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A new round of debate over surveillance technology broke out after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. As some oberservers wisely pointed out, such events make it tempting to loosen restrictions on surveillance technologies such as facial recognition in the name of safety, but yielding to those temptations could lead to a rapid erosion of privacy and civil liberties. The Patriot Act Congress adopted after 9/11 (and the mass surveillance programs that followed) is a notable example. … [Read more...] about The Capitol riot is spurring new interest in gun-detection AI

 Ultimately, however, this appreciation for the power of humility—openness, transparency, and a reverence for the expertise of others—can’t be mandated from the top down. It must be built up from a cultural level, and thus requires an investment in educational efforts to instill them in the next generation of AI practitioners. Here at Stanford, political science professor Rob Reich co-created a course in the computer science department entitled Computers, Ethics and Public Policy, intended to augment the education of engineers with an awareness of their impact on people and communities, while Harvard computer science professor Barbar Grosz explores similar issues in a course called Embedded Ethics. These are encouraging signs of a shift in the way we educate not just tomorrow’s technologists, but business leaders, social scientists, and politicians. It’s my hope that universities across the world will be inspired to follow suit. … [Read more...] about An artificial intelligence scholar urges technologists to embrace humility

Stay involved to spot issues until the ways of working are clear, which will set you up to take a step back. Right now, I’m deep in the weeds of every expense associated with the delivery channel to make sure we are building the right foundations for long-term success. In the future, I won’t know the ins and outs of each marketing expense, but for now I’m very involved in building the financial framework we’ll use moving forward. Clear metrics and financial goals give everyone room to run without friction. … [Read more...] about My company has gone through 3 growth cycles in 18 months. Here’s how I navigated them

We can set aside the internal pressure from progressive employees, who have been agitating inside Twitter and Facebook for years to take a harder line against Trump. When push came to shove, few actually quit their high-paying jobs as a matter of principle. The risk of users deleting either app is also overstated. Most people who care enough about politics to feel strongly about Trump aren’t looking to remove themselves from where the action is. Twitter and Facebook provide an outlet for millions of people who want to feel connected, want to feel included, want to feel heard. They’re not giving that up so easily. … [Read more...] about Too little, too late: The cynical calculus of banning Donald Trump