List of All Articles with Tag 'tech'

AI does not represent “an existential threat to humanity”, hundreds of experts have urged in a new open letter. It is just the latest intervention by engineers and other academics amid an increasing interest and fear about the future of artificial intelligence. The new letter follows a recent intervention by technologists including Elon Musk, who in March was one of more than 1,000 experts who said that humanity was in danger from AI experiments. It called on companies to pause their work and consider the dangers - and asked governments to intervene if they would not. The new letter stands in opposition to that call. It says that AI “will be a transformative force for good if we get critical decisions about its development and use right”. The letter was organised by UK-based BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT. It said that it had launched the letter to counter “AI doom”. It says that the country “can help lead the way in setting professional and technical standards in AI roles, supported by a robust code of conduct, international collaboration and fully resourced regulation”. By doing so it would not only help promote the UK as an AI destination but also ensure that AI was used for good, it said. The signatories includes a range of people from across society, including those who work in think tanks and public bodies and not specifically on artificial intelligence. But it also includes a range of engineers and others who have worked on artificial intelligence within academic and business contexts. BCS said that the calls including those in the letter signed by Elon Musk earlier this year could help play into the hands of bad actors. “The technologists and leaders who signed our statement believe AI won’t grow up like The Terminator but instead as a trusted co-pilot in learning, work, healthcare, entertainment,” said Rashik Parmar, the chief executive of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. “One way of achieving that is for AI to be created and managed by licensed and ethical professionals meeting standards that are recognised across international borders. “The public need confidence that the experts not only know how to create and use AI but how to use it responsibly. Yes, AI is a journey with no return ticket, but this letter shows the tech community doesn’t believe it ends with the nightmare scenario of evil robot overlords.” Read More Meta unveils its ChatGPT rival Llama xAI: Everything we know about Elon Musk’s new AI company Meet the AI human-like robots that can do our jobs

People are getting less happy with their cars – and it appears to be the fault of new technology and design innovations, according to landmark research. Customer satisfaction is falling with people pointing to a range of issues including the exterior design of the car. But particular frustration is with infotainment systems, with people turning away from them as ways of listening to music and get around. Only 56 per cent of car owners prefer to use their car’s in-built system to play audio, for instance, down from 70 per cent in 2020. Less than half of car owners prefer to use integrated systems for functions like phone calls, voice recognition and navigation. Instead, users are presumably using external systems such as their phones. In recent years, technologies such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have made it possible to mirror those screens, rather than use the built-in and often complicated software provided by car manufacturers. That is according to the US Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study, run by JD Power. It is the first time in the 28 year history of the study that customer satisfaction has fallen two years in a row – and could point to a range of issues in the car market. Satisfaction is counted on a 1000-point scale. This year, it was measured at 845, which was down two points from last year, and three points from the year before. “The decline in consecutive years might look small, but it’s an indicator that larger issues may lie under the surface,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at JD Power, in a statement. “Despite the technology and design innovations that manufacturers put into new vehicles, owners are lukewarm about them. While innovations like charging pads, vehicle apps and advanced audio features should enhance an owner’s experience, this is not the case when problems are experienced. “This downward trajectory of satisfaction should be a warning sign to manufacturers that they need to better understand what owners really want in their new vehicles.” The survey also found a decline in satisfaction with some tech focused car companies. Tesla remains one of the higher performing brands but saw its score at 878, down nine points from last year, when the company was first included in the study. The study was based on almost 85,000 owners of new cars who were surveyed after owning the vehicle for 90 days. It ran between February and May of this year. Read More ChatGPT will now know who you are and what you want Rumours are growing about some bad iPhone news Solar panel tech breakthrough generates electricity from rain

OpenAI has launched new “custom instructions” for ChatGPT, aimed at letting the system know who you are and what you want. The tool allows users to “share anything you’d like ChatGPT to consider in its response”, the company said. That might mean always starting conversations with the chatbot being aware that you are a teacher of young children, for instance, so that it can word its responses accordingly. Or a user might set an instruction that they are a computer programmer in a specific language, so that it can know how to format its responses. They can also be more specific instructions to the chatbot itself. Users might opt to tell it what tone to use in its responses, for instance, or to keep to a word limit. The new tool comes with a range of warnings about the way that the data itself is used. Those instructions might be shared with the developers of any plug-ins, for instance, and it will also be used gathered by OpenAI. The company says it will use people’s custom instructions “to improve model performance – like teaching the model how to adapt its responses to your instructions without overdoing it”. The tool comes with some restrictions aimed at ensuring people do not use the feature to break ChatGPT’s rules. That includes scanning custom instructions to ensure they do not break its rules, and allowing ChatGPT not to comply with instructions if they are going to be used to violate the company’s policies. OpenAI is not making the new feature available in the UK and EU. Regulators in those countries have shown particular concern about the way data is used by OpenAI – and in Italy, those concerns are such that the country has banned access to ChatGPT. Users must also have a subscription to OpenAI’s “Plus” premium tier, and is currently only available in beta. The company plans to roll it out to everyone “soon”, it said. At the moment, ChatGPT does not remember anything from previous conversations. A person might have told it useful information, for instance – such as those previous examples of teachers and programmers – but after the chat is closed and restarted, that information will be lost. The feature can be used by clicking into settings, then clicking “beta features” or “new features” and enabling “custom instructions”. Read More Stolen ChatGPT accounts for sale on the dark web ChatGPT creator withholds latest AI over fears it’s too powerful Meta unveils its ChatGPT rival Llama

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 Pro could be delayed or in short supply, rumours are increasingly suggesting. The phone might not arrive until October – and even then could be hit by stock shortages, according to a run of leaks. The potential shortage is at least in part the result of issues with making the new screens used in the premium, Pro and larger Pro Max models, according to a new report from The Information. Apple has been working to shrink the bezel around the display, and the new manufacturing process has made it harder to make the new device, it reported. Even if the phone does arrive on time, it is likely to be hit by stock shortages, the same report suggested. The manufacturing issues come at the point when the display is attached to the metal shell of the phone, but the process is failing in some cases. Apple is tweaking the design so that it can be more efficiently made, and can also rely on other manufacturers to build the phone. That new rumour came just hours after a research note from Bank of America Global Research that suggested the phone could be delayed by a “few weeks”, likely into October. That report came from analyst Wamsi Mohan – who previously correctly predicted that the iPhone 12 range would be delayed when it was released in 2020. That year, Apple released the new phone around a month later than usual, showing it off at an event on 13 October and then releasing it on 23 October. That year’s 12 Mini was delayed even further, not arriving until November. Those previous delays also came when Apple launched a new redesign, then for the first time since the iPhone X that came two years before. But the issues in 2020 were also at least in part because of lockdowns, which slowed down production in China. Last year, Apple also delayed the release of the iPhone 14 Plus into October. While the rest of its line-up was announced and released on the usual timescale, the larger version of the cheaper phone did not go on sale until 8 October. While the delay will mean only that customers may be required to wait for their new phone, it could also have significant consequences for Apple. Pushing the phone back into the fourth quarter of the year would mean that they would be logged as being in the next financial year in the company’s finances. Read More Apple ‘secretly working on its own AI chatbot’ Beats launches updated version of Studio Pro over-ear headphones Rare ‘Holy Grail’ iPhone sells for almost $200,000

When Tesla revealed its Cybertruck in 2019, it didn’t go so well. The supposedly bulletproof windows were smashed when hit by a metal ball, much to the embarrassment of chief executive Elon Musk. Now, the electric car company is nearing the point when it starts shipping the product – which it says is new and improved – but people still aren’t particularly impressed. Musk has said deliveries can be expected at the end of this year, with mass production set to begin in 2024. And during the firm’s latest earnings update this week, it gave a fresh sneak peak of the highly anticipated truck driving through a desert. But eagle eyed observers have already noticed a problem: the wiper doesn't cover the whole windscreen. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The Tesla Cybertruck Is Officially HERE! www.youtube.com In the video, the Cybertruck’s enormous glass windscreen has been covered in muddy water, some of which is pushed away by the long, singular wiper. But the passenger’s side is still completely covered in mud. For $40,000 dollars, which is the Cybertruck’s expected cost, it’s probably safe to say you’d be disappointed. Meanwhile, the wiper also rests upright on the side of the windscreen, unlike most cars where it sits horizontally next to the bonnet. Tesla’s design chief Franz von Holzhause also shared a picture of him standing in front of a dust-covered Cybertruck at a construction site in Texas earlier this year, and the top part of the passenger side was again untouched by the wiper. Watch the Tesla Cybertruck's Windows Get Smashed www.youtube.com People took to Twitter to criticise the design. One person said: “Am I the only one who thinks that Tesla Cybertruck Windshield Wiper needs to be better? They can put two wipers, one on each side, just like it is now or at the bottom like a traditional one.” “They can even put a pushing motion on the one they have to get more coverage.” Another person added: “I can only imagine the visibility from inside this tin can is horrible.” Even Musk is aware of the issue. He told Fox News earlier this year: “The wiper is what troubles me most.” And on Twitter, he said there's “no easy solution” to the massive windshield, saying: “Deployable wiper that stows in front trunk would be ideal, but complex.” That said, at least there’s a wiper now. The famous 2019 version didn’t even have one. Keep plugging away, Tesla galaxy brains. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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