Facebook’s AI is still largely baffled by covid misinformation

The chaos of covid-19 testing data in the US

The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 05.13.20 Good morning! Today: Facebook's AI still confused by covid misinformation, and we explore the chaos of coronavirus testing data in the US. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Facebook’s AI is still largely baffled by covid misinformation   The news: Facebook has set out the updates it has made to its AI systems for detecting hate speech and disinformation. The tech giant says 88.8% of all the hate speech it removed this quarter was detected by AI, up from 80.2% in the previous quarter. The AI can remove content automatically if the system has high confidence that it is hate speech, but most is still checked by a human being first. Behind the scenes: The improvement is largely driven by two updates to Facebook’s AI systems. First, the company is now using massive natural-language models that can better decipher the nuance and meaning of a post. The second update is that Facebook’s systems can now analyze content that consists of images and text combined, such as hateful memes.  Covid lies: Despite these updates, however, AI hasn’t played as big a role in handling the surge of coronavirus misinformation, such as conspiracy theories about the virus’s origin and fake news of cures. Facebook has instead relied primarily on human reviewers at over 60 partner fact-checking organizations.  Why it matters: The challenge reveals the limitations of AI-based content moderation. Such systems can detect content similar to what they’ve seen before, but they founder when new kinds of misinformation appear. In recent years, Facebook has invested heavily in developing AI systems that can adapt more quickly, but the problem is not just the company’s: it remains one of the biggest research challenges in the field. —Karen Hao Radio Corona, May 14: The chaos of covid-19 testing data in the US Tune in at 4.30pm ET tomorrow for the latest episode of Radio Corona, which will explore why the US has no idea how to manage all the testing data it’s collecting.  Last week, reporter Neel Patel wrote about how the US's decentralized public health system means there are no common standards for reporting testing data. That could create chaos in attempts to fight the pandemic, especially when it comes to making decisions about when and how to ease lockdown restrictions. On Radio Corona, Gideon Lichfield, editor-in-chief of MIT Technology Review, will discuss the problem of testing data and how it might be fixed with Neel and one of his sources—Erich Huang, assistant dean of bioinformatics at Duke University. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Bask in the beauty of the baobab tree.   + Watch the gripping tale of Lily’s big walk.   + Hamilton is coming to Disney+ just in time for the Fourth of July.   + David Lynch is reading weather reports. Surreal yet somehow comforting.   + Houseparty is hosting a festival this weekend with music, workouts, cooking, and dancing.  The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Be wary of the “R” value A single headline figure can mask a whole lot of complexity. (Unherd)   + This is something Germany is learning first-hand. (NYT $) 2 How Hong Kong managed to prevent a big coronavirus outbreak It’s mostly down to its citizens, and the history of organizing from the protest movement last year. (The Atlantic) 3 Bluetooth might not work well enough for contact tracing  The signal strength can vary hugely depending on where the phone is and how it’s being used. (New Scientist $)   + Bluetooth contact tracing needs bigger, better data. (TR)   + A flood of coronavirus apps are tracking us. Now it's time to keep track of them. (TR)   + India’s contact tracing app now has over 100 million users. (TechCrunch) 4 Facebook will pay $52 million to settle with moderators who developed PTSD It’s over $1,000 each, but only covers cases in the US since 2015. (The Verge)   + Half of all moderators could develop mental health issues. (The Verge) 5 Twitter will now let employees work from home forever It’s the first big tech company to implement this policy. (Buzzfeed)   + Apple is going the opposite way. It’s expecting staff to return to offices soon. (Bloomberg)   + Manhattan could be in trouble if working from home becomes the norm. (NYT $) 6 Who should be first in line for a coronavirus vaccine? 💉 There are no “good” answers to this question. (Wired $)   + An “America First” approach may disadvantage the country in the hunt for a vaccine. (The Guardian) 7 This was meant to be the year self-driving cars hit the big time 🚗 Hahahahaha. (NYT $) 8 Face masks present a major problem for deaf people You can’t lip-read through them. (Slate) 9 South Africa is using anti-poaching software to track covid-19 infections Seems a smart bit of repurposing. (Scientific American) 10 Millions of people are pretending to be ants online 🐜 Hey, if it helps, it helps. (NBC) Our essential coronavirus/covid-19 outbreak coverage is available for free. But please consider purchasing a subscription to MIT Technology Review. It's the support of readers like you that make this work possible. Quote of the day “There was no way of monitoring Marcus. Because he was way more clever than any of us were ever going to be.” —Janet Hutchins, mother of Marcus Hutchins, the hacker who single-handedly stopped the devastating WannaCry attack, tells Wired what he was like growing up. Top image credit: Eric Risberg | AP Please send ants to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free Technologies driving business Virtual conference, June 8–10 *View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog  subscribed with your email address *Edit email preferences   |   *Unsubscribe from all emails Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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