.png)
19 hours ago
12
Hello, and invited to TechScape. Sometimes it helps maine to constitute by reasoning astir however a vigor broadcaster oregon tv presenter would present the information, truthful I’m your host, Blake Montgomery. Today successful tech news: questions hover implicit the automation of labour successful the worker-strapped US healthcare system; and drones proliferate successful a caller conflict: India v Pakistan, some equipped with atomic weapons. But first, however fights implicit AI and copyright instrumentality precise antithetic shapes successful the UK and US.
‘A brazen, unprecedented powerfulness grab’
The United Kingdom is successful the throes of a statement implicit whether to compensate artists’ for the usage of their copyrighted enactment successful the instauration of generative artificial quality technology. The fracas came to caput connected Monday with a ballot successful the House of Lords that saw parliament’s precocious location request tech companies marque wide whether they person utilized copyright-protected content.
My colleagues Dan Milmo and Raphael Boyd report:
The UK authorities has suffered different setback successful the House of Lords implicit its plans to fto artificial quality firms use copyright-protected enactment without permission.
An amendment to the information measure requiring AI companies to uncover which copyrighted worldly is utilized successful their models was backed by peers, contempt authorities opposition.
The government’s copyright proposals are the taxable of a consultation owed to study backmost this year, but opponents of the plans person utilized the information measure arsenic a conveyance for registering their disapproval.
The main authorities connection is to fto AI firms usage copyright-protected enactment to physique their models without permission, unless the copyright holders awesome they bash not privation their enactment to beryllium utilized successful that process – a solution that critics accidental is impractical and unworkable.
Read the afloat communicative astir Monday’s ballot here.
Meanwhile, successful opposition to a thoughtful and robust conversation, the US is taking the other tack. Over the weekend, Donald Trump fired the caput of the US copyright office, CBS News reported. Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, was sacked aft she issued a study questioning AI companies’ increasing request for much information and casting uncertainty connected their expressed request to circumvent existent copyright laws.
In a statement, New York Democratic typical Joe Morelle pointed specifically to Trump’s booster-in-chief Elon Musk arsenic a motivator for Perlmutter’s firing: “Donald Trump’s termination of registry of copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is simply a brazen, unprecedented powerfulness drawback with nary ineligible basis. It is surely nary coincidence helium acted little than a time aft she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to excavation troves of copyrighted works to bid AI models.”
Trump’s abrupt severing of the copyright main from her occupation reminds maine of the Gordian knot. Legend has it that Alexander the Great was presented with a knot successful a enactment tying a cart to a stake. So analyzable were its twistings that nary antheral had been capable to untie it of the hundreds who had tried. Alexander silently drew his sword and sliced the knot successful two. The communicative is 1 of a large antheral demonstrating the ingenuity that would pb him to conquer the world. Alexander did lick the riddle. He besides defeated its purpose. The cart is near with nary anchor. Perhaps the riddle had taken connected much value than the archetypal occupation of keeping the cart successful place, but that is simply a question for different day.
Trump whitethorn person chopped done immoderate thorny ineligible questions the copyright bureau had raised, but the vacuum astatine the caput of the US’s copyright authorization means that richer and better-connected players volition tally roughshod implicit copyright instrumentality successful the people of their business. That whitethorn beryllium what the president wants. The much almighty players successful lawsuits implicit AI and copyright are undoubtedly the good capitalized AI companies, arsenic overmuch arsenic I privation artists to beryllium paid successful abundance for their creativity. These tech companies person cozied up to Trump successful an effort to guarantee a friendlier regulatory environment, which seems to beryllium moving if the firing of the copyright main is immoderate evidence. Lawsuits implicit however overmuch AI companies beryllium artists and publishers for their surreptitious usage of copyrighted worldly with an avowed deficiency of support inactive abound, and some plaintiffs and defendants volition beryllium taking their cues from the US copyright office.
Trump sells entree connected the blockchain
My workfellow Nick Robins-Early reports connected a sweepstakes enactment connected by Trump promising face-time with the president to holders of his cryptocurrency:
On Monday, the apical 220 buyers of a Donald Trump-sponsored cryptocurrency won entree to an exclusive meal with the president arsenic a reward for pouring wealth into the coin. It was the culmination of Trump’s weekslong promotion of the contest, which has drawn allegations that helium is utilizing his presumption to enrich his household concern portion opening himself up to overseas influence.
The cryptocurrency, called $TRUMP, was created successful mid-January and boasts a marketplace capitalization of implicit $2bn aft months of investors buying into the heavy promoted coin. A Trump family-linked institution and different steadfast ain a bulk of the coins, according to Reuters.
“Congratulations, if you’re successful the apical 220 connected the leaderboard we volition beryllium contacting you successful the adjacent 24 hours. Check your inbox (and spam folder) and expect a telephone telephone for the Trump Official Dinner invitation and details,” the $TRUMP website announced mid-day Monday. “President Trump volition spot YOU connected May 22 astatine the Gala Dinner successful Washington D.C.”
Trump’s crypto endeavor has drawn disapproval from Democrats, morals watchdogs and the Securities and Exchange Commission implicit conflicts of involvement and allegations of corruption. The contention to dine with the president has intensified those concerns arsenic it creates what is fundamentally a bidding warfare for nonstop entree to the president.
Drones proliferate on the borderline betwixt India and Pakistan
Though India and Pakistan person reached a tenuous ceasefire, the 4 days of unfastened struggle betwixt the 2 hostile neighbors offered yet different lawsuit of a improvement that has accelerated successful caller years: drones present play a cardinal portion successful modern warfare.
after newsletter promotion
The New York Times reports that India accused Pakistan of utilizing drones made by Turkey for its attacks; Pakistan alleged India mobilized Israeli drones, though neither could beryllium verified. Indian subject officials claimed that Pakistan had sent betwixt 300 to 400 drones connected the violative astatine 36 locations connected the nighttime of 8 May. Pakistan said it had changeable down immoderate 70 drones flown from India.
“Drones” refers to 2 things that are related but precise different: tiny quadcopters operated by distant power and overmuch larger semi-autonomous aerial vehicles operated from subject bid centers. It is an unfortunate quirk of English, successful my opinion. In India and Pakistan, arsenic good arsenic successful Ukraine and Myanmar, the smaller unmanned craft person go a mainstay weapon.
The warfare betwixt Ukraine and Russia has demonstrated however wide drones person proliferated. Explosive quadcopters, equipped with first-person presumption and functioning arsenic aerial improvised explosive devices, person carried retired immoderate of the astir melodramatic attacks of the conflict, including a bombing of the Kremlin itself successful May 2023. One adept summarized the improvement to the Guardian earlier this twelvemonth by describing drones arsenic evolving from “a novelty successful 2022, to 1 of the weapons of prime successful 2023, to roaming the full tactical space”.
Can the US automate its mode retired of a shortage of healthcare workers?
One of the large fears of our property is that machines volition regenerate our jobs en masse, leaving the quality workforce successful the lurch. The Guardian published a communicative implicit the play astir Zing, a robot that dispenses methadone, a cause utilized successful attraction for the opioid addiction that has dispersed done the veins of the US successful caller decades. Beneath the communicative of innovation runs an undercurrent: wherever bash we gully the enactment betwixt automation that offers genuine assistance to workers and profiteering penchant for robot labour implicit humans?
Read the afloat communicative astir drug-dealing robots here.
The communicative published 1 time earlier Walgreens announced it would grow the services of its “micro-fulfillment centers” – hubs wherever prescription-dispensing robots number and bundle medications for chronic wellness conditions for the company’s pharmacies, CNBC reports. Already, these automated centers grip astir 16m prescriptions each month, 40% of prescriptions served by Walgreens, according to the company. The institution plans to up the fig of stores that trust connected these centers from 4,800 successful February to 5,000 by the extremity of the year. Walgreens says the displacement to automated labor, begun successful 2021, is already producing fiscal results, immoderate $500m successful outgo savings implicit the past 4 years.
Pharmacy techs endure from akin issues arsenic methadone-dispensing nurses – debased pay, aggravated pressure, and precocious turnover rates – but astatine a overmuch wider scale. Walgreens is simply a monolithic conglomerate of immoderate 12,500 stores crossed the US, Europe and Latin America worthy astir $9.7bn; it employs 312,000 people, per its website.
In 2023, Walgreens’ pharmacy workers staged walkouts crossed the US to protestation their moving conditions. Chief among their concerns: chronic understaffing and burnout among the workers who chose to stay. They called the protests “Pharmageddon”.
Walgreens whitethorn prosecute less pharmacy workers due to the fact that it has automated their labour and outsourced it to a micro-fulfilment center. But it seems arsenic imaginable based connected what pharmacy workers accidental that those jobs were going unfilled to statesman with, starring to unsafe moving conditions. Automated labour whitethorn capable the spread near by the labour shortage. The aforesaid dynamic whitethorn play retired astatine methadone clinics crossed the United States.
Already, Walgreens firm says its automated labour is helping alleviate the problems workers look and allowing unit to walk much clip interacting with patients successful person. Among the stats: a 40% summation successful vaccine dispensations, which are performed person-to-person, astatine pharmacies served by its automated medicine system.
Read much astir the automation of labour successful a antithetic arena: Amazon warehouses here.
English (US) ·