[continued from previous message]
has faced growing pressure to resign over the botched February roll out of a new bar exam, will step down in July.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-02/california-state-bar-leader-to-step-down-after-exam-fiasco
(This is an update on the ongoing story of using AI to generate bar exam
questions.)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 May 2025 09:58:04 -0700
From: Lauren Weinstein <
lauren@vortex.com>
Subject: Open-Source projects are being inundated with AI-garbage "bug"
reports -- here's one example.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/open-source-project-curl-is-sick-of-users-submitting-ai-slop-vulnerabilities/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 12:42:45 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <
geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: A Staggering Number of Gen Z Think AI Is Already Conscious
*Do they... know something we don't?*
Generation Z, or the cohort of people born between 1997 and 2012, has a
very weird relationship with artificial intelligence.
In the latest sign of just how strange things are getting, a new study by
the paper-writing service EduBirdie found, upon asking 2,000 Gen Z-ers a battery of questions about AI, that a quarter believe the technology is "already conscious."
What's more, 52 percent -- or more than half of the respondents -- think AI
is not yet conscious but will become so in the years to come. Plus a
whopping 58 percent of the Zoomers surveyed said they think the technology
will "take over" the world, and 44 percent said they believe that takeover could happen within the next 20 years.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 12:35:13 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <
geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: After an Arizona man was shot, an AI video of him addresses his
killer in court (NPR)
For two years, Stacey Wales kept a running list of everything she would say
at the sentencing hearing for the man who killed her brother in a road rage incident in Chandler, Ariz.
But when she finally sat down to write her statement, Wales was stuck. She struggled to find the right words, but one voice was clear: her brother's.
"I couldn't help hear his voice in my head of what he would say," Wales
told NPR.
That's when the idea came to her: to use artificial intelligence to
generate a video of how her late brother, Christopher Pelkey, would address
the courtroom and specifically the man who fatally shot him at a red light
in 2021.
On Thursday, Wales stood before the court and played the video -- in what AI experts say is likely the first time the technology has been used in the
U.S. to create an impact statement read by an AI rendering of the deceased victim... [...]
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-6464/ai-impact-statement-murder-victim
[Also noted by Matthew Kruk. PGN]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 07:13:52 -0700
From: Steve Bacher <
sebmb1@verizon.net>
Subject: Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again (WiReD)
Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or high—no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its senses.
https://www.wired.com/story/why-car-brands-are-finally-switching-back-to-buttons/
(Another rare piece of good news reducing risks.)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2025 17:03:38 PDT
From: Peter Neumann <
neumann@csl.sri.com>
Subject: AT&T ending text to e-mail gateway
https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1061254/
What to know
On June 17, 2025, our email-to-text and text-to-email service is
going away. This means you wont be able to use email to send or
receive texts. Also, others who have AT&T WirelessSM wont be able
to use email to send you a text or use text to send you an email.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <
technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Apple, Meta Fined for Breach of EU Law (Reuters)
Foo Yun Chee and Jan Strupczewski, Reuters (04/23/25). via ACM TechNews
The European Commission on Wednesday fined Apple 500 million euros (US$568 million) and fined Meta 200 million euros (US$227 million) in its first sanctions under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EC said Apple must remove restrictions that prevent app developers from steering users to cheaper
deals outside the App Store, and that Meta's binary pay-or-consent model breached the DMA.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <
technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Draft Executive Order Outlines Plan to Integrate AI into K-12 Schools
(Frances Vinall)
The Washington Post (04/22/25) Frances Vinall
A draft circulated by the White House to several federal agencies on Monday suggests U.S. President Trump is considering an executive order that would create a policy integrating AI into K-12 schools. Under the draft executive order, federal agencies would be instructed to take steps to train students
in using AI and to incorporate it into teaching-related tasks. The agencies would also be asked to partner with the private sector to develop relevant programs in schools.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <
technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: U.S. Asks Judge to Break Up Google (David McCabe)
David McCabe, The New York Times (04/21/25)
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday said the best way to address
Google's monopoly in Internet search was to force it to sell its Chrome Web browser. Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for D.C. ruled in August that Google had broken antitrust laws to maintain its dominance in online search. He is now hearing arguments from the government and the
company over how to best fix Google's monopoly and is expected to order "remedies" by the end of the summer.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <
technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: North Koreans Use Real-time Deepfakes to Secure Remote Jobs
(Cyber Security News)
Tushar Subhra Dutta, Cyber Security News (04/21/25)
Researchers at Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 found North Korean threat actors
are shifting from the use of static fake profiles and stolen credentials to real-time deepfake technology to secure remote IT jobs at companies across
the globe. The technology could enable a single threat actor to interview
for the same position several times through the use of multiple synthetic personas.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <
technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Italian Newspaper Gives Free Rein to AI (Crispian Balmer)
Crispian Balmer, Reuters (04/18/25), via ACM TechNews
Claudio Cerasa, editor of Italian newspaper Il Foglio, said a four-page
daily insert written entirely by mAI and sold with the normal newspaper over
a one-month span led to increased sales, prompting it to publish a separate weekly section written by AI. Cerasa said AI would not replace journalists
in his newsroom and praised the AI program's sense of irony and ability to produce insightful book reviews within minutes, but added that the program lacked critical thinking and occasionally generated content with factual errors.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2025 11:56:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <
technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: FBI Says Cybercrime Costs Surpassed $16 Billion in 2024
(Raphael Satter)
Raphael Satter, Reuters (04/23/25), via ACM TechNews
The Internet Crime Complaint Center of the U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) said global cybercrime costs topped $16 billion in 2024,
up a third from the prior year. Low-tech, tech support, and romance scams accounted for much of the losses, according to an FBI report based on almost 860,000 complaints, most from the U.S. The FBI noted that its calculations
were incomplete, especially regarding ransomware.
[Just a thought: Would better hardware and software that are more
trustworthy help reduce the cost? Probably, but nothing is ever perfect,
and even wonderful security is easily misused. PGN]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 May 2025 15:20:08 -0700
From: Victor Miller <
victorsmiller@gmail.com>
Subject: Ransomware site gets hacked
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/james-o-grady_one-of-the-most-notorious-and-sophisticated-activity-7326109077397225472-OukT?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAAADHYOoBr9Q9zY2nReul35WI_rVdMGowBNY&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=copy_link
------------------------------
Date: 8 May 2025
From: geoff goodfellow's cell phone
Subject: Colorado postal worker pleads guilty to rigging 2024 presidential election
(Jim H, The Gateway Pundit)
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/colorado-postal-worker-pleads-guilty-rigging-2024-presidential/
59-year-old Sally Jane Maxedon and 64-year-old Vicki Lyn Stuart
were arrested on 6 Nov 2024, accused of stealing Mesa County Ballots.
A former U.S. Postal Service employee from Mesa County, Colorado, has
admitted to stealing and fraudulently casting mail-in ballots during the
2024 presidential election. Vicki Stuart, 64, entered a guilty plea on 5
May 2025 to charges of identity theft and forgery.
The charges stem from a scheme in which Stuart, along with her associate,
Sally Jane Maxedon, intercepted mail-in ballots intended for voters, forged signatures, and submitted them as legitimate votes.
The duo claimed their actions were intended to test the state’s signature verification system.
[Geoff also sent another item in the same text:]
Patty McMurray: SEVEN DETROIT RESIDENTS and a Pastor Appear Before MI
House Election Integrity Committee to Reveal Shocking First-hand
Testimonhy about Massive Election Stealing Scheme (video) [256 comments]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 2025 20:44:19 -0700
From: "Jim" <
jgeissman@socal.rr.com>
Subject: New Zealand's prime minister proposes social media ban for under-16s
(The Guardian)
The draft bill is modeled on Australian laws and would force digital
platforms to verify the age of users or face heavy fines
New Zealand's prime minister has proposed banning children under 16 years
old from using social media, in an effort to protect young people from harms account, or face fines of up to NZ$2m ($1.2m).
While good things could come from social media, it was not always a safe
place for young people and the onus was on tech companies to be socially responsible, Luxon said.
"This is about protecting our children. It's about making sure social media companies are playing their role in keeping our kids safe," Luxon said.
Teachers and parents had raised issues with him including cyberbullying, exposure to violent and inappropriate content, exploitation and social media addiction.
"Parents are constantly telling us that they are really worried about the impact that social media is having on their children," Luxon said. "And they say they are really struggling to manage access to social media."
The author of the bill, National MP Catherine Wedd, said there are no
legally enforceable age verification measures for social media platforms in
New Zealand and her bill would better support families to have oversight of their children's online use.
The Guardian 5 May 2025
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 12:42:45 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <
geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: A Staggering Number of Gen Z Think AI Is Already Conscious
*Do they... know something we don't?*
Generation Z, or the cohort of people born between 1997 and 2012, has a
very weird relationship with artificial intelligence.
p
In the latest sign of just how strange things are getting, a new study by
the paper-writing service EduBirdie found, upon asking 2,000 Gen Z-ers a battery of questions about AI, that a quarter believe the technology is "already conscious."
What's more, 52 percent -- or more than half of the respondents -- think AI
is not yet conscious but will become so in the years to come. Plus a
whopping 58 percent of the Zoomers surveyed said they think the technology
will "take over" the world, and 44 percent said they believe that takeover could happen within the next 20 years.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 12:35:13 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <
geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: After an Arizona man was shot, an AI video of him addresses his
killer in court (NPR)
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64640/ai-impact-statement-murder-victim
For two years, Stacey Wales kept a running list of everything she would say
at the sentencing hearing for the man who killed her brother in a road rage incident in Chandler, Ariz.
But when she finally sat down to write her statement, Wales was stuck. She struggled to find the right words, but one voice was clear: her brother's.
"I couldn't help hear his voice in my head of what he would say," Wales
told NPR.
That's when the idea came to her: to use artificial intelligence to
generate a video of how her late brother, Christopher Pelkey, would address
the courtroom and specifically the man who fatally shot him at a red light
in 2021.
On Thursday, Wales stood before the court and played the video -- in what AI experts say is likely the first time the technology has been used in the
U.S. to create an impact statement read by an AI rendering of the deceased victim. [...]
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64640/ai-impact-statement-murder-victim
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 May 2025 21:36:36 -0600
From: Matthew Kruk <
mkrukg@gmail.com>
Subject: School boards hit with ransom demands linked to PowerSchool cyberattack
Canada's largest school board and others across North America have received ransom demands connected to the massive PowerSchool cybersecurity breach
that hit during the winter break -- this after the company paid hackers a ransom to delete the stolen data.
Despite assurances that the data was deleted, it turns out that's not the
case, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) said Wednesday.
The board said in an email to families on Wednesday it had received a
ransom demand "from a threat actor" using data from the December 2024
breach.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 2025 13:39:15 -0400
From: Jan Wolitzky <
jan.wolitzky@gmail.com>
Subject: UnitedHealth's Move to End Cyberattack Loan Lifeline Upsets Medical
Providers (The New York Times)
The company lent roughly $9 billion to practices affected by a vast
cyberattack on its payment systems last year. Medical practices are now
suing the health care colossus, saying it is pressuring them to repay funds.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/health/unitedhealth-cyberattack-loans-lawsuits.html
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 May 2025 15:20:08 -0700
From: Victor Miller <
victorsmiller@gmail.com>
Subject: Ransomware site gets hacked
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/james-o-grady_one-of-the-most-notorious-and-sophisticated-activity-7326109077397225472-OukT?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAAADHYOoBr9Q9zY2nReul35WI_rVdMGowBNY&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=copy_link
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 12:45:48 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <
geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: Anthropic CEO Admits We Have No Idea How AI Works (Futurism)
The CEO of one of the world's leading artificial intelligence labs just
said the quiet part out loud: that nobody really knows how AI works.
In an essay published to his personal website, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced plans to create a robust "MRI on AI" within the next decade. The
goal is not only to figure out what makes the technology tick, but also to
head off any unforeseen dangers associated with what he says remains its currently enigmatic nature.
"When a generative AI system does something, like summarize a financial document, we have no idea, at a specific or precise level, why it makes the choices it does -- why it chooses certain words over others, or why it occasionally makes a mistake despite usually being accurate," the Anthropic
CEO admitted.
On its face, it's surprising to folks outside of AI world to learn that the people building these ever-advancing technologies "do not understand how our own AI creations work," he continued -- and anyone alarmed by that ignorance
is "right to be concerned."
But on another level, maybe it isn't; all the image and text generators that have exploded in popularity over the last few years work under the same principle of feeding in a gigantic pile of data and letting statistical
systems mine it for patterns that can be reproduced. The whole thing is
driven by ingested human creative works, not from first principles of
machine intelligence.
"This lack of understanding," Amodei wrote, "is essentially unprecedented in the history of technology." In Amodei's telling, that ignorance about how
AI works and what unforeseen risks it may pose is a driving factor behind Anthropic.
In late 2020, the CEO and his sister Daniela left OpenAI amid concerns about the Sam Altman-run company's safety practices and in particular, that it was casting aside those concerns in pursuit of profit. The Amoideis and five
other ex-OpenAI-ers founded Anthropic the next year to work on building
safer AI -- and part of that work seems to have been focused on figuring
out the technology's nuts and bolts. [...]
https://futurism.com/anthropic-ceo-admits-ai-ignorance
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 May 2025 21:00:31 -0700
From: Lauren Weinstein <
lauren@vortex.com>
Subject: Next time you're loading nuclear weapons ... (YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj4tEj5aV7c
Next time you're loading nuclear weapons ...
If I've told you guys once I've told you a hundred times! When you're
going to load nuclear weapons onto planes, PLEASE follow the official
procedures and not some idiotic hallucinatory instructions from Google
Gemini AI or other generative AI systems. C'mon, this is just common
sense! -L
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 May 2025 08:02:38 -0700
From: Steve Bacher <
sebmb1@verizon.net>
Subject: Voice clones pose an 'existential crisis' for actors: 'It's a
violation of our humanity' (LA Times)
Nearly a dozen voice actors interviewed ... said voice replication
technology is reducing paid job opportunities and stripping them of their agency. Many found their voices cloned without their consent, knowledge or compensation.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-03-24/ai-voice-clones-replication-voice-actors-job-loss-siri-tiktok
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2025 19:36:24 -0700
From: Steve Bacher <
sebmb1@verizon.net>
Subject: Van freed after being trapped in car park for more than two years
(BBC)
It is thought up to 40 vehicles were left trapped in a car park stack since December 2022.
A family business has regained its van after it was trapped in a central
London car park for nearly two and a half years.
Steve Davies and Mark Lucas collected the vehicle from Rathbone Square's mechanical stacking car park on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Davies said he was glad to finally have the van back but HCS Furniture's "coffers are now fairly low" after spending close to £50,000 on renting,
then buying, a new van.
Rathbone Square's management, CBRE, declined to comment - but the BBC has
seen an email that confirmed other trapped vehicles will be released over
the next month.
One resident in the Rathbone Square development told BBC London up to 40 vehicles were trapped in the stack -- but CBRE did not respond when asked to confirm.
A stacked car park is a system in which cars are parked on top of each other using mechanical platforms and lifts to make the most of the available
space.
Mr Davies and Mr Lucas had been concerned the battery of their electric van would not work, but Mr Lucas said: "It fired up and it had enough juice to drive itself out of the bay - which we're very pleased about as it could've been quite awkward otherwise."
Mr Davies said the van will be taken for servicing and assessment of any damage. [...]
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20z46p0p6jo
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2023 11:11:11 -0800
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RISKS-request@csl.sri.com
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