Posts By: David Firth

London Fashion Week 2018: Robots take over the runway

Posted by & filed under Automation.

A catwalk show at London Fashion Week has divided opinions about the future of fashion. Source: BBC Trends Date: September 20, 2018 Link to video: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-45548805/london-fashion-week-2018-robots-take-over-the-runway Discussion 1) Whether or not this is just a gimmick, why does it matter that robots are featured in fashion? 2) The robots in this “fashion” show are no where near realistic. … Read more »

Litigation gone digital: Ottawa experiments with artificial intelligence in tax cases

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence.

The Justice Department has quietly launched an artificial intelligence experiment as the Trudeau government prepares to use such sophisticated software to help make decisions in cases involving immigration, pension benefits and taxes. The 18-month pilot project, which involves the Canada Revenue Agency, was started even though the government has yet to establish clear ethical guidelines… Read more »

Uber to expand its self-driving car research in Toronto

Posted by & filed under Autonomous Vehicles, Careers, Uber.

Raquel Urtasun is the chief scientist for Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, which is planning an expansion into Toronto. The San Francisco, Calif.-based company announced on Thursday that it is expanding its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in Toronto and opening a new engineering lab — its first in Canada. Uber says it plans to spend $200 million Cdn… Read more »

Why Russian trolls may be more excited that the NFL is back than you are

Posted by & filed under Cybersecurity, Ethical Issues, IT and Politics.

Millions of Americans are looking forward to the return of Sunday NFL football this weekend. And somewhere in St. Petersburg, a group of Russian trolls likely is too. The same Kremlin-linked group that posed as Americans on social media during the 2016 US presidential election has repeatedly exploited the controversy surrounding the NFL and players… Read more »

Google defends Trump election reaction

Posted by & filed under IT and Politics.

Google has defended the way its bosses greeted the election of Donald Trump, after criticism by right-wing media. A video published on Wednesday by the Breitbart website shows senior executives commenting the morning after the 2016 election. During the 60-minute presentation, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he found the election “deeply offensive”. Breitbart said the… Read more »

The world’s most prolific writer is an algorithm

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, bots, Ethical Issues, ethics.

“Inflatable duck baby pool with canopy.” “Hot selling colourful temporary full arm tattoo for men.” “Splendid reusable dog pee pad (minimum order: 500).” Load up the homepage for e-commerce giant, Alibaba – a wholesale shopping site that’s more or less China’s answer to eBay – and you’ll find images and descriptions of anything you could wish to… Read more »

Uppercase raises $3.5M to help e-tailers open brick-and-mortar stores

Posted by & filed under business models.

People like to say that brick-and-mortar retail is dead, but direct-to-consumer businesses continue to dabble with physical stores all the same. Why? Because brick-and-mortar retail provides businesses with benefits an online shopping platform can’t, namely consumer experiences that create and sustain shoppers’ relationships with brands. To help the next generation of digitally native stores expand into the… Read more »

Who has your data? Researchers scrutinize apps for undisclosed ties to advertisers, analytics companies

Posted by & filed under app, App Economy, Privacy.

A study looked at hundreds of apps’ privacy policies — then compared them to the data actually collected.  Of the 757 apps analyzed, the researchers found nearly 60 per cent of apps collected more information than stated in their privacy policies. Source: CBC News Date: September 7th, 2018 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/app-privacy-policy-apptrans-uoft-third-parties-ads-code-1.4791834 Discussion 1) Why does it matter that apps collect… Read more »

How talking machines are taking call center jobs

Posted by & filed under Automation, Chatbots.

The biggest threat to jobs might not be physical robots, but intelligent software agents that can understand our questions and speak to us, integrating seamlessly with all the other programs we use at home and at work. And call centres are particularly at risk. Last week we learned that British retail giant Marks & Spencer… Read more »

iPhone hacker puts headphone jack back

Posted by & filed under Careers, Entrepreneurship.

Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 7th, 2018 Link to video: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-45333960/scotty-allen-iphone-hacker-puts-headphone-jack-back Discussion 1) How might you create a business around this? 2) What are some of the ethical and business risks of doing this?