Violent and sexually explicit content, and Russian propaganda during the period of Ukraine invasion was boosted rather than suppressed by Facebook’s downranking system. Designed to suppress misinformation – and touted as proof Facebook’s self-regulation in this area could be viable – the flaw was exposed bv The Verge. Up to half Facebook’s News Feed were seen as ‘integrity risks’ over a six month period.
Email data and marketing tools vendor Validity has purchased MailCharts, which reports on marketing activity by competitors. The trends here include vendors expanding their product scope and acquisitions. Price wasn’t reported, so we don’t know whether the deal also illustrates buyers paying crazy-high prices or a dampening of the market. But it’s a trend either way.
The apps were found to have hidden data-harvesting software using code written by a Panamanian company, Measurement Systems S. de R.L, which has cyber intelligence and network defense connections. Its apps are used by millions of Android customers.
Unauthorized training data isn’t an existential threat to generative AI but it’s certainly a headache for users and developers alike. Most developers are trying to exclude materials that creators have explicitly labeled as unauthorized and citing “fair use” as justification for copying everything else. Getty Images has taken an opposite approach, building its gen AI tool only on materials that are explicitly licensed. It’s possible that tracing the provenance of training data will become a standard, similar to how organic food producers trace the origins of their ingredients.