The Obtain: China’s monkeypox disaster, and preventing AI photograph manipulation

That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of expertise.

China is abruptly coping with one other public well being disaster: mpox

The Chinese language authorities is battling a brand new public well being concern: mpox. The World Well being Group reviews that China is at the moment experiencing the world’s quickest enhance in circumstances of mpox (previously generally known as monkeypox)—and it must act quick to comprise the unfold.

The nations which have efficiently contained mpox outbreaks have largely carried out so due to proactive measures like vaccination campaigns. The issue is, the Chinese language authorities has barely began to take motion. Learn the complete story.

—Zeyi Yang

These new instruments may assist shield our footage from AI

Generative AI is making it ridiculously simple to govern folks’s pictures. Whereas nonconsensual deepfake porn has been used to torment ladies for years, the newest technology of AI makes it a good larger drawback. These techniques are a lot simpler to make use of than earlier deepfake tech, they usually can generate pictures that look utterly convincing. 

The excellent news is that new instruments are beginning to emerge which might shield folks’s images and artworks from being tinkered with utilizing AI techniques. These instruments are neither good nor sufficient on their very own—however they’re a begin.  Learn the complete story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

This story is from The Algorithm, Melissa’s weekly AI e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to seek out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.

1 Worldcoin’s data-capturing plan is working 
Regardless of obvious privateness considerations, loads of folks like money rewards. (Remainder of World)
+ How Worldcoin recruited its first half one million check customers. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

2 Twitter is suing a nonprofit that claims it hosts hate speech
The Middle for Countering Digital Hate claims Elon Musk is making an attempt to silence it. (WSJ $)
+ The corporate’s promoting revenue continues to be in freefall. (FT $)
+ Its new slogan is the somewhat lame ‘Blaze your glory!’ (Motherboard)

three Meta is creating chatbots with personas for its platforms
Which looks as if a very creepy strategy to increase engagement. (FT $)
+ Simply because it appears like Threads is dropping its preliminary attraction. (Slate $)
+ Google desires to make its Assistant extra personable, too. (The Verge)

four Submit-Roe, pregnancy-related deaths are in all probability rising
The issue is, there’s no manner of understanding precisely how a lot. (Undark Journal)
+ The cognitive dissonance of watching the tip of Roe unfold on-line. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

5 Amazon desires to ship your packages even quicker
Suppose hours, somewhat than days. (Insider $)
+ Spare a thought to your supply driver within the warmth. (Wired $)

6 TikTok is pushing a dietary complement as a weight reduction answer
It’s not precisely new, but it surely’s attracting new consideration within the age of Ozempic. (Wired $)
+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the web. However what does this imply for folks IRL? (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

7 UV and blue mild may assist us to kill lethal E.coli
However the two types of mild are solely efficient when used collectively. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Why tiny viruses may very well be our greatest guess in opposition to antimicrobial resistance. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

eight Begin-ups are harnessing AI to deal with erectile dysfunction
In a bid to actually personalize remedy to the person. (Motherboard)

9 When did meals movies get so… racy? 🍝
Thirst lure cooks know precisely what they’re doing with that pasta. (NY Magazine $) 

10 Apple’s bid to avoid wasting classical music hasn’t gone to plan 🎻
Smaller, nimbler rivals do a greater job throughout the board. (New Yorker $)

Quote of the day

“SHUT IT OFF! It’s creating an enormous nighttime nuisance and making it arduous to sleep.”

—San Francisco residents complain concerning the vibrant, flashing X signal that Elon Musk put in on the roof of Twitter’s headquarters with out permission, the Washington Submit reviews.

The large story

Geoffrey Hinton has a hunch about what’s subsequent for AI

April 2021 

In November 2020, psychologist Geoffrey Hinton had a hunch. After a half-century’s value of makes an attempt—some wildly profitable—he’d arrived at one other promising perception into how the mind works and how one can replicate its circuitry in a pc.

If his guess pays off, it’d spark the following technology of synthetic neural networks—mathematical computing techniques, loosely impressed by the mind’s neurons and synapses, which are on the core of right this moment’s synthetic intelligence. 

His “trustworthy motivation,” as he places it, is curiosity. However ideally, the consequence is extra dependable and reliable AI. Learn the complete story. 

—Siobhan Roberts

We are able to nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ What does per week residing like Mario appear to be? Fairly arduous work, really.
+ Not everybody can pull off a buzz reduce like Sinéad O’Connor.
+ Would you chop it as a physician in The Sims?
+ Rooster is nice, caprese is nice, so it is smart that caprese hen appears superb.
+ Congratulations to those watermelons, which defied the percentages to flourish in Antarctica. 🍉

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