Innholdsfortegnelse for #633 i Techlife News

Pope Francis on Thursday called for an international treaty to ensure artificial intelligence is developed and used ethically, arguing that the risks of technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness are too great. Francis added his voice to increasing calls for binding, global regulation of AI in his annual message for the World Day of Peace, which the Catholic Church celebrates each Jan. 1. The Vatican released the text of the message on Thursday. For Francis, the appeal is somewhat personal: Earlier this year, an AI-generated image of him wearing a luxury white puffer jacket went viral, showing just how quickly realistic deepfake imagery can spread online. The pope’s message was released just days after European Union negotiators secured provisional approval on the world’s first comprehensive AI…

Apple has consistently been at the forefront of technology, introducing innovative solutions that redefine our interaction with our devices. For example, the Mindfulness app on your Apple Watch encourages you to set aside a few minutes a day to focus, center, and connect. With iOS 17.2, the Journal app signifies a new direction in journaling and self-reflection. INTRODUCING JOURNAL First announced at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the Journal app,emerges as a pivotal feature in iOS 17.2. The app is a clear sign from Apple that it’s taking its operating systems in a new direction: digital journaling focuses on self-reflection and time optimization. This innovative approach is designed to make the iPhone a tool for communication and entertainment and a catalyst for personal growth and mindfulness. The Journal app is…

Maine environmental regulators are set to decide next week whether the state should join others in adopting California-style regulations to drastically limit the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. Supporters say the proposal before the Board of Environmental Protection on Dec. 21 simply accelerates the adoption of electric vehicles, which is already happening, and that delaying a decision would push back the standards by a year. If approved, the standards would go into effect for 2027 vehicles and would eventually require 82% of new vehicles sold to be considered zero emissions by the 2032 model year, said Jeff Crawford, director of the Bureau of Air Quality for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. A dozen states already have signed onto California’s standards for boosting electric vehicle sales and reducing traditional vehicle…

Google lost an antitrust lawsuit over barriers to its Android app store, as a federal court jury has decided that the company’s payments system was anticompetitive and damaged smartphone consumers and software developers. It’s a blow to a major pillar of Google’s technology empire. But it’s a win for Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game that brought the lawsuit — and, analysts say, for the broader game developer community. Below are some questions and answers about what the verdict means. WHY DID EPIC SUE? Epic, which is based in Cary, North Carolina, filed its lawsuit against Google three years ago, alleging that the internet search giant has been abusing its power to shield its Play Store from competition in order to protect a gold mine that…

Your Google search history for 2023 has arrived. Well, actually, the world’s. This week, the California-based tech giant released its “Year in Search,” a roundup of 2023’s top global queries, ranging from unforgettable pop culture moments (hello, Barbenheimer ), to the loss of beloved figures and tragic news carrying worldwide repercussions. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war topped news trends in 2023, per Google’s global data, followed by queries related to the Titanicbound submersible that imploded in June, as well as February’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Damar Hamlin was Google’s top trending person on search this year. A safety with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, Hamlin experienced a near-death cardiac arrest on the field during a January game, but has since completed a celebrated comeback. Actor Jeremy Renner, who survived a…

European Union negotiators clinched a deal on the world’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence rules, paving the way for legal oversight of AI technology that has promised to transform everyday life and spurred warnings of existential dangers to humanity. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 member countries overcame big differences on controversial points including generative AI and police use of face recognition surveillance to sign a tentative political agreement for the Artificial Intelligence Act. “Deal!” tweeted European Commissioner Thierry Breton just before midnight. “The EU becomes the very first continent to set clear rules for the use of AI.” The result came after marathon closed-door talks last week, with the initial session lasting 22 hours. Officials were under the gun to secure a political victory for the flagship…

Artificial intelligence went mainstream in 2023 — it was a long time coming yet has a long way to go for the technology to match people’s science fiction fantasies of human-like machines. Catalyzing a year of AI fanfare was ChatGPT. The chatbot gave the world a glimpse of recent advances in computer science even if not everyone figured out quite how it works or what to do with it. “I would call this an inflection moment,” pioneering AI scientist Fei-Fei Li said. “2023 is, in history, hopefully going to be remembered for the profound changes of the technology as well as the public awakening. It also shows how messy this technology is.” It was a year for people to figure out “what this is, how to use it, what’s the…

New York state will spend $1 billion to expand research into chip technology in Albany, the state’s capital, with the goal of turning the region into a global center of semiconductor research and manufacturing, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week. She said the investment will bolster New York’s case for federal grants under the CHIPS and Science Act, which will provide more than $52 billion for semiconductor research and manufacturing. It’s part of a long-term plan wrest control of the industry away from competitors, particularly China. “There’s a race for global domination. That’s why we’re here,” Hochul, a Democrat, said at a news conference where she was joined by chip industry leaders and both of New York’s U.S. senators. “And I’m here to announce that New York state will win…

Adam Selipsky is shepherding Amazon’s cloud unit at one of the most important moments in tech history. Selipsky, the CEO of the company’s cloud computing unit AWS, has been behind the various generative AI offerings Amazon has rolled out over the past few months as it aims to compete with Microsoft and others in the growing AI arms race. AWS is a leader in the cloud market and a deeply profitable business for Amazon. However, some of its growth has been slowing down the past few quarters, a problem attributed to customers cutting back on their spending due to challenges with the wider economy. Simultaneously, the business has been at the forefront of Amazon’s push into generative AI, which flooded the public consciousness last year with the release of OpenAI’s…

Teen usage of social media hasn’t dropped much, despite rising concerns about its effects on the mental health of adolescents, a survey from the Pew Research Institute found. But the data also found that roughly one in six teens describe their use of two platforms — YouTube and TikTok — as “almost constant.” Seventy-one percent of teens said they visit YouTube at least daily; 16% described their usage as “almost constant” according to the survey. A slightly larger group — 17% — said they used TikTok almost constantly. Those figures for Snapchat and Instagram came in at 14% and 8% respectively. YouTube remains by far the most popular social platform among teens, with 93% responding that they use the service. That number was down two percentage points from 2022. Runners-up…

More Americans are expected to fly or drive far from home over Christmas than did last year, putting a cap on a busy year for travel. Auto club AAA forecast that 115.2 million people will go 50 miles or more from home during the 10 days between Dec. 23 and New Year’s Day. That’s 2.2% more than AAA predicted during the comparable stretch last year. “That desire to get away is stronger than we have seen in a very long time,” said AAA spokeswoman Aixa Diaz. “People are willing to adjust their budgets in other areas of their life, but they want to keep traveling.” The AAA predicts that the holiday season will still fall 3% short of record travel in 2019, the last Christmas before COVID-19 hit the United…

Regulations are a double-edged sword. They’re created to improve business dealings, discourage unfair or illegal business activity, and protect workers. But, for small business owners, they often mean more red tape, higher costs and possible penalties for failing to comply. “For a small business, you have a higher cost per employee when it comes to complying with regulations than your larger business competitors,” said Tom Sullivan, vice president of small business policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Heading into 2024, there are several regulations that should be on small business owners’ radar. REGISTERING WITH FINCEN Small businesses will need to register with an agency called the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in 2024, as part of an act passed in 2021 called the Corporate Transparency Act. The act was intended…

Tesla introduced Autopilot software in October of 2015 with CEO Elon Musk heralding it as a profound experience for people. Other automakers such as Mercedes, Audi and Volvo already were offering what amounted to fancy cruise control — keeping cars in their lanes and a distance from traffic in front of it. But Musk had an innovation: Autopilot, he said, could change lanes on its own. “It will change people’s perception of the future quite drastically,” Musk said while cautioning that drivers still have to pay attention. Eight years later, U.S. auto safety regulators pressured Tesla into “recalling” nearly all the vehicles it has sold in the country because its driver monitoring system is too lax. The fix, with more alerts and limits on where the system can operate, will…

The Biden administration announced the first of many coming federal investments in computer chip production, saying this week that it would provide $35 million for BAE Systems to increase production at a New Hampshire factory making chips for military aircraft, including F-15 and F-35 jets. This would be the initial allocation of incentives from last year’s bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which provides more than $52 billion to boost the development and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States. The Commerce Department’s choice of a military contractor instead of a conventional chip manufacturer reveals the national security focus of the law, as more and more weapons systems depend on advanced chips that could be decisive in both preventing and fighting wars. “We can’t gamble with our national security by depending…

U.S. auto safety regulators say they have taken the first step toward requiring devices in vehicles that prevent drunk or impaired driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced this week that it is starting the process to put a new federal safety standard in place requiring the technology in all new passenger vehicles. Such devices were required in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed by Congress in 2021. The agency says an advance notice of proposed rule making will help it gather information about the state of technology to detect impaired driving. The regulation would set standards for the devices once technology is mature, NHTSA said in a statement. It can take years for a regulation to make its way through the process, which includes public comment periods.…