NYPD fires robot dog; algorithm accused of racism and other AI news

We aim to inform readers not only about developments in the bitcoin industry, but also about what is happening in related technology spheres — cybersecurity, and now in the world of artificial intelligence (AI).

ForkLog has gathered the most important AI news of the past week.

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American AI company warned law enforcement about Capitol breach

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American startup Dataminr, which uses AI to analyse information on the internet and issue real-time alerts about significant events, warned the Capitol Police of the impending disturbances that occurred in Washington on January 6, 2021.

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Within 24 hours before the events in Washington, a company representative wrote in an email to law enforcement that the platform had detected a number of troubling messages, including calls to storm government buildings and kill federal officials.

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Hours later, the same Dataminr employee contacted the Capitol Police. It later emerged that the threat was not treated as serious.

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Sources involved in one of the investigations in the Senate said they were \”astonished\” by how the police ignored the warnings.

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Apple to build a North Carolina campus for AI research

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Apple invests $1 billion in building a campus and engineering hub in North Carolina. It will be the company’s first research centre on the East Coast of the United States.

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The company expects the new campus to create 3,000 jobs, most of which will focus on machine learning, AI, software development, and other technologies.

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Apple also plans to invest $210 million in developing schools, broadband internet, and roads and bridges in the state.

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Elon Musk: Tesla is becoming an AI company

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Elon Muskstated that Tesla is becoming more of an artificial intelligence and robotics company.

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According to the billionaire, engineers are developing many tools in-house from scratch. As an example, he cited video annotation and training neural networks for autonomous driving.

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The company is also working on the Dojo supercomputer for AI training. According to Musk, its performance will reach 1,000 petaFLOPS, making it among the most powerful computers in the world.

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Beijing launches commercial autonomous taxi service

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Baidu launched the first in China commercial autonomous taxi service Apollo Go. Robo-cars are already available to residents in one district of Beijing.

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In the initial phase, autonomous transports will be available in one of the locations of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, where passengers will be able to move between sports venues, workplaces, cafes and hotels.

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The company noted that before the start of the trip the system would undergo \”all safety protocol checks\”. For example, the robotaxi will not move if it detects open doors or unfastened seat belts.

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Operators will also monitor system integrity, and in emergency cases will be able to remotely take control of the vehicle and prevent an accident.

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Facial recognition in Moscow’s metro helps arrest 600 people on the wanted list

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Over the past several months, Moscow’s metro facial recognition system has helped arrest more than 600 people who were on the federal wanted list. This was stated by Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin during a speech at a discussion club of the Higher School of Economics and Sber.

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According to the official, these individuals were moving freely around the capital. However, AI helped law enforcement in catching the suspects.

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Sobyanin added that the large number of cameras in the city has reduced incidents such as car thefts and burglaries.

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Self-driving cars to be allowed on UK motorways

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By the end of 2021, autonomous transport will be allowed on motorways. The Department for Transport approved the use of the Lane Keeping Assist (ALKS) system, which allows a vehicle to stay in its lane at a safe distance from other traffic.

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The department stated that the speed of the autonomous vehicle should not exceed 37 miles per hour, and a driver must be prepared to take control if necessary.

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However, experts warned that the government is creating confusion about the capabilities of cars, calling ALKS-equipped models \”autonomous\”. Under the SAE standards, the lane-keeping system is classified as Level 3 autonomy. This means the vehicle can be considered partially autonomous and the driver must monitor the road.

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Israeli military to adopt AI within the next year

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Israel is developing artificial intelligence for tanks and robots that can patrol the battlefield autonomously and locate enemy targets.

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Developers have equipped combat machines with a data-collection system to identify objects hidden underground and in buildings.

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According to them, AI can also be connected to fire-control and maneuvering systems, allowing it to engage targets automatically. However, final decision-making remains with a human.

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The military is also considering installing AI on robomobiles to patrol the border for potential violators.

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The military hopes that AI systems will make the army more effective. They say further development will take a decade, though some of these technologies could be ready for use as early as next year.

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Google Assistant to gain new features

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Google announced new features for the Assistant.

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The first will teach the digital assistant to pronounce complex names. For this, a user must say their name aloud, and the Assistant will try to learn its correct pronunciation.

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Google will also add the BERT language model to timers, allowing them to be cancelled without needing to say the exact name. For example, a timer named \”Potato Preparation\” can be canceled with the phrase \”cancel the timer for boiling potatoes\”.

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Beta testers also discovered an unreleased feature codenamed Guacamole, which will allow activating the assistant in certain scenarios without the phrase \”Hey Google\”.

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For example, if a user receives a call, a timer or an alarm goes off, they can interact with them using phrases \”Answer/Decline the call\”, \”Snooze\” and \”Stop\” respectively.

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It is expected that the company will discuss Guacamole at the I/O developer conference, which will take place from May 18 to 20.

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NYPD fires Spot robot

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The New York Police Department \u201cfired\u201d the Boston Dynamics Spot from the force.

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The department said they did so because of negative responses from politicians and the public — they considered the dog’s appearance too aggressive and intimidating.

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New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller added that they reconsidered using Spot after it became a target for people who \u201cused it to fuel debates about race and surveillance.\u201d

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Initially the robot was to be tested through August, but it has already been returned to the manufacturer. Spot participated in several hostage-rescue and suspect-apprehension operations.

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Also on ForkLog:

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• The European Data Protection Supervisor demanded a ban on facial recognition.
• Sony patented AI that plays video games instead of the user.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence will establish a directorate for AI development.
• A Briton accused a government AI of racism due to facial-recognition errors.
• The startup DoNotPay developed a tool to protect photos from facial recognition.

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