Politics

Who decides on what's true, what's fair and what's allowed when AIs like ChatGPT start wielding weapons mightier than the sword?

AI and Humanoids

Mightier than the sword: OpenAI's impossible truth and bias dilemmas

If ChatGPT's writing style seems a bit too boring, dry and neutral to you – or indeed, too "woke" – that's no accident. But OpenAI doesn't want it to stay that way, leading to discussions about bias, free speech, and the meaning of objective truth.

Toyota's high-tech Woven City technology test bed beneath Mt. Fuji is one example of an initiative that uses hydrogen in all the wrong places

Energy

Report: Japan's "hydrogen society" policy is a "complete failure"

In 2017, Japan created a pioneering national hydrogen strategy, envisaging a carbon-neutral "hydrogen society." But a Renewable Energy Institute report slams the policy as catastrophically misguided, with 70% of its 10-year budget "spent on bad ideas."

Does protecting free speech trump all other considerations, or are modern targeted ad algorithms so influential that political advertising needs more oversight?

Computing

Facebook vs Twitter: The battle over free speech and political ads

Facebook and Twitter have recently laid out differing policies regarding political advertising. One platform has decided free speech is of utmost importance while the other has simply banned political ads altogether.

The former President was speaking at the 2019 Obama Foundation Summit

Good Thinking

Obama warns against social media call-out culture

On Tuesday, Barack Obama used the annual Obama Foundation Summit to criticize call-out culture, with his use of the term "woke" garnering particular attention. But what is woke culture, and did Obama really just call it out?

Over 100 Facebook and Instagram accounts have been removed with ties to Iran and Russia

Computing

US election interference from Iran and Russia underway, Facebook says

Just a few weeks after Microsoft revealed an Iranian-led cyber campaign to compromise the 2020 US election, Facebook has announced the removal of a number of “inauthentic” accounts, Pages and Groups designed to spread misinformation.

A new law banning political deepfake videos will come into effect in California at the beginning of 2020

Computing

California bans political deepfake videos ahead of 2020 elections

California has now officially banned the distribution of maliciously deceptive audio and video content that misrepresents political candidates.

A new strategic misinformation campaign, originating from Iran, has been revealed by Facebook security teams

Computing

Iran implicated in disinformation campaign as Facebook removes hundreds of accounts

Facebook has removed another batch of pages, groups and accounts for "coordinated inauthentic behavior." This time originating in Iran, the pages targeted hundreds of thousands of people across the Middle East, Latin America, UK and US with political content designed to shape their opinions.

Does he look more like a Bob or a Pete to you?

Good Thinking

Got a round face? A round name could help you get ahead

It turns out Donald Trump's round face and matching "round" name might have helped get him elected. While a new study doesn't particularly home in on the US president, it does point out just how much people like it when names and faces match up, especially when it comes to politicians.

Istvan is currently running for the position of Governor of California

Remarkable People

Zoltan Istvan on transhumanism, politics and why the human body has to go

Zoltan Istvan is a transhumanist, journalist, politician, writer and libertarian. We caught up with Istvan to chat about how transhumanist ideals can translate into politics, how technology is going to change us as humans and the dangers in not keeping up with new innovations.