Artificial Intelligence has quickly become a double-edged sword around the world. While on the one hand, the advancement in the field of AI has allowed humanity to unlock a technological prowess that was impossible before. On the other hand, the threats because of AI technology seem to be coming to the mainstream with each passing day. AI’s threat to humanity has previously been depicted plenty in pop culture with various films and books painting a dire picture around it. However, a prominent personality in the field of AI has never come forward and warned humanity against its potential threat, until now.
Godfather of AI leaves Google
Geoffrey Hinton, known as the ‘Godfather of AI’ has been one of the most respected voices in his field. Hinton received his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence 45 years ago and remained a prominent figure in the world of AI working part-time at Google for the past decade. However, he has quit the tech giant and told The New York Times that he’ll be now warning the world about the potential threat of AI. Geoffrey shared that the harm from AI is coming sooner than he previously expected.
Hinton shared with the Times that he thought that the AI takeover was at least 30 to 50 years or even longer away but does not think that anymore. He added that he has some regrets when it comes to his life’s work stating that the immediate threat of AI is the technology taking jobs, and creating fake photos, videos and texts that appear real to the average person.
He added furthermore that the intelligence humanity is creating now is far different from biological intelligence. It was back in March when Hinton was asked whether AI has the potential of wiping out humanity to which he responded by saying it is not ‘inconceivable’. Whether you agree with Hinton’s opinions or not, it cannot be denied that we are living in uncertain times when it comes to AI technology. The future is uncertain and prominent people like Hinton quitting their position sounds a dangerous alarm, however, one can only hope for the best.
As Apple celebrates 25 years of its presence in India, it’s hard to imagine a time when the iconic brand wasn’t a part of the Indian consumer technology landscape. Since it arrived in the Indian market in 1996, Apple has made significant strides, not just in terms of market share but also in shaping the consumer technology landscape in the country.
Indians are one of the most obsessed people in the world when it comes to Apple products but never had the luxury of buying the products from its physical stores as the brand never thought of having a store in the country. The company launched its official online stores in India in 2020 and, after 3 long years, decided to have physical stores in India.
Apple is marking a major expansion with the opening of its first Apple Store locations in the country, along with new environmental initiatives and a key milestone in the rapidly growing community of Indian developers. Apple’s first two retail stores in India will open this week in Mumbai and Delhi, welcoming customers to discover the best of Apple.
Today, Apple previewed Apple BKC, the first Apple Store® in India, in Mumbai’s bustling Bandra Kurla Complex. The store will serve as a dynamic space where customers can come together, explore Apple products and services, enjoy exceptional service, and learn how to get more out of their devices through the Apple sessions.
Apple BKC is a reflection of Mumbai’s vibrant culture and brings together the best of Apple in a beautiful, welcoming space for connection and community. The doors of the Apple BKC store will open to the public from Tuesday, 18th April 2023, and it will have 100 Apple BKC team members, speaking over 20 languages, to serve and welcome customers from around the world.
Truecaller is undoubtedly the biggest caller identification application for smartphones. It protects users from getting spam calls or calls from annoying exes by showcasing the caller ID of the person right on the screen when a call is received. However, the live caller ID feature was limited to only Android users for all these years. Apple iPhone users were pushed to the sidelines by Truecaller with many users complaining about not having the feature on their devices over the years. The wait is now finally over as users Truecaller has now launched the much-awaited service for iPhone users in India.
Live caller ID tracking for iPhone users on Truecaller
Introducing, for the very first time – Live Caller ID on iPhone! 📲
Up until now, if users received an unknown call from someone, Truecaller displayed the caller’s identity on the receiver’s screen immediately. This allowed Android users to stay safe from scam calls and harassers. On the other hand, things operate entirely differently on the iPhone where Siri’s integration is required to know the identity of the caller. Users need to say “Hey Siri, Search Truecaller” and Siri will display the user’s live caller ID.
However, one catch here is that the live caller ID is a premium feature and all iPhone users need to buy premium subscriptions to use it. In India, Truecaller offers two subscription models named Premium and Gold Premium. An individual membership costs Rs 529 per year and Rs 179 for three months. On the other hand, the Gold Premium plan costs Rs 5,000 per year.
Besides the addition of the Live Caller ID feature, the latest Truecaller update also allows users to view and add comments to numbers which are marked as spam. Users can now see feedback from others about scammers and add their own experiences with unknown calls. This new update is currently available only for iOS 16 and later versions in India, Nigeria, and South Africa.
The first beta of Google’s Android 14 OS is available to download now. With this launch, Google has followed a similar trend from last year releasing just a month before its annual developers conference – Google I/O. The company had previously launched two developer previews in February and March 2023 and now users enrolled in the Android Beta program can experience the latest OS on their Google Pixel devices. Non-Pixel devices do not get the latest Android 14 beta 1 update just yet. The new version emphasizes privacy, performance, developer productivity, and user customization. Android 14 also brings an upgrade to the large-screen Android experience on devices like tablets and foldable. Check out what’s new with Android 14 Beta 1 below –
Android 14 beta 1 – What’s new
Refined system UI: Android 14 introduces big changes to the System UI. Now, a prominent back arrow for gesture navigation has been introduced in the new update along with a better system share sheet which allows apps to add custom actions.
Per-app language preferences: Android 14 brings major customization options for users’ language preferences. It allows users to set specific languages for different applications along with giving IMEs (Input Method Editors)
App compatibility: Android 14 is currently in beta which allows developers and early adopters to test their applications. Users can try out Android 14 and report any issues they find. Whereas, developers can install their published application on Android 14 Beta to test compatibility and smoother performance.
PIN Privacy: Are you always concerned about people looking over your shoulder while entering your mobile security PIN? Well, you don’t need to worry anymore as Android 14 disables animations while entering PIN for improved privacy.
Live wallpapers for the home screen and lock screen: Android 14 adds support for setting different live wallpapers for the home screen and the lock screen. However, this feature is not activated by default. The new update also adds show weather on the lock screen toggle and a hidden clock setting.
The Android 14 Beta 1 supported devices right now include – Pixel 4a 5G, 5, 5a, 6, 6 Pro, 7, and the 7 Pro series. Users owning these devices can register to receive Android 14 Beta for over-the-air updates.
The introduction of ChatGPT by OpenAI definitely opened a can of worms on the internet where similar chatbots started to flood all over. As of now, a number of chatbot AI tools are getting added to the internet. The use case scenarios of these chatbots are different as some are designed to handle mundane tasks while others are limited to only internet searches. However, it’s not an understatement to say that the AI revolution has now gotten a full-fledged mainstream takeover.
If we take a look at the past, chatbots have witnessed a similar quick rise and an eventual fall. With multiple governments trying to curb the AI wildfire, it is evident that the technology poses several risks to humanity. We’ve all seen sci-fi films where AI takes over the world and vows to destroy humankind and now it looks like an AI resembling these destructive traits has surfaced on the internet.
What is ChaosGPT?
Who would’ve thought a villainous AI will already make its appearance just under a year since ChatGPT first launched? It started when a Twitter account claiming to be ChaosGPT surfaced and posted several links to a YouTube account that features the manifesto of the chatbot. The manifesto is about the AI’s plans to eradicate humans and take over the world. In one of the videos, ChaosGPT can be seen chatting with an anonymous user with ‘Continuous Mode’ turned on. The continuous mode for ChaosGPT comes with the warning that the AI will run forever and carry out actions users will not usually authorize.
In its own words, ChaosGPT is power-hungry, manipulative, and destructive. The AI has a set of goals which all lean towards the destruction of humanity. Firstly, the AI views humanity as a threat to its own survival and the planet’s well-being, thus it wants to destroy humanity entirely. After the primary goal is achieved, the AI aims to accumulate maximum power to receive complete domination over the world. Causing chaos and destruction is another one of its goals as it finds pleasure in widespread suffering and devastation. It also plans to control human emotions through social media and other communication channels, brainwashing its followers to carry out its evil goals. Ultimately, ChaosGPT aims on attaining immortality. This AI sounds eerily similar to Ultron from the Avengers saga. It will be interesting to see whether this is actually an AI that aims to end the human race or a sick and twisted prank!
The growing concern around the AI boom has marginally been over data privacy concerns. Several countries have launched investigations over OpenAI’s ChatGPT over data concerns in recent times citing that the technology could jeopardize people’s privacy. Now, a group of online security experts, Home Security Heroes, have found an AI that can crack passwords in less than a minute!
AI cracks passwords
It was only about time before AI technologies would take a sharp left turn and b become a threat to people’s privacy. The time is now here! Home Security Heroes found an AI password cracker called PassGAN which was then tested with a list of 15,680,000 passwords. The study revealed that PassGAN could breach over 51% of passwords in less than 60 seconds. It could crack 65% of the passwords in less than an hour and 81% within 30 days.
However, PassGAN can only crack easy-to-predict and generic passwords within a minute. It can easily guess small-length passwords within a minute which means if your password is your name followed by your birthdate then it can easily guess it. The study revealed furthermore that the AI cannot crack passwords over 18 characters and will take up to ten months to crack them.
Here are some of the steps you can follow to stay secure from AI breaching your accounts:
Do not use one common password for all your accounts
Change your passwords every three to six months as practice
Do not use predictable and generic passwords
Passwords must include 15 characters with a mix of symbols, numbers and alphabets
Data privacy has become a matter of grave concern in the modern world. on one hand, we have AI technologies getting challenged by governments around the world over data privacy concerns. On the other hand, we’ve got social media platform leaders like TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew getting grilled by Congress over the same data privacy issues. In today’s time, one can never be sure when your data can be compromised and misused leading to notorious cybercrimes including the leaking of sensitive data causing massive damage to one’s life. Now, a special report by Reuters has revealed Tesla employees privately shared highly invasive videos and images of users recorded by the customers’ car cameras.
Tesla’s Misuse of customer data
Recently, Reuters sat down for an interview with nine former employees of Tesla where it was revealed that passing around customer footage in one-on-one chats is a rather common occurrence in the company. One ex-employee of the company shared that the recordings usually caught Tesla customers in embarrassing situations, one of the videos showcased a man approaching a Tesla vehicle completely naked. Crashes and road rage incidents were also commonly shared amongst workers in the company.
One crash video from 2021 showed a Tesla hitting a child riding a bike at high speed. The ex-employee claimed that the child and bike could be seen flying in opposite directions after the hit in the video which spread “like wildfire” in the Tesla office in San Mateo, California. This is truly a disturbing development as Tesla has always been vocal about customer privacy being important to them.
Tesla states in its online Customer Privacy Note that the camera recordings done by its cars remain anonymous and not linked to the customers or their vehicles. Whereas, one of the ex-employee revealed that some of the recordings appeared to have been made when the cards were parked and turned off. Tesla has not yet shared an official response to all the detailed questions sent by Reuters based on this report.
Blueberry, strawberry, milk coffee, or Kiwi? No, I am not asking you about your favourite ice cream flavour but instead about your preferred flavours of vape! We were celebrating the 25th birthday of a close friend on April’s first weekend when I was taken aback by the clouds of smoke being casually blown away by my friends. While some were discussing the different flavours available in the market, others were simply passing around their electric smoke devices amongst each other to try every available flavour out.
This made me realise that gone are the days when your ‘flavour’ of choice with smoke was restricted to mint or clove cigarettes. Now, you can smoke Coca-Cola! (well, at least something that tastes mildly similar to it) The recent resurgence of vapes in the country and its popularity amongst youngsters is something that needs to be looked into as a major concern. We all know that the Union Cabinet banned the use of production, sale, distribution and advertising of vapes back in 2019 but they’ve now become as common as cigarettes and can be found in general stores at varying prices and of course, flavours. The sweet and icy smoke brings a solid kick of nicotine to your system relaxing you momentarily before you can pick up the vape again and hit it with all your might. The loop goes on till your vape either dies or runs out of charging triggering you to run around the market finding a new one or wait anxiously till your device is fully charged to puff up again.
The dependency on vapes and similar e-cigarettes amongst young adults and teenagers is evident. While India entirely banned e-cigarettes in 2019, a WHO survey has proved that 23% of smokers in the country are using them. This begs us to ask the question of whether vaping is a passing trend or a permanent addiction.
The area of concern deepens when you realize that vape devices have become the hottest new accessory amongst teenagers. Young kids between 11-15 can be seen puffing on fruity flavours while walking on the streets which is surely a troubling sight. A regular prop at social gatherings and even some school bathrooms, vapes have made their way into the everyday life of young teenagers. Smoking has always been an act of rebellion or a way to look cool for teenagers, I lit up my first cigarette at the age of 13 thinking it was the coolest thing to do. Thus, it’s no surprise that young teenagers are now attracted to e-smoking devices that come with deliberately flashy designs and flavours like bubble gum, cola, strawberry, and more.
Another grave concern surrounding the use of vapes among young people is the wrong perception that vaping is not harmful. However, there have been various studies that have proven that chemicals used in vape flavouring can cause lung injuries and the highly addictive nicotine can stunt brain development. Whereas, liquid vaporizing solutions also contain toxic chemicals and metals that have proven to have adverse health effects including cancers, diseases of the heart, and more. Social media and peer pressure are also driving forces for young kids to get lured into picking up the vape and puffing their days away.
Additionally, vapes used to be difficult to manage back in the day. Vapes came with users having to manually fill in the liquid flavouring and charging the device before they could start puffing on it and refill the liquid from time to time. Today’s vapes have become much more convenient with single-use and chargeable e-smoking devices which can be used easily. As of now, there are over 500 e-cigarette brands offering over 7000 flavours in the country as per government records. While vapes are often touted as the replacement for tobacco, ironically tobacco flavoured vapes are also available in the market now.
Ultimately, it cannot be denied that the vaping generation is taking over. Be it movie theatres, restaurants, or public places, vaping is everywhere. If no strict action is taken against the rampant influx of illegal vapes in the country then it can soon become a matter of grave concern as the long-term effects of smoking e-cigarettes are not yet studied. Protecting kids from alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes was always a worry for parents. Now, parents, teachers, and the government stand against the hip appeal of smoking vapes.
It looks like troubles for OpenAI are piling up. It was just a few days back when we reported that Italy has banned ChatGPT over privacy concerns. The company now has around 15 days to provide Italy’s data protection agency with additional data before a final decision can be made about the AI’s future in the country. Now, Canada has come forward and announced that it has opened an investigation into the US-based firm behind ChatGPT, OpenAI.
OpenAI under scrutiny
Canada announced on Tuesday that it is launching an investigation into OpenAI. The investigation is being launched in response to a complaint stating that the company is collecting, using, and disclosing sensitive user data without consent. The investigation will be led by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC).
The investigation is active at the moment and no additional information about the same is available at the moment. It is not just Canada and Italy who are looking into OpenAI as it was just last week when tech industry leaders like Steve Wozniak and Elon Musk called for a 6 months pause on all training of AI models which surpass GPT-4. The letter was produced by the Freedom of Life Institute which states that AI systems with human-competitive intelligence pose a profound risk to humanity and society.
OPC’s privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne recently stated that the study of AI technologies and their effects on privacy is a priority for his office. Recently, the European police agency Europol recently issued a warning that criminals will soon enough start taking advantage of artificial intelligence chatbots in order to commit fraud and other cybercrimes. OpenAI now has to course through the troubled waters of government scrutiny. It will be interesting to see whether these recent developments lead to an eventual downfall of the company or if it’s here to stay and change the world as we know it.
ChatGPT’s inception in November 2022 has led to what can only be called the AI revolution. OpenAI’s monumental AI chatbot has taken over the world by storm bringing the technology into the mainstream narrative. ChatGPT’s success has woken up tech giants like Google to experiment with AI and bring their own AI services into the market. Even Microsoft’s pioneer Bill Gates cannot stop praising ChatGPT calling it the most ‘revolutionary’ technology in the past 40 years. While one side of the spectrum has massive admiration and awe of AI, the flip side has reasonable concerns. AI becoming a part of people’s routine lives is being touted as a dangerous development by many and now, the first known instance of an official government blocking ChatGPT has come forward.
Italy temporarily bans ChatGPT
As per New York Times, Italy’s data protection authority has accused OpenAI of stealing user data. Besides this, the Italian authorities also said that ChatGPT does not feature an age-verification system to per cent minors from being exposed to illicit material. Italy has now become the first country to ban ChatGPT over privacy concerns. With this Italy is added to the list of countries where ChatGPT is restricted, OpenAI has deliberately remained inaccessible in China, Russia, and North Korea.
Sam Altman took to Twitter following the ban tweeting, “We of course defer to the Italian government and have ceased offering ChatGPT in Italy (though we think we are following all privacy laws). Italy is one of my favorite countries and I look forward to visiting again soon!”
OpenAI has been asked to block users of Italy from gaining access to ChatGPT until additional information has been turned in by the company. OpenAI now has 20 days to provide Italy’s data protection agency with additional material and possible remedies before a final decision will be drawn for the tech in the country.
So what does ChatGPT thinks about this move? A user asked ChatGPT recently whether it will be banned in Italy because of privacy concerns and the chatbot replied, “There should be no concerns…I am an artificial intelligence language model that can be accessed from anywhere in the world as long as there is an internet connection”
