Government
How AI May Be Used to Create Custom Disinformation Ahead of 2024
It's now well understood that generative AI will increase the spread of disinformation on the internet. From deepfakes to fake news articles to bots, AI will generate not only more disinformation, but more convincing disinformation. But what people are only starting to understand is how disinformation will become more targeted and better able to engage with people and sway their opinions. When Russia tried to influence the 2016 US presidential election via the now disbanded Internet Research Agency, the operation was run by humans who often had little cultural fluency or even fluency in the English language and so were not always able to relate to the groups they were targeting. With generative AI tools, those waging disinformation campaigns will be able to finely tune their approach by profiling individuals and groups.
Royal Mail uses drones to deliver post in the Orkney islands
Royal Mail has begun using drones to deliver post in the Orkney islands, helping pave the way for drone deliveries to islands around the UK and on the mainland during emergencies. The service between the village of Stromness on Orkney's main island to the nearby islands of Hoy and Graemsay, using aircraft able to carry up to 6kg, is Royal Mail's first permanent drone delivery service. Using drones allows Royal Mail to provide a faster and more secure delivery service to islands such as the Orkneys, avoiding ferries or scheduled air services subject to weather cancellations, tides and timetables that do not suit the postal service. Royal Mail has been testing and evaluating drone services on Scottish islands for some time, as has the NHS, which has trialled their use for flying urgent medical samples from the small Hebridean islands of Coll and Tiree. Chris Paxton, the head of drone trials at Royal Mail, said these flights were far faster and more efficient, and helped cut carbon emissions.
Lawmakers wearing 'JCPenney leisure suits' with '8-track tape players' regulating AI means trouble: GOP rep
Members of Congress shared their concerns over needing regulation for growing artificial intelligence while also avoiding limitation of tech innovation. WASHINGTON, D.C. โ AI regulation is in the hands of "JCPenney leisure suit"-wearing lawmakers who still have "8-track tape players," which could mean trouble, says one Republican lawmaker. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives took a small step toward building an AI regulatory framework by advancing the AI Accountability Act, which called for the government to study AI accountability and report back in 2025. "Let a bunch of guys up here that are wearing JCPenney leisure suits that still have 8-track tape players in their '72 Vegas start talking about technology, then you got some problems," Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Fox News when asked about regulation keeping pace with innovation in the AI sector. "I don't know that we need regulation," Burchett said.
AI for everybody: GOP, Dems unite behind public AI research center to 'democratize' the tech
Fox News correspondent Gillian Turner has the latest on the president's focus amid calls for an impeachment inquiry on'Special Report.' Republicans and Democrats in the Artificial Intelligence Caucus are proposing the creation of a public research center that will give people and organizations access to the tools they need to create their own AI systems, even if they don't have access to billions of dollars in research funding. Lawmakers proposed the "Creating Resources for Every American To Experiment with Artificial Intelligence Act," or the CREATE AI Act, a bill that would establish the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR). In January, a federal task force called for the creation of this body and estimated it would need about $440 million per year to get off the ground. The CREATE AI Act doesn't authorize that specific level of funding, but the bill signals that both parties are interested in establishing the NAIRR in order to ensure entities other than the billion- and trillion-dollar AI developers aren't the only ones developing this new technology.
Russian forces down new wave of drones over Moscow, office tower hit
Russian forces have again downed several drones over the city of Moscow, according to officials, with one of the intercepted aircraft damaging the same office tower that was hit in an attack over the weekend. The Russian defence ministry, in a message on Telegram on Tuesday, said its anti-aircraft units had "thwarted a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and downed two drones in the suburbs west of the city centre. But another drone, having been "hit by radio-electronic equipment and, having run out of control, crashed on the territory of the complex of non-residential buildings" in Moscow City, the ministry said, referring to a business district in the capital. Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the building hit on Tuesday was the same one struck in a drone attack on Sunday. "One flew into the same tower at the Moskva City complex hit previously. The facade has been damaged on the 21st floor. Glazing was destroyed over 150 square metres," he said.
Small strikes and big ambitions in Ukraine's attacks on Russia
Drones have exploded over the gilded domes of the Kremlin. They have hit strategic Russian air bases hundreds of miles from Ukraine. They have struck a Moscow tower that houses several government ministry offices, including the one responsible for the military-industrial complex. And they have landed a stone's throw from one of the main Russian military headquarters, where officers sitting in large situation rooms with vast screens on their walls directly oversee and manage the war in Ukraine. As Ukraine steps up its strikes inside Russian borders this summer, it is also making plain the nature of its targets: military-aligned sites that aid Moscow's full-scale invasion, now in its 18th month.
China curbs exports of drone equipment amid U.S. tech tensions
China on Monday announced export controls on some drones and drone-related equipment, saying it wanted to safeguard "national security and interests" amid escalating tension with the United States over access to technology. The restrictions on equipment, including some drone engines, lasers, communication equipment and anti-drone systems, will take effect on Sept. 1, the Commerce Ministry said. The controls also affect some consumer drones, and no civilian drones can be exported for military purposes, a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
An Integrated NPL Approach to Sentiment Analysis in Satisfaction Surveys
The research project aims to apply an integrated approach to natural language processing NLP to satisfaction surveys. It will focus on understanding and extracting relevant information from survey responses, analyzing feelings, and identifying recurring word patterns. NLP techniques will be used to determine emotional polarity, classify responses into positive, negative, or neutral categories, and use opinion mining to highlight participants opinions. This approach will help identify the most relevant aspects for participants and understand their opinions in relation to those specific aspects. A key component of the research project will be the analysis of word patterns in satisfaction survey responses using NPL. This analysis will provide a deeper understanding of feelings, opinions, and themes and trends present in respondents responses. The results obtained from this approach can be used to identify areas for improvement, understand respondents preferences, and make strategic decisions based on analysis to improve respondent satisfaction.