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Markets often persuade us that we don’t have enough.

Communities remind us that we do.

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This article is part of our reviews of AI research papers, a series of posts that explore the latest findings in artificial intelligence. Deep learning can help discover mathematical relations that evade human scientists, a recent paper by researchers at DeepMind shows. Like many things coming from the Alphabet-owned artificial intelligence lab, the paper, which is titled “Advancing mathematics by guiding human intuition with AI,” has received much attention from science and tech media. Some mathematicians and computer scientists have lauded DeepMind’s efforts and the findings in the paper as breakthroughs. Others are more skeptical and believe that the use…

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The beauty industry has been widely criticized for its lengthy history of failing to serve non-white people, though many brands are stepping up and rectifying past mistakes. More importantly, companies created by and for people with melanin rich skin are paving the way to a more equitable future. In partnership with purpose agency Kin, beauty…Read More

The US has unveiled an unusual new approach to saber-rattling with China: emotion predictions. According to Reuters, military commanders in the Pacific have developed a tool to forecast how the Chinese government will react to American actions in the region. A US defense official said the software calculates “strategic friction,” but provided little detail about how it works. We tried to dig up further information — but unearthed more questions than answers. How would the tool work? The tool reportedly analyses data since early 2020 and assesses the impact of historical actions. It then predicts which future activities will upset…

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This week, Daniel L. Doctoroff announced that he’s stepping down from his role of CEO at Sidewalk Labs due to serious health conditions. Sidewalk has been limping along since the end of the Quayside project. Now, starting next year, Sidewalk products Pebble, Mesa, Delve, and Affordable Electrification will join Google, becoming core to Google’s urban sustainability product efforts.  The founders started Sidewalk Labs with good intentions, but it exemplifies how manufactured smart cities fail.  The sordid history of Sidewalk Labs  In 2017, Sidewalk Labs announced plans for a high-tech neighborhood in Toronto called Quayside. Planned for  Toronto’s waterfront, it focused on  “environmental sustainability, affordability,…

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Or just read more coverage about: Alphabet

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With the advent of the internet, many major cultural staples went by the wayside, such as arcades and video rental stores. Another often-forgotten element of the past is the phonebook-sized gift catalog that many retailers would send en masse during the holiday season, showcasing photos of mail-order items next to enthusiastic product descriptions. Canadian casual…Read More

During the pandemic, video calls became a way for me to connect with my aunt in a nursing home and with my extended family during holidays. Zoom was how I enjoyed trivia nights, happy hours and live performances. As a university professor, Zoom was also the way I conducted all of my work meetings, mentoring and teaching. But I often felt drained after Zoom sessions, even some of those that I had scheduled for fun. Several well-known factors – intense eye contact, slightly misaligned eye contact, being on camera, limited body movement, lack of nonverbal communication – contribute to Zoom…

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Arrival, the Anglo-American startup that aims to shake up the design and manufacturing of EV fleets, is ready to show us the first prototype of its Car (yes, with a capital C). Credit: Arrival As you might have already guessed, this is no ordinary passenger vehicle. Instead, the Arrival Car has been created specifically for the ride-hailing industry and designed in partnership with Uber. The vehicle features a futuristic minimalist design. Credit: Arrival The Car looks more like an elegant minivan and sure looks like a futuristic, electric update of London’s black cabs. I especially like its hood-to-rear panoramic roof.…

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Or just read more coverage about: Uber

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As food delivery services find themselves struggling to differentiate themselves, DoorDash has decided now is the time to name its first-ever chief marketing officer. The company is elevating vp of marketing Kofi Amoo-Gottfried to the newly-created position. Amoo-Gottfried has been in the role since May 2019. During that time, he oversaw brand, product and partner…Read More

Israel-based NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware comes first to mind when you think about notorious ways to snoop on people’s phones. But there’s a new player in town: Cytrox. This lesser-known company was found enabling surveillance, in a joint investigation by Canada-based Citizen Lab, and Meta In this story, we’ll break down the company’s origins and tell you about its spyware. What is Cytrox? Cytrox started as a North Macedonian startup, but documents reviewed by Citizen Lab suggest it has a presence in Israel and Hungary. Its description on Crunchbase says it provides “governments with an operational cyber solution” — quite…

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