is imperative to remember that it is stillfundamentally a piece of computer software. Steinberg laments that"After 25 years in the technology business, I have yet to meeta single piece of computer software that didn't containglitches or loopholes and, for that matter, that is only going tobe more subject to things like hackers, thieves, and outsideinfiltration or influence going forward. [This] presents a lot ofpotential challenges. As we move to a digital world, we really cedea lot of control to technology that we might have in the realworld."

With autonomous vehicles slated to become widelyavailable within the next few years, it is important to look at howAI will play a role in propelling this technology forward.Steinberg feels that there is going to be a lot of advancement inthis space as more manufacturers begin implementing AI software;Tesla already has some self-driving capabilities built-in, fleetsof autonomous trucks are hitting the road in droves, and in thenext few months, he sees cities deploying entire networks ofsensors that can speak with vehicles intelligently. These networkswill be built on the back of 5G, allowing the devices to communicate whatobjects are on the road and where- ultimately transforming the carsto function more like computers. He states, "It used to beabout steel but going forward, the vehicle of tomorrow really willbe about silicon."

An increased level of connectivity will create more complexvehicles with AI, real-time sensors, 3D cameras, and more allcommunicating, bringing on its own set of concerns. But moreimportantly, it also creates greater safety and securityproblems.

In fact, in terms of security, Steinberg thinks of the vehiclesutilizing this technology as an extension of your personalcomputer. He sees issues arising with hackers, lockouts,ransomware, and more. What happens if someone locks you out of yourcar or worse, begins altering your trip to send you to anundisclosed location making YOU the ransom? Any computer system, nomatter how powerful, is going to be subject to errors, technicalhiccups, and, of course, outside compromise.

This pushes us to examine the safety of this software; is aself-driving vehicle going to crash less than a human driver would?And how can people ensure that their car will continuecommunicating with other devices on the road? Automakers havealready reported around 400 crashes in a little under a year after TheNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration required the reportto help them assess the risks and trends associated with partiallyautomated driver-assist systems. technology. Steinberg wonders how,if a car is a computer, manufacturers will implement the necessarysoftware updates needed to guarantee that their vehicles willcontinue working in sync with others on the road. This level ofcomplexity will make it more difficult to keep things movingforward in a time where computers think at a much faster rate thanhumans. So how can we begin regulating this activity?

From a legal standpoint, this will raise issues with the parts,pieces, and technologies that go into these vehicles. Who is liablefor the complications associated with these technologies? Who isresponsible for setting standards for AI and vehicles? And lastly,who will be thinking about the way these complex systems interfacewith one another to ensure the safety of drivers, products, andvaluables? Steinberg feels that "technology really kind ofrockets ahead and oftentimes, we have to play catch up. We struggleto think about the potential applications, use cases, and scenariosthat these advancements may present, at least from a legalstandpoint." And with this comes the opportunity for disputeson a multitude of fronts.

It's too early to say how manufacturers can prepare fordeveloping markets as there will be automakers, technologycompanies, software providers, hardware creators, and thegovernment all participating in the creation of them. There arecurrently no major governing laws that are geared to help with theintegration of AI and technology, amplifying the potential forconflict among parties from differing industries. He details that"There's a big "mod" [modifications or upgradesto assets] culture around cars and upgrades that are going toimpact the on-road experience. What's going to happen withresell and the transfer of data that's going to reside in thatcar when you bring it to a new owner? On top of that, you'realso going to have to wonder if you have different states crackingdown in different ways on the way the technology exchangesinformation and what types of data can be traded."

In order to help push regulations forward, Steinberg feels thatwe are going to need more participation in this conversation fromindustry thought leaders; this way, they can work alongside thegovernment to keep up with all of this change. In his opinion,"We need advisory boards, we need experts, we need to get manyvoices at the table. But we really need to be having a lot of theseconversations at the highest levels, a lot more frequently and alot sooner."

Stay tuned for more insights from our conversation with WITaffiliate expert Scott Steinberg. Mr. Steinberg ishailed as one ofthe world's most celebrated futurists and strategic innovationconsultants. He has been featured in hundreds of media outlets fromCNN to TIME toThe Wall St. Journal, with the Fortune 500calling him a "defining figure in business andtechnology" and "top trendsetter to follow."

Next in this series, we'll cover innovations in wireless technologies and the implications ofthese advancements on the market.

Learn more about our top industry and technical experts in automotive technology.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Artificial intelligence has no place in art competitions | Silver Chips – Silver Chips Online

AI provides unfair advantages to its users, undermining the spirit of competition.

Editor's note: Abjini Chattopadhyay is a Silver Chips artist

AIArtImage2

Photo: Created by Alexander Liu via Midjourney

Photo: Created by Alexander Liu via Midjourney

Ever since Jason M. Allen won the Colorado State Fairs annual art competition, the internet has exploded into arguments over whether or not AI belongs in art competitions. While some argue that AI should be allowed as a tool for artists to use, AI in art competitions gives its users an unfair advantage over others and should not be allowed.

To understand what makes AI (artificial intelligence) so unfair in competitions, we should first understand how AI art programs work. Most AI art programs feed thousands of images to train neural networks to recognize what certain objects look like. When a user prompts the AI for a dog, it generates images iteratively, comparing each iteration to what it thinks a dog looks like.

As AI teacher Nora Burkhauser puts it, AI artists are pre-trained to generate images based on what theyve seen. It's actually generating them and then putting it through an image recognition thing to say, okay, is this anything close to what we want? Burkhauser explains.

That means once someone prompts the AI on what they want to see, they can sit back and relax as the AI generates an image in mere seconds. Anybody that has ever played around with the multitude of freely available AI art generators can attest to how easy it is to generate breath-taking images at the click of a button.

AIArtImage3

Photo: Created by Alexander Liu via Midjourney

Photo: Created by Alexander Liu via Midjourney

For that reason, art teacher Sara Foraker doesnt think that AI belongs in art competitions as a whole. Its a small little snippet of someones creative thought, but I honestly dont see the value, Foraker says.

Silver Chips artist Abjini Chattopadhyay agrees, saying AI removes the originality from art. I don't think that [AI] should be legal because when making art yourself, you put in your own style and your own thinking into it, but with AI art, youre incorporating the styles of other people and their thoughts and ideas, Chattopadhyay says.

Because making art with AI requires very little effort from the user, complete beginners can create works of art with more advanced techniques and detail than those who have put years of work into learning how to draw. Allowing for the continued use of AI in art competitions undermines the hard work of everyone else participating.

Indeed, art resource teacher Jacqueline Armstead-Thomas says that AI art is more akin to searching for images than making your own artwork. Youre just typing in a phrase and you're getting the results, and so when you think about the actual function of it, it's no different than typing into google an image, and getting results for that image, Armstead-Thomas says.

AIArtImage1

Photo: Created by Alexander Liu via Midjourney

Photo: Created by Alexander Liu via Midjourney

Another issue is the speed of AI generated art. AI programs like Midjourney and Dall-E can generate pieces in under a minute, while it may take an artist hours to render a piece of similar quality. That means anybody not using AI is put at an extreme time disadvantage against those who are, putting them at a massive disadvantage.

The images in this article, despite being quite detailed and beautifully rendered, took perhaps 10 minutes in total to generate. Its absurd to think that AI artists can churn out a portfolio of pieces in about as much time as it takes to register for many competitions, or for a traditional artist to do one simple sketch.

In response, proponents of AI in art competitions point out that AI is just another tool that artists can use, like Photoshop or Procreate. While true, this argument misses the point of what makes AI so unfair in the first place.

AI is fundamentally different from other tools in a digital artists arsenal. Even when using tools like Photoshop, you must manually manipulate and compose your artwork, using your own skills and creativity as you do so. While drawing the piece, you must consider the placement of objects, contrast, lighting and so much more.

Armstead-Thomas says that AI requires less work than using other digital drawing tools. I dont think it's the same skill level of actually having created that piece, whether you did it traditionally or whether you did it digitally, but actually creating every stroke and line and color that shows up, Armstead-Thomas says.

Compare this to using AI, where you need only know the basic themes or objects in an image, and the program takes it from there. Even if that image is subsequently altered by a contestant manually, it is still no different than finding an image online, tweaking it, and calling it your own.

AI in art competitions undermines the hard work of traditional artists, puts them at a massive time disadvantage, and limits overall creativity. Going forward, competitions ought to either make an entirely new category for these works, or ban the use of AI outright.

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Ask INDIAai: Who is the father of Artificial Intelligence? – INDIAai

You can ask questions and get your doubts cleared up in this series. INDIAai's expert team will answer your questions.

Send your questions to: askindiaai@mail.nasscom.in.

What distinguishes Artificial Intelligence from Human Intelligence? - Krithik Sai, Mangalore.

Artificial Intelligence tries to make computers that can act and do things like humans, while Human Intelligence tries to make people more adaptable by combining different ways of thinking. The human brain is analogue, while machines are digital.

Artificial intelligence is based on human insights that we can figure out in a way that machines can do tasks easily, from the most basic to the most complicated. On the other hand, manufactured insights aim to learn, solve problems, think, and see. Furthermore, human intelligence and behaviour come from what people have done in the past. And it's all based on people's ability to change their surroundings with their knowledge.

Who is the father of Artificial Intelligence? - Mangalam Krishnan, Trichy.

Researchers have used the phrase "artificial intelligence" and its associated technology for a long time. This technology has been around for a lot longer than you might think.

Here are some crucial events in the history of AI.

What advantages do conversational AI chatbots have for FinTech companies? - Suratkumar, Banaras

Fintech companies need AI-powered chatbots to keep customers interested and make them feel heard and valued. It improves the overall customer experience even more, which leads to a significant increase in sales and income. On the other hand, chatbots are always on and give precise answers to customers' questions. Fintech chatbots can help people make decisions quickly and provide unbiased financial advice. They have access to such information, including details about how markets work and how liquid money is. So, chatbots in fintech have the following benefits in addition to being able to solve customer problems quickly:

Do directors choose the actors who most closely resemble the historical characters in movies based on actual events using AI, computer vision, etc.? - Harini Nagaraj, Chennai.

Not at all. First and foremost, the director's purpose is to tell a compelling story, which frequently necessitates some factual embellishment (or a lot). Much less important than casting a talented actor or, in some cases, an established star in the role is a resemblance to the actual person. If the individual is well-known, makeup can enhance the similarity.

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Artificial intelligence reveals what the Kardashians would look like without all their cosmetic surgeries – Marca English

Artificial intelligence technology is being used more and more and in many situations it is used to see how people would look with the passing of time or by removing aesthetic touch-ups

This is the case with a TikTok account, run by the Australian streamers Vandahood Live. They posted a video compilation of what the Kardashians would look like naturally on their profile.

Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian have been the subjects of that now viral TikTok, showing their faces without the surgeries they have been getting over the last few years.

The real video used is from 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' where you can see their real faces compared to the one generated by artificial intelligence.

The most obvious Kardashian differences are Kylie's thinner lips or Khloe's much thinner nose. In addition, both have admitted in interviews that they have had these surgeries.

"We used three different artificial intelligence software and two different standard graphics software and a full week to get it done," explained Keith, one of the members of Vandahood Live to PetaPixel.

"We had to take a different approach for each family member, as each experienced different changes over the years."

Deep Face Lab, FaceApp and EbSynth were the programs used to recreate the Kardashians.

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Hiltzik: The overhyping of AI – Los Angeles Times

The star of the show at Teslas annual AI Day (for artificial intelligence) on Sept. 30 was a humanoid robot introduced by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk as Optimus.

The robot could walk, if gingerly, and perform a few repetitive mechanical tasks such as waving its arms and wielding a watering can over plant boxes. The demo was greeted enthusiastically by the several hundred engineers in the audience, many of whom hoped to land a job with Tesla.

This means a future of abundance, Musk proclaimed from the stage. A future where there is no poverty. ... It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.

We still dont have a learning paradigm that allows machines to learn how the world works, like human and many non-human babies do.

AI researcher Yann LeCun

Robotics experts watching remotely were less impressed. Not mind-blowing was the sober judgment of Christian Hubicki of Florida State University.

Some AI experts were even less charitable. The event was quite the dud, Ben Shneiderman of the University of Maryland told me. Among other shortcomings, Musk failed to articulate a coherent use case for the robot that is, what would it do?

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To Shneiderman and others in the AI field, the Tesla demo embodied some of the worst qualities of AI hype; its reduction to humanoid characters, its exorbitant promises, its promotion by self-interested entrepreneurs and its suggestion that AI systems or devices can function autonomously, without human guidance, to achieve results that outmatch human capacities.

When news articles uncritically repeat PR statements, overuse images of robots, attribute agency to AI tools, or downplay their limitations, they mislead and misinform readers about the potential and limitations of AI, Sayash Kapoor and Arvind Narayanan wrote in a checklist of AI reporting pitfalls posted online the very day of the Tesla demo.

When we talk about AI, Kapoor says, we tend to say things like AI is doing X artificial intelligence is grading your homework, for instance. We dont talk about any other technology this way we dont say, the truck is driving on the road or a telescope is looking at a star. Its illuminating to think about why we consider AI to be different from other tools. In reality, its just another tool for doing a task.

That is not how AI is commonly portrayed in the media or, indeed, in announcements by researchers and firms engaged in the field. There, the systems are described as having learned to read, to grade papers or to diagnose diseases at least as well as, or even better than, humans.

Kapoor believes that the reason some researchers may try to hide the human ingenuity behind their AI systems is that its easier to attract investors and publicity with claims of AI breakthroughs in the same way that dot-com was a marketing draw around the year 2000 or crypto is today.

What is typically left out of much AI reporting is that the machines successes apply in only limited cases, or that the evidence of their accomplishments is dubious. Some years ago, the education world was rocked by a study purporting to show that machine- and human-generated grades of a selection of student essays were similar.

The claim was challenged by researchers who questioned its methodology and results, but not before headlines appeared in national newspapers such as: Essay-Grading Software Offers Professors a Break. One of the studys leading critics, Les Perelman of MIT, subsequently built a system he dubbed the Basic Automatic B.S. Essay Language Generator, or Babel, with which he demonstrated that machine grading couldnt tell the difference between gibberish and cogent writing.

The emperor has no clothes, Perelman told the Chronicle of Higher Education at the time. OK, maybe in 200 years the emperor will get clothes. ... But right now, the emperor doesnt.

A more recent claim was that AI systems may be as effective as medical specialists at diagnosing disease, as a CNN article asserted in 2019. The diagnostic system in question, according to the article, employed algorithms, big data, and computing power to emulate human intelligence.

Those are buzzwords that promoted the false impression that the system actually did emulate human intelligence, Kapoor observed. Nor did the article make clear that the AI systems purported success was seen in only a very narrow range of diseases.

AI hype is not only a hazard to laypersons understanding of the field but poses the danger of undermining the field itself. One key to human-machine interaction is trust, but if people begin to see a field having overpromised and underdelivered, the route to public acceptance will only grow longer.

Oversimplification of achievements in artificial intelligence evokes scenarios familiar from science fiction: futurescapes in which machines take over the world, reducing humans to enslaved drones or leaving them with nothing to do but laze around.

A persistent fear is that AI-powered automation, supposedly cheaper and more efficient than humans, will put millions of people out of work. This concern was triggered in part by a 2013 Oxford University paper estimating that future computerization placed 47% of U.S. employment at risk.

Shneiderman rejected this forecast in his book Human Centered AI, published in January. Automation eliminates certain jobs, as it has ... from at least the time when Gutenbergs printing presses put scribes out of work, he wrote. However, automation usually lowers costs and increases quality.... The expanded production, broader distribution channels, and novel products lead to increased employment.

Technological innovations may render older occupations obsolete, according to a 2020 MIT report on the future of work, but also bring new occupations to life, generate demands for new forms of expertise, and create opportunities for rewarding work.

A common feature of AI hype is the drawing of a straight line from an existing accomplishment to a limitless future in which all the problems in the way of further advancement are magically solved, and therefore success in reaching human-level AI is just around the corner.

Yet we still dont have a learning paradigm that allows machines to learn how the world works, like human and many non-human babies do, Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and a professor of computer science at NYU, observed recently on Facebook. The solution is not just around the corner. We have a number of obstacles to clear, and we dont know how.

So how can readers and consumers avoid getting duped by AI hype?

Beware of the sleight of hand that asks readers to believe that something that takes the form of a human artifact is equivalent to that artifact, counsels Emily Bender, a computational linguistics expert at the University of Washington. That includes claims that AI systems have written nonfiction, composed software or produced sophisticated legal documents.

The system may have replicated those forms, but it doesnt have access to the multitude of facts needed for nonfiction or the specifications that make a software program work or a document legally valid.

Among the 18 pitfalls in AI reporting cited by Kapoor and Narayanan are the anthropomorphizing of AI tools through images of humanoid robots (including, sadly, the illustration accompanying this article) and descriptions that utilize human-like intellectual qualities such as learning or seeing these tend to be simulations of human behavior, far from the real thing.

Readers should beware of phrases such as the magic of AI or references to superhuman qualities, which implies that an AI tool is doing something remarkable, they write. It hides how mundane the tasks are.

Shneiderman advises reporters and editors to take care to clarify human initiative and control. ... Instead of suggesting that computers take actions on their own initiative, clarify that humans program the computers to take these actions.

Its also important to be aware of the source of any exaggerated claims for AI. When an article only or primarily has quotes from company spokespeople or researchers who built an AI tool, Kapoor and Narayanan advise, it is likely to be over-optimistic about the potential benefits of the tool.

The best defense is healthy skepticism. Artificial intelligence has progressed over recent decades, but it is still in its infancy, and claims for its applications in the modern world, much less into the future, are inescapably incomplete.

To put it another way, no one knows where AI is heading. Its theoretically possible that, as Musk claimed, humanoid robots may eventually bring about a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it. But no one really knows when or if that utopia will arrive. Until then, the road will be pockmarked by hype.

As Bender advised readers of an especially breathless article about a supposed AI advance: Resist the urge to be impressed.

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BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MASSACHUSETTS USES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SPEED REVIEW TIME, AUTOMATE AUTHORIZATIONS & ELIMINATE ADMINISTRATIVE…

Review time shortened from an average of nine days to less than one day

BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts("Blue Cross") today announced the completion of a proof-of-concept pilot called "FastPass," an automated prior authorization process from end-to-end, eliminating the need for faxes, phone calls and manual processes for payers and providers. The initiative, piloted at New England Baptist Hospital (NEBH), focused on addressing the major problem areas, including reducing the time from submission to decision, alleviating administrative burden, decreasing clinical review time, and increasing clinician satisfaction.

The ProblemPrior Authorization (also known as "Pre-Certification") is a process through which a clinician seeks advanced approval from a health plan to ensure that a service or treatment is covered, medically necessary, and not duplicated. Prior authorizations exist to manage excess health care costs and mitigate patient risk while also helping ensure consumers receive high-quality care. However, prior authorization can be cumbersome for clinicians.

"We realize that the prior authorization process is widely recognized as the single biggest administrative pain point for hospital staff," said Kathy Gardner, RN, vice president of clinical operations at Blue Cross. "We wanted to figure out a way to retain the value of prior authorizations ensuring our members receive treatments that are medically necessary and clinically effective while eliminating the administrative burden on our clinical partners and allowing members to get the care they need sooner."

How it worksBlue Cross engaged Olive, a leading automation and intelligence company bridging the divide in health care, to help streamline both clinician and payer processes and prior authorization decision-making using artificial intelligence (AI).

The technology automated the process of cross-checking Blue Cross' prior authorization requirements in real-time to identify if a prior authorization was required. If a prior authorization was not required, the provider received instant notification that they could proceed with scheduling the procedure. When prior authorizations were required, FastPass used AI to cross-check the clinical history in the electronic medical record against Blue Cross' medical necessity criteria and automatically generate a recommendation in real time, again giving the clinician the ability to proceed with scheduling the procedure. For the remaining prior authorization submissions that required more complex clinical review, FastPass automatically packaged and made available all the clinical documentation and notes to the clinical review team, significantly streamlining and accelerating the reviews.

The ResultsThe pilot at NEBH focused on hip and knee procedures for 32 orthopedic providers over the course of a four-month period. 88% of prior authorization submissions were processed automatically in real-time. The overall impact on prior authorization approval time went from an average of nine days to an average of less than one day. The associated impact on administrative burden and cost has been significant for Blue Cross.

"The FastPass proof-of-concept is just one step in our journey toward automating prior authorizations across BCBSMA to continue to make the process frictionless for our clinical partners and ultimately our members," said Deb Vona, senior director of business operations at Blue Cross.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMassachusettsBlue Cross Blue Shield ofMassachusetts(http://www.bluecrossma.org) is a community-focused, tax-paying, not-for-profit health plan headquartered inBoston. We are committed to the relentless pursuit of quality, affordable and equitable health carewithan unparalleled consumer experience.Consistent with our promise to always put our members first, we are rated among the nation's best health plans for member satisfaction and quality.Connect with us onFacebook,Twitter,YouTube,andLinkedIn.

About OliveOlive delivers automation and intelligence to bridge the divide in healthcare. By addressing the most burdensome operational issues, Olive is reducing costs and increasing capacity for hospitals, health systems and payers, so the focus can remain on delivering the best, most effective care to patients. To learn more about Olive, visit oliveai.com.

SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

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Iterative Scopes Partners with One GI to Advance Gastrointestinal Care Through Artificial Intelligence – Business Wire

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Iterative Scopes, a pioneer in precision-medicine technologies for gastroenterology, announced today that it has partnered with One GI, a gastroenterology management services organization (MSO), to bring its AI Recruitment (AIR) technology to One GIs clinical research. Initially, One GI will use AIR at Gastro One, one of One GIs clinical research sites in Memphis, Tennessee, with plans to expand to additional research sites within the One GI network. The implementation of AIR will aid in the recruitment of patients for clinical trials focused on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Both One GI and Iterative Scopes are fast-growing innovators in the gastroenterology space. One GI is a unique, rapidly expanding MSO that brings together community-based practices, including Gastro One, a network of six practices across Tennessee. The MSO currently has 40 sites within its network across Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Iterative Scopes is a pioneer in the application of powerful, proprietary artificial intelligence tools to the practice of gastroenterology and drug development.

The partnership between the two organizations will allow One GI physicians to leverage the AI-based technology from Iterative Scopes to standardize the endoscopic scoring process for patients and identify likely eligible patients to enroll in IBD clinical trials. By initiating the collaboration at Gastro One, the organizations are taking initial steps to develop a hub and spoke recruitment model for One GI, which will democratize access to the novel IBD therapeutics for all patients, regardless of where they receive care.

Our partnership with Iterative Scopes enables the delivery of innovative technology to community-based gastroenterology practices, demonstrating One GIs commitment to physician-centered, patient-focused healthcare, said Robbie Allen, CEO of One GI. Our ultimate mission is to power practices regardless of their location to deliver world class GI care, and implementing AIR will allow a broader array of patients to access potentially life-changing clinical trials.

In addition to helping us offer the most advanced patient care, this partnership fuels the continuous growth of our research department so that we remain at the forefront of GI care, improving outcomes and patients lives, said Richard Aycock, MD, Gastro One senior physician. Dr. Ziad Younes, a global leader in gastroenterology, is pioneering the program within our practices, and were enthusiastic about the potential to help advance the GI field even further.

AIR works to simplify the process of matching patients to clinical trials by helping gastroenterologists better understand disease severity more quickly and consistently. The technology uses computational algorithms integrated with existing colonoscopy imagery and videos to determine clinical trial eligibility, speeding up the clinical trial timelines and allowing more patients to access potentially life-changing treatments. The companys technology automates scoring of a patients minimum threshold score of disease severity, as measured by the Mayo Endoscopic Score (MES), as an aid in determining their qualification for pre-screening for IBD clinical trials. Iterative Scopes has already partnered with multiple clinical research sites for IBD and is continuing to expand its reach with notable partners like One GI.

Iterative Scopes mission is to democratize access to high quality care for patients struggling with IBD and other GI conditions, ultimately reducing healthcare disparities in clinical practice, said Sahir Raoof, VP of Business Development at Iterative Scopes. We are thrilled to be partnering with Dr. Younes and One GI to drive clinical adoption of artificial intelligence to help us advance clinical trial recruitment in an effort to help bring novel therapeutics to IBD patients faster.

To learn more about Iterative Scopes and AI-Recruitment, visit the companys website: https://www.iterativescopes.com/

About Iterative ScopesIterative Scopes is a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence-based precision medicine for gastroenterology with the aim of helping to optimize clinical trials investigating treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The technology is also designed to potentially enhance colorectal cancer screenings. Its powerful, proprietary artificial intelligence and computer vision technologies have the potential to improve the accuracy and consistency of endoscopy readings. Iterative Scopes is initially applying these advances to impact polyp detection for colorectal cancer screenings and working to standardize disease severity characterization for inflammatory bowel disease. Longer term, the company plans to establish more meaningful endpoints for GI diseases, which may be better predictors of therapeutic response and disease outcomes. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About One GIOne GI, the Home for Independent Gastroenterology, is a gastroenterology management services organization that partners with GI physicians empowering them to manage, optimize, and grow their practices. One GI provides state of the art resources to physicians so they can focus on what they do best: providing excellent care to patients. For additional information on One GI, please visit http://www.onegi.com.

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Reducing Carbon Emissions With AI And Smart Building Technology – Spiceworks News and Insights

In this article, John Bohlmann, founder and CEO, HawkenQA, dives into smart building technology, how it works, and how AI has empowered the tech to go mainstream while cutting costs, automating operations, and creating a healthy environment that impacts carbon emissions.

When most people think about carbon emissions, they think about rush hour traffic jams and industrial activities. Many experts urge people to look closer to home when considering how to make a greener world. However, few imagine that the building where they live or work is what experts are referring to.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) explains that buildings are responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, using 40% of global energy, and the sector is the largest contributor to carbon emissions.

But how can buildings have such an impact on the global climate? The answer is simple: operation and construction. In operation, emissions can be constant. These are driven by electricity use, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and equipment. Buildings also have an embodied carbon, which refers to the carbon footprint generated during construction. This carbon factor includes everything from running the construction equipment to the carbon emissions generated through the supply chain, for example, when sourcing steel and concrete.

See More: Avoid Flightmares with AI-enabled Virtual Agents

Despite these severe impacts, buildings have one of the most significant potentials for green transformation. Today, data-driven technology empowered by machine learning models or artificial intelligence (AI) creates smart buildings where the software automatically integrates with the buildings components. HVAC, air quality, temperature, energy use, occupancy, downtime hours, ventilation, and many other factors can be continually monitored with sensors paired with monitoring technology and can make automated decisions to optimize performance.

Installing smart building platforms was challenging for years because every building is different. Technology has tackled this problem using AI, which can reduce the time and cost of installation. AI-based building solutions are a big step in the right direction toward reducing carbon emissions, not only in the U.S. but globally. Today, smart building platforms are more advanced, more affordable, easier to install, and easier to use than ever.

Reducing the carbon emissions of a building doesnt mean turning off the lights. It means optimizing resources like airflow, electricity, and water or installing solar panels. Indoor air quality technology is essential to a low carbon footprint due to the significant energy consumption that HVAC systems have. Indoor air monitoring technology uses AI to intelligently control the HVAC-energy balance without compromising the comfort and health of the people inside a building.

AI learns the habits of the occupants of a building and can predict when to increase, stabilize, or decrease the usage of heating and air conditioning systems. Additionally, these new systems can be space-specific, only applying changes in the rooms or common areas needed. The same AI can optimize air quality in the building by revealing and acting on sources of indoor air pollution like CO2, humidity, or high particulate matter.

AI can also improve operations and maintenance. When smart building systems are integrated with smart devices or the IoT, the AI will detect any abnormality in a device. For example, if a heating device malfunctions, it will use less or more energy and affect the temperature of the room. Therefore, the AI can identify if a device is having a problem, make adjustments, and notify management. Smart AI systems can also manage scheduled HVAC filter changes or other maintenance and review and approve work orders.

The automation processes not only eliminate human error from the equation but also save building owners a significant amount of labor, energy spending, and work costs that were previously done manually.

New trends in reducing carbon emissions in the building construction sector include using alternative green materials or sourcing materials from low-carbon producers. Additionally, architects and engineers are integrating solar, wind, and alternative renewable energy sources into construction to maximize the buildings operations and reduce their impact on the grid.

On the other hand, during construction, its essential to maximize natural resources through innovative ventilation mechanisms and manage temperature by using windows to keep the sunlight in during cold seasons and keep it out during summertime.

Decision makers should be following new developments closely in smart buildings due to the many benefits they provide. Smart buildings can bring down carbon emissions, improve performance, build a good reputation, and reduce liability.

Next-generation smart building platforms also enable radically better financial outcomes for real estate managers. Green buildings rents and sale prices are higher, and vacancy rates are significantly lower. On the other hand, smart-AI technology can have direct economic savings. Typically businesses pay $1 per square foot per month on energy, $10/sqft/month on office rent, and $100/sqft/month on employee salaries.

But leaders investing in smart-AI building tech are flipping this economic equation for buildings while adding significant wellness and health value and creating better green workplaces.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, smart building technology can reduce energy by more than 60% in residential buildings and up to 59% in commercial buildings. Additionally, investing in AI smart building technology that provides good indoor air quality standards has proven to improve employee productivity and cognitive function in office buildings by more than 10%.

See More: From raw data to ML models: The magic behind AI-powered feature engineering

Deloitte Insights, an international professional services network, explains that smart buildings marry physical assets with the digital fabric that connects spaces. The organization explains that leaders shouldnt spend money on smart building technology without having a clear strategy. Before installing smart building technology, decision-makers should draft a solid business case outlining the benefits and savings, goals, revisions, and milestones.

Additionally, smart building technology should factor in technical needs (energy savings) and consider human elements such as wellness, comfort, health, and performance. AI is undoubtedly an innovation disruption, and data is the raw material that drives it. However, data governance and data management are essential. Buildings should never collect data without identifying what it will be used for. Finally, choosing a flexible technology that will allow users to install updates and keep up with modern trends is essential.

Have you seen smart building solutions in action lately? Tell us about it on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Wed love to know!

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Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence Advances the UAE’s National Strategy for AI with New Supercomputer Built by Hewlett Packard…

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) today announced it is building a new supercomputer for Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), a university dedicated solely to AI, to accelerate AI-driven scientific discovery and advance the UAEs goal to be a global AI leader. HPEs robust supercomputing and AI technologies will significantly enhance the universitys ability to run complex AI models with extremely large data sets, and increase predictability in research analyses in fields including energy, transportation and the environment.

Supercomputing is vital to delivering AI-at-scale, and driving global innovation, industry competitiveness, and economic growth. From accelerating vaccine discovery to fight a pandemic, and advancing clean energy systems to increase sustainability, to enabling new possibilities in AI, supercomputing is a core technology to solving the worlds most challenging scientific and engineering challenges.

Established in 2019, MBZUAI has already ranked 24th in the world for artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. The new supercomputer will help MBZUAI support the UAEs National Strategy for AI, bringing together the power of academia, government, and industry to strengthen the countrys global competitiveness. The advanced supercomputing and AI technologies will also expand resources for larger projects to allow MBZUAI to attract global talent and create new economic and societal opportunities for the UAE.

MBZUAIs new Campus Super Computing Center (CSCC), where the new supercomputer will be housed, will enable faculty members, researchers, and students to accelerate scientific discovery in many areas, including healthcare, structural engineering, law enforcement, supply chain, and sustainability. In addition to meeting the research needs of the faculty and students, the new supercomputer will help MBZUAI fulfill its role as an AI talent developer and innovation hub that brings together the business community to drive entrepreneurship in the AI sector. MBZUAI already is contributing to significant initiatives such as the Emirati Genome Program, which uses AI-based tools to extract and interpret large amounts of complex data resulting from DNA sequencing, and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, SEHA, which uses AI algorithms to predict heart attacks.

Supercomputing plays an essential role in unleashing AI to achieve significant breakthroughs for organizations worldwide, across public and private sectors, said Justin Hotard, executive vice president and general manager, HPC, AI & Labs, at HPE. HPE is leading the market in this next frontier by combining supercomputing performance and capabilities with solutions that are purpose-built for AI, to build and train machine learning models at-scale. MBZUAIs Campus Super Computing Center is demonstrating this capability to unlock new possibilities in AI and strengthen UAEs position as an AI-driven nation to advance key initiatives in healthcare, sustainability, and engineering.

HPE has a longstanding commitment to advancing the way people live and work in the United Arab Emirates, through our Emiratization program, Digital Life Garage, and industry and government partnerships, said Ahmad Alkhallafi, managing director for UAE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We are proud to support the UAEs national strategy for AI by helping MBZUAI grow its contribution to research and education. Supercomputing will play a crucial role in helping the UAE anticipate and take advantage of new AI technologies now and in the future. We look forward to helping the UAE meet its goal to be an AI leader by 2031.

As a recently established institution, MBZUAI is still building its team of in-house supercomputing specialists. By collaborating with HPE, the university is gaining access to a large local team for supercomputing and AI support, in addition to world-leading technologies.

The new supercomputer will deliver end-to-end technologies, based on the HPE Apollo 6500 Gen10 Plus, which is purpose-built for AI and analytics workloads, in addition to modeling and simulation workloads that are critical to scientific research. As part of the design, HPE will feature 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors delivering advanced computational performance, and 384 NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs for accelerated compute to target AI model development, training, and inferencing.

To support AI training needs that require processing and storing large quantities of data, HPE will also deliver four petabytes of storage using HPEs Cray Clusterstor E1000 parallel storage system, which is built for large-scale systems, to enable expanded storage capacity. Additionally, with the new supercomputers design, MBZUAI will gain sophisticated liquid-cooling capabilities from HPE to efficiently remove heat from high-power devices, including CPUs, GPUs, memory, and switches.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions as a service. With offerings spanning Cloud Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & AI, Intelligent Edge, Software, and Storage, HPE provides a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, helping customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance. For more information, visit: http://www.hpe.com.

About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI)

MBZUAI is a graduate, research university focused on artificial intelligence, computer science, and digital technologies across industrial sectors. The university aims to empower students, businesses, and governments to advance artificial intelligence as a global force for positive progress. MBZUAI offers various graduate programs designed to pursue advanced, specialized knowledge and skills in artificial intelligence, including computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. For more information, please visit http://www.mbzuai.ac.ae.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, EPYC, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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