Geekly Update - 25 September 2024

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission imposed sanctions against five businesses for allegedly using artificial intelligence unfairly and deceptively. In three of the cases, companies that promised to assist people in creating online stores to earn passive revenue were forced to halt operations. Additionally, the FTC reached a settlement with Rytr, an AI writing tool that the agency claimed included a feature that lets users create phony product reviews, and DoNotPay, a company that claimed to offer automated legal services.

Scam Alert: No, Apple and Microsoft aren't actually popping up on your screen to inform you that your machine has a virus. Scammers are attempting to coerce you into calling them and disclosing private information, such as Social Security numbers, bank or credit account information, or passwords. Experts warn that this is a particularly risky period because frauds usually increase with the launching of a new product or version, and Apple recently unveiled their new iPhone.

The Meta AI chatbot will soon allow users to converse with it while hearing responses narrated by their favorite celebrities. According to Reuters, Kristen Bell, John Cena, and Judi Dench are among the performers with whom Meta has agreements in place to use their voices. If that sounds annoying, there are additional generic voice options in addition.

Posting the viral ‘Goodbye Meta AI’ message on Facebook or Instagram will not stop those social media behemoths from using AI to scrape and use your social media data. Actress Julianne Moore and NFL quarterback Tom Brady are among the 500,000 users who have reshared the message, which carries no legal weight. Users who don’t want their content to be scraped can take steps to make their profile (somewhat) private.

No time to watch videos, even at 2X speed? YouTube's new AI chatbot will tell you what a video is about so you don't have to sit through the whole thing. YouTube Premium subscribers on Android can use the “Ask” button, a new generative AI feature to get a summary of a video.

With the expanding digital ID systems that allow driver’s licenses to be stored on your phone via Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, The Verge warns that you should never voluntarily hand your phone to a police officer. If you hand over your unlocked phone to a police officer, you may unwittingly grant law enforcement the right to snoop into your personal information.

Kylie Robison's latest on The Vergecast wonders what it really means if OpenAI’s new o1 model can actually think. The episode titled "They think they’re building God" delves into what this new “reasoning” model says about the state of the art in AI — and what AI companies are willing to put up with in the name of building God.

In a New York federal court on Tuesday, Caroline Ellison, the star witness in the prosecution of her ex-boyfriend, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion for her part in the massive fraud and conspiracy that brought down the cryptocurrency exchange. Ellison hoped her cooperation in bringing down FTX and Bankman-Fried would win her a get-out-of-jail-free card, but the judge said her role in "the greatest financial fraud perpetrated in the history of the U.S." made it important to send a message to deter other potential bad actors.

And finally, some interesting health news. Check out these three stories from SciTechDaily: Antidepressants Linked to Enhanced Cognitive Abilities, Promising New Alzheimer’s Treatment Eradicates Tau Tangles, and The Mystery of Human Wrinkles

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