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☆ Tweeting at some airlines for customer support won't work anymore. They've stopped using Twitter amid Elon Musk's changes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some airlines will no longer handle customer service requests over Twitter. A clever customer service hack for dealing with airlines is becoming harder to do thanks to Elon Musk's changes to Twitter. Both Air France and its sister airline KLM will no longer field customer service requests over the social media platform, the companies announced over the past few weeks. The paywalled API contributed to Air France's decision to suspend customer service through Twitter, the Journal reported. The airline is seemingly still fielding customer service requests over Twitter.

☆ Codename Burnham: Amazon has a secret new home robot with ChatGPT-like features that understands a lot more of its surroundings.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon is working on an upgraded version of its home robot Astro, powered by 'Burnham' technology. The robot has ChatGPT-like features, using large language models and other advanced AI. This is a new phase for Astro and the latest example of Amazon adding AI models to existing products. In one of these documents related to Burnham, Amazon describes an Astro product that costs $995. As LLMs were growing in scale, they started demonstrating "emergent skills in both inference and problem-solving," one of the Amazon documents stated.

☆ This is what you need to know about ultra-cheap Chinese shopping app Temu, which sells a huge variety of weird things — and has some wondering if it's for real
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Grace Dean | Mary Hanbury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

It's listed as the top free app in both the Google Play store and the Apple App Store, ahead of TikTok, Amazon, and Instagram. These cost savings can then be passed on to the consumer, a spokesperson for Temu told Insider. But for the average North American shopper, such low prices can actually be disconcerting, especially when they don't know much about Temu. A spokesperson for Temu told Insider that it uses its parent company's supply chain and logistics network to ship these items. Read more: I ordered my first 4 items off Chinese e-commerce app Temu and came away annoyed with the dozens of marketing emails sent after making a single purchase

☆ Black Tech Twitter, trans users and more marginalized groups flock to Bluesky
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Daysia Tolentino | J.J. Mccorvey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Her first objective was to get her community, Black tech Twitter, onto Bluesky. Once Black Twitter users started moving to Bluesky, Aveta said, others wanted to follow. Some signs indicate a slowdown among Black Twitter users that predates Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter last year. Aveta said she prioritized moving the Black tech community to Bluesky first to combine social appeal with technical knowledge. Pariss Chandler, the organizer of Black Tech Twitter and the founder of the recruitment platform Black Tech Pipeline, said diversity, equity and inclusion should be considered early in a platform's launch.

☆ How to Respond to a Stranger in Mental Distress
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Dani Blum | Dana G. Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

If you are concerned for your safety, the best course of action is usually to leave the situation as soon as possible, said Schroeder Stribling, the president and chief executive of Mental Health America, a nonprofit group focused on advancing mental health. If you’re on the subway, for example, change cars, or get off and wait for the next train. Many cities have help lines and mobile crisis response teams that serve as an interface between the police and mental health providers and are trained to help people in acute distress. In New York City, for example, you can call 888-NYC-WELL to connect with mental health professionals. If you call 911, specify that you are calling about a mental health emergency and request a crisis intervention team if one is available, said Megan Rochford, the director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness HelpLine Operations.

And so whenever I get one of those notifications, I know I’m going to have a good time there. kevin roose[LAUGHS]: I actually don’t think I could’ve told you what IBM stood for. kevin rooseSo I’ve thought a lot and written a lot about how and when AI actually is a threat to jobs. The third category is just the jobs that I think are going to be protected, the jobs that we won’t let AI do. But I don’t actually think the speed of it matters at all.

☆ New York MTA resumes transit alerts on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would resume posting automated transit alerts to Twitter on Thursday after the social media company backtracked on a plan to charge public service accounts for access to the platform. In a statement Thursday, MTA Acting Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara said Twitter had tried to charge the MTA more than $500,000 a year for access to its platform, but that the MTA refused. “We’re glad that Twitter has committed to offering free API access for public service providers,” the MTA tweeted, referring to the software interface that enables third parties to create automated posts on Twitter. The paywall’s introduction in March prompted widespread warnings by public services of possible disruptions to weather and transit alerts. Amid the outcry, Twitter changed course on Tuesday and said that verified government accounts would once again be able to post automated tweets for free.

☆ Airbnb will now tell you about any annoying checkout chores a host requires before you book — and take off listings that get low reviews for chore lists
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Listings can now also be rated based on chores — and will be removed if they are too extensive. From now on all checkout instructions will be available on a listing's page ahead of booking, Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, announced on Twitter. Users will also be able to provide ratings on checkout tasks, and if a listing receives enough negative feedback, it will be removed, he said. One host, for example, has changed her approach and no longer requests any tasks from visitors upon checkout. Other new features include "Airbnb Rooms," which makes it easier for guests to stay with locals in spare rooms, and an interface that helps visitors find and book longer stays.

☆ Twitter shifts course, allowing governments to post automated weather alerts and transit updates ‘for free’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Last week, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority announced it would stop posting real-time transit alerts on Twitter, citing reliability issues with Twitter’s platform and saying it does not pay tech platforms for the ability to provide the updates. In recent weeks, multiple regional accounts run by the National Weather Service have also warned followers to expect fewer weather updates in connection with Twitter’s platform changes. The changes, which took effect in March, restricted third parties from easily accessing Twitter’s application programming interface, or the technology that allows outside software to plug into Twitter’s platform. On Tuesday, Twitter’s official account for developers acknowledged the impact the company’s paywall could have on civil society. “One of the most important use cases for the Twitter API has always been public utility,” it said.

☆ Twitter appeared to suffer a new glitch during the Met Gala, logging out desktop users seemingly at random
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter appeared to suffer another outage on Monday, as users were logged out of the platform. The issue continued during the Met Gala, a typically high-traffic event as users discuss celebrity fashion. Twitter appeared to suffer another glitch on Monday, as desktop users reported being repeatedly logged out of the platform. ET – a couple hours before celebrities arrived on the red carpet for the Met Gala. In February, Twitter suffered an outage during another high-traffic event, the Super Bowl halftime show.

☆ Can Artistry Be Built Into a Machine?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Oliver Whang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One day recently, on a table in Jean Oh’s lab in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, a robot arm was busy at a canvas. Her doctoral student, Peter Schaldenbrand, stood alongside. In recent years, Mr. Schaldenbrand has led an effort to bridge the sim-to-real gap between sophisticated image-generation programs like Stable Diffusion and physical works of art like drawings and paintings. This has mainly been manifest in the project known as FRIDA, the latest iteration of which was rhythmically whirring away in a corner of the lab. The process of moving from language prompts to pixelated images to brushstrokes can be complicated, as the robot must account for “the noise of the real world,” Dr. Oh said.

☆ Meet Citadel X: The team of engineers at Ken Griffin's $57 billion hedge fund giving it a competitive edge by streamlining and designing its tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Citadel X is a team of about 20 engineers that leads user-interface design on the fund's tech tools. Citadel X leader Kristofer Baxter walked Insider through the future of UI at Citadel. Citadel X works with various engineering and investment teams across the company with a goal of making sure the hedge fund's high-powered tools are easy to use. Some Citadel X engineers are now embedded onto desk teams to learn the ins and outs of the business and build new tech for them. Ross McKay, a front-end software developer within Citadel's equities business, put his team's 30 applications into the Citadel X platform.

☆ Wall Street's most important workers you've never thought of
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

And on Wall Street, where the volume of information continues to rise, application design and user interface is taking center stage. User interface and user experience have long been underappreciated in finance, which is ironic considering the public nature of the work. Read more about Citadel X, the $57 billion hedge fund's user experience and interface team. If you're still trying to understand the collapse of yet another regional bank, we've got you covered. The German bank is building out its investment bank as it eyes a potential return of M&A, the Financial Times reports.

☆ Alibaba founder Jack Ma takes up Tokyo University visiting professorship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma has been invited to be a visiting professor at Tokyo College, a new organization run by the University of Tokyo, the university said on Monday. The appointment term for China's best-known entrepreneur finishes at the end of October, but the contract is renewable on an annual basis, the university said. At the college, Ma will be engaged in areas including advising on important research themes and giving lectures on management and business start-ups. The Tokyo College was founded in 2019 to serve as an interface between the University of Tokyo and overseas researchers and research institutions. Reporting by Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ChatGPT, Generative AI, and LLMs for Litigators
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

What are the basics litigators should know about how generative AI and LLMs work? Generative AI is a type of AI that generates new content or data in response to a prompt, or question, by a user. LLMs are an advanced form of generative AI that are the basis for generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) platforms, such as ChatGPT. What are the primary ethical pitfalls of using generative AI and LLMs, and how can litigators avoid them? What types of procedural and substantive issues are likely to arise in litigation stemming from the use of generative AI and LLMs?

☆ How to use ChatGPT to improve your Microsoft Excel skills, from identifying formulas to learning keyboard shortcuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One example is by helping with sometimes tricky programs like Microsoft Excel. One example is by using the generative AI for help with data processing programs workers often struggles with, like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. We asked ChatGPT how it can help alleviate spreadsheet woes — here's what the chatbot had to say about how it can help make your Excel experience easier. According to ChatGPT, it can assist in designing or finding a spreadsheet that fits a specific template with headings and categories already implemented. ChatGPT said it can help users integrate data into other programs, or help with importing and exporting data to an Application Programming Interface, commonly referred to as an API.

April 27 (Reuters) - As wildfire season approaches, U.S. officials along the West Coast are working hard to mitigate risks with prescribed burns, while a widespread educational campaign is underway to create buffers around fire-prone homes. In Washington state, Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Hillary Franz is working on reversing negative perceptions surrounding prescribed fires. The test fires were lit ahead of a full prescribed burn. "It's a frustrating emotional roller coaster," said Stenbeck, standing on top of Bogg's Pit, the DNR-owned land that has been the focus of a prescribed burn since late last year. "It's important that people make sure there is space between their vegetated fuel and their homes ... once we have a wildfire, embers move quickly.

☆ Opinion | The Dramatic, Comic, Tragic, True-Life Story Behind the Death of DVD.com
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Or I can allow for serendipity — movies appear in my mailbox that I barely remember adding in the first place. During the service’s glory days, you could easily sort movies by country of origin and display them in chronological order. This was well before streaming led the company to spin off DVD.com like a discarded training bra, a source of shame to what had become an entertainment behemoth. There is a cost to clinging to products and services as they shuffle off into obsolescence. It mutters out movie dialogue reluctantly, barely exceeding the swooshing sounds of the elliptical treads.

☆ Investing in Space: Relativity CEO bets on bigger rockets, A.I. capabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Morgan Brennan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While it didn't reach space, the most powerful rocket ever built marked a milestone and shined a light on a broader industry trend: building bigger rockets. Take Relativity Space, a CNBC Disruptor 50 company valued at more than $4 billion, that has emerged as the posterchild of the trend. Even Rocket Lab is busy developing a more powerful rocket than its current small launch-focused Electron. CNBC's weekly "Manifest Space" podcast focuses on the billionaires and brains behind the ever-expanding opportunities beyond our atmosphere. In "Manifest Space," sit back, relax and prepare for liftoff.

☆ EBay forecasts upbeat revenue as sneakers, refurbished items drive growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Yuvraj Malik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The upbeat results soothed investor sentiment, which was hit after eBay earlier this year said that demand weakness will persist in the first half of 2023. EBay is expanding listings under refurbished electronics, luxury bags and watches, and the collectibles category. San Jose, California-based eBay now expects June-quarter revenue in the range $2.47 billion to $2.54 billion, higher than analysts' projection of $2.43 billion, according to Refinitiv. Revenue in the most recent March quarter grew 1% to $2.51 billion, also beating analysts' estimate of $2.48 billion. EBay's shares have gained 4.6% so far this year, compared with a 13.3% rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index (.IXIC).

Google used the term 52 times on its first-quarter call on Tuesday, up from 45 in the fourth quarter. Both companies said AI was already juicing sales, but neither said when or if they would start breaking out any sales, costs, or profits from the technology. Bing has lagged Google search for decades but Nadella said that Bing downloads had jumped since the addition of AI features and now had 100 million daily users. Toyama said Google already used AI to monetize their search algorithms and he did not expect AI advances from its rivals to be as much of a threat as some thought. Meta, which has admitted it is playing catch-up in AI, has published an AI model that can pick out individual objects from within an image.

☆ Grimes says she'll split the royalties on any 'successful' AI-generated song that uses her voice
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Grimes, the electronic music producer and singer, took a stance on generative AI in music. "I'll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice," she tweeted. This 50/50 split is apparently the same deal she would ink with any other artist collaboration — robot or not. Boucher went on to essentially invite the use of her voice for AI-based musical projects, saying, "Feel free to use my voice without penalty. A business associate of Grimes didn't immediately return a request for comment; 4AD also didn't immediately comment.

☆ Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +55 min

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’ In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy. But when people say, “Fauci shut down the economy” — it wasn’t Fauci. But somehow or other, the general public didn’t get that feeling that the vulnerable are really, really heavily weighted toward the elderly. We also had a public-health system that we thought was really, really good. But it was really, really antiquated.

☆ Americans Get Nostalgic for the Cable TV Experience
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Sarah Krouse | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Andrew Rivera and his girlfriend were aimlessly scrolling through Hulu and Netflix on a recent Sunday night, overwhelmed by the variety of TV shows and movies they could watch. Channel-surf’s upAfter several minutes of decision paralysis, they gave up and opened another app: Pluto TV, a free streaming service whose interface mimics cable TV’s. They flipped through a few channels and quickly settled on an already-started episode of the British version of “Antiques Roadshow,” and eventually watched multiple episodes in a row.

☆ Data-hungry AI models could help Reddit valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Reddit’s data, as it benefits AI models, may be just the catalyst that it needs. Reddit plans to introduce a new revenue stream to supplement what it already earns from advertising. While Alphabet, say, won’t want to sell data to Microsoft, Reddit is going to be willing to create a competitive market. And on that basis, it would need to get just 40 customers to nearly double the $350 million revenue it made in 2021. It would take some mind-bending when Reddit tries sell shares to public investors.

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