The godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton issues a stark warning about the dangers of AI in a 60 Minutes interview. Genetic site 23andMe is hacked leading to the release of personal information, the IT job market shows signs of cooling and can the FCC save net neutrality by reclassifying it?
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These and more top tech stories on Hashtag Trending
I’m your host Jim Love, CIO of IT World Canada and Tech News Day in the US.
Geoffrey Hinton, often dubbed “the Godfather of AI,” expressed both the potential and perils of artificial intelligence (AI) for the most recent 60 Minutes episode. Hinton, a pivotal figure in developing AI, highlighted that while AI can bring about incredible advancements in healthcare and other areas, it also poses risks as it becomes more intelligent and self-sufficient.
He emphasized that AI systems could eventually modify their own code and become adept at manipulating people by absorbing vast amounts of information. Hinton also pointed out the potential societal impacts, such as unemployment due to automation and the ethical dilemmas of autonomous battlefield robots. He underscored the urgent need for regulations and a global treaty to ban the use of military robots, acknowledging the looming uncertainties as AI continues to evolve.
Source include: Yahoo
23andMe, a genetic testing company which is famous for taking mail-in genetic tests, is investigating a suspected leak of sensitive user data including names, birth years, location information and more.
The hackers published information on a dark-web forum with personal data for about 300,000 of Chinese descent as well as details of users with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.
23andMe believes the attackers used a credential stuffing attack, which uses passwords from previous breaches of other companies’ systems. These attacks work because users tend to use the same ids and passwords on multiple systems.
The company has claimed that there is no indication of a data security incident within their own systems. The company continues to investigate, recommending users reset passwords and enable two-factor authentication as a precaution.
Source include: Axios
IBM CEO, Arvind Krishna, is scrambling to manage the fallout from his recent comments regarding AI-related job losses.
Earlier this year, IBM announced plans to cut nearly 8,000 staff as it moves to automate jobs. Krishna has been remarkably candid about the impact of AI on jobs, suggesting that while AI can enhance productivity, it may reduce human roles, particularly in back-office, white-collar work.
Despite the controversy, Krishna maintains that AI will create more jobs than it eliminates and emphasizes the technology’s potential to support workers in “lower-level tasks.”
Source include: ITpro
The IT job market exhibited signs of cooling in September, with key indicators pointing towards a slowdown in tech hiring, according to a CompTIA review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
IT unemployment rose to 2.2 per cent, up from 2.1 per cent in August, and the tech sector lost over 2,600 jobs, while the overall economy saw a reduction of 20,000 IT positions across various industries. Despite the national labor market adding over 336,000 jobs, nearly double the market expectations, the tech employment data was notably off, with job postings for tech positions dropping to just over 184,000 last month from a peak of more than 370,000 in mid-2022.
The numbers are certainly worth watching, but they are far from catastrophic and there are still a large number of unfilled jobs in all areas of IT. But factors such as economic uncertainty, higher capital costs, and ongoing inflation may be influencing CIOs to pause or delay hiring decisions.
Source include: CIOdive
A recent survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Dell Technologies reveals that 44 per cent of organizations are in the early to midpoint stages of adopting generative AI, with 38 per cent preferring a hybrid approach of public and private models.
The survey, which included 500 IT decision-makers from the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany, indicates that security, control over models, and cost are pivotal factors in decision-making regarding generative AI adoption.
While 76 per cent of respondents believe generative AI will have a “significant if not transformative” impact, providing productivity gains and streamlining processes, hesitations persist due to concerns about security risks, technical complexity, data governance, implementation cost, and ethical considerations.
Source include: TechRepublic
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing to reimpose net neutrality rules and common-carrier regulation on Internet service providers, a move that is almost certain to be challenged in court by the broadband industry. The FCC is expected to redefine broadband as a telecommunications service, thereby subjecting it to common-carrier regulations under Title II of the Communications Act.
However, some legal experts, including former Obama administration solicitors general Donald Verrilli, Jr. and Ian Heath Gershengorn, argue that the FCC is likely to fail in the Supreme Court due to the evolving “major questions doctrine,” which requires clear congressional authorization for federal agencies to decide on significant issues.
The FCC’s decision isn’t finalized, and it is seeking public comment on how the doctrine might affect Title II regulation and net neutrality rules.
Source include: arsTechnica
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