Displaying items by tag: AI

Federal prosecutors are increasing efforts to target suspects who use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to create or manipulate child sex abuse images, fearing that the technology could lead to a surge in illegal content. The Justice Department has initiated two criminal cases against individuals accused of such crimes. A department official has voiced concerns over the potential normalisation of such images, as AI makes it easier to create and distribute them. Prosecutors worry that AI-generated content will complicate the identification of real victims and make the task of law enforcement more difficult. These cases are likely to break new legal ground, especially when real children are not depicted. Convictions may face appeals as courts navigate the evolving legal landscape around AI and child exploitation.

The UK government has announced a £32 million investment in nearly 100 AI projects nationwide, despite the new Labour government's controversial decision to cancel £1.3 billion in tech funding previously promised by the Conservatives. This funding supports 98 projects, enhancing construction safety and prescription delivery efficiency, benefiting over 200 businesses and research organisations across the UK. Rick McConnell, CEO of Dynatrace, praised the investment, emphasising its potential to drive immediate value and attract private sector confidence in AI. However, the Labour government's decision to scrap major projects like the £800 million exascale supercomputer and £500 million for AI Research Resource has raised concerns about the UK's commitment to tech innovation. Minister for digital government and AI, Feryal Clark, reiterated the importance of AI for economic growth and public service improvement.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, uses the Bible to train its artificial intelligence (AI) speech tool. The project includes recordings of Bible stories, evangelistic messages, Scripture, and songs in more than 6,255 languages and dialects. In a sense, the Bible is helping AI learn other languages. Wycliffe USA Bible Translators have been using machine-assisted drafting for two decades, changing and modifying it as time goes on. Using technology to accelerate Bible translation is a priority. AI is notably beneficial in sign language Bible translation. Less than 2% of the world’s deaf population can access the Gospel in a known sign language, but that is about to change for deaf people in sensitive countries. Putting a deaf believer on camera is too risky in some countries. That’s where the Chameleon avatar project comes in. AI is not perfect yet, but the problems are being corrected to make the avatar smoother and more accurate.

This year’s London Tech Week focused on the need for artificial intelligence (AI) to be trustworthy and responsive to the needs of society. UK Research and Innovation has funded £50 million to create secure AI to help solve major challenges by bringing experts from different fields together. Professor Gregory O’Hare said, ‘AI offers profound opportunities, but could also be used for sinister means with financial or political implications, like boundary incursions and even wars. Will it always be used for good purpose, or is there a significant chance it will be used for Machiavellian purposes? AI is developing at a faster pace than laws can be drafted in response.’ The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said they should be involved at an early stage when addressing AI concerns as the EU AI Act is not suitable and is more than disappointing from workers’ point of view. It offers some comfort but ‘doesn’t go far enough’.

The UK competition watchdog has launched a review of the artificial intelligence market, as it warned of threats from AI tools including the distribution of false or misleading information. This announcement comes as global regulators increase scrutiny of the technology, look at the underlying systems, and foundation models behind AI tools such as ChatGPT. The US vice-president invited the CEOs of leading AI firms to the White House on 5 April to discuss how to deal with the safety concerns around the technology in a week when hundreds of millions of pounds were wiped from the share price of UK’s education company Pearson after a US provider of online help to students revised its financial forecasts and warned ChatGPT was affecting customer growth. Global companies like Google, Apple and Amazon may have to pay penalties of up to 10% of their turnover as the Government gives its competition watchdog more power.