Awesome, not awesome.
#Awesome
“The district attorneys for Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties have teamed up with Code for America to help them clear around 54,000 marijuana convictions. The nonprofit’s algorithm will aid prosecutors by automatically evaluating whether a case is eligible for dismissal or resentencing. The two counties have been working with Code for America since July to examine marijuana conviction data, as automating the process should help them clear cases much more quickly than through entirely manual processes. There are an estimated 50,000 eligible cases in Los Angeles County and 4,000 in San Joaquin County. Code for America’s Clear My Record system also helped San Francisco clear more than 8,000 marijuana convictions.” — Kris Holt, Writer Learn More from engadget >
#Not Awesome
“…A lot of what is most concerning is not happening in broad daylight,” he said. “It’s happening in military labs, in security organizations, in private companies providing services to governments or the police… Even models and ideas invented with good intentions can be subverted by a bad actor, he said. “The dangers of abuse, especially by authoritarian governments, are very real. Essentially, AI is a tool that can be used by those in power to keep that power, and to increase it.” So it is not enough for one organization or government to promise ethical use or abide by best practices. The next one (or the next leader in the same one) may not…” — Devin Coldewey, Writer Learn More from TechCrunch >
What we’re reading.
1/ Facebook algorithmically reinforces stereotypes by targeted ads with certain content to certain groups of people — even when the advertiser does not give it instructions to do so. Learn More from The Intercept >
2/ The Trump administration joins a group of nations working to create a shared global standards around the use of artificial intelligence. Learn More from The New York Times >
3/ Machine learning-based products are so woven into the fabric of our daily lives — from the shows we watch to the routes we take home — that we need to demand they be designed with “intention and skill.” Learn More from Big Medium >
4/ Machine learning has been so poorly deployed in the judicial system so far that our society will face major issues if it’s adopted by more courts at this point in time. Learn More from Palladium >
5/ Google cancelled its AI ethics board after about just a week because employees called for removal of members who denied climate change and supported building AI tools for the military. Learn More from MIT Technology Review >
6/ Major universities are redesigning their curriculum specifically to ensure that students graduate with skills that will make them difficult to replace with automation. Learn More from Axios >
7/ AI Researchers are pissed at Amazon for selling facial recognition software to police with “with higher error rates for darker-skinned and female faces” because it has the potential to deepen discrimination. Learn More from The Verge >
What we’re building.
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Links from the community.
“Machine learning is making pesto even more delicious” submitted by Avi Eisenberger (@aeisenberger). Learn More from MIT Technology Review >
“IVF Often Doesn’t Work. Could an Algorithm Help?” submitted by Samiur Rahman (@samiur1204). Learn More from The Wall Street Journal >
“For the Successful Future of AI, We Need More Female Leaders” by Rudradeb Mitra Learn More from Noteworthy >
“Building a startup is a machine learning problem” by Jeremie Harris Learn More from Noteworthy >
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Marijuana and AI was originally published in Machine Learnings on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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