In The News

Scout: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine

Berit Anderson and Brett Horvath April 5, 2017
Stories are always at risk for manipulation, but technology can now analyze and recruit individuals to unwittingly promote specific, even false, ideas. Berit Anderson and Brett Horvath, writing for Scout, argue the challenge is larger than fake news. Big data analysis, surveillance, AI, programmed bots, Facebook posts, sophisticated behavior assessments, computational psychology and fake news...

SmartCompany: Human Error Causes Amazon Web Services Outage, How to Protect Cloud Systems

Dominic Powell March 5, 2017
Businesses and others rely on cloud computing and experts to save money and time, but also they relinquish control over how their data is handled. And data and software stored with off-site servers are crucial infrastructure for many. “An outage of Amazon Web Services… that led to disruptions for huge numbers of cloud-based businesses and websites was caused a technician inputting an incorrect...

Algorithms Are Making US Small-Minded

Sydney Finkelstein January 3, 2017
Computer programs tackle requests and problems with sets of rules and algorithms provided by humans, but the goal to please audiences may limit creativity and lead to bland predictability. “The ubiquity of incredibly powerful algorithms designed to reinforce our interests also ensures that we see little of what’s new, different and unfamiliar,” writes Sydney Finkelstein for BBC News. “The very...

Airbnb Cracks Down on Rentals in London, Amsterdam

Jasmine Enberg December 19, 2016
In an effort to appease regulators across Europe, Airbnb has implemented stringent rules for English and Dutch hosts on its home-sharing platform. These include limits on the number of days per year that one can rent out a property. With two of its top three most in-demand locations in Europe, Airbnb is trying to preempt regulations that may damage its bottom line. Germany and Spain are already...

Forget Fake News – The Real Filter Bubble Is You

Will Self November 29, 2016
Banning false news on popular social media sites amounts to censorship. Will Self, writing for New Statesman, questions any manipulation of news on such sites – curating news for positive or negative stories, writing algorithms that match stories to readers or selecting specific articles for trending news. “Back in the days when everyone read the print edition of the New York Times this sort of...

The Age of Pain

William Davies November 15, 2016
Populism arises out of grievances. “At what point do we attribute denunciations to the state of the world, and at what point to the state of the individual making them?” writes William Davies for New Statesman, adding that “the line separating ‘public politics’ from ‘private distress’ is culturally constructed, and not always very clear, even as we seek to police it.” Populist movements offer...

British Icons Cash in on China's Day of Sales Madness

November 14, 2016
The world’s largest online shopping day got off to a strong start in China this November 11, a date with digits that symbolize being single. In a variation on Valentine’s Day, single Chinese shoppers buy themselves gifts. “The ‘anti-Valentine’s Day’ celebration was first known as Bachelors’ Day,” reports People’s Daily Online. “After the initial joke gift- buying day in 1993 at China’s Nanjing...