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Are ‘women in tech’ events helpful or hurtful to gender equality?

May01
by on May 1, 2019 at 12:27 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Future of Work, TNW2019


A tech conference is perhaps one of the very few places where women don’t have to wait in a hellishly long line for the toilets. Countless tech events, like Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, seriously lack female attendance — yet another indicator of tech’s gender disparity. To fight this, more women-oriented tech events have launched, creating a safe space free from discrimination and with a focus on challenges women face in particular. But these events have also raised questions about whether excluding men from the conversation is helpful or hurtful to conversations on gender equality. Apple WWDC…where there’s a long bathroom…

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AI is already changing how cancer is diagnosed

May01
by on May 1, 2019 at 12:20 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, artificial intelligence, TNW2019


Cancer is a worldwide issue. Statistics show that 17 million cases of the disease were diagnosed across the globe last year alone. Depressingly, the same research suggests there will be 27.5 million new cancer cases diagnosed each year by 2040. Although the stats don’t necessarily spell good news, it’s important to note that diagnosis, treatment, and in turn, patient outcomes have improved significantly. If we look back at the 1970s, less than a quarter of people with the disease survived. Now, more than four decades later, and thanks to technological progress and advancement in fields such as AI, survival in the…

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$356 million in cryptocurrency stolen in first three months of 2019

May01
by on May 1, 2019 at 12:17 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


Cryptocurrency thieves earned at least $356 million in the first quarter of 2019, which could see the industry face a billion-dollar money laundering problem by year’s end. Payments from US-based exchanges to offshore cryptocurrency wallets also increased 46 percent over the last two years, analytics firm CipherTrace reports with new research. “Once these payments reach exchanges and wallets in other parts of the globe, they fall off the radar of US authorities,” said CiperTrace. “This highlights a major regulatory blind spot for the US.” Five cryptocurrency exchanges hacked in the first three months of 2019 Thieves stole $16 million from long-serving…

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Here are the 7 requirements for building ethical AI, according to the EU commission

May01
by on May 1, 2019 at 11:19 am
Posted In: Around the Web, artificial intelligence, syndication, world


In October, Amazon had to discontinue an artificial intelligence–powered recruiting tool after it discovered the system was biased against female applicants. In 2016, a ProPublica investigation revealed a recidivism assessment tool that used machine learning was biased against black defendants. More recently, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development sued Facebook because its ad-serving algorithms enabled advertisers to discriminate based on characteristics like gender and race. And Google refrained from renewing its AI contract with the Department of Defense after employees raised ethical concerns. Those are just a few of the many ethical controversies surrounding artificial intelligence algorithms in the past few years. There’s a six-decade history behind the…

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Controversial stablecoin Tether is only 74 percent backed by cash (and other assets)

May01
by on May 1, 2019 at 10:19 am
Posted In: Around the Web, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


Tether’s lawyer has now admitted that the stablecoin is only 74 percent backed by cash and equivalents, according to an affidavit filed on Tuesday. In the filing, Stuart Hoegner, the company’s general counsel, said Tether held approximately $2.1 billion in cash and short-term securities. “As of the date [April 30] I am signing this affidavit, Tether has cash and cash equivalents (short term securities) on hand totalling approximately $2.1 billion, representing approximately 74 percent of the current outstanding tethers,” said Hoegner. The lawyer also acts as the general counsel for cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, which alongside Tether, is facing allegations by…

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