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Scientists Now Want to Create AI Using Real Human Brain Cells
Machine-learning models like the one that powers ChatGPT are generating essays, short stories and entire podcasts. But scientists are looking into another way of computing that could be just as efficient and powerful, and it’s in our brains.
In a new article published on Tuesday in Frontiers, a large international collaboration led by researchers at John Hopkins University (JHU) details how brain-machine technologies are the newest frontier in biocomputing, and provides a roadmap as to how to make it a reality.
As the paper explains, organoid intelligence (OI) is an emerging field where researchers are developing biological computing using 3D cultures of human brain cells (brain organoids) and brain-machine interface technologies.
These organoids share aspects of brain structure and function that play a key role in cognitive functions like learning and memory. They would essentially serve as biological hardware, and could one day be even more efficient than current computers running AI programs.
Artificial Intelligence Is on the Brink of an ‘iPhone Moment’ and Can Boost the World Economy by $15.7 Trillion in 7 Years, Bank of America Says
Artificial intelligence is about to have its “iPhone moment” and could revolutionize everything, according to Bank of America.
In a Tuesday note to clients, BofA strategists listed four reasons why AI is about to change the landscape: the democratization of data, unprecedented mass adoption, “warp-speed” technological development and abundant commercial uses.
“We are at a defining moment — like the internet in the ’90s — where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving towards mass adoption, with large language models like ChatGPT finally enabling us to fully capitalize on the data revolution,” they said.
Ultimately, AI’s ability to capitalize on data could boost the world economy by up to $15.7 trillion by 2030, in the firm’s view, and the global AI market — software, hardware and services — could reach $900 billion by 2026. The bank also sees a great deal of commercial use cases for the technology.
Bill to Give Biden Authority to Ban TikTok Advances in House
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban TikTok in the United States despite objections from some lawmakers and advocates who say the measure could disrupt online speech freedoms.
The bill, introduced Friday by Committee Chair Mike McCaul, R-Texas, before moving quickly through the committee process, would allow President Biden or any future president to impose sanctions, including a possible ban, against any company that “knowingly provides or may transfer sensitive personal data” to any foreign person or company that is “subject to the jurisdiction or direction of … China.”
We Found 28,000 Apps Sending TikTok Data. Banning the App Won’t Help.
Joe Biden gave federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from government devices earlier this week. Until now, most politicians intent on punishing TikTok have focused solely on banning the app itself, but, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters, federal agencies must also “prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company.” That’s a lot more complicated than it sounds. Gizmodo has learned that tens of thousands of apps — many of which may already be installed on federal employees’ work phones — use code that sends data to TikTok.
Some 28,251 apps use TikTok’s software development kits, (SDKs), tools that integrate apps with TikTok’s systems — and send TikTok user data — for functions like ads within TikTok, logging in, and sharing videos from the app. That’s according to a search conducted by Gizmodo and corroborated by AppFigures, an analytics company.
But apps aren’t TikTok’s only source of data. There are TikTok trackers spread across even more websites. The type of data sharing TikTok is doing is just as common on other parts of the internet.
“A simple ban on the TikTok app itself is not going to stop data flowing to TikTok,” said Daniel Kahn Gillmor, a senior staff technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union. “TikTok has software in other places, not to mention TikTok trackers spread across other parts of the web. I don’t have a TikTok account or the app installed on my phone, but there are still plenty of ways the company can get data about me.”
TikTok Isn’t Really Limiting Kids’ Time on Its App
Amid growing concerns (and lawsuits) about social media’s impact on the mental health of children, TikTok announced on Wednesday that it’s setting a 60-minute time limit on screen time for users under 18 and adding some new parental controls. Those “limits,” however, are really more like suggestions. There are ways young users can continue to use the app even after the screen time limits have passed.
The news comes amid a larger discussion about the harms of social media on younger people as well as an enormous amount of scrutiny on TikTok itself over its ties to China. And while the updates make TikTok look like it’s taking the lead on mitigating those harms, it likely won’t be enough to assuage the national security concerns many lawmakers have (or say they have) about TikTok. They might not even be enough to assuage concerns they have over social media harm to children.
In the coming weeks, minor users will have a 60-minute screen time limit applied by default, at which point a prompt will pop up in the app notifying them and giving them the option to continue. For users under 13, a parent or guardian will have to enter a passcode every 30 minutes to give their kid additional screen time. No parent code, no TikTok.
But users aged 13 to 17 can enter their own passcode and continue to use the app. They can also opt out of the 60-minute default screen time limit, but if they spend more than 100 minutes on TikTok a day they will be forced to set their own limits — which they can then bypass with their code.
World Health Organization Pushes for Global Vaccine Passports
The WHO laid out its plans for global vaccine passports in a series of proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) — a legally binding instrument that imposes various conditions on 196 countries when the WHO declares certain types of health emergencies.
As governments around the world wind down their vaccine passport programs, the unelected World Health Organization (WHO) is attempting to make this COVID-era surveillance tech permanent and global. The movement to amend these International Health Regulations (IHR) began in January last year when the Biden administration quietly pushed for major changes. Since this initial push, other member states have proposed their own amendments and the total number of proposed changes now sits at 307.
These proposed amendments give the WHO new powers to declare “potential” health emergencies and include commitments from member states to recognize the WHO as the “coordinating authority” during certain types of health emergencies.
These proposed amendments to the IHR greatly expand on the existing recommendations and lay out a framework for digital vaccine passports and other forms of digital tracking. In addition to pushing global vaccine passports, these suggested changes to the IHR will also give the WHO increased power to target content that it deems to be “misinformation” and “disinformation” and increased surveillance powers.
Troops Who Refused COVID Vaccine Still May Face Discipline
The military services are still reviewing possible discipline of troops who refused the order to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defense officials told Congress on Tuesday, and they provided few details on how many of those who were forced out of the military would like to return.
Lawmakers expressed frustration with the news, questioning why service members should still face discipline since the vaccine requirement had been rescinded.
Gilbert Cisneros Jr., the undersecretary of defense for personnel, told the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee that some service members who disobeyed the lawful order to get the vaccine — and did not seek any type of exemption — were still going through the review process.
The vaccine mandate divided Americans and has remained a contentious political issue. More than 8,400 troops were forced out of the military for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. Thousands of others sought religious and medical exemptions.
NY COVID Vaccine Mandate for Health Workers Remains in Effect After Court Issues Stay
A state appeals court issued a stay Monday that will keep New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health workers in place during an ongoing court battle. The stay temporarily halts enforcement of the ruling last month from state Supreme Court Judge Gerald Neri in Syracuse that declared the health worker vaccine mandate was null and void. Neri asserted in part that the mandate exceeded state health officials’ authority and usurped the Legislature’s power to control which immunizations to require.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration appealed Neri’s ruling on the lawsuit, which was filed by several health workers who cited, in part, religious objections to receiving the shot. The mandate banned religious exemptions but allowed rare exceptions for medical reasons.
Now the appeals court has set a deadline of March 20 for finalizing the appeal filing, which would then be added to the court’s term commencing May 15, records show. It would be decided by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judicial Department.
The mandate prompted about 34,000 medical workers, or 3% of the workforce at the time, to quit or be fired instead of getting the shots.
House Committee Passes Bill That Would Ban Vaccine Mandates
The Missouri House Committee on Emerging Issues passed House bill 700, which creates provisions related to the refusal of medical procedures or treatment, during an executive session Tuesday. The bill passed 9 to 4.
Rep. Bill Hardwick (R-Waynesville), the bill’s sponsor, said if passed, the government wouldn’t be able to mandate a COVID vaccine or future technologies. Hardwick believes the most significant aspect about the bill is related to children. They would not have to be vaccinated in order to go to school. A provision in the bill would also ban the government from setting mandates.
Now that HB 700 passed the committee, it’s heading to the House Rules Committee.
Intel Community Bats Down Main Theory Behind ‘Havana Syndrome’ Incidents
The intelligence community has determined that unexplained health incidents referred to as “Havana Syndrome” that have afflicted hundreds of government officials in recent years were not caused by a foreign adversary, knocking down a main theory among victims and experts.
The assessment, compiled by the CIA and six intelligence agencies, also said the U.S. found no evidence that the symptoms experienced by American intelligence officers, diplomats and other government employees were the result of an intentional weaponized attack, according to two U.S. intelligence officials.
The finding undercuts a years-long narrative, propped up by more than a thousand reports from government employees, that a foreign adversary used pulsed electromagnetic energy waves to sicken Americans.
Initial reports about the mysterious syndrome first emerged in 2016 among U.S. and Canadian diplomatic staff in Havana, Cuba. The diplomats complained of hearing piercing sounds coming from one direction and acute nausea and vertigo. In the years that followed, hundreds of additional U.S. government workers reported symptoms that aligned with those initial health reports.
Man Files Complaint Accusing YouTube of Harvesting U.K. Children’s Data
A man has filed a formal complaint accusing YouTube of harvesting young children’s data, the first such complaint alleging a major tech firm has broken the new “age-appropriate design code”.
Duncan McCann, a staff member at child advocacy group 5Rights, filed the AADC complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), asking the data watchdog to order Google to stop collecting children’s data and potentially fine it as much as 4% of annual turnover.
“Imagine YouTube as an adult stranger following your child ‘online’ with a virtual clipboard recording everything they do,” McCann said in a statement. “That is what is happening every day and they are not just doing it with your child. They are doing it with up to 5 million other U.K. children as well, resulting in an enormous amount of personal information being gathered.”
