philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

18Nov/19Off

Why Is Google Slow-Walking Its Breakthroughs in AI?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has made “AI first” a company slogan, but the company’s wariness of AI’s power has sometimes let its competitors lead instead. Google is a distant third in the cloud computing market behind Amazon and Microsoft. Late last year Google’s cloud division announced that it would not offer a facial-recognition service that customers could adapt for their own uses due to concerns about its potential for abuse.

Although Amazon and Microsoft have recently called for federal regulation of automated facial recognition, both have offered the technology for years. Amazon’s customers include the sheriff’s office of Washington County, Oregon, where deputies use its algorithms to check suspects against a database of mug shots.

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Google sought outside help on thinking through those concerns. The company commissioned a human rights assessment of the new product from corporate social responsibility nonprofit BSR, whose supporters include Google, McDonald’s, and Walmart.

BSR’s report warned that celebrity facial recognition could be used intrusively, for example if it were applied to surveillance footage in order to collect or broadcast live notifications on a person’s whereabouts. The nonprofit recommended that Google allow individual celebrities to opt out of the service and also that it vet would-be customers.

Google began to publicly grapple with the tension between the promise and potential downsides of AI last year, in part because it was forced to. Cofounder Sergey Brin marveled in an open investor letterthat recent AI progress was “the most significant development in computing in my lifetime,” but also warned that “such powerful tools also bring with them new questions and responsibilities.” The letter was released just days after employee protests against Google’s participation in a Pentagon AI project called Maven.

Frey claims that restricting products now will pay off in the long run. As companies make more use of AI, they become more aware of the need to be careful with it, she says.

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/why-is-google-slow-walking-its-breakthroughs-in-ai/

18Nov/19Off

The Extensive Practices Of Augmented Reality Today

960x0-7Yale University is also one of twenty universities which are participating in the HP/Educause Campus of the Future project investigating the use of AR and VR technology in higher education. Yale’s Blended Reality team has endeavored to “capture” digitally the Peabody museum dioramas which will essentially become digital replicas of plastic arts. Yale’s projects also include the use of motion capture and AR to generate dance choreography in addition to the replication of visual artworks.

Additionally, the University Libraries at the University has recently hosted a VR|AR Meet-Up featuring the Reno Street Art Project and Walking With Reality, two projects that have fully taken on the challenge to merge the arts an new technology. And Street Art Museum Amsterdam (SAMA) is also using VR to preserve street art collections which will be destroyed by the year’s end. It is clear that VR, AR and XR are promising new arenas in the art world and their inclusion in the cultural landscape of art is hardly experimental today.

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/julianvigo/2019/11/15/the-extensive-practices-of-augmented-reality-today/#6db51aae4eac

18Nov/19Off

Prosthetic reality: living art. How augmented reality is breaking down the walls between viewer and art.

CRQOPNBSMFGZNCM56DWAYUTSNEAt the Ayzenberg sp[a]ce gallery in Pasadena, the art on the walls are coming to life. A still illustration of a rural house is suddenly engulfed in a dust storm, a Japanese village is destroyed by a wave and a fish swims off of its dinner plate. Each artwork in the Prosthetic Reality exhibit is animated through augmented reality (or AR) technology and sound elements, which can only be experienced through your phone on an app called EyeJack.

Prosthetic Reality, curated by AR and virtual reality (VR) artist Sutu (Stuart Campbell), peeks into the emerging world of art and technology. The free exhibit, which is open until December 8, showcases work from over 40 artists and sound designers from around the globe. The sp[a]ce gallery, which identifies as a non-profit project, has featured several mixed reality (AR and VR) art exhibits in the past, making it a mainstay in the emergence of interactive museums.

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One of the pieces on the app called “Unprotected” is Cahill’s own. Located in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the drawing depicts an abstraction of a mangled body in the midst of struggle. The piece was enacted on the app after the Kavanaugh hearings and before the swearing-in of the new Supreme Court Justice. The name, “Unprotected,” signifies how female bodies are still not guaranteed equal protection because the Equal Rights Act was never ratified into the Constitution.

“These conversations may not always be productive, but they are conversations nonetheless,” she said.

With creations like Prosthetic Reality and 4th Wall, the possibilities of AR look promising, whether it’s making art more fun and immersive, or deepening the meaning of a piece.

See the full story here: http://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2019/11/15/prosthetic-reality-living-art/

18Nov/19Off

Surviving the first ‘deepfake’ election: Three questions

“You don’t need deepfakes to spread disinformation,” says Hao Li, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Southern California who worked on a federally funded project to spot deepfakes.

With advances in technology, however, Professor Li predicts that undetectable deepfake videos are between six and 12 months away – a period that corresponds roughly with the election season.

Considering how social media platforms were used to spread disinformation ahead of the 2016 election, Danielle Citron, a law professor at Boston University who studies deepfakes, warns that they might affect the political process. Deepfakes, she says, could undermine the legitimacy of an election.

See the full story here: https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2019/1029/Surviving-the-first-deepfake-election-Three-questions?fbclid=IwAR0uWwAoukIU3bm8uUvamkjnyVXgPZXt30ekz4oO6ZWw_FKVVm6nYhuiNjI

18Nov/19Off

Cinephil Acquires AI-Themed Political Thriller Documentary ‘iHuman’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Tel Aviv-based Cinephil has acquired worldwide rights to Tonje Hessen Schei’s (“Drone”) “iHuman,” a political thriller documentary about artificial intelligence, power and social control.

“’iHuman’ presents the AI landscape through the eyes of the world’s top minds in the field, laying out how the new generation of AI technology will powerfully outpace human intelligence in our lifetime,” said Annie Roney, founder and managing director of ro*co films. Roney said the film asks whether AI “serves or undermines democratic principles.”

See the full story here: https://variety.com/2019/film/news/cinephil-acquires-ai-themed-political-thriller-documentary-ihuman-exclusive-1203405910/?fbclid=IwAR2JrVZSDzvreelE-YLexk3zjd8qTnP1QH4ie-GVtu2hToHKofmiuG87OP0

15Nov/19Off

New federal bill would restrict police use of facial recognition

191114-facial-recognition-miami-airport-mn-1500_11cac3b871632aa7103e71ca39ec075a.fit-1240wThe bill, known as the Facial Recognition Technology Warrant Act, would require federal law enforcement to explain to a judge why they want to use facial recognition to track someone in real time for longer than three days, and would limit that surveillance to 30 days. It also would require the judge to report the request to U.S. court administrators for tracking. And it would require law enforcement to work with government researchers to make sure the facial recognition systems they're using are accurate.

The bill only applies to federal law enforcement, not state and local police.

"It's an OK step," said Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia who has pressed lawmakers to regulate police use of facial recognition. "It addresses a problem that is not a problem yet, but it omits the problem that is currently in practice right now."

See the full story here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-federal-bill-would-restrict-police-use-facial-recognition-n1082406

15Nov/19Off

Deepfakes are terrible for democracy, but Facebook is a bigger threat

Doctored videos are a menace, but we have more to fear from unscrupulous politicians taking advantage of Facebook's targeted ads, writes Annalee Newitz

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432560-100-deepfakes-are-terrible-for-democracy-but-facebook-is-a-bigger-threat/#ixzz65NZX1hu8

15Nov/19Off

Virtual Reality leads participants through the minds of school shooters

"If we better understand their history, we might be able to prevent future school shootings."

After hundreds of hours of interviews, Shenandoah University researchers are able to create a timeline in reverse to see what events took place in a teenage shooter’s mind. The virtual reality world is based on the minds of nine shooters including 11-year-old Drew Golden, 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson and 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz.

“Hopefully take away a few things so that we can be proactive in our community,” said Participant Whitney Mauck. “Just in case something like this happens, it’s not if it happens, it’s when.”

While the demonstration was going on, the room started buzzing with confirmation of two students being killed Thursday morning at the Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. Students started asking each other and wondering what could they have done to prevent another shooting.

See the full story here: https://www.localdvm.com/news/virginia/virtual-reality-leads-participants-through-the-minds-of-school-shooters/

15Nov/19Off

John Carmack Stepping Down As Oculus CTO To Develop ‘Strong AI’

CarmackOculusCTO“When I think back over everything I have done across games, aerospace, and VR, I have always felt that I had at least a vague “line of sight” to the solutions, even if they were unconventional or unproven,” stated Carmack during his video acceptance speech. “I have sometimes wondered how I would fare with a problem where the solution really isn’t in sight. I decided that I should give it a try before I get too old.”

As for what’s next for the tireless programmer/developer/engineer, Carmack states he’s looking to expand his already impressive resume to include artificial general intelligence. Sometimes referred to as “Strong AI,” AGI is an advanced form of artificial intelligence capable of learning and understanding intelligent tasks at a human level. It’s the kind of technology that keeps people like Elon Musk up at night.

See the full story here: https://vrscout.com/news/john-carmack-steps-down-from-oculus/

15Nov/19Off

Turn Your Home Into A Mixed Reality Record Store With Spotify On Magic Leap

SpotifyMagicLeap_1Using a spatial-aware user interface, you can actually pin artists, tracks, albums, and playlists anywhere within your physical space, turning your home into a futuristic jukebox. Not only that, but you can also create personalized soundscapes that trigger certain playlists depending on what room you’re in.

“Share your sofa with up-and-coming bands, meet your idols in your kitchen, explore new albums in your garage,” says the company in the official blog post.

See the full story here: https://vrscout.com/news/spotify-mixed-reality-on-magic-leap/