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"How Big Tech funds the debate on AI ethics"
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019

*How Big Tech funds the debate on AI ethics* /The Silicon Valley giants are spending billions developing AI, but they are also funding the people setting the technology’s most fundamental principles.// / By Oscar Williams 6 June 2019 Most people are unaware of the extent to which algorithms already make life-changing decisions on their behalf. Software can diagnose illnesses, shortlist you for a job interview or assess whether you should be granted parole. As machine learning and artificial intelligence become more sophisticated, automated decision-making will become ever more influential, and the rules that underpin these decisions may one day have as much effect on daily life as the laws of nation states. But while elected governments draw up legislation in public, the technology industry is spending millions of pounds quietly attempting to shape the ethical debate about the decisions machines make. Spotlight and NS Tech have spent the past two months investigating the role that the industry plays in supporting British research into AI ethics. Data obtained under freedom of information laws reveals that Google has spent millions of pounds funding research at British universities over the last five years. Oxford University alone has received at least £17m from Google. The search giant, whose parent company was worth more than $750bn at the time of going to print, has been fined €8.24bn over the last two years by the European Commission for its business practices. The French data protection authority fined the company a further €50m in January, and in the UK the Information Commissioner’s Office is currently investigating claims that the company has breached EU data laws. While much of the funding provided to Oxford goes towards technical research, Google and DeepMind – a British AI company wholly owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet – have also supported work at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) exploring the ethics of AI, the civic responsibilities of tech firms and research into the auditing and transparency of automated decision-making (ADM). [...] Continua qui: https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/technology/2019/06/how-big-tech-f…

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To regulate ‘Big Tech,’ we need prudence, not politics - The Washington Post
by Alberto Cammozzo June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/06/regulate-big-tech-we-nee…> What changed over the weekend? Last week, the American public was generally unprepared for state-actor attacks on our cyber infrastructure. Indeed, many Americans were generally unaware that such threats exist, even though these threats could potentially be more destructive to the country than Sept. 11, 2001, or Pearl Harbor. Last week, U.S. social media — indeed, worldwide social media — remained open to manipulation by malign agents of disinformation. We are still defended by only the thinnest of lines at the Pentagon and within the law enforcement and intelligence communities. Last week, our tech titans were a largely unregulated group. If not exactly indifferent to the growing consensus that these members of “Big Tech” are achieving dangerous concentrations of power and wealth, then at best the companies moved at a snail’s pace to convince the public of their good and fair intentions and thus cut off ham-handed and outdated regulation. Then, on Monday, reports confirmed that the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and the House Judiciary Committee were launching almost simultaneous offensives against everything represented by the term “FAANG” — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. (Disclosure: I own only Amazon stock, and The Post is owned by Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos. My views on this issue long predate either purchase.) Neither investors nor consumers should be amused. There isn’t any indication that any of the would-be regulators have the background to assess the new issues set or, crucially, even care much about the national security implications of either our collective defenses or lack of export controls on our technologies. No notice. No public discussion. Just a bum’s rush to regulate. Slow down. I’ve argued for a new regulatory regime for Big Tech for years: to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House GOP leaders, to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and national security adviser John Bolton, and to many others in both houses of Congress. About the only thing Hillary Clinton and I agreed on in our long on-air conversation following the publication of her campaign memoir was the need for everyone to read a different book (“World Without Mind,” by Franklin Foer) on the dangers of the new age of artificial intelligence. I don’t need to be convinced that there are risks as enormous as an unregulated Manhattan Project out there in the wilds of Big Tech. [...]

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Nexa Newsletter #2/2019
by Nexa Media June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019

Nexa Newsletter (Optional) This text will appear in the inbox preview, but not the email body. It can be used to supplement the email subject line or even summarize the email's contents. Extended text preheaders (~490 characters) seems like a better UX for anyone using a screenreader or voice-command apps like Siri to dictate the contents of an email. If this text is not included, email clients will automatically populate it using the text (including image alt text) at the start of the email's body. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ alt_text NEXA NEWSLETTER #2/2019 <https://www.facebook.com/nexa.center> <https://twitter.com/nexacenter> <https://www.youtube.com/user/NexaCenter> NEXA CITY Nexa City on line A partire da giugno è ufficialmente on line il progetto Nexa City. Un ambiente multimediale che rappresenta un punto di accesso privilegiato per scoprire le ricerche condotte dal Centro Nexa intorno ai temi del digitale e ai suoi molteplici riflessi sulla società. Nexa City è un reticolo di luoghi simbolici che sono espressione plastica di temi, riflessioni, questioni aperte che interrogano con spirito critico il presente e la nostra quotidianità. Abbiamo chiesto ad Antonio Santangelo, semiologo e Direttore esecutivo del Centro Nexa, una breve intervista di presentazione. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: Nexa City <https://nexacity.org/>. InterviewSantangelo <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af67Un8LIzg> *WATCH: Intervista con Antonio Santangelo* COMUNITÀ alt_text Il Centro Nexa annuncia tre nuovi membri del Comitato dei Garanti Il Centro Nexa annuncia tre nuovi prestigiosi membri del Comitato dei Garanti <http://nexa.polito.it/trustees>, l'organo che valuta le attività, formula raccomandazioni e vigila sull'indipendenza e sull'autorevolezza del Centro. Si tratta di *Francesca Bria*, esperta di strategie digitali, Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer per la città di Barcellona, coordinatrice del progetto europeo “Decode”; *Sandra Cortesi*, fellow presso il Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society dell'Università di Harvard, dove dirige il progetto “Youth and Media”, gestendo anche la collaborazione tra il Berkman Klein Center e l’UNICEF; *Ugo Pagallo*, Professore ordinario di Filosofia del Diritto presso il Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza dell’Università di Torino, esperto riconosciuto a livello internazionale, collaboratore del Centro Nexa fin dalla fondazione, autore di numerose pubblicazioni su temi che spaziano dalla teoria delle reti all’Intelligenza Artificiale, dalla teoria generale del diritto all’etica dell’informazione. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/garanti-maggio-2019 < https://nexa.polito.it/garanti-maggio-2019 >. *francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>* #nexatrustees <https://twitter.com/nexacenter/status/1129008156191989760> alt_text Primo EduHackathon a Logroño Il 15 maggio 2019, presso il Riojaforum <https://riojaforum.com/> di Logroño in Spagna, si è svolto il primo EduHackathon del progetto Edu-Hack <https://eduhack.eu/>. Punto di arrivo del percorso pilota organizzato dall’Universidad Internacional de La Rioja <https://en.unir.net/> (UNIR), l’evento ha visto protagonisti 22 docenti di diverse discipline (ingegneri, storici, letterati, giuristi, ecc.) che hanno lavorato insieme su 4 idee per lo sviluppo di approcci e strumenti digitali in grado di migliorare la loro attività quotidiana di insegnamento. Tra le idee discusse durante la giornata, fortemente improntata al confronto e al lavoro pratico, da segnalare un focus specifico sul tema della gamification e delle pratiche di co-creazione collaborativa studenti-docenti. Le idee sviluppate durante il primo EduHackathon, grazie anche al supporto del team UNIR iTED, saranno ora ulteriormente affinate dai partecipanti all’evento, con l'obiettivo di fare dell’EduHackathon uno strumento ricorrente nelle pratiche didattiche dell’Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR). Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://eduhack.eu/ < https://eduhack.eu/ >. *mattia.plazio(a)polito.it <mailto:mattia.plazio@polito.it>* #eduhack <https://twitter.com/nexacenter/status/1110933759350788096> PUBBLICAZIONI alt_text Linee guida per la misurazione della qualità dei dati Lo scorso 7.5.2019 l’UNI <http://www.uni.com/index.html> (ente italiano di normazione) ha pubblicato la traduzione in lingua inglese di “Linee guida per la misurazione della qualità dei dati” (UNI/TS 11725:2018). I lavori sono stati condotti dalla Commissione Tecnica UNINFO 504 - Ingegneria del Software, a cui partecipano per il Politecnico di Torino Antonio Vetrò e il Prof. Marco Torchiano (Fellow Centro Nexa). Visitate la seguente pagina <https://www.uninfo.it/index_pages/partecipare/aree/category/ingegneria-del-…> per seguire le attività della Commissione Tecnica UNINFO su Ingegneria del Software. *antonio.vetro(a)polito.it <mailto:antonio.vetro@polito.it>* #normeUNI <https://twitter.com/normeUNI> DIDATTICA alt_text Nexa Summer School - AI: towards a critical utopia Il tema della prima edizione della Nexa Summer School è l'Intelligenza Artificiale, osservata dal punto di vista dell'"utopia critica", ossia quello di una tecnologia antropocentrica, consapevole dei pericoli che può assumere, se sviluppata nella direzione errata. Dentro questa prospettiva, necessariamente interdisciplinare, convergeranno le riflessioni di ingegneri, filosofi, filosofi, scienziati sociali, economisti e giuristi. La Summer School è il naturale sviluppo di un corso per dottorandi denominato Topics in Internet & Society Interdisciplinary Studies <https://nexa.polito.it/2017/06/doctoral-course>, tenuto in passato presso il Politecnico di Torino, in collaborazione con il Centro Nexa ed il Board of Trustees, che quest'anno avrà luogo il 29 giugno. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/nexa-summer-school-2019. *francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>* #nexasummerschool <https://twitter.com/nexacenter/status/1136282521061269510> CONFERENZE E SEMINARI alt_text Focus on Open Science Il 7.5.2019 Antonio Vetrò è intervenuto alla conferenza “Focus on Open Science - Chapter XIII Turin” con la presentazione “Broad Research Data Commons: the example of the Digital Open Urban Twin at the Future Urban Legacy Lab”. Il programma e report finale della conferenze, le slide delle presentazioni dei relatori e altre informazioni sono disponibili all’indirizzo: https://www.focusopenscience.org/book/19turin/. *antonio.vetro(a)polito.it <mailto:antonio.vetro@polito.it>* #openscience <https://twitter.com/hashtag/openscience?src=hash> #vetrò <https://twitter.com/phisaz> alt_text Trasformazioni tecnologiche, sorveglianza, diritto e diritti Marco Conoscenti ha partecipato come relatore al convegno “Trasformazioni tecnologiche, sorveglianza, diritto e diritti <https://www.carloalberto.org/event/trasformazioni-tecnologiche-sorveglianza…>”, tenutosi il 30 Maggio presso il Collegio Carlo Alberto di Torino. Nel suo intervento ha illustrato le caratteristiche tecniche di Bitcoin e della blockchain, sfatando alcuni dei miti che si sono creati attorno a questa tecnologia. *marco.conoscenti(a)polito.it <mailto:marco.conoscenti@polito.it>* #marcoconoscenti <https://twitter.com/MarConoscenti> alt_text 32nd Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence Elena Beretta è intervenuta alla conferenza “32nd Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence <https://www.caiac.ca/en/conferences/canadianai-2019/home>”, dove ha presentato l’articolo “The invisible power of fairness. How machine learning shapes democracy <https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.09493>”. Il programma della conferenza e i proceedings, scaricabili gratuitamente fino al 22 giugno, sono disponibili ai seguenti indirizzi: https://www.caiac.ca/en/conferences/canadianai-2019/home e https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-18305-9 *elena.beretta(a)polito.it <mailto:elena.beretta@polito.it>* #elenaberetta <https://twitter.com/ElenaBeretta4> alt_text 119° Mercoledì di Nexa In occasione del seminario, Chiara Ravazzi ha affrontato il problema di stima dell’attaccamento degli individui al proprio gruppo ideologico e della influenza di gruppi ideologici concorrenti, presentando i risultati di una analisi condotta congiuntamente dal Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche e Politecnico di Torino nel contesto del Senato Italiano. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi-119. *francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>* #nexawednesday <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nexawednesday&src=typd> alt_text 69° Nexa Lunch Seminar Di fronte alle sfide della rivoluzione digitale Don Luca Peyron ha condotto una riflessione a partire dal concetto di "infosfera", allo scopo di individuare intersezioni tra discipline diverse come la teologia, la filosofia e le tradizionali discipline che associamo al digitale. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-69. *francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>* #nexalunchseminar <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nexalunchseminar&src=typd> NEXT alt_text 120° Mercoledì di Nexa Il seminario, tenuto dal Prof. Vincenzo Maria Bruno Giorgino, affronterà il tema delle smart cities e nelle forme possibili per co-progettare il commoning per un ecosistema urbano saggio e intelligente, creando un dialogo tra prassi radicali e scienze sociali, oltre i confini disciplinari. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi-120. *francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>* #nexawednesday <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nexawednesday&src=typd> #smartcities <https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23smartcities> alt_text 70° Nexa Lunch Seminar L'incontro, condotto a Chiara Iacovone, intende analizzare l'economia di Airbnb, svelando fenomeni nascosti quali le dinamiche di polarizzazione in corso della società, e interpretando quindi la piattaforma di Airbnb come un indicatore del disagio sociale e della precarietà piuttosto che dell'innovazione. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-70. *francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>* #nexalunchseminar <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nexalunchseminar&src=typd> #chiaraiacovone <https://twitter.com/chiara_iacovone> NEWS Pa, al via l’obbligo di pubblicare in open source tutto il proprio codice Con la pubblicazione in Gazzetta ufficiale è al via l'obbligo per le Pubbliche amministrazioni di pubblicare in open source tutto il proprio codice e di valutare software già esistente prima di realizzarne di nuovo. Le norme italiane sono tra le più avanzate d'Europa in materia di open source. Finora però non hanno funzionato a dovere. Leggi l'articolo <https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/tecnologie/2019-05-20/pa-via-l-obbligo-pubb…> Vai alla discussione in lista Nexa <https://server-nexa.polito.it/pipermail/nexa/2019-May/015359.html> High-tech Estonia votes online for European Parliament L'Estonia, dopo essere stata paralizzata dai cyber attacchi sulle reti governative in occasione di una controversia con la Russia nel 2007, oggi è l'unico Paese al mondo a consentire il voto via Internet per l'intero elettorato, in ogni elezione. Leggi l'articolo <https://www.apnews.com/3feb42f649de47788c5bf45a27a6cba5> Vai alla discussione in lista Nexa <https://server-nexa.polito.it/pipermail/nexa/2019-May/015327.html> The Tragedy of "the Tragedy of the Commons" Cinquant'anni fa, il professor Garrett Hardin dell'Università della California ha pubblicato un saggio influente sulla rivista "Science". Hardin ha rappresentato tutti gli esseri umani come pastori egoisti: una condizione capace di generare un circolo vizioso che lo stesso Hardin ha descritto nei termini di "the Tragedy of the Commons". Leggi l'articolo <https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/the-tragedy-of-the-tragedy-of-t…> Vai alla discussione in lista Nexa <https://server-nexa.polito.it/pipermail/nexa/2019-April/015004.html> See our events calendar <http://nexa.polito.it/events> if you're curious about future luncheons, discussions, lectures, and conferences not listed in this email. Our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Sign up <http://nexa.polito.it/mailing-lists> to receive this newsletter if this email was forwarded to you. To manage your subscription preferences, please click here <https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa>. Connect & get involved: Jobs, internships, and more <https://nexa.polito.it/get-involved> For more information visit https://nexa.polito.it/ Nexa Center for Internet & Society Via Pier Carlo Boggio 65/A, 10138 Torino, Italia Ph. +39 011 090 7217 | Fax +39 011 0907216 email: info [at] nexa [dot] polito [dot] it unsubscribe <https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa>

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Training a single AI model can emit as much carbon as five cars in their lifetimes - MIT Technology Review
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613630/training-a-single-ai-model-can-em… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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German security agencies want access to home devices
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 6, 2019

June 6, 2019

https://www.ft.com/content/ad765972-87a2-11e9-a028-86cea8523dc2 (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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[CFP] Studying Information Deviances - "Truth" and "Conspiracy" in the Digital Age
by Baptiste Kotras June 6, 2019

June 6, 2019

Dear colleagues, Please find attached a call for papers for a special issue of RESET – Social Science Research on the Internet , entitled “Studying Information Deviances: ‘Truth’ and ‘Conspiracy’ in the Digital Age”, coordinated by Henri Boullier (IRIS/INSERM), Baptiste Kotras (LISIS/Paris-Est University) and Ignacio Siles (CICOM/University of Costa Rica). Paper proposals ( maximum 500 words , excluding bibliography), in French or English , must be sent to the following addresses before 10 September 2019: RESET Journal [ mailto:reset@openedition.org | reset(a)openedition.org ] Henri Boullier [ mailto:h.boullier@gmail.com | h.boullier(a)gmail.com ] Baptiste Kotras [ mailto:bkotras@gmail.com | bkotras(a)gmail.com ] Ignacio Siles [ mailto:isiles@gmail.com | isiles(a)gmail.com ] Notifications of acceptance will be given no later than 30 September 2019 . Successful authors must submit their papers by November 30, 2019. Link to the call for papers: [ https://journals.openedition.org/reset/1478 | https://journals.openedition.org/reset/1478 ] Best regards, The issue coordinators -- Baptiste KOTRAS Chercheur postdoc au LISIS Postdoctoral researcher at LISIS IFRIS / Université Paris-Est

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New Evidence Suggests Satoshi Nakamoto Is Paul Solotshi, The Creator of Encryption Software E4M and TrueCrypt
by Alberto Cammozzo June 6, 2019

June 6, 2019

<https://www.investinblockchain.com/new-evidence-suggests-satoshi-nakamoto-i…> Paul Solotshi Calder Le Roux, a 46-year old criminal mastermind, is the creator of encryption software E4M and TrueCrypt (the cryptography encryption software Satoshi Nakamoto likely used to lock up his 1 million BTC), and author of an uncannily similar manifesto to the one in Bitcoin’s whitepaper in 1998. But that’s not all: Paul Solotshi Calder Le Roux employs similar spelling and language in his writing style to that of Satoshi. He’s interested in gambling (Bitcoin’s initial code had a poker client included), and what’s more, he’s been in jail since 2012 – that’s probably the reason why his 1 million Bitcoin hasn’t moved. On top of that, the documents included in this article show a connection of Craig Wright to Paul Solotshi. Sound like a 007 movie? Let’s start from the beginning: The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous and enigmatic creator of Bitcoin (BTC) is perhaps the most enduring mysteries of modern times. It’s long been speculated as to who he, she, or they are, but to no avail — the long-standing mystery remains. There have been a number of theories and candidates as to who Nakamoto really is, some of whom are even self-nominated like Craig Wright, the man known as Faketoshi for his bold claims. Wright has courted controversy by claiming to be the creator of Bitcoin, which has led to multiple lawsuits and court hearings. One such court case, Kleiman v. Wright, has surfaced new evidence (in the form of a Wikipedia page which was not redacted), which, oddly enough, points to a new Satoshi candidate… and it’s not Wright. Who’s the New Satoshi Nakamoto Candidate? Image Source: https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-evan-ratliff-elaine-shannon-paul-ler… The newfound Satoshi candidate is Paul Solotshi Calder Le Roux, a 46-year old former cartel boss, drug smuggler, arms dealer, informant to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and genius programmer. As seen from Le Roux’s Wikipedia page, the man lived an eventful life with a career that included gold smuggling, precious metals mining, logging, land deals, drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, assassinations, encryption software development, and more. Also stated on Le Roux’s Wikipedia page: “Le Roux is currently in US custody for ordering the assassinations of six people.” Some readers may already be familiar with Le Roux’s life story, as it was presented in a series on Atavist along with a book titled “The Mastermind.” An excerpt summarizing the publications states: “He was a brilliant programmer and a vicious cartel boss, who became a prized U.S. government asset.” Paul in his early 20’s Image Source: https://magazine.atavist.com/he-always-had-a-dark-side Apart from Le Roux’s life as a cartel boss, he was also a brilliant programmer who created E4M, an open-source free Windows disk encryption software program, in 1999. As well, he is also suspected to be the creator of the open-source TrueCrypt disk cryptography package, which is based on E4M’s code. How did a man of this nature, with an extensive criminal background and some impressive programming contributions under his belt, come to be tied to Craig Wright’s court case and suspected to be Satoshi Nakamoto? [...]

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Poland has filed a complaint against the European Union’s copyright directive - The Verge
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 6, 2019

June 6, 2019

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/25/18639963/poland-european-union-copyright… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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France Bans Judge Analytics, 5 Years In Prison For Rule Breakers – Artificial Lawyer
by Matteo Flora June 6, 2019

June 6, 2019

France Bans Judge Analytics, 5 Years In Prison For Rule Breakers – Artificial Lawyer https://www.artificiallawyer.com/2019/06/04/france-bans-judge-analytics-5-y…

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New York's Privacy Bill Is Even Bolder Than California's
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 5, 2019

June 5, 2019

https://www.wired.com/story/new-york-privacy-act-bolder/ (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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