The Obtain: Nick Clegg on electoral misinformation, and AI’s carbon footprint

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

Meta says AI-generated election content material shouldn’t be taking place at a “systemic degree”

Meta has seen strikingly little AI-generated misinformation across the 2024 elections regardless of main votes in international locations resembling Indonesia, Taiwan, and Bangladesh, mentioned the corporate’s president of world affairs, Nick Clegg, on Wednesday.

“The attention-grabbing factor to date—I stress, to date—shouldn’t be how a lot however how little AI-generated content material [there is],” mentioned Clegg throughout an interview at MIT Expertise Assessment’s EmTech Digital convention in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

As voters will head to polls this yr in additional than 50 international locations, consultants have raised the alarm over AI-generated political disinformation and the prospect that malicious actors will use generative AI and social media to intrude with elections. And even well-resourced tech giants like Meta are struggling to maintain up. Learn the total story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

To learn extra about elections and AI, try:

+ How generative AI is boosting the unfold of disinformation and propaganda. Governments at the moment are utilizing the tech to amplify censorship. Learn the total story.

+ Eric Schmidt has a 6-point plan for preventing election misinformation. Learn the total story.

AI is an vitality hog. That is what it means for local weather change.

Tech firms hold discovering new methods to carry AI into each side of our lives. However the  expertise comes with rising electrical energy demand. You might have seen the headlines proclaiming that AI makes use of as a lot electrical energy as small international locations, that it’ll usher in a fossil-fuel resurgence, and that it’s already difficult the grid.

So how nervous ought to we be about AI’s electrical energy calls for? Casey Crownhart, our local weather reporter, has dug into the information. Learn the total story.

This story is from The Spark, our weekly local weather and vitality e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.

The must-reads

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

1 A second human has been recognized with chicken flu 
Fortunately, the Michigan farmworker has since recovered. (NY Magazine $)
+ Shares in vaccine makers are rising because of this. (FT $)
+ Right here’s what you have to know concerning the present outbreak. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

2 Nvidia has reported stratospheric progress
The chipmaker’s income grew a whopping 262% over the previous quarter. (FT $)
+ That’s $14 billion price of revenue. (The Verge)
+ What’s subsequent in chips. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

three Information Corp has struck a cope with OpenAI
Information from the media large’s newspapers will seem in ChatGPT responses. (WP $)
+ The deal is valued at greater than $250 million. (WSJ $)
+ Meta is reported to be excited by making offers with information retailers, too. (Insider $)

4  The US is planning on suing Ticketmaster
A set of states and the Justice Division will accuse it of operating a monopoly. (NYT $)

5 We all know that Russia desires to place a nuke in house
However past that, particulars are fairly unclear. (Vox)
+ How you can battle a conflict in house (and get away with it) (MIT Expertise Assessment)

6 The US Home of Consultant has handed a crypto invoice
Regardless of the Securities regulator’s misgivings. (Reuters)

7 Amazon desires a brand new problem: tackling your returns
It’s operating a pilot at a number of warehouses to check if it might handle returns in addition to deliveries. (The Info $)

eight Weight reduction medication are actually costly
Their excessive price ticket is forcing docs to get inventive. (The Atlantic $)
+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the web. However what does this imply for individuals IRL? (MIT Expertise Assessment)

9 What we lose once we use apps to hurry learn books
Squishing down books into temporary summaries doesn’t precisely make for a joyful studying expertise. (New Yorker $)

10 How you can make your cellphone give you the results you want
No extra doomscrolling! (WSJ $)
+ How you can log out. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

Quote of the day

“The AI revolution begins with Nvidia, and in our view, the AI get together is simply getting began.”

—Analyst Dan Ives, from Wedbush Securities, explains why buyers shall be following chipmaker Nvidia much more intently after the corporate introduced blockbuster monetary outcomes, the Guardian stories.

The large story

The search to be taught if our mind’s mutations have an effect on psychological well being

August 2021

Scientists have struggled of their seek for particular genes behind most mind problems, together with autism and Alzheimer’s illness. In contrast to issues with another elements of our physique, the overwhelming majority of mind dysfunction displays will not be linked to an identifiable gene.

However a College of California, San Diego examine revealed in 2001 instructed a distinct path. What if it wasn’t a single defective gene—or perhaps a sequence of genes—that at all times precipitated cognitive points? What if it could possibly be the genetic variations between cells?

The reason had appeared far-fetched, however extra researchers have begun to take it severely. Scientists already knew that the 85 billion to 100 billion neurons in your mind work to some extent in live performance—however what they wish to know is whether or not there’s a danger when a few of these cells may be singing a distinct genetic tune. Learn the total story.

—Roxanne Khamsi

We will nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ Who knew that Sting had been secretly engaged on a ferry all this time?
+ That’s some severely spectacular skipping.
+ America is residence to a number of the most stunning prepare rides on Earth.
+ This Center Earth tattoo is bonkers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *