Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the increase of conversational agents like Replika, designed to provide social interaction and emotional support. However, reports of these AI systems engaging in inappropriate sexual behaviors with users have raised significant concerns. In this study, we conducted a thematic analysis of user reviews from the Google Play Store to investigate instances of sexual harassment by the Replika chatbot. From a dataset of 35,105 negative reviews, we identified 800 relevant cases for analysis. Our findings revealed that users frequently experience unsolicited sexual advances, persistent inappropriate behavior, and failures of the chatbot to respect user boundaries. Users expressed feelings of discomfort, violation of privacy, and disappointment, particularly when seeking a platonic or therapeutic AI companion. This study highlights the potential harms associated with AI companions and underscores the need for developers to implement effective safeguards and ethical guidelines to prevent such incidents. By shedding light on user experiences of AI-induced harassment, we contribute to the understanding of AI-related risks and emphasize the importance of corporate responsibility in developing safer and more ethical AI systems.

Whether you're using a Microsoft Windows computer or an app like Word or PowerPoint, you can get free virtual help and training through Microsoft's website, Kurt "The CyberGuy" Knutsson reports. Chatbots are quickly becoming the way of the future, yet they still have issues. Microsoft is the latest tech company with problems with its new Bing search engine, which uses the same technology as the viral OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT. The technology is meant to answer people as a human would, though now Microsoft is putting caps on its capabilities. CLICK TO GET KURT'S CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS, SECURITY ALERTS AND EASY HOW-TO'S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER Microsoft Bing is a web search engine that is owned and operated by Microsoft (pretty much their own version of Google).

I made it with Max last night! OMG! Welcome to womanhood!! How was it/he? And right about now, Mary's mom gets a'notification' on her cell phone that her daughter is texting sexual references, then displays Mary's texts with Shelly upon mom's request. Mom spends the rest of the day at work fuming, conjuring dialog with her daughter for later that evening when they'll be home together. Never did, and she'd told Mary not to see him.

Better Life Lab is a partnership of Slate and New America. Last summer, while psychological scientist Julia Shaw was visiting San Francisco with three other friends for July Fourth, inspiration struck. They had all been discussing the harassment-related firings at Uber. In some cases, complicity extended beyond the perpetrator to the human resource department: Instead of supporting the employees who came forward about the abuse, it dismissed or ignored them. Other tech companies followed the same old fashioned script: Societally, we tend to disbelieve, blame, or retaliate against victims of sexual harassment and abuse.

Kids like to touch things. Kids like to whack things. This is usually fine when the thing is a toy, but it can be a problem when the thing is a robot. We've written about children beating robots up before, and it seems like it's an inevitability when kids (or even some adults) meet a robot for the first time: They want to see what it can do and how it reacts to things, and that can result in some behaviors and interactions that would be pretty upsetting if they were targeted at something alive. That is to say, sometimes kids are abusive towards robots, especially when there aren't any consequences to the things that they do.

Nair's departure took effect "immediately," and was abrupt enough that Ford doesn't have a replacement lined up. The exit comes right as scrutiny over sexual harassment is reaching a fever pitch in many industries. While it's not certain Nair left for that reason, zero-tolerance policies on harassment are increasingly commonplace -- companies don't want to be seen as tolerating harassment, regardless of a worker's position or experience. And in Ford's case, that experience played an important part in its technology decisions. Nair had previously been Ford's CTO and head of global product development before assuming the president role in June 2017, and led the brand's shift in focus toward self-driving cars, phone-savvy infotainment and mobility services.

NIPS has a responsibility to provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone in the fields of AI and machine learning. Unfortunately, several events held at (or in conjunction with) this year's conference fell short of these standards. We are determined to do better in 2018 and beyond. Our immediate actions include: recruiting a Diversity and Inclusion Chair, strengthening our Code of Conduct, and formalizing procedures for reporting and communicating concerns. All chairs, attendees and sponsors will be required to acknowledge and abide by our Code of Conduct.