Inside the fight to reclaim AI from Big Tech’s control

Anti-vaxxers are weaponizing Yelp to punish bars that require vaccine proof 

Sponsored by HPEHewlett Packard Enterprise The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology An AI power struggle 06.13.21 Good morning! Today: the researchers fighting to wrestle AI development back from Big Tech's control, and anti-vaxxers are weaponizing online reviews to punish bars that ask for vaccine proof. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Inside the fight to reclaim AI from Big Tech’s control    Timnit Gebru never thought a scientific paper would cause her so much trouble.  Gebru wanted to identify the risks posed by large language models, one of the most stunning recent breakthroughs in AI research. The models are algorithms trained on staggering amounts of text. Under the right conditions, they can compose what look like convincing passages of prose. Gebru worried about how fast the technology was being deployed. In the paper she wound up writing with six others, she detailed the possible dangers. The models were enormously costly to create—both environmentally and financially; they were often trained on the toxic and abusive language of the internet; and they’d come to dominate research in language AI, elbowing out promising alternatives.  That November, Gebru submitted the paper to a conference. Soon after, Google executives asked her to retract it, and when she refused, they fired her. Two months later, they also fired her coauthor Margaret Mitchell, the other leader of the ethical AI team. The dismantling of that team sparked one of the largest controversies within the AI world in recent memory. Defenders of Google argued that the company has the right to supervise its own researchers. But for many others, it solidified fears about the degree of control that tech giants now have over the field. It’s this situation that Gebru and a growing movement of like-minded scholars want to change. Over the last five years, they’ve sought to shift the field’s priorities away from simply enriching tech companies, by expanding who gets to participate in developing the technology. Their goal is not only to mitigate the harms caused by existing systems but to create a new, more equitable and democratic AI. Read the full story. —Karen Hao To read this full story, taken from our upcoming print magazine, you'll need to subscribe. Plans start at just $50 a year—which is honestly a steal for what you get in return. Anti-vaxxers are weaponizing Yelp to punish bars that require vaccine proof A targeted attack: On the first hot weekend of the summer, Richard Knapp put up a sign outside Mother’s Ruin, a bar tucked in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. It had two arrows: one pointing vaccinated people indoors, another pointing unvaccinated people outdoors. An Instagram post showing the sign quickly went viral among European anti-vaxxers on Reddit. Soon, his bar started receiving multiple one-star reviews on Yelp and Google Reviews. A regrettable trend: Spamming review portals with negative ratings is not a new phenomenon. Throughout the pandemic, the tactic has also been deployed to attack bars and restaurants that enforced mask-wearing for safety. These spam one-star reviews can be extremely damaging, pushing businesses out of the first page of search results, and knocking them out of “top 10” lists. What can be done to tackle it: Yelp doesn’t tell anyone how it deals with spam, although it probably uses keywords to root out possible spammers, alongside a team of human moderators. Google, which is arguably more influential, is even more tight-lipped about its review operations. Read the full story. —Tanya Basu 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.)   + Thank you Paul for reminding me of the sheer genius of ventriloquist Nina Conti.   + This incredibly good golden retriever retrieved a woodchuck.   + There's some wonderfully passive aggressive action going on on this notice board.   + A good use for instant potatoes: gnocchi.    + Get your fill of rail travel around the US this summer for just $299.   + Really love the work of this California-based photographer, Ryan Ditch.    + This looks like an extremely fun way to get down a mountain.   + Photographer Harmeet Singh captures scenes from India, in all its varied glory.   + A simply nonsensical fish and chips menu.   + RIP Gottfried Böhm, German architect and one of the great Brutalists.    + If anyone wants to send me one of these strawberry desserts please, don't let me hold you back. (NYT $) Sponsor Message Join HPE Discover virtually, June 22-24: The Edge-to-Cloud Conference In just two years, more than 50% of all enterprise data is expected to come from the edge. So get ready – because the future is edge to cloud. Don’t miss HPE Discover 2021, packed with live and on-demand sessions, big announcements, hands-on labs, celebrity panels and more. Industry leaders and technologists will explore everything from AI to intelligent edge, to how purpose-driven companies are driving a new digital economy, and what it means to spark innovation for a data-centric future.  Register for free today. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The technologists trying to make covid risk reduction more of a science Trouble is, vaccinations are changing the calculus. (IEEE Spectrum)   + The symptoms associated with the Delta variant seem to be different. (BBC)   + Just how bad could the variants get? (BBC)   + Most vaccine skeptics in the UK ended up getting vaccinated. (The Guardian)   + Testing in the US is falling, and that's going to make it harder to manage outbreaks. (NYT $)  2 Covid-19 outbreaks in Asia could exacerbate the global chip shortage Yet another reason to keep pushing to vaccinate the world, ASAP. (WSJ $)   3 Insurance companies are still paying out for ransomware attacks If you’re waiting for them to break the cycle, don’t hold your breath. (Wired $)   4 Watch out for these lab leak traps Semantic quibbles make it hard to focus on what’s really at stake. (The Atlantic $)   5 Are flying cars ever going to be more than toys for the ultra-rich? Not for a very long time, if ever, I suspect. (NYT $)   + Someone paid $28 million to join Jeff Bezos and his brother in space. (NBC)  6 On-demand grocery deliveries are starting to take off in the UK Good news for lazy consumers. Bad news for small shopkeepers. (The Guardian)   7 El Salvador's big bet on bitcoin probably won't pan out It's wildly unsuitable to be used as a currency these days, thanks to constant price swings. (The Conversation)   + A currency shouldn't be able to fluctuate constantly thanks to one man's tweets. (CNBC)   + Bitcoin just got its first makeover in four years. (CNBC)  8 How a podcasting hype house imploded 🎧🧨 It is truly remarkable just how much damage one incredibly toxic person can do. (The Verge)   9 Vast numbers of people are seriously considering quitting their jobs Life is too short to be stuck in a job you hate. (Axios)   + Workers are taking power back. (Axios)  10 An army of goats could help prevent wildfires in California 🐐 They're being deployed to eat overgrown brush and grass. (Vice)   + Suppressing fires has failed. Here’s what California needs to do instead. (TR) Are you intellectually curious? Tech-obsessed? We are too. Get an insightful look into the technology of the future without getting bogged down by the jargon. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review today (subscriptions start at just $50 per year). Quote of the day "More recently, people have been much more outspoken and comfortable expressing their antisemitism and have basically entirely dismantled my ability of reaching anyone on the internet." —Julia Massey tells NBC that she and other Jewish creators keep being banned and censored on TikTok, she believes due to targeted mass-reporting of their accounts. Top image credit: RICARDO SANTOS Please send those strawberry desserts 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 today Understand the promise of technology. Make MIT Technology Review your go-to resource for thought-provoking insights, analysis, and news about the world of technology. Get unlimited access when you subscribe today. Subscribe now   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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