a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Why Alexa and Siri won’t function as robot helpers

Jun04
by on June 4, 2019 at 2:42 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, artificial intelligence, robots, syndication


“Alexa, are you ready to have a body?” Steady advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing have made digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa increasingly capable of performing complicated voice commands under different circumstances. But does it mean that our digital assistants are ready to escape the confines of smartphones, smart speakers and computers (and a bunch of weird gadgets)? “The only way to make smart assistants really smart is to give it eyes and let it explore the world,” Rohit Prasad, head scientist of the Alexa artificial intelligence group at Amazon, recently said at the MIT Technology Review’s EmTech Digital conference. Prasad…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

This feminist chatbot challenges AI bias in voice assistants

Jun04
by on June 4, 2019 at 2:18 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, artificial intelligence


The Feminist Internet, a non-profit working to prevent biases creeping into AI, has created F’xa — a feminist voice assistant that teaches users about AI bias and suggests how they can avoid reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Judging by a recent UNESCO report, it’s not a moment too soon. In the report “I’d blush if I could,” (titled after Siri’s response to: “Hey Siri, you’re a bitch”) UNESCO notes that voice assistants often react to verbal sexual harassment in an “obliging and eager to please” manner. The reason why that’s a big issue is most industry-leading voice assistants are female by default. They all have…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Justin Sun paid $4.57M to shill TRON to Warren Buffet, Twitter trolled him mercilessly

Jun04
by on June 4, 2019 at 1:58 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


Justin Sun revealed he’s paid millions of dollars for a lunch date with investing legend Warren Buffet. As expected, Crypto-Twitter had lots to say. Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain and BitTorrent CEO, confirmed the ball-twisting $4.57 million bid late yesterday, a new record for the annual auction for dining exclusively with Buffet. Last year’s winner paid $3.3 million. In a blog, Sun pledged to sway Buffet, a notorious Bitcoin skeptic, towards cryptocurrency. Sun also said he would be inviting six “industry leaders” to join their lunch in support. This is when the Twitterverse unleashed its barrage of ridicule. Great…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: Twitter

└ Tags: 
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Why does macOS Catalina use Zsh instead of Bash? Licensing

Jun04
by on June 4, 2019 at 1:19 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Design & Dev


Yesterday, at its WWDC developer conference, Apple unveiled the latest version of the MacOS operating system. Codenamed Catalina, it’s a fairly significant update for the platform, not least because of the changes that have taken place under the hood. Take, for example, the default shell, which has been migrated from Bash to Zsh. Oh shit! https://t.co/FweoKhQTNr pic.twitter.com/s74KeTKBPz — Christina “I Am Sadly not at WWDC” Warren (@film_girl) June 4, 2019 Bash has been the primary macOS shell since OS X 10.2 Jaguar. For almost sixteen years, MacOS developers have used it to write scripts and issue commands to the underlying…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: 
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

FBI asks victims of bankrupt QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency exchange to start snitching

Jun04
by on June 4, 2019 at 1:18 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is stepping up its probe into defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX. In an announcement yesterday, the FBI asked victims affected by the QuadrigaCX collapse to come forward and complete a questionnaire to aid with its “ongoing investigation.” “If you have questions or concerns about your QuadrigaCX account, or if you believe you are a victim, please complete the below questionnaire,” the announcement reads. “Based on the responses provided, you may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information.” The questionnaire asks potential victims what their QuadrigaCX username was, and whether they…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: